Chapter 9 - The Mechanic’s Vault
Arthur, an eighty-year-old retired master mechanic whose spine was permanently curved from half a century beneath chassis, opened the heavy steel door just wide enough for them to slip through. The barn smelled intensely of used motor oil, kerosene, and decaying iron.
""You're a fool, Thomas,"" Arthur grunted, sliding three heavy slide bolts across the door. ""State troopers came through here an hour ago asking about a stolen transit bus and an abducted toddler. Said a driver had gone rogue.""
""They're not real troopers, Arthur,"" Thomas said, setting Lily down on an old wooden workbench beside a row of wrenches. Lily immediately became fascinated by a box of shiny brass washers, picking them up one by one. ""They took her mother. They have someone on the inside intercepting dispatch frequencies.""
Arthur walked over, leaning heavily on a cane fashioned from an iron pipe. He looked closely at Lily’s small face, his rheumy eyes narrowing as he adjusted his thick glasses. He reached out a greasy finger and gently moved aside the collar of her pink dress, revealing a tiny silver medallion hanging from a thin chain around her neck—a medallion shaped like a stylized train wheel with seven spokes.
Arthur’s breath hitched. ""Where did she get that?""
""She had it on when she walked up to my bus at the depot,"" Thomas said. ""Her mother's note said to bring her to Marcus in Blackwood. Said Marcus was her father.""
Arthur let out a long, wheezing exhale, shaking his head. ""Marcus didn't run away, Thomas. Marcus Vance was the head engineer for the Blackwood Railway Union before the private development firms bought out the waterfront. He spent two years compiling evidence that the new transport syndicate was using our cargo routes to move illicit freight across state lines.""
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The old mechanic limped over to a workbench, pulling up a heavy wooden floorboard hidden beneath a pile of old fan belts. ""Marcus disappeared six months ago because he had the master manifests. Sarah went into hiding. If they have Sarah, they only need one more thing to force Marcus out of the shadows.""
He pointed his pipe at Lily. ""Her.""
