VIKTOR
The shipment was supposed to arrive at 2 AM.
It was now 2:47 AM, and there was no sign of it.
I stood in the shadows of Warehouse 7, hands in my pockets, cigarette between my lips, watching the empty dock stretch out in front of me. The water was black and still, reflecting the city lights like broken glass. The air smelled like salt and diesel and something rotten I couldn't quite place.
Kairen stood a few feet away, arms crossed, jaw tight, staring at his phone like he could will the shipment into existence through sheer force of irritation. His leg was bouncing, a nervous tick he probably didn't even realize he had.
Aisha was on the phone with Mr. Takeda, her voice low and clipped. "I don't care what the excuse is. The shipment was supposed to be here forty-five minutes ago. Find out where it is. Now."
