Loria stepped back onto the screen, and said, “The system is completely automated and inaccessible without your fingerprint, retinal scan, and eight-digit passcode. Not even the facility’s manager and employees can access the vault and your valuables without you present. When you choose the home delivery option or facility transfer option, our app scans your thumbprint and retina as well. And there’s even a special duress code, in case someone tries to force you to access your GoBox against your will.”

The digital version of Loria walked away from the demo vault over to an area where a man in a white lab coat stood beside a machine that reminded Carter of a more sophisticated-looking bomb disposal robot.

Carter glanced over at the CIA agent, Yoshida, in his tourist shirt and flip-flops. The agent had a relaxed posture and a disarming and indifferent look on his face. But he also had the eyes of a man who could kill a person and then join his friends for brunch. Yoshida paid little attention to the video, as if he had seen all this before. Carter wondered, for probably the hundredth time, how the CIA was connected to GoBox. He had some thoughts on the matter, but without further evidence, they all sounded a bit too much like the countless conspiracy theories about the agency and its less than legal activities that one could find plastered across the Internet.

On the iPad’s display, Loria said, “Meet Robert. He’s one of our robotic engineers, and his friend here is called a Triple R, or a Remote Repair Robot. Our retrieval system is designed to be maintenance free, for security purposes, but if there is an issue in the vault, one of our techs, like Robert, can use a Triple R unit to remotely repair and maintain the vault’s equipment.”

The real-life Loria had been speaking on the phone in a hushed but angry tone, but then he ended the call and rejoined the group. “That’s pretty much all the relevant bits. Please follow me, and I’ll show you the vault room, where the retrieved boxes are brought up.”

Carter nodded. “Absolutely, but let me check on Dr. Burke first. He’s been gone awhile.”

Chapter 33

August Burke had located the building’s rear fire exit and stepped outside. The door stated the alarm would sound, but he figured that system had yet to be activated, considering the half-finished state of the rest of the building. He wedged the door open with a landscaping rock and lit up a cigarette.

His hands shook as he felt a panic attack rising. He bent over and dry heaved into the red rock landscaping then dug into a pocket for his pill box. He opened the small white box with the pharmacy’s name on its face and threw one of the small white anti-anxiety pills into his mouth and swallowed it dry.

Then, after wiping off his face, he took a long drag from his cigarette and stood there for a moment, enjoying the peace of being alone. Feeling his nerves calming, he reached into another pocket of his jeans and pulled out the wallet he had stolen from Ty Loria. He flipped open the worn leather billfold and examined the contents. He found a few items of note and snapped pictures of them with his iPhone. Then he pulled out a couple hundred bucks from what must have been a couple thousand in one hundred dollar bills.