The Adventures of Will Irving: Automaton Trouble

Chapter 24

The drive to the warehouse was uneventful, and Will arrived at 8:50 p.m. He parked the car on 9th Street – directly across from the warehouse – and sat quietly for a moment, staring at the building. Out here on the dimly-lit and deserted street, with the steering wheel clenched tightly in his hands and a cool breeze blowing in through the window, Will felt a certain peace and security. But once he stepped into that building...all bets were off. Hank was right to be concerned. Who knew what Moe would do?

Will looked at his watch. It was 8:55. Whatever else happened, he knew exactly what he had to do: tell the truth and get Claire safely the hell out of there. Will calmly got out of the car and made his way across the street to the front entrance of the warehouse. As he climbed the few steps to the entryway, the door opened and one of Moe's men walked out and held the door open for Will.

"Thanks," Will said politely as he entered the building.

The man remained silent and closed the door. Another man was standing in the lobby and held up his hand as Will approached.

"Put your arms up," the man ordered.

Will obeyed and then suddenly felt a pair of large hands patting down his sides. A moment later, the man who had opened the door completed his weapon search and stepped back.

"He's clean," the man stated, nodding to his pal.

"Alright, let's go," the other man ordered, motioning for Will to follow him down a hallway.

Will was escorted by the two men through a series of hallways until they finally entered a large, spacious room littered with crates and boxes, not unlike the Emporium. At the far end of the room, Moe Salley had his back turned and was talking to Jasper. A short distance away, Claire was sitting in a chair with her hands tied behind her back. She saw Will enter the room and her eyes lit up, but she remained silent.

"He's here," Jasper said quietly, giving a little nod.

Moe turned around slowly and stretched out his arms in feigned welcome.

"Nice of you to join us, Irving! And right on time too. I like that," Moe greeted as he met Will in the middle of the room and put his hand on Will's shoulder. "But I'm wondering something..."

Suddenly, Moe gave Will a swift, hard punch to the stomach.

"Why the hell are you alone?!" Moe shouted as Will doubled over and then dropped to one knee, trying to catch his breath.

Claire winced as she watched helplessly.

"I thought we made it clear that you were supposed to bring the old man with you," Moe continued, turning and walking back to where Jasper was standing.

Moe nodded and the two men who had escorted Will each moved to grab hold of one of Will's arms and help him up. Jasper took a few steps toward Will and waited.

"As you can see, I kept my end of the bargain...she's doing just fine," Moe stated in an annoyed tone. "So I'm gonna ask you this only one time. Where is the old man?"

Moe slowly pulled out a gun and pointed it at Claire.

"You want the truth, right, Moe?" Will said firmly. "So I'll tell you the truth...I was there at the Emporium that night. Hank was with me, and yeah, we were there to rescue Arthur...Only we didn't get to. Someone else beat us to the punch...A black automaton broke in through the skylight and almost killed Jasper here...It would have, too, if I hadn't shot it in the shoulder. It threw Jasper aside and broke into the little room where you had Arthur stashed. It took him and jumped back up through the skylight. Needless to say, Hank and I got the hell out of there."