Lorenzo could see the Mornington Peninsula bubble up ahead, rapidly approaching as he drove toward it. From the outside, it appeared almost like a giant, black void with only a pinprick of bright light exiting from the single entrance.
He drove for a short while longer, before heading off the dirt track and making for a nearby cliff. Trying to find the car while driving his own would be too dangerous and take far too long. What Lorenzo needed was a good pair of night-vision binoculars and the high ground.
It took the better part of half an hour for him to find the perfect overlook – longer than he’d expected but still quick enough that he could get to a hardware store open in Bayside before they all closed. It might not end up being the one he had in mind, however, the quality of the hardware wasn’t likely to be any poorer than his usual place. Besides, if he found something to justify his suspicions, he could return without the hardware and Gideon would still thank him for a hard day’s work.
Setting up beside his car, Lorenzo looked over the underground cliff, into the endless darkness. The only light he had came from the inside of his car, given he’d left one of the doors slightly ajar. Having already gone to the Cheltenham hardware store for timber and completed half his job, Lorenzo calmly placed the night-vision binoculars to his eyes and began scanning the area around the Mornington Peninsula bubble.
The rocky landscape was starkly empty, given the black backdrop of the bubble behind it. He searched for minutes on end, a sinking feeling starting in his stomach that perhaps he was only jumping at shadows. What if he was wrong about this?
But then, he found it. A sedan parked behind a couple of boulders, barely visible. It might not have been visible at all if not for Lorenzo’s tattoo of sight, which he currently had active. He grinned to himself, ready to drive to the car.
And then a woman he’d met earlier that day entered his view, pacing toward the vehicle Lorenzo needed to prove that he was right. She was about to drive away with the only evidence.