The Navigators (20 page)

Melissa pointed. “And would that be a security camera right there?”

He glanced over his shoulder at the small camera on the office wall. “Uh…”

“It is, isn’t it? So after I get my little discount,” she wiggled against the glass, “I can become an internet sensation. How thoughtful.”

Pimples had no reply. The news update finished.

Melissa leaned back and folded her arms. “Does your boss know about your little scam?”

He winked. “Who do you think installed the camera? Hey, a discount’s a discount. Most college girls are happy to get it. High schoolers, too.”

“You're disgusting.”

“I'm employee of the month, momma. The manager likes that I keep the rooms full. He doesn’t ask how I do it.”

“Terrific. Maybe I can name both of you in my harassment lawsuit. Meanwhile, before you sneak off to the back room to do something even more disgusting, do you think you can tell me the real price of a room?”

“Fifty five, plus tax.”

Barry appeared over Melissa’s shoulder. “Is there a problem?”

Pimples straightened up. “No problem, my man. I was just fixing the lady up with a room. Chill. You’ll be bumping and grinding in no time, stud.” He slid a key under the glass. “You two have a good time tonight.”

Melissa counted her change while Barry scowled at the clerk. “What the hell is he talking about?”

“He's just showing me that the employees at cheap motels are just as creepy as ever.”

“I see you brought your backpack, stud. Got all your flavored lubes? Your video cameras and shit? Yeehaw, cowboy. Ride that pony.”

“You’re lucky this is bulletproof glass,
cowboy,
or you’d be wearing your nose on the other side of your face right now.”

“I hear that shit every 20 minutes on a Friday night, pal.”

Melissa put a hand on Barry’s side. “Stop. We’re trying not to draw attention to ourselves, remember?”

“She’s got the key, stud.” Pimples winked. “Go have fun, you two.”

As they headed to the room, I ran to catch up.

Pimples loved that. “One more? Oh
hell
yeah, baby. Sweet thang got a three way going for her tonight. Booyah!” He pressed his face against the glass as we rounded the corner. “I knew you was a freak baby! Maybe I should come visit on my break.”

Once inside the room, Melissa collapsed on the bed. “It’s only a matter of time before our pictures appear on those news updates and that creep at the front desk figures out who we are.”

I sat on the edge near her feet, but from the expression on his face, the wheels were already going a hundred miles an hour inside Barry’s head. He shut the curtains.

“He may figure it out anyway. The waitress did.” Barry leaned the crutches against the wall and lowered himself onto the bed, rubbing his eyes. “Let’s focus. They have the time machine at the basketball stadium, the Sun Dome. The question is, how do we get it?”

“We’re stealing it, right?” I said. “Isn’t that the idea? I'm not sure how, though. The cops watching it have guns.”

“Yeah, yeah. But let’s break down the problem. They've got our machine inside of a big stadium. We need to get it out. The only things preventing us from doing that are really just a few small obstacles…”

Melissa raised her head off the pillow. “Those obstacles are called guns.”

“Yeah, yeah, guns.” Barry bit his fingernail. “That's one challenge, but there are locked doors, too, and locked gates. Then, the actual guards. And they could call for backup over the radio, too.” He stared at the window. “The trick is, since we can't afford to confront them, how do we get them to abandon the machine?”

I put my hands on my knees. “I don't think they’re going to just walk away from it for a coffee break, if that’s what you’re hoping.”

“We have to make them
want
to leave it. Then we could almost stroll in and take it. Like, if they thought it was radioactive or something.”

Melissa groaned. “Come on. Tomorrow that machine goes into military hands and we never see it again. Be realistic. You’re talking crazy.”

“I know.” Barry turned to her. “But that’s kind of the same approach Findlay used on me. He got me to give up the machine at my apartment by setting fire to the place. He smoked me out.”

Melissa sat up. “We are
not
setting fire to the Sun Dome.”

“No, no. We don't have the resources to burn it…”

“Besides, it’s concrete.” I said. “I’m not sure it would even burn.”

Barry put his elbows on his knees, rubbing his face and letting out a big sigh. Then his head snapped up. “Hey, did you guys know that the big canvas roof on the Sun Dome collapsed once?”

“No.”

He chuckled. “I used to think it was an old wives’ tale. Our freshman year, they told us that whopper to keep us from climbing up there. You know—scare us into thinking it could collapse if a bunch of us walked on it. So, of course, we all had to go try it, right?”

Blank stares.

Barry blinked. “Neither one of you ever walked on the Sun Dome roof?” He shook his head. “It’s hard to believe we attend the same school.”

“Why is that such a thing with everybody?” Melissa shoved Barry. “What about it?”

