Chapter 2 - Four Men at the Door
Three weeks later, Harbor Logistics barely looked like the same company.
Payroll was current.
Shipping delays were down.
Sadie had organized the office.
Roman had stopped intentionally leaving invoices in random places after Sadie threatened to staple them to his forehead.
They still argued.
Constantly.
“You changed my desk.”
“I found your desk.”
“It was fine.”
“There was a motorcycle carburetor under the quarterly tax records.”
“I was fixing it.”
“In your office?”
Roman leaned against the doorway.
“You’re very judgmental.”
“You’re very disorganized.”
But Sadie had noticed something else.
Unmarked black SUVs occasionally arrived after midnight.
Roman never explained them.
Sadie never asked.
Until the copper disappeared.
Twenty-eight pallets.
No delivery confirmation.
No accounting trail.
Nearly half a million dollars in material.
She was checking the numbers for the third time when the warehouse door slammed open.
Roman immediately stopped moving.
Four men entered.
The man in front wore a gray coat.
Roman descended from the loading platform.
“Victor.”
Victor Bellini smiled.
“Roman.”
Sadie watched through the glass office wall.
Victor looked around.
“Nice place.”
“What do you want?”
“My copper.”
Roman’s expression didn’t change.
“It isn’t yours.”
“It crossed my docks.”
“And entered my warehouse.”
Victor’s smile vanished.
“You’re making this difficult.”
“No. I’m making it short.”
Sadie saw the men behind Victor spread slightly apart.
Roman noticed too.
“Leave.”
Victor glanced toward the office.
His eyes found Sadie.
“Who’s that?”
Roman stepped directly into his line of sight.
“Nobody you need to know.”
That irritated Sadie.
She came downstairs.
Roman turned sharply.
“Sadie.”
She ignored him.
“Are you Victor Bellini?”
Victor smiled.
“And you are?”
“The person trying to determine where twenty-eight pallets of copper went.”
Roman’s voice hardened.
“Go upstairs.”
“No.”
Victor laughed.
“She always like this?”
Roman looked exhausted.
“You have no idea.”
Sadie held up a manifest.
“This says the copper arrived Monday at 11:42 p.m.”
Victor’s smile faded.
“The receiving signature is fake.”
Roman turned toward her.
“What?”
“The employee ID belongs to Marcus Delaney.”
Roman frowned.
“He quit six months ago.”
“Exactly.”
Sadie looked at Victor.
“So either someone at Harbor Logistics resurrected Marcus to sign a delivery, or somebody wanted the shipment to exist on paper without ever reaching this building.”
Victor’s men exchanged glances.
Roman noticed.
So did Sadie.
Victor stepped closer.
“You should be careful with paperwork, sweetheart.”
Roman moved between them.
“Don’t call her that.”
Victor smiled.
“There he is.”
Sadie suddenly understood.
Victor hadn’t come for copper.
He had come for Roman.
To provoke him.
To make him lose control.
Roman’s hands curled into fists.
Sadie quietly said, “Roman.”
He didn’t look at her.
“Roman.”
“What?”
“You’re bleeding.”
He looked down.
One fingernail had cut into his palm.
Sadie held out a clean handkerchief.
Exactly as she had at Toscano’s.
Roman stared at it.
Then exhaled.
His fist opened.
Victor’s smile disappeared.
Roman took the handkerchief.
“Get out, Victor.”
Victor studied Sadie.
Then Roman.
“This isn’t finished.”
Roman’s voice remained calm.
“It is today.”
Victor and his men left.
The doors closed.
Sadie immediately turned.
“Who is he?”
“Someone you stay away from.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting.”
She followed Roman upstairs.
“The copper is connected to him.”
“Drop it.”
“Someone inside this company forged a manifest.”
“Sadie.”
“Someone is stealing from you.”
Roman slammed his hand against the desk.
Sadie didn’t flinch.
He looked at her.
Then at his hand.
Slowly, he lowered it.
“I said drop it.”
“Why?”
“Because my brother started asking the same questions.”
Sadie stopped.
May you like
Roman’s face went cold.
“Three weeks later, Luca was dead.”
