Chapter 2 - The Fire at Warehouse Nine
The warehouse burned like a giant furnace against the midnight sky.
Flames pushed through broken windows.
Black smoke rolled above the roof.
Fire trucks blocked half the street.
Dominic stepped out of the SUV before it had fully stopped.
"Adrian!"
He ran toward the barricade.
Daniel caught his arm.
"Boss, you can't go in."
"That's my brother."
"And that's exactly why you can't."
Dominic shoved him away.
Then an exhausted firefighter emerged from the smoke.
"We found one man."
Dominic rushed forward.
"Who?"
The firefighter shook his head.
"We're not sure yet."
A stretcher came through.
The man's clothes were burned.
His face was covered.
Dominic froze.
"Adrian."
He dropped beside the stretcher.
"Hey."
The man coughed.
"Dominic?"
Relief flashed across Dominic's face.
Then Adrian coughed again.
"Get... me..."
"What?"
"Out."
Dominic looked up.
"Move him."
The firefighter's eyes widened.
"We need to get him to the ambulance."
"Then do it."
Mave remained beside the SUV.
She could hear people shouting.
Could smell smoke.
Could feel the tension surrounding everyone.
Then she noticed something strange.
A firefighter's radio crackled.
A voice spoke in Russian.
She turned.
That sentence wasn't official radio language.
It was a code.
Mave moved toward him.
"Excuse me."
The firefighter frowned.
"What?"
She repeated the phrase in Russian.
His expression changed.
"Where did you hear that?"
"Your radio."
He immediately turned away.
Mave grabbed Dominic's sleeve.
He looked at her.
"What?"
"That man isn't a firefighter."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
"The radio code."
She pointed.
"He just asked whether the second vehicle had arrived."
Dominic looked toward the street.
A white emergency van sat behind the fire trucks.
"Daniel."
The security chief immediately moved.
Two men approached the van.
The rear doors opened.
Gunfire erupted.
Dominic shoved Mave to the ground.
The street exploded into chaos.
Daniel's men returned fire.
The fake firefighters scattered.
Dominic crouched over Mave.
"Are you hit?"
She shook her head.
"No."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
He stood.
"Stay down."
He ran toward the van.
Within seconds, the attackers fled.
Mave slowly rose.
She looked at the burning warehouse.
Then at Dominic.
His brother was alive.
Barely.
But the attack had confirmed something.
The warehouse fire had been a distraction.
Someone wanted Adrian removed from the scene.
Mave saw a discarded radio on the pavement.
She picked it up.
Another message came through.
This time it was in Georgian.
She understood it.
"Phase two begins at sunrise."
Her blood chilled.
She handed the radio to Dominic.
"What did you hear?"
"Phase two."
"What phase?"
"Phase two of whatever they planned."
Dominic stared at the radio.
"Who are you?"
Mave looked at him.
"I'm a cleaner."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one I have."
He stepped closer.
"Who taught you these languages?"
"My life."
He waited.
She didn't elaborate.
For several hours, Dominic stayed at the hospital while Adrian underwent surgery.
Mave sat alone in the waiting room.
She expected Dominic to send her home.
He didn't.
At five in the morning, he brought her coffee.
She stared at it.
"Black."
"How did you know?"
"You've been drinking it black for six months."
Mave frowned.
"You noticed me?"
Dominic sat beside her.
"I notice everything."
"Apparently not the cleaning staff."
He looked at her.
"Apparently not."
There was no defensiveness in his voice.
Only regret.
Mave took a sip.
"Thank you."
Dominic leaned back.
"Tell me about Marseille."
She froze.
"You had me investigated."
"Yes."
"And?"
"You worked at a refugee center."
"Yes."
"You were a court interpreter before that."
"For a while."
"You have no record of formal certification."
"I couldn't afford the exams."
"Why didn't you tell anyone you could interpret?"
Mave stared at the floor.
"Because every time I told someone, they asked why someone like me was cleaning floors instead."
Dominic was silent.
Mave continued.
"I learned that people treat you differently when they think you're useful."
"What happened in Marseille?"
She tightened her hand around the cup.
"Something happened to my family."
Dominic didn't push.
Instead he said, "Adrian asked for you."
Mave looked up.
"What?"
"He's awake."
She followed Dominic into the hospital room.
Adrian lay pale beneath the sheets.
He looked at Mave.
"You."
Mave froze.
"You know me?"
He nodded.
"Your sister."
Mave's heart stopped.
"I don't have a sister."
Adrian looked at Dominic.
Then back at her.
"You did."
Mave took a step backward.
Dominic's expression hardened.
"What are you talking about?"
Adrian struggled to speak.
"Her name was Eva."
Mave's face went white.
Eva.
The name she had spent eight years trying not to remember.
Her younger sister had disappeared in Marseille.
Everyone told Mave she was dead.
Adrian continued.
"Eva worked with my mother."
Dominic frowned.
"Mom?"
Adrian nodded.
"She knew about the Rossy family."
Mave couldn't breathe.
Dominic looked between them.
"What did Eva know?"
Adrian closed his eyes.
"That someone inside this family was selling information."
Mave's hands shook.
"Who?"
Adrian whispered a name.
"Charles."
Dominic went completely still.
The interpreter who had mistranslated Gregory.
The man who had looked at Gregory when asked about Warehouse Nine.
The man who had been sweating while Mave translated the threat.
Charles had been more than an incompetent translator.
He had been part of the conspiracy.
Dominic stood.
"Where is he?"
Daniel entered.
"He's gone."
Dominic's eyes turned cold.
"Since when?"
"Twenty minutes ago."
Mave looked toward the window.
"He's leaving the city."
Dominic turned.
"How do you know?"
"Because that's what Gregory said."
"What?"
Mave swallowed.
"Before the fire, Gregory told Charles to meet someone at the airport."
Dominic stared at her.
"Why didn't you say that earlier?"
"Because I wasn't sure."
"And now?"
She looked at him.
"Now I am."
Dominic reached for his phone.
"Shut down every exit from the city."
Mave frowned.
"You can't stop every airport."
"No."
May you like
He looked at her.
"But I can stop the one where Charles thinks I'm not watching."
