Chapter 4 - PIER 9
Roman turned toward me.
“When?”
“Fifteen years ago.”
His expression shifted.
“The Hayes fire?”
I froze.
“You know about it?”
“Yes.”
“Of course you do.”
My voice came out sharper than I intended.
“Calder Shipping owned the warehouse.”
Roman said nothing.
“My father was Daniel Hayes.”
“I know the name.”
That made me angrier.
“You know the name?”
“Nora—”
“He was a safety inspector. He reported faulty electrical systems, blocked exits, illegal chemical storage. Three weeks later, Pier 9 burned.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“Four men died.”
“My father was one of them.”
Titan pressed against my knee.
I didn’t realize my hands were shaking until his body touched mine.
Roman looked back at the screen.
“I was nineteen.”
“You still inherited the company.”
“I inherited a graveyard with a profit statement.”
“That sounds convenient.”
Luca quietly moved away from the laptop.
Smart man.
Roman faced me fully.
“You think I killed your father?”
“I think rich families have a remarkable talent for surviving disasters other people die in.”
His face changed.
Not anger.
Something heavier.
“You’re right about that.”
That answer took some of the air out of me.
Before I could respond, Titan stood.
His head lifted.
Roman immediately noticed.
“What?”
Titan walked toward the stockroom door.
Sniffed.
Growled.
Then scratched the floor.
“Someone’s outside,” I whispered.
Roman drew a handgun from beneath his jacket.
I stared.
“You carry that everywhere?”
“I’m beginning to think I don’t carry enough.”
There was a scraping noise at the rear entrance.
Roman motioned to Luca.
“Kill the light.”
Darkness.
The doorknob turned.
Once.
Twice.
Then stopped.
We waited.
Thirty seconds.
A minute.
Nothing.
Roman moved toward the door.
I grabbed his sleeve.
“Don’t.”
He looked at my hand.
Then at me.
“You planning to keep telling me what to do?”
“Apparently nobody else does.”
Titan suddenly ran to the opposite wall.
He barked at a stack of feed bags.
“What is it?”
I moved the bags.
Behind them was a small vent leading into the alley.
Something blinked inside.
A tiny red light.
Roman crouched beside it.
“A camera.”
Someone had planted it while we were hiding.
Which meant someone knew exactly where we were.
Roman ripped it out.
A second later, his phone buzzed.
He looked at the screen.
His face changed.
“What?”
I asked.
He showed me.
A photograph.
Taken seconds earlier through the vent.
Me.
Roman.
Titan.
Underneath were six words.
GIVE US THE CARD OR SHE DIES.
I stared at my own face.
Roman’s voice became dangerously calm.
“You’re coming with me.”
“Absolutely not.”
“They know you.”
“This is my store.”
“They just threatened to kill you.”
“So?”
He stared at me like I was insane.
“So I’m taking you somewhere secure.”
“I don’t even know you.”
Titan walked over and sat on my foot again.
Roman looked down.
May you like
Then back at me.
“Unfortunately,” he said, “my dog appears to have made the introduction permanent.”
