Chapter 8 - The Warehouse Beside the River
Nora agreed to go alone.
No one allowed her to.
Claire threatened to lock her inside the archive. Marcus said the kidnappers would expect surveillance. Adrian warned that the warehouse had multiple entrances and underground loading tunnels.
Nora listened to all of them.
Then she said, “They took Mateo because he helped me. I’m not leaving him there.”
Marcus created a plan.
Nora would carry the Witness Necklace inside its velvet pouch. A tracker would be hidden beneath the clasp. Marcus and two trusted officers would approach through the river road. Adrian would use an old Aurelia access map to enter through the loading tunnel.
Claire would remain in the vehicle.
She objected until Nora reminded her that someone needed to preserve the evidence if they failed.
The warehouse stood beside the river like the skeleton of a dead factory.
Broken windows reflected the moonlight. Rusted loading cranes leaned over the water. The main doors had been chained open.
Nora entered at 1:51 a.m.
Her footsteps echoed across the concrete floor.
Mateo sat beneath a hanging lamp near the center of the building. His hands were tied, but he appeared uninjured.
A masked figure stood behind him.
The figure wore the torn green jacket.
“Stop there,” the figure said.
The voice was electronically distorted.
Nora held up the velvet pouch.
“I brought it.”
“Place it on the floor.”
“Release Mateo first.”
“You are not in a position to negotiate.”
Nora looked around.
Metal walkways crossed the ceiling. Old crates formed dark corridors along both sides of the warehouse.
“Lydia sent you?”
The figure did not answer.
“You planted the necklace in my bag.”
“Place it on the floor.”
“Why did my mother call it the Witness?”
The figure’s head turned slightly.
That small reaction told Nora the person knew the answer.
“She made it to carry evidence,” Nora continued. “The necklace was supposed to reach someone innocent.”
“Your mother made many mistakes.”
“Did she make the mistake of trusting you?”
The figure stepped forward.
Nora saw the silver Crownfire cuff button.
A thin cut crossed the exposed wrist where the jacket sleeve had torn.
“You should have stayed away from Aurelia,” the figure said.
“You invited me.”
“No. Lydia invited you.”
The answer surprised Nora.
“Then you aren’t working for her.”
“I am trying to prevent her from finding what Evelyn hid.”
“By kidnapping Mateo?”
“Your friend followed me into the parking structure. I could not allow him to identify me.”
Mateo lifted his head.
“Nora, don’t give them the necklace.”
The figure struck the back of his chair, not Mateo, but the sound echoed violently.
“Be quiet.”
Nora lowered the pouch toward the floor.
A red light blinked beneath the metal walkway.
The tracker signal.
Marcus and the officers were close.
The masked figure noticed Nora’s glance.
“You brought them.”
A second person emerged from the shadows behind Mateo.
Simon Grant.
The retired detective carried a pistol pointed toward the floor.
Nora’s heart stopped.
Grant removed the tracker from beneath the necklace clasp and crushed it with his shoe.
“You are as reckless as your mother,” he said.
“Where is she?”
Grant smiled.
“You still think she drowned?”
The masked figure turned toward him.
“That was not part of the agreement.”
“Plans change.”
Grant took the pouch from Nora and examined the necklace.
“Eighteen years,” he said. “All because Evelyn thought she could hide a ledger inside a piece of jewelry.”
“Open it,” Nora said.
Grant’s eyes narrowed.
“You know how?”
“No.”
He carried the necklace to a portable worktable. Three lamps had been arranged above it.
White.
Ultraviolet.
Infrared.
Grant positioned the necklace beneath them.
Symbols appeared around the blue stone.
The masked figure removed a small metal lens and placed it over the clasp.
Claire’s stolen Crownfire lens.
Grant rotated the blue center stone.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was a microfilm capsule.
Before he could remove it, the warehouse lights went out.
Nora dropped to the floor.
A gunshot struck a metal beam overhead.
Marcus shouted from the loading tunnel.
Officers entered from both sides.
Nora crawled toward Mateo and pulled at the ropes around his wrists. The masked figure ran toward the river exit. Grant seized the necklace and disappeared among the crates.
Adrian reached the worktable.
“The capsule is gone.”
“Grant has it,” Nora said.
Marcus pursued him toward the loading dock.
Mateo finally freed one hand.
“Nora, the masked person wasn’t trying to hurt me.”
“They tied you to a chair.”
“They also stopped Grant from questioning me.”
“What did you see in the parking structure?”
Mateo looked toward the river exit.
“A woman took off the green jacket before putting on the mask.”
“Who?”
A vehicle engine roared outside.
The warehouse doors shook.
Marcus returned moments later.
“Grant escaped by boat.”
“What about the masked woman?”
“Gone.”
Mateo stood unsteadily.
“I know who she is.”
Before he could say the name, Adrian called from beside the Crownfire table.
He had found a torn strip of microfilm caught inside the necklace compartment.
Only one line remained visible.
PAYMENTS AUTHORIZED BY L. CROSS AND C. HALE.
May you like
Claire Hale.
Nora’s aunt.
