Chapter 3 - Someone Knew Which Room Would Empty

The laptop had no financial records on it.

Marco told her that twice.

Sera believed him once.

It did contain schedules.

Security rotations.

Vehicle assignments.

Enough to make the missing truck look less like an isolated problem.

Rafe paced the office.

Marco did not.

He stood by the window with both hands in his pockets.

That was how Sera knew he was angry.

People who wanted to appear calm moved less than usual.

"Who knew the laptop was there?" she asked.

Marco said, "Everyone in the meeting."

"Names."

He gave them.

Rafe.

Nico Cavallo, cousin.

Gavin Holt, attorney.

Tomas Bell, logistics.

Andre Velez, driver supervisor.

Two others.

Sera looked at Rafe.

"Inspector?"

"Real," he said.

"Checked?"

"Yes."

"Who scheduled him?"

"Tomas."

She looked at Marco.

"Who moved lunch from noon to eleven-thirty?"

Marco's eyes narrowed.

"Nico."

"Who knew I was starting today?"

Rafe answered.

"Only us."

Sera looked at him.

"Us meaning?"

"Me. Marco. Nico."

There it was.

Not guilt.

A shape.

She spent the afternoon doing nothing that looked useful.

That annoyed Rafe.

She sat in the kitchen.

Watched staff.

Listened to complaints.

People revealed more while explaining who left cream out than they ever did in interviews.

At four, a dishwasher named Luis asked whether "the new security lady" always stared at exits.

At four-ten, a hostess asked if Sera carried a gun.

At four-twenty, one of Marco's drivers asked whether she had served in the military.

At four-thirty, Nico Cavallo came downstairs and said:

"You're making people nervous."

He was thirty-eight.

Pretty in the polished way men became pretty when money handled the details.

Dark suit.

Expensive shoes.

Smile that arrived before warmth did.

Sera looked at him.

"Are you people?"

He laughed.

"I see why Marco likes you."

"Does he?"

Nico leaned against the counter.

"He doesn't bring strangers inside."

"Then maybe I'm not inside."

His smile thinned.

"You always answer questions with questions?"

"No."

Silence.

He waited.

She didn't rescue him.

Eventually he said, "You should be careful around Rafe."

"Why?"

"Because he doesn't like being embarrassed."

"Most men survive it."

Nico glanced toward the kitchen door.

"Not his type."

Sera filed that away.

Not the warning.

The direction of it.

People who wanted you to distrust someone usually handed you a reason that sounded personal.

She found Marco upstairs at six.

"Your cousin doesn't like Rafe."

Marco looked up.

"Nico doesn't like anyone I trust."

"That seems healthy."

"They grew up together."

"Then why?"

"Rafe chose me."

Sera stared.

"That sentence belongs in a worse movie."

Marco smiled.

Then his phone buzzed.

He read the message.

Stopped smiling.

"What?"

He turned the screen.

A photograph.

The missing driver.

Alive in the photo.

Taken before he died.

He was standing beside one of Marco's trucks.

Next to him stood Tomas Bell.

Logistics.

Sera looked at Marco.

"You knew they worked together."

"Yes."

"What's new?"

Marco zoomed in.

Behind them, reflected in the truck mirror, stood another man.

Half a face.

Enough.

Nico.

Marco's expression went flat.

Rafe entered.

Saw the screen.

Said nothing.

Sera watched him.

No surprise.

"You've seen it," she said.

Rafe looked at her.

"Yesterday."

Marco turned.

"What?"

Rafe didn't flinch.

"I got the photo anonymously."

"And you didn't show me?"

"I wanted to verify it."

"You verified my cousin was standing with a dead driver and decided to wait?"

Rafe's jaw tightened.

"I was trying to protect you."

Sera almost laughed.

Marco didn't.

"From what?"

"From doing something before we knew why he was there."

Marco stared at him.

Rafe continued.

"Nico meets logistics staff all the time."

"And the dead driver?"

"Could be coincidence."

Sera looked at Rafe.

"You don't believe that."

He looked back.

"No."

"Then why wait?"

His face changed.

Small.

But enough.

Sera knew before he spoke.

"Because Nico contacted me."

Marco's voice dropped.

"When?"

"Last night."

"What did he say?"

Rafe hesitated.

Sera said, "This is where people make it worse."

Rafe looked at her.

Then at Marco.

"He said someone was framing him."

"Who?"

"He wouldn't say."

Marco's hand tightened around the phone.

"And you believed him."

"No."

"Then?"

Rafe breathed once.

"He said he had proof about your father."

Silence.

Sera looked at Marco.

That was the first time she saw real fear in his face.

Not for himself.

For history.

"What proof?" Marco asked.

Rafe said:

"That your father ordered the truck routes compromised years ago."

Marco stared.

"My father is dead."

Rafe nodded.

"Nico says the person using the old system isn't."

Sera looked at both men.

"Who?"

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Rafe answered.

"Marco's mother."