Chapter 4 - The Deal at Pier 16
Owen Pike was found before sunrise.
He had gone to a motel near the airport.
He looked less like Meridian’s powerful security chief now and more like a man who knew both sides wanted him dead.
Elena placed a coffee in front of him.
Pike stared at it.
“What is this?”
“Coffee.”
“I can see that.”
“You expected Nico to threaten you.”
Pike glanced at Nico.
“Yes.”
Elena sat opposite him.
“I’m offering you something worse.”
“What?”
“A choice.”
She placed photographs of the falsified routes on the table.
“You testify.”
Pike laughed.
“Against Graham Vale?”
“Against all of them.”
“You have no idea who those people are.”
“I was going to marry one.”
Pike stopped laughing.
Elena continued.
“Tessa is being held because you helped falsify records.”
“I never touched her.”
“But you helped create the system that made her dangerous.”
Pike looked away.
“Where’s the logger?” Elena asked.
After a long silence, Pike answered.
“Safe deposit box.”
Nico leaned forward.
“Get it.”
Pike shook his head.
“It won’t matter.”
“Why?”
“Because the logger proves nineteen missing minutes. It doesn’t prove what happened during them.”
Elena smiled slightly.
“It doesn’t need to.”
Pike frowned.
“The original logger contains the truck’s complete GPS handshake history.”
Now Pike understood.
Elena continued.
“It records where the refrigeration unit connected to Meridian’s network. If the truck stopped at an unauthorized warehouse, we can prove it.”
Pike stared at her.
“You designed that?”
“Yes.”
“Adrien said—”
“I know what Adrien said.”
At 9:53 a.m., Elena arrived at Pier 16.
Alone.
At least she appeared alone.
Adrien waited inside the warehouse with Graham and Commissioner Shaw.
Tessa sat behind them.
Her hands were free.
But two guards stood nearby.
Adrien smiled when Elena entered.
“You came.”
“For Tessa.”
“Not for me?”
“That question would be embarrassing even if you weren’t holding someone hostage.”
Graham stepped forward.
“The logger.”
Elena held it up.
“Release Tessa.”
Shaw spoke.
“You don’t understand the consequences of what you’re doing.”
Elena looked at her.
“You stole emergency funds.”
“We redirected resources.”
“You billed taxpayers for shipments that didn’t exist.”
“Those contracts kept hundreds employed.”
Tessa shouted, “People lost medicine!”
Graham turned sharply.
“Be quiet.”
Elena stared at him.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The part you never put on the gala screen.”
Adrien walked toward Elena.
“Give me the logger.”
“Why did you choose me?”
He stopped.
“Excuse me?”
“You could’ve stolen anyone’s credentials.”
Adrien’s face softened.
“Because yours were trusted.”
Elena absorbed the answer.
Not because he loved her.
Because the system trusted her.
“You proposed to me because of Blue Line?”
Adrien said nothing.
That was enough.
Elena handed him the logger.
Nico’s voice suddenly came through a hidden receiver in her ear.
“Got it.”
Adrien looked down.
The logger’s light flashed.
Green.
Elena smiled.
Adrien’s expression changed.
“What did you do?”
“You just authenticated it.”
He stared at her.
“The logger was locked to Meridian executive credentials. I needed someone with authorization to open the encrypted history.”
Graham shouted, “Take her phone!”
The warehouse doors exploded open.
Not with gunfire.
With headlights.
SUV after SUV rolled inside.
Nico stepped from the first.
Adrien grabbed Elena’s arm.
“You brought Russo?”
Elena pulled free.
“No.”
She looked toward Nico.
“I brought witnesses.”
Behind the Russo vehicles came state investigators and federal agents.
Commissioner Shaw went pale.
“What is this?”
Nico smiled.
“Procurement fraud tends to interest people.”
Graham backed away.
“You have nothing.”
Elena held up her phone.
“The logger uploaded everything the second Adrien authenticated it.”
Tessa ran toward Elena.
Adrien stood completely still.
Then his expression changed.
May you like
He looked toward a side door.
And ran.
