Free The Massacre Mechanism (The Downwinders Book 5) by Michael Richan Page A

nervous walking in like this,” Winn said. “Deem’s mother was never
my biggest fan.”
    “Hello?
Anyone home?” Awan called loudly as they walked out of the kitchen, his voice
bouncing from the walls.
    “No table,”
Winn observed, looking at the spot where the dining room table once stood. “Oh,
no…”
    Winn rounded
the corner into the living room. Depressions in the carpet marked the spot
where the sofas, coffee tables, and hutches had previously stood.
    “No!” Winn
repeated, walking to the mantle above the fireplace. “It was right here!”
    “Were they
robbed?” Daniel asked, looking around.
    “Moved out,
I’d say,” Awan replied.
    “Come on,
help me search the rest of the house,” Winn said, starting for the staircase.
“Check each room carefully!”
    They spread
out, moving through the residence, inspecting everywhere. Soon Winn met Daniel
again in the living room. Daniel raised his arms and shrugged. “Nothing.”
    “Last time
we were here was, what, two, three months ago?” Winn thought back. “David and I
were in the basement, and Deem was acting as bait upstairs. All the furniture
was still here. But her mother wasn’t — that’s right, she’d gone to spend time
with her sister in Arizona. With Deem not living here anymore, she must have
decided to move her things out. Shit! That device is probably in Arizona now.”
    “Maybe not,”
Awan said, walking in from the kitchen with a piece of paper in his hands.
“Look.”
    Awan handed
the blue paper to Winn. “St. George Moving and Storage,” Winn read aloud, his
eyes dancing over the NCR form. “It’s a moving receipt, dated six weeks ago.
They scribbled a note at the bottom.”
    “What’s it
say?” Daniel asked.
    “‘All items
moved to locker 139 at our facility, per your instructions’,” Winn read.
“Shit.”
    “It’s just a
little harder to get, that’s all,” Awan said. “Better than everything being in
Arizona.”
    “I don’t see
how,” Winn replied, waving the paper. “This place will have security. Guards,
cameras.”
    “Cameras are
no problem,” Daniel replied.
    “No
problem?” Winn asked. “How?”
    “Every
security system records its camera feeds with a time code,” Daniel replied.
“You simply corrupt the time code, and it won’t replay.”
    “You know
how to do that?” Awan asked.
    Daniel
raised a hand to his chest. “What kind of a time expert would I be if I
couldn’t corrupt simple time code on a hard drive?”
    Awan turned
to look at Winn. “Alright,” he muttered.
    “That’s all
fine and well, but what if the cameras are monitored live?” Winn asked.
    “Lots of
storage places don’t have anyone there,” Awan replied. “We’ll have to scout out
the place to know for sure.”
    Daniel took
a deep breath. “So, we’re gonna try to break into her storage bay and steal it,
then.”
    “Not steal
it,” Winn replied. “Just borrow it to decipher this message. If it really is
the device we’re after, I’ll bet it belonged to Deem’s father. The family owns
it, and I wouldn’t steal from them.”
    “If it is
capable of diagnosing and slipping to the differential,” Daniel said, “it’s
incredibly valuable, particularly to gifteds. It would be like leaving a
priceless diamond in a storage bay. Very bad idea.”
    “Deem’s father
must have had his home protected in some way while he was alive,” Winn said.
“I’m sure Deem’s mom had no idea of its value. What do you suggest?”
    “It needs to
be kept somewhere safe,” Daniel replied. “Behind a legend shelf, at least.
Preferably more.”
    “I know
where,” Winn said, aware that he couldn’t tell Daniel about Lyman without breaking
Carma and Lyman’s trust. “It’ll be protected until his daughter is able to care
for it herself.”
    “Let’s go
check out that storage facility,” Awan said, and they turned to walk out of the
empty, quiet shell that used to be Deem’s home.

Chapter Seven
     
     
     
    Awan