He shifted on the bed, carefully stretching out his sore leg. “Well, the thing about the Sun Dome is, they put up the big concrete walls, but the roof is just canvas. It’s held up by air pressure.”

“Right.” Melissa pushed up on her elbows. “That's why when you go through the revolving doors you get that big wind rush.”

Barry nodded. “That’s right. And almost every door into the stadium is a rotating door, so you can’t accidentally leave one open. It maintains the pressure.”

“I wouldn’t know.” I folded my arms. “I never went to a basketball game.”

A big grin stretched across Barry’s face. “Something like twenty years ago, the power went out, and the fans that pump the air in stopped working. There was a cleaning crew inside at the time. They said it was scarier than an earthquake. The big canvas roof started sagging right away and the support frame was
groaning
. All the big stadium lights were breaking off and falling to the ground, exploding like missiles. It scared the hell out of them.”

I shrugged. “How does that help us?”

“Would you stay in a building if the roof was collapsing? If all the lights were falling down around you? The scoreboard, the concert speakers?”

“Why is this better than burning it?”

“Honestly, it’s simpler.” He rubbed his knees. “If we were to stop the fans, or put some big holes in the roof, that’s it. It would collapse.”

“Wow.” The idea of a stadium collapsing while things crashed to the ground inside… it amazed me. “And when the fans come back on, it’ll just blow itself back up?”

“Oh, God no. Last time, it was completely destroyed. That much canvas weighs tons. It caused all kinds of damage.”

“How do you know it would even work?” Melissa asked.

“It’ll work.” Barry stretched his leg out again. “If we cut enough holes.”

Melissa frowned. “But still we have to cut the power?”

“No. We don’t need the whole roof to collapse. We need it to
start
to collapse. That’ll be enough to scare those guys out of the building long enough for us to come in.”

I grabbed my head. “All that stuff will fall on us!”

“We’ll be inside the truck.” Barry waved a hand. “And we’ll be coming in quick and leaving even quicker.”

Melissa nodded. “After we grab back our time machine.”

“Can you imagine?” Barry chuckled. “You’re a campus cop who got stuck watching this stupid machine all night, and all of a sudden the stadium roof is collapsing and lights are exploding all over the place?”

I smirked. “That would make me leave.”

Barry pointed at me. “And you probably wouldn’t stop to pick up a time machine on the way out the door, either, would you?”

“So then…” I shrugged. “We just drive in and take it?”

“Well…” Barry rubbed his chin. “We’ll have to pick a couple of locks along the way. Then we sit in the truck and wait for all hell to break loose.”

Melissa peered up at Barry. “This seems awfully elaborate, Wile E. Coyote.”

“I’d agree, if it hadn’t already happened before. And a good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow, right?”

I was nervous. “How long would it take?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Melissa stood up. “We have all night, no tomorrow, and no plan B.” She put her hands on her hips. “Let’s go for it.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

“ ‘A
couple of guys and a truck.’ That’s what they’re sending?” Findlay pounded the table. “Jesus, why don’t we just
give
them the damn time machine?”

“Well.” Ferguson cracked his knuckles, taking care to ensure that each joint popped before flexing his large hands. “Your buddies—they don’t know that. They don’t know if the Air Force is sending F-16s.”

Findlay wasn’t listening. He was lost in thought from hearing his own words as he’d said them out loud to the captain.

* * * * *

I took a deep breath. “So those very brave campus police officers with the guns are going to run for their lives? Then we just run in and scoop up our machine?”

“Yep,” Barry said. “Besides, they won’t have a reason to shoot at us. Who shoots at a collapsing roof?”

I pointed to his cast. “Who’s us, gimpy? You aren’t running anywhere. Or climbing up a roof to cut any canvas, for that matter.”

Melissa gathered her hair into a pony tail and slipped a rubber band around it. “Nope. I guess we’ll have to do that part, Peeky.”

My stomach knotted. This was a fine line for me to be walking, but what choice did I have except to play along? “Well, you know what they say.” I shrugged. “A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow. Unless it lands you in jail.”

“I have news for you, Peeky.” Barry looked at the window again. “Getting that time machine back is the only thing keeping us out of jail right now. That puts us back in the driver’s seat.”

Melissa folded her arms. “What do we need?”

“A knife, for the roof. Something to pick the lock on the generator fence. Flashlights, maybe.”

“A getaway vehicle would be nice,” I said.

She waved her hand. “We can still use the truck. We were gonna ditch it anyway. We’ll just use it to grab the machine back first.”

“Peeky’s right. It would be better if we had a different vehicle.”

“Look,” Melissa said. “We go with what we have. I’ll drive us over near the Sun Dome, but not so close that anybody will see us. I’ll park behind the tree line to the soccer field. Peeky and I will sneak out. Barry, you stay with the truck. When we give you a signal, you bring the truck over and we’ll put the time machine in it.”

