Chapter 18

Waking up early Sunday morning, Barrett, Zeus, and Hera went to the warehouse and practiced their ghost walk. After Barrett had completed his forms and tai chi, he opened the unknown content crates. The first one shocked Barrett because it had a Matco professional tool chest, both bottom and upper chests filled with brand new tools. The crate also had two Matco bench stools, a creeper, and a rolling stool with a tool tray underneath. There were Matco Tool banners and promotional material. It looked like the crate was intended for some kind of a show.

The second crate had a metal workbench and metal shelving. He was excited they contained everything he needed for the warehouse. Then, the time came to open the last crate, which cost him $900. When he got it opened, Barrett stared at the strange-looking machine. The crate was six feet square like the others, and it filled the crate but was only 3 feet deep. The rest of the space had various boxes of different sizes and shapes. It had a large door in the front and a hopper on the top. A keyboard at the bottom that pulled out from the machine and a 13” monitor above it fit flush with the exterior.

Barrett pulled out the keyboard, and the monitor lit up even when no power was connected to the machine. The keys had strange markings, and when Barrett put his fingers on them to type something, he felt dizzy and blacked out. But his fingers remained on the keyboard keys like they were glued to it. When he woke up, Barrett felt like he was plugged into a computer that was feeding him information.

There was nothing he could do but sit and wait until his hands were released. When his hands were finally released, he noticed small marks on his fingers that copied the key symbols. Barrett didn’t know what the machine did but knew it was extremely valuable, and people would kill to get it. When Barrett tried to lift the machine, it was heavy, but he was able to move it.

After putting on the Matco creeper, Barrett rolled it into his office and put the machine in the hidden space. Returning to the rear of the warehouse, he put the Matco tool chest against one wall with all the accessories. Then he unloaded the metal shelving and bench. Only the car hoist remained on the trailer, and Barrett took the wooden crate pieces to several of his neighbors’ dumpsters.

It was getting late, so they headed home, and Barret wondered what the machine did and who it belonged to or its shipping destination. Barrett realized that two people or groups would be looking for the machine during his shower. The shipper or recipient and the ones who tried to steal it. Then he thought they would want to and said shit, and he didn’t look for tracking devices on the crates.

After breakfast, Barrett, Zeus, and Hera checked the dumpsters where he had put the cratewood. They were empty, so the trash was picked up, or scavengers took it for firewood. Either way, it was gone; that was all he worried about. Then, they went to the park and stopped at their special spot to reenergize. When he felt light-headed, they left and looked for yard sales. There were none, so they returned to the warehouse and uncreated the car hoist.

Barrett assembled the hoist where he wanted it, then assembled the metal bench and the racks. The warehouse was shaping up and close to being finished. After locking up the warehouse, they headed home. Barrett had a premonition that something was wrong when they passed a house two blocks from home. They passed the house and went to the alley, then entered the property from the backyard.

He looked in the kitchen window and saw an Asian man, woman, and teenage girl tied up at the kitchen table. An Asian man was guarding them, so there had to be others in the house. Barrett gave Zeus and Hera the ghost walk signal, then whispered capture. They entered the house quietly, and then Zeus and Hera searched while Barrett knocked out the guard. Then, he gave the man several punches to the head, and then he ghost walked in search of the other intruders.

Zeus and Hera had two Asisn men down on the floor with their teeth attached to their crotches. Barrett quickly walked to the men and kicked each man in the jaw, knocking them out. Then he gave them two kicks to the balls, and they returned to the kitchen and released the prisoners. They didn’t speak English, so Barrett talked to them in Chinese, shocking them.

He told them all their attackers were neutralized and asked what they wanted to do with them. Introductions were made, and they were the Chen family. Hao Chen, the father, thanked Barrett and said they could take care of everything now. Barrett said goodbye and good luck, and they left the house. He saw a van in the driveway with a laptop on the passenger seat, so he took it, and they left the property by the alley.

After lunch, Barrett, Zeus, and Hera took the Silverado to the mail center to check his mail. His security system arrived, so they returned it to the house and left it in the truck. Barrett spent the rest of the afternoon doing homework for his online classes. When he finished, Barrett quickly checked the Asian intruder’s laptop. Everything was in Chinese, and he read the last five emails received.

They were part of a gang robbing and kidnapping Asians. Asians tended to keep their money at home. Young females brought the most money, but females generally were good money-makers. Asian men were usually disposed of unless they were young enough to do hard labor. He didn’t want to get involved with Asian gangs, so he shut off the laptop and put it in his safe.

Early the next morning, Barrett checked out the custom-built computer he bought from Nancy after his exercises and shower. It had four hard drives and a custom-built memory stack holding ten memory sticks. Two power supplies were needed to run the computer, and he wondered if it was an experimental AI computer. Then, the question of why Brent had it, what subject subjects he taught at the university, and how pissed he would be, Nancy sold it. Barrett returned it to the closet and would play with it later.

Then, he quickly checked his stocks and the market. They were doing fine, and Lock Technogelies hadn’t taken off yet. So he turned off the computer and went to the garage. He got his dolly, put the large box with the alarm on it, and Barrett, Zeus, and Hera took the alarm system to the warehouse. After reading the instructions, Barrett installed the alarm.

Barrett put the alarm master panel in his workshop above the office. Then, he installed the wireless door, motion detectors, and keypads. Running the wires for the sirens and overhead door sensor took the most time, but he finally finished it. Barrett locked the warehouse, set the alarm, and headed home. On the way, he thought about what else he needed to do at the warehouse. Securing the car hoist to the floor and building a stand for the unknown machine was all that needed to be done for now.

After breakfast, Barrett went to his dog training appointment. After he finished, he headed to Laura’s house and remembered he hadn’t called Bridget. Barrett needed to get a few burner phones when he went to Home Depot for supplies to finish the projects at the warehouse. When he arrived at Laura’s, she was glad to see him and wasted no time pulling down his pants and sucking his cock. Laura started moaning, and he looked down, and she was masturbating while sucking his cock, and they came together.

Barrett realized he must have blacked out because he was half lying on the kitchen counter. He looked at Laura, and she was on the floor in a daze, face covered in cum and still masturbating. Barrett pulled up his pants and left before she recovered and wanted another round. On the way home, he decided to stop by Bridget’s and check to see if she had returned.