Chapter 5 - What the Warehouse Was Hiding
The driver asked for a lawyer before Ellis finished introducing herself.
By evening, his attorney was discussing cooperation.
Audrey learned none of the interview details. Ellis was careful about that.
What she received was simpler.
Her name would not appear in a charging announcement.
The investigation had found evidence supporting her report.
After a day of watching strangers dissect her body beneath accusations of theft, the language felt almost painfully modest.
Marisol read the statement twice.
“This is solid,” she said. “Let solid be enough tonight.”
But tonight was the shipment.
From a temporary operations room, investigators watched the waterfront through cameras supplied by port authorities. A warrant team had already secured the original company server.
Vincent identified warehouse entrances on an old site plan.
Audrey reviewed the inventory with an authorized company representative.
Nobody gave either of them a badge.
Nobody asked them to become heroes.
At seven, a discrepancy appeared.
The container supposedly held refrigerated antibiotics.
The electric supply logs showed no continuous refrigeration.
Audrey tapped the screen.
“Those products would have spoiled.”
“Or they aren't those products,” Ellis said.
A customs specialist opened the inspection feed.
Inside the container stood pallets of medicine cartons.
A sample package came apart beneath gloved hands.
The batch numbers repeated.
The security seals peeled away intact.
Counterfeit medication.
Thousands of packages destined for clinics serving people who would have no reason to question the labels.
Vincent felt sick.
His docks.
His paperwork.
His years of assuming that keeping his distance preserved some distinction between himself and men like Dante.
“How many previous shipments?” he asked.
Ellis did not answer.
She didn't need to.
Then an alarm flashed on the warehouse feed.
Smoke.
A worker appeared near the loading doors, waving both arms.
The camera image blurred.
Vincent moved toward the screen.
“That's the old battery room.”
An officer began issuing instructions over the radio.
Audrey studied the evacuation map.
A red line marked an exit through a passage that had been walled off during renovations.
She had processed that construction invoice.
“Wait,” she said. “The posted plan is outdated. That east corridor ends at a partition.”
The officer looked at her.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. The alternate exit is behind the packing station. South wall.”
He relayed the information.
Onscreen, two workers reversed direction.
A third disappeared into smoke.
Vincent gripped the edge of the table.
“There's an exterior service door behind that station,” he said. “The latch sticks. Lift before pulling.”
A firefighter repeated the instruction into his radio.
The seconds passed without mercy.
Then the service door opened.
Three workers stumbled into rain.
Audrey released a breath she had been holding long enough to feel dizzy.
The fire crew contained the blaze before it reached the container.
Later, investigators found accelerant near archived storage boxes.
Someone had tried to destroy the paperwork.
A maintenance contractor was taken into custody near the perimeter fence.
Vincent sat down.
He could still see the third worker vanish.
A man whose name he should have known.
Audrey placed a glass of water beside him.
“His name is Luis Ortega,” she said quietly. “He has twin daughters. You approved their scholarship applications last spring.”
Vincent closed his eyes.
He remembered signing a stack of forms while Dante talked about quarterly projections.
“I want to meet him.”
“Later,” she said. “When it won't make his worst night about your feelings.”
He nodded.
It hurt because she was right.
At midnight, Ellis returned with another development.
Councilman Pike had been detained while attempting to board a private flight.
Dante remained missing.
His personal accounts had been emptied.
His apartment was vacant.
Leo looked toward Vincent.
“He's running.”
Vincent's phone vibrated on the table.
An unfamiliar number.
A voice message appeared.
Dante sounded almost cheerful.
“I built your empire while you stared at your assistant. Tomorrow, everyone learns what you really are.”
Behind his voice came a distant ship's horn.
Then a woman's voice whispered something.
Leo stood.
May you like
“Nina,” he said.
And all the relief left the room. Ellis held up one hand before anyone moved. Whatever Dante wanted them to believe, she would verify it first. Audrey watched Vincent stop himself from reaching for his coat.
