Darkness Splintered(47)

Which is precisely what we did. After more than an hour of walking up and down both levels of the building, we found precisely nothing.

 

"Damn it!" He thrust a hand through his dark hair. "There has to be a reason he hid the coordinates of this place."

 

"Obviously." I plonked down on the windowsill and rubbed my arms. "But maybe you need to be a sorcerer to find it."

 

"Fat lot of good that does us when neither of us are."

 

No, but Ilianna, while not a sorcerer, might be able to see what we could not. I hated the thought of dragging her here, but I really couldn't see what other choice we had.

 

"Maybe we need to tackle this from another angle." Jak crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. "I could search public records, see who owns the place, and track them down. And in the meantime, we could keep a watch on the place."

 

"A physical watch would be too noticeable. The area isn't exactly a hive of activity."

 

"What about Stane? He owns an electronics shop, doesn't he? Couldn't he get you a camera or something?"

 

Stane could get me a whole lot more than just a camera, thanks to the fact the shop was a cover for his black marketeering business.

 

"Good idea." I glanced at my watch. We'd wasted a whole two hours and gained absolutely nothing – nothing except moving Mirri two hours closer to death. Frustration and anger surged anew, but there was little I could do but ignore it and keep on searching. I pushed myself off the sill and headed for the stairs. "Right now, I need to go home. I have to get to that damn meeting."

 

He followed me. "You want me to drop you off, or are you going to get there under your own steam?"

 

"You can drive me, if you wouldn't mind. Becoming Aedh drains the hell out of me."

 

"Which probably explains why you're so damn thin these days." He held out a hand. "Sweater. Don't want it wrecked."

 

I hauled it off and handed it over. He studied me for several seconds, his gaze lingering on my breasts, then he sighed again. "Do you know how hard it is not to touch right now?"

 

I resisted the urge to glance down and see for myself just how hard it was. "Will you just get out the window."