Page 100 of The Mech Who Loved Me
It was the key to finding Ulbricht. Or thedhampir. Or whoever had killed MajorWinthrop.
It was during their fifth visit they finally struck gold. Kincaid had decided to ride his velococycle again, insisting she cling to the back of him in a set of split skirts Gemma provided. He pulled up out the front of an importer near the docks, eyeing the huge warehouse, and Ava scrambled off the velococycle in a mad rush. She still wasn't usedtoit.
"Relax," he told her. "I barely shifted out ofsecondgear."
"You are utterly mad! You— That thing— We nearly hit a carriage." And as far as carriage-driven collisions went, she felt like she'd had her fair share ofalmosts.
He turned the engine off, eyes twinkling as he lifted his goggles. "They're the latest rage in the streets, Ava. Every man will be ridingonesoon."
She growled deep in her throat, and then faced the building. "Mr. Leicester and Sons. He imports rare items from the White Court, India, and Nepal. Furniture, rare books, decorative hangings, timberwork. Malloryn suspects the furniture covers an opium smugglingoperation."
Kincaid dragged off his leather gloves, examining the place. "One guard by the look of it. Shall wegoin?"
"What?" she challenged, swinging her parasol. "No questions about megettinghurt?"
"I've seen that parasol in action," he pointed out. "And while I would like to keep you safe from harm, Ava, leaving you behind would be counterintuitive to our case. I need that big, intelligent brain of yours to pick apart the truth." He glanced around. "There's a feeling in the streets today, as if one catastrophic spark will unleash a torrent of fury. I just.... We're running out of time. I want to stop this war before itbegins."
He looked so earnest. But those would be his friends out there in the streets, all the humanists he'd once knownandled.
"I want to stop it too," she said quietly, foreveryone'ssake, not just thehumans.
"Then let's find our murderous mushroom." Kincaid led the way. "I can't believe I justsaidthat."
Avasmiled.
Inside the factory, several men used cranes to manipulate large crates. The noise was enormous, and one fellow directed them toward the office. "Mr. Leicester will know if we've imported any of the items you wanttobuy."
They changeddirection.
A man caught her eye, quickly looking awayfromher.
"Do the men seem to be staring a little more than usual?" Ava murmured, clutching herparasol.
Kincaid looked around, moving closer to her. "Do you have your pistolonyou?"
She blinked up at him. "Yes." But the idea of firing it at someone was completely different from trying to hit a target. She wasn't certain she had itinher.
"Keep moving," he told her. "You're right. They arewatchingus."
All the hairs on the back of her neck lifted. Ava swallowed, and marched behind him. Behind the glass windows of the office, a man was leaning over a desk, marking things off on a sheet of paper. He saw them coming and froze, his weedy little mustachequivering.
Ava swept ahead of Kincaid with a pleasant smile. "Good morning, sir. Mr. Leicester, Ipresume?"
Mr. Leicester was sweating in his beige cardigan. "Ah, good morning, ma'am. How may Ihelpyou?"
"We're looking for something," Kincaid said, moving around the desk and glancing at the papers strewn all over it. "Perhaps you couldhelpus?"
Ava tugged her Nighthawks badge out from inside her reticule, showing it to the man. "Do you know whatthisis?"
His face paled, and then he took offrunning.
Ava stepped back in surprise.What on—"Afterhim!"
Kincaid took two steps, ripped the lid off a nearby crate, and threw it discus-style toward the fleeing man. He went down, and Kincaid hurried after him, stomping a foot in the middle of his back when the fellow tried to flee. "I'm not much for speed," he told her, reaching down and flipping Mr. Leicester over. "Why'dyourun?"
"P-pardon," the man said. "I didn't... I panicked. I just.... I meant no harmbyit."
Kincaid circled him slowly, and with his leather coat clinging to those broad shoulders and his thick brows drawn together, he looked quite menacing. "In my experience, innocent men don'trun.Ava?"
