The Escalade stopped outside a brown townhouse that seemed as ordinary as the clothes Maya was wearing. It was almost as if someone had gone out of their way to make it look as uninteresting as possible.
“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” Will said as if he had read her mind.
Maya hesitated, her hand reaching out to touch the weathered wood of the old door. Its handcrafted motifs remained intact and seemed like wrinkles on the forehead of an old, trusted guru. A rusted metal sign adorned with a beautifully carved sparrow and an illegible English quote, hinted at forgotten secrets. Yet, the presence of a high-tech security system on the adjacent arch created a stark contrast, highlighting the mystery that lay behind the worn-out entrance.