Chapter 14 - THE ABANDONED DOCKThe shipping yard was a graveyard of rusted metal containers and skeletal cranes standing like giant prehistoric beasts against the dark night sky.
Luca’s vehicle pulled up beside mine near Pier 4. He stepped out, adjusting his leather jacket against the biting wind, his face grim.
"My security team traced that IP address," Luca said, walking over as I stepped out of the SUV. "It's clean on the surface, but satellite thermal imaging shows movement inside Warehouse B. At least three individuals."
"They're looking for the secondary ledger," I said, pulling my coat tighter around myself. "Vance must have had a backup stash hidden away from federal eyes—something that implicates not just Ryan, but half the political establishment in New York."
"If that gets out, or if someone else gets their hands on it to blackmail our board, it could destabilize half our portfolio," Luca said, his eyes narrowing. "We go in through the side loading bay. Quietly."
We moved through the shadows with practiced discipline. The heavy metal door of Warehouse B was already cracked open, a faint sliver of yellow light spilling onto the oil-stained concrete outside.
We slipped inside, hugging the shadows of towering stacks of wooden crates.
In the center of the warehouse, illuminated by a single halogen work light, stood a battered steel safe embedded in the concrete floor.
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And standing over it wasn't a stranger.
It was Vanessa Hart.
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