Chapter 3 - SOMEBODY WANTED THE HARNESS
The shooting stopped as suddenly as it had started.
That scared me more than the shooting itself.
Roman made one phone call.
No greeting.
No explanation.
“Lock down three blocks. Find Vale.”
He ended the call.
“You have people who can lock down city blocks?”
I asked.
Roman looked at me.
“You sell dog treats for twelve dollars a bag.”
“Fourteen ninety-nine.”
“Exactly.”
I almost told him to get out.
Then Titan nudged my hand.
The poor animal was still shaking.
I forgot Roman for a moment.
I brought out a blanket and a bowl of water.
Titan drank.
Roman watched him.
There was something in his face I hadn’t expected.
Guilt.
“You didn’t know,” I said.
It wasn’t a question.
“No.”
“How?”
Roman’s eyes moved to the burn marks.
“I trusted the people around him.”
“That’s not the same thing as watching.”
His gaze lifted to mine.
“You always speak to strangers like this?”
“Only armed billionaires.”
The corner of his mouth almost moved.
Almost.
Then the guard returned from the front.
“Vehicle is gone.”
“Plate?”
“Stolen.”
“Vale?”
“No sign.”
Roman looked at the memory card.
“They were not shooting at random.”
I nodded.
“They wanted this.”
“Or they wanted Titan dead before anyone found it.”
The thought made my stomach turn.
Roman reached for the card.
I closed my fingers around it.
He looked at my fist.
“Nora.”
“That’s my name.”
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
His eyes hardened.
“It contains information stolen from my organization.”
“And it came into my store attached to an abused dog while men shot through my windows.”
“This is bigger than your store.”
“That stopped being true when bullets came through my window.”
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Then Roman did something unexpected.
He stepped back.
“All right.”
I blinked.
“All right?”
“We look at it together.”
“You have a laptop?”
He glanced at the shattered front room.
“You have electricity?”
“Good point.”
We used my old backup laptop and a portable battery pack from the emergency cabinet.
The card was encrypted.
Roman made another call.
Within ten minutes, a young man named Luca arrived carrying a computer case and enough nervous energy to power the entire neighborhood.
Luca looked at Titan.
Then me.
Then Roman.
“What happened?”
“Work,” Roman said.
Luca worked.
Five minutes.
Ten.
Fifteen.
Then the first file opened.
Security footage.
A warehouse.
Date stamp: two nights earlier.
The video shook slightly, like it had been recorded from a hidden body camera.
Two men stood beside a black SUV.
I recognized Adrian Vale immediately.
The second man wore a navy suit.
Roman went still.
“Who is that?” I asked.
“My chief operating officer.”
The man on-screen handed Vale an envelope.
Vale opened it.
Stacks of cash.
Then audio crackled.
“Friday night,” the COO said. “No mistakes.”
Vale nodded.
“The dog?”
“Handled.”
Roman leaned closer.
The COO continued.
“When Calder leaves the gala, there can’t be a second chance.”
My skin went cold.
I looked at Roman.
“Friday is tomorrow.”
He didn’t answer.
The video continued.
Vale laughed.
“And Owen?”
The COO looked toward the camera without knowing it was there.
“He won’t be talking.”
The file abruptly ended.
Nobody breathed.
Then Luca opened a second file.
The image showed a dock.
Warehouse numbers.
Pier 9.
My stomach dropped so fast I had to grab the table.
Roman noticed.
“What?”
I stared at the screen.
Pier 9.
May you like
A place I had spent fifteen years trying to forget.
“My father died there.”
