Luna on the Run (The Carmsborough Vigilantes #1)

Chapter 15

It's well past midnight when I come to, sprawled across the ground. I'm pretty sure the only reason I wake when I do is because of how cold and wet the grass is. I don't even remember falling asleep, but a glance at my watch tells me it was nearly seven hours ago. Apparently, I needed it.

At first, I wonder why nobody messed with the random woman spread out on the damp grass in front of a business, but nobody would mess with me when I was homeless and asleep. Nicer clothes weren't going to change that.

Even this late at night, the building labeled "CB Moving Limited" is alive with activity. Another cloudship is unloading on the dock up top, and lights are spilling from windows onto the cobblestone sidewalk outside. Whatever they're really doing at CB Moving Limited, it has a third shift.

Or the third shift is the sneaky, illegal shift.

Wouldn't surprise me any.

"Well, I suppose it's time I scout the place and sneak in," I say, my voice reaching no one's ears. Why I felt the need to say it, I'll never understand.

Above me, in the sky, the moon is big and beautiful. It's just under full and waning into third quarter, or however you say it. My sole audience member for the insane break-in I'm preparing to attempt.

My first move is to tiptoe around the perimeter of the building. I spot a rear-entrance door that opens to an alley, but other than that, there's a whole lot of nothing that can help me.

So, like a normal person, I squat at the end of the alley opposite the door and stare at it, waiting for someone to emerge. When nothing happens for thirty minutes, I decide it's time to get moving.

The door creaks slightly as I open it, but nobody comes to check the noise, so I keep moving forward. I eventually slip into the building, which is a lot warmer than the chilly nighttime air, and close the door as delicately as it was opened.

"Now, onto hunting for the big man."

I take one step on the tile flooring of the storage room I'm in, and my shoes squeak from the water they collected outside. The noise is a lot louder than the door was, and I immediately go to duck behind one of the metal shelves holding large, unmarked cardboard boxes.

Once again, nobody comes to investigate, and I use the time to wipe my shoes off as best as I can with my sleeve. It's not perfect, but a few test steps prove much quieter.

Can't have a little rain getting me in trouble.

I go to leave the room, but a nagging feeling in my gut tells me to check a few of the boxes and their contents, so I run my knife across the tops of a few of them, slicing the tape. Three contain nothing but packing peanuts and small metal parts that look like they belong to machinery, but the fourth box contains gears and pipes, all a brassy-coppery color.

There's not a lot of pocket space left in my jacket, but I grab one of the larger gears and stash it away. Whether it's because it's shiny or because I want to find out more about the strange box of stuff is up for debate.

I open the next door, which leads into the main lobby of CB Moving Limited. The ceiling hangs high, meaning the second floor is a lot smaller, but seeing as the building is four stories total, there's still plenty of ground to cover.

A patrol of three armed guards near the front entrance comes into view, walking along the windows and peering out of each set, almost as if they're expecting visitors.

Expecting me.

There's no doubt word's reached them: Luna, the one who destroyed Slaphand's Plasmarizer twice, escaped the island and is back to causing havoc. They know I'm heading this way. All I've gotta do is make it seem like I haven't already arrived.