The warehouse lay in a part of town that had been hit especially hard by the Pulse. Ten years of financial ruin on top of already-intense poverty meant nobody legal had lived there for years. The place was a breeding ground for those eager to take advantage of the large, empty quarters for their own off-the-books empires. Just the sort of place that would draw Eyes Only's attention.
Sketchy would never deliver here, Max thought, and smiled. The smile didn't last long, though. Lemkin probably had Logan in one of these so-called buildings and he wouldn't waste any time getting what he wanted.
That meant Max couldn't waste any time either.
She cut the engine a few buildings away. Stowing her baby behind a dumpster, she crept toward the warehouse and peeked through the broken corner of a filthy window pane. Crowded in the far corner were several people, arguing about something. Normally it would have been easy for her to pick up on their conversation, but normally she didn't have two burly uniformed guards suddenly in her face, blocking her view. She felt more guards grab her from behind and spin her around.
"What are you doing here?" one of them demanded.
"You tell me," she spat back. "Where is he?"
"Yeah, like I'm just gonna tell you anything you want to know. You're leaving." Then the guards made the mistake of yanking on her arm. In an instant she had them lying on the ground, writhing in pain.
"Not until I get what I came for. You can tell me where he is, or I'll find him myself and you can spend the rest of the year limping."
"Cale's not here, for Pete's sake. He's in the other building across town. 46th and Harvey." Max's heart lept into her throat. Across town! Why had she assumed he was in the warehouse? Why hadn't she taken time to check some more files?
The last guard fell into unconsciousness. Max ran back to her Ninja, revved her up, and took off in a cloud of dust and grime. Logan, hang on...Don't let Lemkin do anything to you before I get there...God, please...
A Mazda convertible suddenly swung out from behind the warehouse and swerved in front of her, forcing her to slam on her brakes, which screeched in protest. Pissed off and panicky, she let out a curse word before realizing whom she had seen at the wheel. It was the man who had escorted her out of Lemkin's place a while ago while she had been doing reconnaissance.
"Pee outside," Lemkin had told her, and then she had gotten a faceful of the same mug she had seen just now.
Max laid on the gas and followed him. He could lead me straight to Lemkin! Any quicker I can get to Logan, the better. Suddenly it occurred to her that this guy might know why Eyes Only was being held, and what Lemkin had in mind for him. She would have a bigger advantage if she went in prepared.
This guy was gonna help her do it...whether he knew it or not.
Max increased her speed, wind flying through her hair, until she was in the convertible's blind spot. With one great burst of speed she passed the car and turned directly in front of it. The driver slammed on the brakes and yanked the wheel to avoid her, causing the car to screech and lean on two wheels as it rotated. Max was off the bike and at the car before its other two wheels finally slammed to the ground. It only took her seconds to pull the driver halfway out the window by the collar of his shirt.
"You're gonna take me to your boss and tell me why he's holding Eyes Only. And you're gonna do it now," she hissed through clenched teeth.
"Eyes Only? What are you talking about?" he sputtered, trying in vain to free himself from her grasp. "What does Eyes Only have to do with my boss?"
"You tell me." A twist of the wrist and he was struggling to breathe. "What's Lemkin doing?"
"Making license plates and making sure he doesn't drop the soap, for all I know."
"What?"
"I don't keep tabs on him in while he's in prison. What, you think he paid me enough to care? I'd be driving my own damn convertible if he did. Boss gets busted for running false IDs at the sector checkpoints and I'm reduced to jacking cars for cash. He can kiss my ass if it's loyalty he wants."
Max had heard enough. "Get out of the car."
He didn't even have time to argue before she was pulling him the rest of the way out the window and tossing him on his butt in the street. All he could do was sit there in slack-jawed disbelief as the car retreated.