Chapter 9 - PIER 19
I did not go alone.
I was angry, not stupid.
Torres put a tracker inside my coat and tactical officers around the harbor.
Pier 19 belonged to one of my shipping companies.
At midnight it was mostly containers, wind, and sodium lights.
I found Cole tied to a chair inside an empty warehouse.
Blood on his face.
Alive.
A phone sat on the floor beside him.
It rang.
The distorted voice said, "Ask him who hired him."
I pulled the gag from Cole's mouth.
He coughed.
"Martin."
My chest tightened.
"For the cake?"
"No."
"What then?"
"To scare Gerald. Steal the trust files."
"Did you enter the cold room?"
"No."
"Your earpiece was there."
"Stolen."
"Your company got paid by Moretti Maritime."
"Years ago. Vittorio hired us."
"For what?"
"To follow Elena."
"Why?"
"She was meeting federal investigators."
The phone voice laughed softly.
Then said, "Now ask him what happened the night she died."
I had never seen a man his size look that frightened.
"We followed her car."
"Who is we?"
"Me. Another driver."
"Did you cause the crash?"
"No."
"Who did?"
The caller disconnected.
Then the warehouse lights went out.
Gunfire cracked outside.
Torres's team shouted.
I dropped behind a steel pallet.
Cole screamed.
When emergency lights came on, one side door stood open.
Someone had been watching.
Cole survived.
The shooter escaped.
Back at headquarters, Cole gave a full statement.
Vittorio had ordered Elena followed because she suspected company fraud.
Martin handled the payments.
Cole insisted Elena's crash was an accident.
Then he remembered something.
"Her brakes were already failing before we followed her."
My throat tightened.
"How do you know?"
"Her driver called our radio channel. Said she was losing pressure."
"What driver?"
"Dominic... you don't know?"
"No."
"Elena wasn't driving."
The police report said she was alone.
"There was a driver in that car."
May you like
"Who?"
"Luis Mendez."