“Meanwhile, you two have to get onto the roof, slash the canvas, and turn off the generators. Gee, no problem.”

“Yeah,” Melissa frowned. “It would be nice if we had some help. But as it stands, we don’t. And the last chance we have to grab back the time machine is tonight.” Her face grew firm with resolve. “So unless anybody has any better ideas, this is what we’re doing.”

“Can’t we just smash through the overhead door like they do on TV?” I asked.

Barry shook his head. “It might not work. Those big roll-type doors are made of some kind of thin metal slats, but they might be reinforced with steel bars or something. We want the guards to leave the machine. If they hear a bunch of noise and think they’re under attack, they might not leave—and they might fight back. Then those pesky guns might start firing. Besides, if we tried to smash through the gates and didn’t make it, game over.”

“Okay, okay. We’ll do it your way.”

“You know,” he rubbed his chin. “The only other thing we could really use is a couple of two way radios. Where could we get something like that at this time of night? Radio Shack?”

“Why do we need radios?” Melissa narrowed her eyes.

Barry patted his broken leg. “I can’t run around with you, but with communication, I could tell you what to do. And you could give me updates while I keep lookout from the truck.”

It made sense to me. There was only one problem. “We don’t have any more money.”

“Yeah, well… we’re already thieves.” Barry glanced at me. “If you can create a distraction inside Radio Shack, I’ll grab some walkie talkie radios and run out. They only ever have one guy working. It shouldn’t be too hard to distract him. ”

“How you gonna run anywhere, gimp boy?”

Melissa held her hand up. “I’ll create the distraction. Peeky will grab the radios. Barry, you have to wait in the car.”

His mouth curled into a smile. “You gonna distract the Radio Shack guy the way you did with the motel clerk?”

“Maybe. You jealous?”

“Maybe I should just stay here in the hotel.”

“Oh, no.” Melissa straightened up. “Last time we split up we almost didn’t reconnect. Let’s stay together. That slime ball at the front desk can’t find us if we aren’t here.”

“Well, we
are
coming back here, aren’t we?”

“Kind of.” She glanced at the window. “There’ll be some high school party going on in his motel somewhere before midnight, I guarantee it. They won’t want their parents to know what they’re up to, and they sure won’t want the front desk guy checking up on them. So they’ll be happy to trade rooms with us.” She winked. “Happens all the time.”

Barry seemed satisfied. He turned to me. “Listen, at the Sun Dome, the two of you should be able to boost each other up onto the rain gutters. I’ll point them out to you. They’re these big concrete downspouts, like aquifers, but they start out about ten feet off the ground on a column. Melissa can help boost you up like this.” He squatted a little, interlocking his fingers and holding them out like a step. “One foot goes here, in her hands, then your other foot goes on her shoulder. Missy, if you lean back against the column, it’ll support you and you’ll be able to hold his weight.” He turned back to me. “Then you reach down and help pull her up. That’s all you need to do.”

I looked over at Melissa. “Make sure we have enough gas in the getaway car.”

“The tank’s half full. Anything else?”

“Sure,” I said. “Knives. Lock picks. Bullet proof vests.”

Melissa grabbed the backpack. “We can’t go on a crime spree to put together all the stuff we need. We’ll have to improvise.” She unzipped the bag and dumped it on the bed. “Let’s see what Sheila’s got in here.” Moving her fingers over the pile, she sorted out useful objects. “Hairpins – that’ll help with the locks.” They went into her pocket. “A corkscrew. And check it out.” With a quick flip, a one-inch blade appeared.

“Why does a bottle opener have a blade attached?” I asked.

“It’s a foil cutter, for expensive wines. It’s small, but it will have to do.”

“Besides,” Barry said. “It only has to work for a few minutes.”

“I guess that just leaves us needing some radios.” Melissa put her hands on her hips, sighing. “Okay, let’s go rob the fucking Radio Shack.”

* * * * *

We sat in the Kmart’s enormous parking lot, about a hundred yards away from Radio Shack, staring at it through its big glass windows.

Barry shifted his weight in the passenger seat, trying to keep his broken left ankle as comfortable as possible. “Look, it's a simple smash and grab. You see it on the news all the time. People just run in the door, grab the stuff, and run out again before the clerk even have a chance to figure out what's going on.” He eyed Melissa. “The only difference is, we're gonna send Missy in first to cause a distraction.”

“Are we sure the distraction’s even necessary?” I asked.

“No, but it’s a little like adding an extra level of safety.”

Melissa shook her head. “Safety during a robbery. What a concept.” She rested her hands on the steering wheel. “I'll try to get the guy to go way to the back of the store with me. As soon as that happens, Peeky, you run in and grab the walkie talkies.”

