Chapter 5 - MIDNIGHT AT THE WAREHOUSE
Naomi did not wait.
She backed away from the door, moved quickly down the service hall, and found Marcus near the kitchen.
“Vanessa’s leaving.”
“When?”
“Soon.”
“Where?”
“The Sterling warehouse.”
Marcus’s expression sharpened.
“Why?”
“Possible witness. Possible evidence. Trevor mentioned a gun.”
Marcus immediately reached for his phone.
“I’ll call police.”
“Do it.”
“You’re not going alone.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
Naomi glanced at the ballroom.
Julian was surrounded by donors.
If he knew Vanessa might be meeting someone connected to Rachel’s crash, he would insist on coming.
That was exactly why Naomi didn’t tell him.
At 10:31, Vanessa left through the hotel’s east garage.
Trevor followed in a separate SUV.
Naomi and Marcus stayed two cars behind.
Rain had started falling.
Thin at first.
Then heavy.
Naomi watched Vanessa’s taillights through the windshield.
Marcus drove.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine.”
“She kicked you pretty hard.”
“She didn’t connect.”
“I know.”
He glanced at her.
“You haven’t done field surveillance in three years.”
“I remember how roads work.”
Marcus almost smiled.
Then his expression changed.
“Naomi.”
“What?”
“Black sedan behind us.”
She checked the mirror.
Three car lengths back.
Dark windows.
No visible plate from that angle.
“Could be nothing.”
“Could be.”
The sedan remained behind them for six turns.
Naomi reached for her phone.
Then Julian called.
She stared at the screen.
Marcus sighed.
“He figured it out.”
Naomi answered.
“Julian.”
“Where are you?”
“Working.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Talk to me like I’m a client.”
“You are a client.”
“Vanessa left.”
Naomi said nothing.
“I checked the hotel garage cameras.”
“Julian—”
“I’m following her.”
Naomi closed her eyes.
Of course he was.
“Turn around.”
“No.”
“Julian.”
“She may have hurt my sister.”
“That’s exactly why you need to turn around.”
“I spent three years blaming Rachel for speeding. Three years telling her she needed to stop obsessing over the past. If Vanessa did something to her, I’m not sitting in a ballroom drinking champagne.”
Naomi looked at Marcus.
He could hear Julian through the speaker.
Marcus muttered, “Stubborn runs in the family.”
Naomi said, “Stay back. Do not approach them. If anything happens, you leave.”
Julian laughed bitterly.
“You really think I’m going to leave?”
“I think if you charge into a situation involving a gun, you may get yourself killed before your sister gets any answers.”
That stopped him.
Finally Julian said, “Fine.”
The warehouse sat in an industrial district beside the river.
Half the surrounding buildings were abandoned.
Vanessa parked near a loading dock.
Trevor parked beside her.
Naomi and Marcus stopped two hundred yards away.
The black sedan that had followed them kept going.
Naomi watched it disappear around the corner.
“Police?” she asked.
“Eight minutes out.”
“Too long.”
A third vehicle entered the lot.
Old gray pickup.
It stopped beneath a broken streetlight.
A man stepped out.
Late forties.
Baseball cap.
Heavy jacket.
He carried a small black case.
Vanessa approached him.
Trevor remained several feet behind.
His right hand was inside his coat.
Naomi and Marcus moved closer using the parked delivery trucks as cover.
Vanessa’s voice carried through the rain.
“You said you destroyed it.”
The man laughed.
“I said I deleted it.”
“You lied.”
“So did you.”
“You were paid.”
“Not enough.”
“You got fifty thousand dollars.”
“For helping cover up attempted murder?”
Naomi felt her stomach drop.
The man held up the black case.
“You want this, it’s two hundred grand.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“What’s on it?”
“You know exactly what’s on it.”
“Show me.”
He opened the case.
Inside was a laptop.
He lifted the screen.
From Naomi’s angle, she could only see flickering video.
Vanessa watched.
Her face changed.
For the first time since Naomi had met her, Vanessa looked truly afraid.
Then Trevor pulled his hand from his coat.
A gun.
Naomi moved.
“Trevor!”
Everyone turned.
Trevor raised the weapon.
Marcus shouted, “Drop it!”
Vanessa screamed.
The witness ducked behind the pickup.
Trevor swung toward Naomi.
Naomi was already moving sideways, using the concrete support column for cover.
Then a second engine roared.
Headlights blasted across the loading dock.
Julian’s car.
“No!” Naomi shouted.
Julian slammed his brakes and jumped out.
Vanessa stared at him.
“Julian?”
Trevor panicked.
The gun went off.
The shot cracked through the warehouse lot.
Julian dropped.
May you like
And Vanessa screamed his name.
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