He touched my back, guiding me out of the house and into his car.
“That doesn’t mean they’re not there,” I said, once he’d climbed into the driver’s seat.
“I know. It would be nice, however, if just once we could enter a building without getting attacked.”
“Amen to that,” I muttered. Hell, it would be nice if just once we caught a decent break. Maybe even a decent clue or two.
Mirri’s life might just depend on it.
It took us just over half an hour to scoot across to Maribyrnong. The old defense site was easy enough to find, although much of it was now warehouses in various states of ill repair. Jak wound his way through the estate until we’d reached the coordinates, and parked up the road from a line of boxlike concrete buildings. There were no cars other than Jak’s in this immediate area, and all the warehouses seemed empty of movement or life.
“It’s the unmarked one in the middle.” Jak crossed his arms on the steering wheel and studied the building through the windshield. “It looks harmless.”
“So did the first one.”
“True that.”
I opened the door and climbed out of the car. The air swirled around me, rich with the scent of humanity. There was no one close, though. These warehouses were definitely as empty as they looked.
Jak came around the back of the car and halted beside me, the sheathed knife gripped firmly in his right hand. “The lady with the psychic skills may lead the way.”
I smiled and walked down to the warehouse. It was a two-story structure, with small, evenly spaced windows lining both levels. The bottom ones were protected by metal bars, but not the top. I couldn’t see anything unusual or out of place, yet tension crawled through me. Maybe it was just the expectation of trouble rather than the sense that anything lay in wait.
The double gates were padlocked but there didn’t seem to be any other security measures in place. No cameras or sensors, anyway. Amaya could have dealt with the padlock easily enough, but that would tell whoever owned the building someone had been here.
“Looks like we’re climbing over,” I said. “And no looking up the dress.”
His grin was decidedly cheeky. “Would I do something like that?”
“In a heartbeat.”
“I’m mortified you think me so uncouth.”
I rolled my eyes. “Will you just get over the fucking gate?”
He grinned and leapt up, grabbing the top of the gate and hauling himself over. I was right on his tail, landing beside him in a half crouch as I scanned the building again. Still no sense of anything untoward.
I rose and padded forward. There were pigeons strutting about on the roof, but little else moved.
The main entrance was on the side of the building, near the large loading bay. The door was locked, as were the bay doors.
“Now what?” Jak said.
I studied the side of the building, then said, “Maybe we should check the windows around the back.”
He frowned. “The windows are barred, and not even you’re skinny enough to squeeze through them.”
“The top ones aren’t. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find one open.”
He snorted. “Since when has luck been on our side?”
There was that. We checked anyway and, as it turned out, lady luck had obviously decided to throw us a small morsel. One of the rear top windows was open an inch or so.
Jak eyed it dubiously. “I’m gathering you’re going to use your magic trick to get up there?”
“Yeah.” I hauled off my dress and handed it to him. I’d already destroyed one set of clothes today – I wasn’t about to destroy another. “I’ll get you in if I can.”
His gaze skimmed me; then he sighed. “As lovely as ever. I really am an idiot, aren’t I?”