Free The Key To the Kingdom by Jeff Dixon

to what was going to be a criminal act no matter what rationale he used to explain it. He was hiding in the attraction to get into an area off limits to the general public. Hawk assumed the cast member approaching was doing a visual inspection to make sure all was clear inside. He stayed perfectly still and as silent as possible. In his ears his heart was beating ridiculously loud. His breath was coming in quick short bursts that he feared the employee might be able to hear. The anxious wait seemed to last an eternity before he heard the click of the emergency exit door open and then snap to a close. Though the cast member had now finished and moved on, Hawk dared not move for a few minutes, waiting for any unexpected activity in the area. He sat alone, hunkered down and hiding, trying to formulate the next move in his unfolding ad-libbed plan.

C HAPTER T EN
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Day Four
Evening
     
    H AWK TRIED TO SLOW HIS BREATHING as his legs began to cramp while he held his crouching-pastor, hidden-criminal position longer than he thought possible. Realizing he couldn’t remain hiding there much longer, he strained to hear any sounds that hinted of someone who might discover him. He’d dared not look at his watch or anything else since he ducked behind the toolbox. He had been there a long time; too long. Now it was time to create the next phase of his plan. Resting on his knees, he looked up to see if he could spot any security cameras. He saw them carefully placed at various spots of the attraction. He was sure that some of them were merely placed strategically so they could be seen by the guests. They probably did not work and were nothing more than a deterrent to anyone who might try to execute a plan like the one Hawk was now living. He was just as certain that some of the security cameras did work. The problem was he had no way of knowing which ones. If indeed there was an active camera pointing in his general direction, it was unmonitored or he had gotten extremely lucky. He decided it was a little of both.
    The sudden click of a lock caused Hawk to tense with anticipation and dread. A cast member had opened a door with a keyed lock. He’d noticed that at the front and back of the attraction were two doors with no knobs, only locksthat required a key to open them. His assumption was that these doors opened up to a hallway or working area behind the exhibits. He also had assumed that getting through these doors was going to be the way he’d get into Walt’s office—he just hadn’t figured out how. Now the door was open. A maintenance man walked into the attraction and past the animatronics exhibit, toward the front. After the man’s footsteps passed, Hawk straightened up behind the toolbox. He didn’t see the maintenance man and he now moved quietly back over the rail of the exhibit to the guest side. Easing through the open door, he pulled it snugly closed and moved into the backstage area of the One Man’s Dream set. Gingerly he stepped down the hallway as he tried to get some perspective on where he was. The door in Walt’s office had to open into a backstage area. In a matter of seconds he found himself looking at a door next to a window that had floodlights aimed at it. These lights created the outdoor light effect behind the closed blinds of the office. The interior of Walt’s office had to be on the other side of the door. Reaching down and grasping the handle of the door, he pushed down and released it.
    When the door opened, Hawk exhaled loudly. Once he entered the office, he could no longer hide; anyone walking by in the guest area of the attraction would see him. Resigned to the fact that it was now too late to worry about such things, he opened the door and stepped inside.
    Standing inside Walt’s office, he reverently closed the door. He found himself staring out into the exhibit where he had stood moments before gazing in through the window. Knowing he had to get started, he boldly walked to