Remote Control Read Online Free PDF Page B

part."
    She pictures him standing by the TV. She couldn't see exactly what he was doing, but one second he was there in his rolls of flesh, the next he was gone. All three hundred and sixty pounds of him.
    Bea's hands are shaking, so she brings them to her chest and clasps them hard against her, all the while staring at her wedding ring. The simple gold band no longer represents the promise of love and happiness. It means entrapment, pure and simple. It's a noose tightening around her throat until she can no longer breathe.
    Oh God! I wish I could escape this life. I'd do anything to be free. Anything!
    By now, Bea should know to be more careful with her wishes.
    * * *
    Harry can't believe his good fortune. His luck has finally changed. He's standing in the main vault with enough gold around him to pave the city streets of Edmonton. And it's all his. At least, as much as he can carry.
    He opens up one of the garbage bags. "I'll fill these, then be on my way."
    The first gold bar he reaches for makes him pause. He strokes the cool, smooth surface with his fingertips, all the while imagining a suit made with gold threads. Grinning, he picks it up. It's a bit heavier than he expected, but he manages to get it into the bag. He reaches for another.
    By the time he has seven bars in the bag, he realizes his mistake.
    "I'll never be able to carry a full bag. Besides, it'll rip before I get it off the ground."
    It seems that stealing gold from Fort Knox is going to be more difficult than he has anticipated.
    He removes two bars from the bag. Then he checks his watch. "Bea won't be home for at least two hours. That'll give me plenty of time to make a few trips, a few gold bars at a time."
    He tests the bag, lifting it a few inches off the ground. "Home, RC."
    With a press of the memory button he finds himself back in his living room. "I did it!"
    He tries to do a victory dance, but the heavy bag knocks him off balance and he stumbles into the coffee table and bangs his knee. Hobbling toward his recliner, he places the garbage bag with its golden treasure on the seat. "By the time I'm done, I'll have this room filled with gold."
    He moves back to the TV and prepares for round two. As he switches channels, an angry voice behind him says, "What do you think you're doing?"
    But Harry's already gone.
    He's now standing in the centre of the main vault. It takes him a few minutes to calm his racing heart, and a bit longer before he realizes something is dreadfully wrong. Something more than having Bea walk in just as he vanishes into thin air.
    Alarms are blaring.
    "The alarm must be weight sensitive. I must have set it off when I took the gold."
    But that's not his only problem. Harry is missing a very valuable object.
    He stares at his empty hands.
    "Oh shit, I dropped the remote."
    * * *
    Bea holds the precious remote control. At first, she doesn't comprehend its importance. All she knows is that Harry dropped it a split second before he disappeared again.
    She steps away from the TV, but something makes her look back over her shoulder. "Harry?"
    He has somehow been transported inside the television set. No! Not in it, but in the location where the current TV show was shot.
    "What is that?" She leans closer. "Good God! He's surrounded by gold."
    The words 'Fort Knox – United States Bullion Depository' scrolls across the screen.
    "My God, Harry is trying to rob Fort Knox."
    She begins to pace the room, struggling with thoughts of what she should do.
    Should I call the police? Should I wait for him to return? What if he doesn't return?
    The remote control draws her attention.
    "This is some kind of teleportation device." She rubs her forehead, then pauses. "And I bet anything he needs it to come back."
    She thinks of the words. Remote…control.
    "Remote means separated or far removed in space, time or relation," she says. "Control means power or authority to guide someone or something."
    She looks at the TV screen. She sees Harry turning