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Authors: Steve Hamilton
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envelope. Robert A. Ward.
“His name is Ward. So what?”
The coin finally dropped in his head.
“Oh, what? So he’s not Jewish? Is that what you’re saying? Okay, excuse me, he’s not a rich Jewish bastard. He’s a fucking rich gentile bastard? Are you happy now? Are you gonna stop clowning around and help me find the fucking safe?”
I pointed to the bed. It was a king size, with a Persian rug underneath it. The only rug in the room.
“What? You think he hid the diamonds in his mattress? Are you trying to be funny again?”
I took one corner of the rug and waited for him to take the other. As wepulled, the rug and the bed on top of it both slid across the smooth hardwood floor. When we had pulled it as far as we could, I went around and looked at the floor we’d uncovered.
There it was. If it’s the most precious thing in the world to you, whether you think about it consciously or not, you want it right underneath you when you sleep.
There was a recessed handle in the floor, with an iron ring that fit inside like an old-fashioned trapdoor. I pulled up on the ring and opened it. The door to the safe was round and only about six inches in diameter. The way it was embedded so far under the floorboards . . . This is going to sound a little strange, but it actually made me feel claustrophobic. To this day, I still feel that a safe should stand free, so you can see the whole thing, run your hands along every inch of its skin.
I had to get down on the floor with my face as close to the safe as possible. Then I had to get my fingers on the dial. Instead of a turning handle, it had a simple knob that you’d pull up once you had the right combination dialed. I gave it a quick pull, but I knew this time around it wouldn’t be open.
“Do your magic,” Bigmouth said to me. “See if you can get this one open even faster, eh?”
Fat chance of that, friend. I started spinning the dial, parked all of the wheels, and then reversed. I picked up a wheel, then another, then another, then another.
Then one more.
Five wheels! I’d never even
seen
a safe with five wheels before. Meaning this wasn’t gonna be easy.
I felt for the contact area, parked the wheels on 0, and started doing my thing. Go back to contact, park at 3, back to contact.
Was that one already?
I went to 6. Damn, this was so hard. I felt like I was reaching down a well.
“How long you think this is gonna take?” Bigmouth said. Living up to his nickname yet again. “You about half done, ya think? A quarter done?”
I sat up for a moment, shaking out my hands.
“Is it open?” All excited now.
I shook my head, put both hands up, and shooed him away.
“Okay, okay,” he said. “I’ll be right over here. Quiet as a mouse.”
I wouldn’t bet on that, I thought, but I’ll do my best to pretend you’re not here.
I went back to the dial and kept working my way through. I could feel thecontact area well enough, but it was so damned hard to tell when it was getting short on me. I had to keep my neck at an uncomfortable angle to get close enough, with most of my weight on my right arm. It kept falling asleep on me, so I had to keep stopping to shake it again.
“We’re getting deep into the game here.” Bigmouth was sitting over on the bed now. “I bet the other guys are starting to get anxious down there.”
When I looked up this time, I saw that he had taken off his jacket. There was a gun tucked into his waistband. It’s official, I thought. On that checklist the Ghost had drilled into my head . . . sure signs that the crew you’re working with is nothing but a bunch of fucking amateurs who will surely get all of you sent to prison or even killed. Yeah, these guys had just checked off every single box.
I took a deep breath and went in again. Time to really focus here, I thought. Get in, get out, get away. And never look back.
When I was finally through with my first pass, I thought I had four numbers. I knew I needed one more.
“His name is Ward. So what?”
The coin finally dropped in his head.
“Oh, what? So he’s not Jewish? Is that what you’re saying? Okay, excuse me, he’s not a rich Jewish bastard. He’s a fucking rich gentile bastard? Are you happy now? Are you gonna stop clowning around and help me find the fucking safe?”
I pointed to the bed. It was a king size, with a Persian rug underneath it. The only rug in the room.
“What? You think he hid the diamonds in his mattress? Are you trying to be funny again?”
I took one corner of the rug and waited for him to take the other. As wepulled, the rug and the bed on top of it both slid across the smooth hardwood floor. When we had pulled it as far as we could, I went around and looked at the floor we’d uncovered.
There it was. If it’s the most precious thing in the world to you, whether you think about it consciously or not, you want it right underneath you when you sleep.
There was a recessed handle in the floor, with an iron ring that fit inside like an old-fashioned trapdoor. I pulled up on the ring and opened it. The door to the safe was round and only about six inches in diameter. The way it was embedded so far under the floorboards . . . This is going to sound a little strange, but it actually made me feel claustrophobic. To this day, I still feel that a safe should stand free, so you can see the whole thing, run your hands along every inch of its skin.
I had to get down on the floor with my face as close to the safe as possible. Then I had to get my fingers on the dial. Instead of a turning handle, it had a simple knob that you’d pull up once you had the right combination dialed. I gave it a quick pull, but I knew this time around it wouldn’t be open.
“Do your magic,” Bigmouth said to me. “See if you can get this one open even faster, eh?”
Fat chance of that, friend. I started spinning the dial, parked all of the wheels, and then reversed. I picked up a wheel, then another, then another, then another.
Then one more.
Five wheels! I’d never even
seen
a safe with five wheels before. Meaning this wasn’t gonna be easy.
I felt for the contact area, parked the wheels on 0, and started doing my thing. Go back to contact, park at 3, back to contact.
Was that one already?
I went to 6. Damn, this was so hard. I felt like I was reaching down a well.
“How long you think this is gonna take?” Bigmouth said. Living up to his nickname yet again. “You about half done, ya think? A quarter done?”
I sat up for a moment, shaking out my hands.
“Is it open?” All excited now.
I shook my head, put both hands up, and shooed him away.
“Okay, okay,” he said. “I’ll be right over here. Quiet as a mouse.”
I wouldn’t bet on that, I thought, but I’ll do my best to pretend you’re not here.
I went back to the dial and kept working my way through. I could feel thecontact area well enough, but it was so damned hard to tell when it was getting short on me. I had to keep my neck at an uncomfortable angle to get close enough, with most of my weight on my right arm. It kept falling asleep on me, so I had to keep stopping to shake it again.
“We’re getting deep into the game here.” Bigmouth was sitting over on the bed now. “I bet the other guys are starting to get anxious down there.”
When I looked up this time, I saw that he had taken off his jacket. There was a gun tucked into his waistband. It’s official, I thought. On that checklist the Ghost had drilled into my head . . . sure signs that the crew you’re working with is nothing but a bunch of fucking amateurs who will surely get all of you sent to prison or even killed. Yeah, these guys had just checked off every single box.
I took a deep breath and went in again. Time to really focus here, I thought. Get in, get out, get away. And never look back.
When I was finally through with my first pass, I thought I had four numbers. I knew I needed one more.
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