nose locks are gonna take a couple seconds longer apiece," Clark said. "That'll really add up."
"Nothing to worry about," Evan told him. "If all is cool and things are smooth, we can take as much time as we need."
"Where do you keep the keys for those boxes?" Dempster asked.
"There is a set kept in the same room," Gardner told him. "That won't be a problem."
"Okay, and what about the safe?"
"It's in the right corner at the back, along side the boxes. Forty-nine inches high and twenty-four inches wide. It has two safe locks that require double-bit keys, and also a combination lock."
"You know the combination?"
"It changes weekly, but yeah, I can get it."
"And there's a set of keys for the safe in there, too?"
"Yes."
"All right, and what's security like in that room?"
"Two guards in that room at all times, each armed with a pistol. Monitors for the hotel cameras are in there too." Here he withdrew a pen and made little Xs everywhere a camera was positioned throughout the entire bottom floor. Just the lobby alone had four cameras. There was also one behind the front desk and one in the safe room.
"One concern, which is out of my hands," Gardner said. "There is a silent alarm trigger beneath the monitor table in the safe room."
"That's pretty risky," Clark said.
"We can handle it," Evan told him. He looked at Dempster. "That shouldn't be too hard, right?"
"I'm not overly concerned about it at this time," Dempster said.
"There is a small security station just above the parking garage, between the front entrance and the Old House restaurant." Gardner pointed to the left of the entryway. "Usually two or three men. They have monitors for the cameras in there too."
"So the cameras are really gonna be tricky."
"We can work it out."
"Are there cameras in the parking garage?" Dempster asked.
"No, there aren't."
"Good to know."
"Also," Gardner said, "another thing you need to be aware of is the stairway to the right of the front desk."
"Why's that? Where does it go?"
"It goes up to a computer room—a place where guests can go to check their e-mail or use a computer for whatever reason. It's available twenty-fours hours a day, but there's no staff up there after eight."
"Not much of a problem," Clark said.
"Unless a guest or two happen to come down from there unexpectedly," Jimmy said.
"What's beyond the computer room?" Dempster asked.
"The engineering area," Gardner said. "You need to enter a code on the keypad to get in, but there aren't any cameras in there."
"Can you get that code?"
"What for?"
"We need everything we can get."
Gardner glared at him for a brief moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I'll give that to you."
"How much longer before we do this, you think?"
"Oh, I'd say at least a few days," Gardner said. "maybe a week. I'll let you know when everything's right."
For the next half-hour they went over the rest of the hotel, learning more about the security systems, where the exits were, how many people were likely to be on duty on any given night.
"Okay," Dempster said, "we'll figure out more of this in the next day or two. Where's that Santa Fe map?"
Jimmy raced into the other room and returned a few seconds later unfolding it.
"Here's the Eldorado," Evan said, pointing. "On the south side here, where the entrance is, is San Francisco Street. The cross streets are Guadalupe and Sandoval, and behind the hotel is Johnson."
"I suspect we can all read," Gardner said.
"Shut up," Dempster told him.
"The fastest route," Evan continued, "I think would be to take Sandoval to Cerrillos here, then take that to St. Francis Drive. It goes all the way out to I-25, a direct shot all the way to Albuquerque."
"Those are the biggest streets in town," Clark said. "Even at two or three in the morning they've gotta have traffic, and I bet they're swarming with cops."
"This town isn't that big," Evan said. "There won't be too many cars out at that time. But you're right as far as the cops go. We'll have to make
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