My eyes land on the warehouses across the way, and an idea hits me.
“Let’s go.”
We rush back to my SUV and drive down Ocean Avenue. It’s a long shot, but at this point, I’m desperate.
We stop at the first warehouse in the Warehouse District, and I throw my name, asking to see their cameras. They agree easily, but when we take a look, nothing looks out of sorts.
I thank them, and we go to the next business and then the nextone. We spend the next several hours going from business to business, asking to see their cameras.
Since the shipment was coming from Germany, she would’ve had to switch the products out somewhere along the way. There aren’t any cameras in the middle of the Atlantic, but she didn’t swap cargo containers. She switched out the contents, which would’ve been difficult to do in the middle of the ocean.
We’re damn near the end of the Warehouse District when I notice a small business situated on the corner, adjacent to the pier.
“There,” I say to Scotty.
I ask to speak to the manager, and thankfully, he agrees to let me have a look at his cameras.
“You know, you’re not the first person to ask to see my footage,” the guy says as we walk back. “An employee said a guy came by, asking if we had any security cameras. He was in an accident and wanted to know if it was caught on camera.”
“And what did he say?”
“My employees don’t know about the cameras. I had them put in recently after I noticed a few pieces of my fishing equipment had gone missing,” he says with a shrug. “I wasn’t here, so when he told the guy that we didn’t have any, he left.”
“And when was this?” I ask.
“About a week or so ago.”
Scotty and I exchange a look.
This bitch is smart.
The manager leaves us to watch the footage, and just when I think we’re not going to see shit, something catches my attention, and I hit pause.
“Right there,” I say, pointing at the screen.
Scotty leans in and squints his eyes. “It’s hard to tell, but I bet Eddy can zoom in.”
I pull out my phone and call Eddy so he can walk me through how to send him the footage. A few minutes later, an image, crystal fucking clear, hits my phone.
“Check-fucking-mate.”
I show Scotty the picture, and he shakes his head. Because right there, in black and white, is proof that someone switched out the shipments. It will not only clear Ilan’s name and our reputation, but it proves that someone is out to get us. Well, this bitch can try, but I’m sure as hell not going to make it easy on her.
I call the detective and let him know what we’ve found, and then we wait until they arrive and the evidence is bagged. Then, I go by Dominick’s and share my findings.
“You just saved our asses,” my brother says, pulling me into a bear hug. “Thank you, Matteo. I couldn’t do this without you.”
“Well, lucky for you, you’ll never have to. Eddy is combing through the cameras to see if he can get a read on the name of the cargo ship. If he does, we might be able to find out who hired him, potentially pointing us in that bitch’s direction.”
“You really think it’s a woman, huh?”
“I really think we can’t rule it out. But man, woman—it doesn’t fucking matter. Whoever it is, when I find them, I’m going to rip their heart out of their chest.”
Generally, we have a rule against harming women or children, but whoever this bitch is, she clearly wants to be treated like one of the guys. So, when I take her out—and I will—I’ll do it just as I would to any enemy with the balls to go against our family.
“Want to stay for dinner?” Dominick asks. “Peyton’s making my favorite fettucine. Dani can join once she gets off work.”
“I appreciate that, but I haven’t seen my woman in over eighteen hours, and the only thing I’m hungry for is her.”
