Chapter 5 - The Warehouse Trap
Raymond Cole ran.
Roman expected him to.
What Raymond didn’t know was that Marcus had already traced his call to Warehouse Twelve near the river.
Sadi stood in Roman’s kitchen while Roman buttoned his coat.
“You’re leaving me here.”
“Yes.”
“Again.”
“Yes.”
“That strategy didn’t work well last time.”
Roman looked at her.
“You were attacked before I knew you existed.”
“And now?”
“Now I know.”
Something in his voice made her stop.
Roman added, “Victor has people still unaccounted for. This house is safer.”
Sadi folded her arms.
“You say that like Victor wasn’t sitting in your study an hour ago.”
“He isn’t anymore.”
“Where is he?”
“Somewhere secure.”
“Is that a mafia euphemism?”
“No. It’s a basement with excellent locks.”
Sadi stared.
Roman almost smiled.
Then Ben entered.
“I’m going with you.”
“No,” Sadi and Roman said together.
They looked at each other.
Ben frowned.
“Great. You’re already a team.”
Sadi pointed at him.
“You’ve caused enough.”
“I know where Raymond hides things.”
Roman looked interested.
Ben continued.
“There’s a false wall in his office.”
“How do you know?”
“I helped install it.”
Sadi closed her eyes.
“Of course you did.”
Roman studied Ben.
“You stay beside Marcus.”
Ben nodded quickly.
Sadi raised an eyebrow.
Roman said, “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Say it.”
“Say what?”
“That I’m a hypocrite.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“You were.”
“I was thinking it loudly.”
Roman left before she could win.
Warehouse Twelve looked abandoned.
Inside, Raymond Cole was tearing through a hidden compartment when Roman entered.
“Looking for this?”
Raymond spun around.
Roman held the physical ledger.
Raymond stared.
“How—”
Ben stepped from behind Marcus.
“I moved it.”
Raymond’s face twisted.
“You.”
Ben smiled nervously.
“Me.”
Raymond lunged toward him.
Security stopped him.
Roman placed the ledger on a crate.
“Victor Hail.”
Raymond’s confidence collapsed.
“What about him?”
“He’s finished.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Explain.”
Raymond shook his head.
“You think Victor was stealing for himself?”
Roman’s expression changed.
Raymond laughed.
“He wasn’t.”
“Who was he working with?”
“You’re too late.”
“For what?”
Raymond looked toward the warehouse doors.
“For her.”
Roman froze.
Marcus already had his phone out.
“House. Answer.”
Nothing.
Roman grabbed his own phone.
“Sadi.”
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Roman looked at Raymond.
“If someone touched her—”
Raymond smiled.
“Sentimental.”
Roman’s face went cold.
Back at the mansion, Sadi had heard the kitchen window break.
She didn’t scream.
She grabbed the nearest thing available—a heavy metal pan—and moved toward the service hallway.
One of Roman’s guards appeared.
“Miss Morgan, stay behind me.”
“Where’s Dr. Bennett?”
“Upstairs.”
Lights went out.
The security system beeped.
Then stopped.
Sadi whispered, “That’s bad.”
“Yes.”
Footsteps sounded near the hall.
Sadi backed toward the pantry.
A man stepped through the doorway.
She recognized him.
Victor.
He had escaped.
His perfect suit was gone, replaced by a dark coat.
Sadi tightened her grip on the pan.
Victor smiled.
“I underestimated you.”
“Everyone keeps doing that.”
“Put it down.”
“No.”
“You’re injured.”
“And you’re old.”
Victor laughed.
“I understand why Roman likes you.”
Sadi’s expression hardened.
“He doesn’t.”
“Oh, he does.”
Victor stepped closer.
“He destroyed twenty years of family arrangements in two days because Tommy Sullivan bruised your face.”
“He did it because you betrayed him.”
“No.”
Victor’s smile faded.
“He did it because when Roman looked at you in that alley, he saw something he hasn’t seen in years.”
“What?”
“Someone who didn’t want anything from him.”
A vehicle roared outside.
Victor’s eyes shifted.
Sadi moved.
She slammed the pantry door between them and locked it.
Victor hit the other side.
“Sadi!”
She backed away.
A second later, the front doors opened.
Roman’s voice thundered through the house.
“Sadi!”
She ran toward it.
Roman appeared at the hallway entrance.
For one second, neither spoke.
Then Sadi said, “Your security needs work.”
Roman crossed the distance and stopped just before touching her.
“You’re hurt?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He exhaled.
Behind them, Marcus’s men surrounded Victor.
Victor was finished.
Roman looked at Sadi.
She looked back.
Then she said quietly, “You came back fast.”
Roman’s answer was simple.
May you like
“You were here.”
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