Down to the Wire Read Online Free PDF Page B

wire, a lighter, a stopwatch, and some electrical tape. He inserted one wrench in the lock and wedged one in the door’s upper-right corner. “This last one will be taped at a sixty-two-degree angle in the lower-left quadrant.”
    Sixty-two-degree angle? Jeez, that’s precise.
    With the lighter, he soldered silver wire to each wrench, connecting the three. He touched his knuckle to the wire. “Laser crawler rhythm is cchhh. Chch. Cchhh. Chch. ”
    He pressed the stopwatch. “On the eleventh second, the door will open.”
    It clicked open, and my jaw dropped. Wow. Wirenut knew his stuff.
    He did what he called his victory shoulder-roll dance. “Go, Wirenut. Go, Wirenut. Go. Go.”
    David shook his head. “We’ve had the best of the best test out our security.”
    TL slapped Wirenut on the back. “You’re the first to successfully break in. Congratulations.”
    Wirenut’s face beamed with pride. “Thanks.”
    I knew the feeling. Nothing felt better than pleasing TL.
    David pushed open the door and turned on the light. “Get your tools and go on in.”
    Wirenut packed up, and we followed him in. He skidded toa stop, and I nearly ran right into him. “That’s my stuff. That’s everything I’ve ever sold online.”
    All kinds of electronic contraptions lined the tables and shelves.
    Wirenut shook his head. “How di— Where di— What’s going on?”
    TL picked up a remote control from a shelf. “You may have had ghost accounts and rerouted IPs, but I rigged it so that I was always the highest bidder when you auctioned things off.”
    “You mean you’ve been buying my contraptions for years?”
    TL and David nodded.
    “Man.” Wirenut laughed. “That’s too funny. I guess I’m not as clever as I thought.”
    TL pointed the remote control at the back wall, pressed a button, and the wall slid open. Wirenut sucked in a breath.
    Thousands of the latest electronic devices jammed the shelves of a hidden mini-warehouse.
    I laughed at his amazed face. I was sure I’d looked the same way when TL had first shown me the computer lab.
    Wirenut stepped through the secret wall. “Optotronics, micromodules, semiconductors, circuit protection, passive components, audio devices, sensors, enclosures, transformers, protoprods…. Do you have any idea”—he picked up a cable—“how much this xial costs?”
    TL folded his arms. “Yes, I do. I sign the bills around here.”
    Wirenut stood there a few seconds, holding the cable,staring at everything. Then, slowly, he paced down the center of the warehouse and back, scanning the metal racks. “It’s everything I’ve ever wished for. Like Santa dropped the mother lode.”
    We all laughed.
    “You’ll have time to look through everything later. Anything else you need, let me or David know, and we’ll get it for you. But for now, put down the cable and come on out.”
    Wirenut put it down, stepped out from the mini-warehouse, and TL showed him how to use the remote control to close the door. We left Wirenut’s room and made our way back to the conference room, where we resumed our seats around the table.
    TL tilted back in his chair. “I want to express a concern I have.”
    Wirenut nodded. “Okay.”
    “You’re confident with your abilities. That’s good. That’s important. But sometimes your confidence comes across as a little too cocky.”
    Wirenut’s brows drew together. Nobody wanted to disappoint TL. “Sir—”
    TL held up his hand. “Let me finish.”
    Wirenut wisely closed his lips.
    “I’ve watched you. I know that when something is requested of you, you become a different person. You become focused. Attentive. Ready.”
    “You know how to prioritize important things,” David added.
    Wirenut’s face relaxed a bit with their compliments.
    “I want you aware of the fact that cockiness and overconfidence can get any person into trouble. Fast. Do we understand each other?”
    Wirenut nodded. “Yes, sir.”
    TL was right. Wirenut did come across as