Chapter 10 - The Transaction

The tracking program came alive at 6:42 p.m.

A red dot appeared on Marco’s tablet, moved west, paused near Cicero, then continued toward an industrial corridor near the river.

Luca stared at it. “We follow now.”

Marco shook his head. “Not directly.”

Maya sat beside Janelle while Dr. Kim cleaned the cut on her lip. “Dominic expects pursuit.”

Luca looked at her. “He also expects us to be afraid of a trap.”

“Which means either choice can be predicted.”

Janelle winced as antiseptic touched her skin. “I vote for the option where I never meet that man again.”

Dr. Kim said, “Excellent medical judgment.”

Marco enlarged the map. “The signal is approaching Pier Forty-Seven.”

Victor leaned over his shoulder. “That’s not one of ours.”

“No,” Luca said. “It belongs to Halden Freight.”

Maya remembered the name from Isabella’s spreadsheet.

“Foundation grant?”

Victor nodded. “Indirectly. Halden handled equipment shipments for two neighborhood redevelopment projects.”

Marco opened a file. “Owner is Paul Halden. No serious criminal record. Several customs violations settled civilly.”

Maya looked at Luca. “What transaction was supposed to happen today?”

He did not answer.

Victor did.

“A container transfer.”

Luca turned. “Victor.”

“She already risked her life because nobody tells her anything.”

Maya folded her arms. “Strong argument.”

Victor continued. “One of Luca’s shipping companies was moving high-value electronics from Canada. Legitimate shipment. Insured. Dominic supervised the routing.”

“Value?”

“Twenty-eight million.”

Janelle stopped complaining about antiseptic.

Maya said, “And Alessia’s kidnapping pulled Luca away from oversight.”

Marco nodded. “If Dominic diverted the container, he could replace the manifest before anyone noticed.”

“Twenty-eight million seems small compared to everything Isabella found.”

Luca finally spoke. “It isn’t about one shipment.”

He opened a cabinet and removed a folder.

For years, certain Moretti freight routes had been protected by corrupt customs officers. Luca claimed he had ended the arrangement after taking control from his father. Isabella discovered someone had quietly restarted it.

“Smuggling?” Maya asked.

“Cash. Weapons sometimes. Stolen pharmaceuticals,” Luca said. His voice was flat with disgust. “Not through my orders.”

“But through your network.”

“Yes.”

He did not defend himself.

That mattered.

Marco tapped the screen. “Signal stopped.”

Pier Forty-Seven.

Luca reached for his coat.

This time Maya did not stop him.

“I’m coming,” she said.

“No.”

“Dominic thinks the drive he took contains Isabella’s ledger. If someone opens it, Marco can identify the device.”

“Marco can identify the device.”

“And if they realize it’s a trap?”

“You are not going near another gun tonight.”

Maya stared at him. “That is not a realistic promise you can make for me.”

“No. It is an order.”

She laughed once. “You are not my father.”

The words landed strangely.

Luca looked away first.

Janelle said, “For the record, I support staying somewhere with locks.”

Maya looked at her friend’s bruised face and surrendered.

“Fine.”

Luca paused at the door. “Thank you.”

“Don’t make it emotional.”

He almost smiled.

The raid at Pier Forty-Seven happened without her.

Maya watched through Marco’s secure feed from the estate library while Janelle slept on a sofa and Alessia colored at a table nearby.

At 8:13, Luca’s team entered a warehouse and found the missing electronics shipment unopened.

At 8:17, they found three additional containers with false manifests.

At 8:22, federal agents arrived.

Maya stood. “Federal agents?”

Marco’s deputy answered through the feed. “Anonymous tip brought them.”

“From Dominic?” Maya asked.

No one knew.

Then one of the containers opened.

Inside were sealed crates of fentanyl precursor chemicals.

Luca’s face appeared on camera, pale with fury.

Victor swore.

Maya looked at the timing.

“This isn’t a theft.”

Marco’s deputy turned toward the camera.

“What?”

“It’s a frame.”

She pointed at the federal vehicles entering the yard.

“Dominic wanted Luca connected to those containers when agents arrived.”

Luca’s voice came through the speaker. “He wanted me arrested.”

Another agent shouted from outside the frame.

A minute later, Marco’s deputy returned.

“They have a warrant naming Luca personally.”

Victor stared at Maya.

She felt the shape of the plan lock into place.

“Alessia was the distraction,” Maya said. “The fake transaction was the bait. Isabella’s drive gave Dominic a reason to bring us here.”

Luca looked directly into the camera feed.

“And the warrant means he has someone inside law enforcement too.”

Marco’s analysts also found that the contraband containers had been routed through a scheduling override entered from Adrian Cole’s executive credentials. Luca’s assistant claimed by text that his account had been compromised, but he did not answer calls.

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Maya wrote the detail on a legal pad. One compromised credential could be chance. Two could be design. Three usually meant someone had stopped stealing access and started using access they already possessed.

She underlined Adrian’s name once, not twice. Suspicion was not proof. She had reminded Luca of that; now she had to remind herself.