Chapter 4 - SOMEONE WANTED THE WITNESS DEAD
The first shot shattered a warehouse window.
Mercer shoved me behind the armored vehicle.
“Down!”
I hit the gravel.
Raphael moved faster than a man with broken ribs had any right to.
Dante pulled him behind the SUV.
Local security returned fire toward the upper windows.
I heard Mercer yelling commands.
Then silence.
Not peace.
Waiting.
Someone inside shouted in Nepali.
One of our interpreters answered.
I caught only pieces.
Hostage.
Leave.
No approach.
Anil.
Mercer crouched beside me.
“You stay here.”
“I know.”
He looked suspicious.
“You said that too easily.”
“I occasionally learn.”
“Write down the date.”
Raphael crossed behind the vehicle toward us.
Mercer blocked him.
“No.”
“My man knows the rear entrance.”
“How?”
Raphael looked at Dante.
Dante answered.
“Veseri Global leased this facility eighteen months ago.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
Raphael’s eyes darkened.
“For overflow freight.”
Mercer stared at him.
“You didn't think that was relevant?”
“I learned it four minutes ago.”
Another shot.
Then a scream from inside.
My body reacted before permission.
I moved.
Mercer grabbed my vest.
“No.”
“That was Anil.”
“You don't know that.”
“I know pain.”
“Tessa.”
Another cry.
Then nothing.
I looked at Mercer.
He swore.
“Stay behind me.”
We moved around the loading dock under cover.
A rear service door stood partly open.
No guard.
That worried me more than a locked door.
Dante went first.
Mercer second.
I stayed behind both.
Inside smelled like rust, oil and damp cardboard.
Rows of abandoned racks stretched into darkness.
Then I saw them.
Medical boxes.
Hundreds.
Stacked six feet high.
The same labels as the empty crates.
Antibiotics.
Sterile dressings.
Insulin.
Pain medication.
All donated.
All stolen.
Raphael stopped beside me.
His face became terrifyingly calm.
“This came through my company.”
“Yes.”
“I see that.”
He touched one box as if it had personally insulted him.
Mercer whispered:
“Focus.”
We heard movement.
Dante raised his weapon.
Then a man ran between the racks.
Local security pursued.
Another shot.
I dropped.
Mercer moved.
Dante moved.
Raphael didn’t.
He was staring at something beyond the boxes.
A Veseri Global seal on an interior office door.
Not counterfeit.
Real.
He whispered:
“Luca.”
I heard the name.
So did Mercer.
Before either of us could ask, another sound came from behind the office.
A chair scraping.
I ran toward it.
“Tessa!”
I ignored them.
We found Anil in a side room.
Bound.
Bleeding.
Alive.
I dropped beside him.
“Anil.”
His eyes opened.
“Major.”
“I’m here.”
He tried to speak.
“Don’t.”
“Truck…”
“I know.”
“Third truck.”
“Yes.”
His hand grabbed my sleeve.
“Not only medicine.”
I looked at him.
“What else?”
His face twisted.
“People.”
My blood went cold.
“What people?”
Before he could answer, Mercer shouted.
“MOVE!”
He hit me from the side.
A bullet struck the metal cabinet where my head had been.
Dante fired toward the doorway.
A body fell.
Raphael appeared behind him.
Everything happened in seconds.
Then silence returned.
I looked at the bullet hole.
Chest height.
Exactly where I had been kneeling upright.
Not random.
Not warning.
Someone had aimed for me.
Raphael saw it too.
His face changed.
“Tessa.”
“I’m fine.”
He knelt despite the pain in his side.
His hand closed around my arm.
Too tight.
“You were almost killed.”
“So were you yesterday.”
“That is not the same.”
“Why?”
“Because—”
He stopped.
For once, Raphael Veseri had no answer ready.
Mercer interrupted.
“Romantic existential crisis later.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
He turned away.
I treated Anil.
Local security secured three suspects.
Two escaped through the rear.
The dead shooter had no identification.
But the phone in his pocket did.
Dante unlocked it.
One recent message.
If Ward sees the inventory, she does not leave the building.
Raphael read it twice.
Then his eyes moved toward his own men.
Every person in the room seemed to understand the implication.
Someone inside Raphael’s network knew who I was.
Knew where I would be.
Knew enough to order my death.
Anil was carried outside.
I followed.
Raphael caught my wrist.
I looked down.
Then up.
His hand loosened immediately.
“Sorry.”
That word from him surprised me.
“What?”
“You’re leaving the camp.”
“No.”
“Tessa.”
“We've covered this.”
“This is different.”
“Because someone shot at me?”
“Yes.”
“People shoot at military medical teams sometimes.”
“That does not make me feel better.”
“It wasn't intended to.”
He stared at me.
“I can protect you.”
“I have protection.”
He glanced toward Mercer.
Mercer raised one eyebrow.
Raphael conceded:
“Some protection.”
“Careful.”
For the first time, Mercer smiled.
Then Anil called my name from the stretcher.
I went to him.
He was weak but conscious.
“People,” I reminded him. “What did you mean?”
He looked toward Raphael.
Fear returned.
Raphael crouched several feet away.
Anil whispered:
“Third truck did not carry medicine.”
“What did it carry?”
Anil’s eyes filled.
“Girls.”
The air seemed to leave the yard.
“How many?”
“Six.”
“From where?”
“Villages after quake.”
My stomach turned.
Raphael went completely still.
This wasn't stolen medicine anymore.
It was trafficking.
Under the cover of disaster.
Using humanitarian convoys.
Using his company.
Anil grabbed my hand.
“One girl had red scarf.”
His voice broke.
“She begged me.”
I squeezed his fingers.
“We’ll find them.”
Behind me Raphael said:
“Yes.”
The word was quiet.
Absolute.
I turned.
I had seen Raphael wounded.
Arrogant.
Amused.
I had never seen him angry.
Real anger in powerful men is often quieter than shouting.
His face had become almost expressionless.
He looked at Dante.
“Find Luca Orsini.”
Dante nodded.
“Alive?”
Raphael’s eyes met mine.
Then he answered:
“Alive.”
For my sake, I realized.
Not his.
Because he knew I would not tolerate execution.
That should have reassured me.
Instead, it frightened me.
May you like
Because I was beginning to understand how much power Raphael Veseri actually had.
And how much he was already allowing me to influence it.
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