“Do we know where they are?”

“They shouldn’t be too hard to find. That stuff will be up front with the cell phones.” She gazed at Barry. “Stay in the truck with the engine running. You’re our getaway driver. When Peeky comes out, you guys take off. Then drive around and meet me in the back a few minutes later. That way they don’t think we’re together. The key is, remain anonymous.”

I took a deep breath. “Okay, I guess we're ready. Let's go.”

“Let me drive,” Barry said. “I’ll drop you off first, a little ways away from Radio Shack. That way, you can walk up and not be seen getting out of the truck.”

“Right.” She nodded. “Anonymous.”

From across the parking lot of the unsuspecting Radio Shack, we made our final adjustments for our assault. Barry slid behind the wheel of the truck.

I got out and peed behind it.

“Come on, Peeky,” Barry announced. “Time to go.”

* * * * *

At five minutes to closing time, the clerk at RadioShack was in no mood for customers. There was paperwork to do and a cash register to count.

But a pretty girl was always a welcome sight.

So when Melissa passed through the front door, she was not surprised at his smile. What
did
surprise her were the words that came out of his mouth.

“Hey, I know you. You're that politician’s daughter—Melissa Mills, right?”

Shit.

* * * * *

Findlay was amazed at the simplicity of the words he’d just spoken.

Maybe I should let them get the machine. Then I can just take it from them. They do the hard part of getting it away from the military guys, and I can pluck it from them afterwards. I can still go take my gold rush ride to buy the Coca-Cola stock and turn the machine over to the school afterwards. Who’d know?

Hell, I’d be the hero for getting the stolen machine back, and Peeky can let me know where it is.

* * * * *

Melissa smiled at the Radio Shack clerk as he came over to greet her. “Melissa Mills, right? From the political commercials. Your dad’s running for mayor.”

She was aghast, but managed to hold her smile in place. “Why, yes. Yes, I am.”

“Yeah, I saw you on TV the other day talking about your dad.”

Jesus, we can’t rob this place now.
“Um, well—make sure you vote for him, okay?” She glanced up and saw a security monitor. Her jaw dropped.

“Oh, sure, I think your dad’s a good guy. And he’s well-known around these parts. He’s done a lot for the community.”

Returning her gaze to the clerk, she forced another smile. “You’ve sure done your election year homework.”

“Yeah, yeah. So what can I do for you this evening?”

She thought for a moment. Anonymous was out, but that wasn’t really the key. Not being tied to the robber was the key.

Peeky can still come in and grab the radios.

“Ma’am? Miss Mills?”

She regained her thoughts. “Um, well… I need one of these things over here.” She walked back to the back of the store.

He followed her. “Speaker wire and cable coils, eh? You installing a stereo?”

* * * * *

The bell on the front door of the Radio shack jingled as I pushed it open and stepped inside.

The clerk waved. “I'll be right with you, sir!” Then he turned to Melissa. “So, Miss Mills, what are we rigging up? A sound system?”

As soon as I heard the clerk utter Melissa’s name, I froze.

He knows her name!

Fear gripped me. I looked at Melissa.

She looked back at me, her eyes wide.

Should I run out now and scrub the mission?

As the clerk squatted down to explain speaker wire, Melissa waved at me. She mouthed the word, “Go.”

Go?
I hooked a thumb at the door.
Leave?

She winced, mouthing again: “Get the radios.”

I repeated it back, to be sure. “Get the radios?”

She nodded emphatically, the blood draining from her face. Above her, I spotted the video camera. It had recorded our interaction.

I mouthed. “What about that?”

She glanced up to the monitor, then back at me with a scowl, mouthing, “Do it!”

I scanned the packages on the shelves. Everything suddenly looked the same. Some were toys, some were cell phones, but each plastic package was indiscernible from the next.

My heart was in my throat, convinced we’d get caught. I blinked a few times. I could see colors in the boxes—blue, red, green—but I wasn’t sure what I was staring at.

Am I having a panic attack?

My hands were sweating. I heard myself huffing and puffing.

Melissa directed the clerk to something on the lower shelf. “What are these over here?”

He grabbed a small box. “These? These are cable junction boxes. What's the project you're doing?”

I tried to examine the boxes of gadgets in front of me. There were all kinds of things; I couldn't figure out which was which. I’d never stolen anything before my life. I was a nervous wreck.

Every package looked the same. They might have all been walkie talkie radios, but I couldn't figure it out.

Melissa glared at me again, her eyes growing wider.

I was frozen with fear. I couldn't think.

Suddenly the front door burst open again. It was Barry.

He leaned on the open door and supported himself by placing a hand on the frame. “Where do you keep the walkie talkies?”