Dan punched the air. ‘Where did it go?’ he asked.
The dock worker pulled Dan with him and walked between two columns of containers. As they broke through the boundary, the man pointed in front of them.
‘They drove it in there.’
Dan followed where the man was pointing and found himself staring at a row of warehouses. He thanked the dock worker and ran back to where Sarah was standing.
‘Come and see this – we might be in luck yet.’
They hurried to the line of warehouses, now silhouetted in the fading light. Dan glanced round as, one by one, automatic timers switched on floodlights around the terminal and the docks were bathed in orange and white lights. Even at night, it appeared the dock activity continued, with container ships and freighters being pulled towards the terminals by tugboats, while cranes swayed backwards and forwards.
Dan and Sarah slowed as they approached the warehouses. After the disappointment of the empty container, Dan couldn’t help the excitement he felt as he stopped in front of the first set of doors.
‘Did he say which one the car went in?’ asked Sarah.
‘Third from the end. Apparently these have double doors on the other side which face the docks but that dock worker said he definitely saw a car being driven out from that container and into that warehouse through those doors down there.’
Dan began to walk towards it.
‘Wait.’ Sarah grabbed his arm. ‘Won’t it be guarded?’
Dan stopped. ‘You know, I don’t think so. I reckon Delaney’s so arrogant, he won’t think it’s necessary.’ He paused. ‘I reckon we should keep our eyes open though.’
Sarah nodded in agreement. ‘Okay. Works for me.’
They kept close to the front of the warehouses in an attempt to blend in with the shadows caused by the roof overhang and crept closer to the third building. When they got nearer, Dan pushed Sarah behind him and held up his hand. Wait.
He continued towards the third warehouse without her until he was outside the huge double doors. They were simple, made of corrugated iron with a chain wrapped through the handles which was secured with a padlock.
Sarah crept closer to him. ‘Do that trick with the lock, like you did at Delaney’s place in Brisbane,’ she whispered.
Dan rolled his eyes. He had known he was going to pay for that piece of luck. Shrugging, he reached into his jeans pocket for the small multi-tool and flipped it open at random.
‘Watch my back,’ he said to Sarah, ‘Because this is going to look really suspicious.’
She nodded and turned away from him.
Dan closed his eyes, offered a prayer to a god he didn’t believe in and set to work. Twisting the small metal implement left and right in the padlock, he raised his eyebrows in surprise as he felt the mechanism give, then watched as the padlock slipped open. He glanced at the heavens in a silent salute and turned to Sarah.
‘We’re in.’
He pushed the switch for the warehouse door and it groaned open. As the beams from the dockside floodlights filtered through the dark interior, Sarah gasped. The warehouse was full of cars – hundreds of them. They walked into the entrance of the warehouse.
Sarah put her hands on her hips and turned to Dan. ‘Okay, now what?’
He ran his hand through his hair, exasperated. ‘Shit! It’s got to be here somewhere!’ He narrowed his eyes, squinting in the dim light. ‘Okay, first let’s find some lights.’
Sarah ran back to the warehouse door and scanned the bank of switches. ‘Here goes – try this.’
A bank of fluorescent lights began to flicker on in sequence along the ceiling of the warehouse. It seemed to take forever.
Sarah gaped up at the ceiling as the lights went on. ‘Jesus – how big is this place, Dan? This is going to take forever!’
‘The only way we’re going to find it is to split up,’ he said. ‘Dial my mobile and keep your phone connected – if there’s any problem or you find something, you can say so straight away.’
Sarah nodded, turned towards the left-hand side of the warehouse and walked away, checking the cars parked either side of her.
Dan turned and began walking along the right-hand side of the warehouse. As he walked, he looked left and right – it had to be here, had to be. He glanced up and saw Sarah walking alongside the opposite wall. He assumed she had the same stunned expression on his face. There were just so many vehicles. All different makes, models, configurations, colours. Parked end to end in row upon row, all the way through the building.
Sarah’s voice crackled over his mobile. Dan held it up to his ear. ‘Say again?’
‘I said – are all of these privately owned?’ Sarah asked.
He looked around. ‘Yes. The ones going to dealerships are parked on the dockside by the stevedores as soon as they arrive so the car transporters can be loaded up.’
He dropped the phone back into his shirt pocket and glanced up. Sarah was making good progress, gradually disappearing into the shadowed bowels of the far end of the warehouse. Dan sighed, looked at the cars surrounding him and dreamed about test driving just one of them.
He scuffed along the narrow path between vehicles, careful not to brush against any in case he set off an alarm. He frowned as he approached a low-slung silver sports sedan. It seemed to have more space around it than the others.
As he got closer, he saw the sports car straddled two parking bays. He walked past it, checked the angle and walked back. He crouched down and peered underneath.
A dark pool of liquid behind the front wheel to his right caught his attention as it captured the reflection of the warehouse lights. Crouching down on his hands and knees, Dan stretched his left hand under the car and dabbed his finger in the viscous liquid. He drew his hand back and stared at his finger.
Engine oil.