Page 58 of Fight or Flight
He motions to the edge of the wallpaper sheet that’s about ten inches from the button. “It’s not straight. The only reasonone section of the panel would be slightly off from the rest is if there was something underneath it.”
I look at the wallpaper. He’s right. There’s a slight curve to the edge of the sheet, but it’s only off by a few millimeters.
“But how did you see that?” I press. “Especially from three feet away?”
He shrugs nonchalantly. “I’m good at spotting patterns and any sort of discrepancies in them.” He flicks his gaze to where Jace is standing in front of the now-open panel.
“Gonna need your skills with this one, bro,” Jace says, his attention still fixed on whatever is inside the panel.
Jax strides over to where Jace is, and I trail along behind him. I feel about as useful as a monkey right now—and probably seem about as smart as one.
Jax looks into the panel when Jace moves out of the way, and the calm, calculating look in his eyes is as unnerving as the chaotic energy that always seems to flow through Jace’s.
Curiously, I peer over Jax’s shoulder to see what they’re all looking at.
Inside the panel is a large combination lock, like the ones you’d find on a safe.
“Can you crack that?” Killian asks.
Jax nods and steps forward.
The three of us watch silently as he examines the lock for a few beats, then leans close so his ear is almost touching the smooth surface of the panel as he starts slowly spinning it.
I don’t know anything about cracking locks, but there’s no way he’ll be able to figure out the combination. There have to be thousands, if not millions, of possible combinations. How can he possibly tumble it without any sort of equipment or clues as to what the numbers are?
My skepticism mounts with each passing minute, but the others don’t look fazed, so I keep my reservations to myself.
“Done,” Jax says in a flat voice as he steps back and pops the lock open.
“How the fuck did you do that?” I ask.
“The pins,” he explains as Jace pops open the panel and peers inside. “You can hear them fall into place if you know what to listen for. It’s easier with a stethoscope or some sort of amplifier, but the lack of ambient noise in the room helped me pick up the change in vibrations.”
“Who the fuck are you guys?” I look between the twins, then glance at Killian. “How do you know how to do this kind of stuff?”
“Remember when I told you my brother and I have some unique hobbies?” Jace says, his attention still on whatever was hidden behind the lock. “Killian’s hobbies are as weird as ours.”
Killian shoots me a little smirk. “Almost as weird as theirs.”
“Almost as weird as ours,” Jace corrects as he fiddles with something in the panel. “Welp, I’ve got some good news, and possibly some bad news.”
“What’s the good news?” Jax asks.
“I was right. This is definitely a release mechanism of some sort.”
“For the locking system?” Killian asks.
“Doesn’t look like it. This is most likely another step in the process of finding the locks, which leads me to the possible bad news.”
“Which is?” Jax prompts when Jace doesn’t continue.
“That connecting the wires correctly will get us one step closer to not being trapped, but a single mistake will probably trigger some sort of booby trap.”
“Like what kind of booby trap?” I ask.
“Not sure.” He keeps fiddling inside the panel, and I move behind him so I can look over his shoulder to see what he’s doing.
The inside of the panel is a mess of loose wires, but the confident way he connects the ends together and slips them into the motherboard underneath is reassuring.
