Again, my room.

  Julian sat against the wall, one shoulder pressed into the peeling paint, thumb scrolling lazily across his phone screen.

  "He sure is late huh…" Sara muttered.

  "Is he?" Julian glanced at the time, then shrugged. "Only ten minutes."

  "Yeah." Her eyes stayed on the door, like it might open if she stared hard enough.

  Julian looked at her properly this time. She sat cross-legged on the bed, spine stiff, hands folded too tightly in her lap. Her fingers crossed and uncrossed without realizing it. Her toes twitched against the sheets.

  "Did something happen at the hospital today?"

  "Huh?" Her head snapped toward him.

  "You look a little off beat."

  "No it's just…" Her voice cut off.

  The door creaked open slowly.

  Simon stepped inside. "Sorry for the wait."

  "It's just ten minutes," Sara said softly, watching him take the stool.

  Julian set his phone on the floor beside him and leaned forward, ready to speak. "I—"

  "I saw dead bodies."

  Julian's head turned instantly. "Dead bodies? Like you entered the morgue or something?"

  "Yeah," she tilted her head slightly. "I was looking for the disposal room. But accidently entered the wrong one."

  "And then?"

  "Since I was inside, I thought of checking." She rubbed her thumb as she spoke. "I opened the drawers one by one. The bodies were stitched from the chest to abandon. But when I touched it… Something inside was missing."

  "You mean to say…" Julian rubbed his stomach slightly.

  "Yeah. They're taking out the parts from the dead."

  Julian went quiet. He thought for a moment, then sighed. "Well, that's not surprising. Dead bodies don't help anyone on their own."

  Sara's eyes flickered toward him, just for a second, then she looked away.

  "After that I entered the disposal room. Nothing there was surprising, same surgery equipment, mountain of anaesthetic. There were also a few sealed boxes with their labels torn off, I didn't bother to open it."

  "It matches mine." Julian nodded. "I checked the logistics."

  "You talked with the administrator?" Simon turned his head.

  "Nope." Julian shook his head. "There was another guy. Said he is just filling in for absence. I asked about the administrator, but all he said 'the Administrator is on vocation, coming back after this week.'"

  He nudged the phone with his foot and scoffed. "Like can you imagine? Everyone has been saying meet the guy, you ask him and when I reach him? Dude ain't there."

  "We won't be here to meet him," Simon replied.

  "Yeah. How did it go by your side?"

  "I saw some people carrying the boxes. It was from the docks, that much was clear. Tomorrow I'll go and see where they're taking it."

  "Yeah, I was also thinking of checking where they take stuff from the hospital."

  "Guess that sums it up then." Julian leaned his head back, staring at the ceiling. "Also I've noticed something odd. Do you know whose ship comes in the morning?"

  "It's High table's," Simon answered.

  "What about the other two? Evening and night?"

  "They're from overseas. I don't know much about them."

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Julian's phone buzzed against the floor.

  He looked down at it, frowning. "Who's calling at this late hour…"

  "I've to pick this up." He stood, accepted the call, and stepped out.

  "That's it for the night then."

  The door stayed half closed, and the room silent.

  Sara's head lifted up at the ceiling, muttering softly. "So we're close, right?"

  "Yes, from what i think we'll be back to Corsalis before this week ends." He paused, then added, "And when you reach wherever they're taking it—inform me immediately."

  Sara nodded slightly. Few things don't fit right for her about this case. It felt like she was falling behind. Or worse—like she didn't know the things she was supposed to know.

  She wanted to ask Simon about this, why were they really here? Tracking the supply chains.

  What was this really for?

  Her eyes lowered slowly, Simon's back disappearing through the door.

  'Everythings can be wrong but...'

  She saw something lying on the floor. She picked it up quickly and called out, "you dropped this."

  Simon stopped and turned back slowly, eyes landing on the golden pendant in her hand.

  "It's yours right?" She asked.

  He walked up to her, and just watched. Her hand was stretching to him, holding the pendant. She was looking curiously at the pendent, might be thinking it was his, but why couldn't she see it before?

  Is he very good at hiding?

  "Yeah, it's mine."

  She dropped the pendant in his palm. "Never knew you liked wearing this kind of stuff."

  "Someone gave it to me." He turned around and started walking.

  "Yeah, that checks out." Sara remarked faintly.

  "Why did you accept it so easily?"

  "Why?" She wondered to herself, watching him disappear through the door.

  …

  Julian reread the message before slipping his phone back into his pocket.

  The docks didn't look any different at night. Same metallic tang. Same quiet hum of the machinery. None of that surprised him.

  But Paul texting him out of nowhere did.

  Julian had thought about checking the company names tomorrow. But the ones Paul sent didn't match anything from the daytime records. After reading them twice, he knew why.

  These names moved in the dark.

  "Fucking cold," he muttered, rubbing his palms together as he walked toward the loading trucks. If Paul was right, tonight might actually get interesting.

  The ship came into full view as he got closer. Cleanly anchored. Workers moving at a brisk pace, loading crates onto trucks with practiced efficiency. Same drill as daylight.

  Then he spotted something off. A few guys stood near the ship. They were holding assault rifles.

  Julian tried to play it cool and kept walking. He stopped near one of the trucks. The driver gave him a suspicious once-over but kept his mouth shut.

  Julian leaned in and checked the labels on the boxes, scanning for the company name Paul had mentioned.

  Nothin'.

  He moved to the next truck. This one sat in near-total darkness. The light from the pole barely reached it. Julian glanced at the armed guys near the ship, then pulled out his phone and flipped on the flashlight. The beam sliced across the metal surface.

  His hand moved slowly, in the search of name.

  "Found it."

  "Found what, my friend?" A voice spoke from behind him.

  Julian felt cold steel press into his back. He flinched. "That company name," Julian said calmly, angling the flashlight toward the label. "You see it there."

  "I see it." The metal pressed harder. "But care to elaborate? Why were you looking for that company's name exactly?"

  Julian turned around slowly while answering, "It was because—"

  His mind went blank the moment he saw what that guy was holding. His hands shot straight up. Even the guy holding the rifle flinched slightly.

  "I swear to God—the mother who gave birth to me, I mean no harm. I don't have any ulterior motives. I was just doing what I was told. I got two grand cash on me, and my ATM card's in my purse. There's thirty grand in my bank account. If you let me go, I won't breathe a word. You can sew my mouth shut, or cut out my tongue, but you won't have to, because I ain't sayin' nothin'. 'Cause I'm blind. My name's Julian...."

  The man watched Julian ramble on, finding it amusing. He raised the rifle to Julian's mouth and said, "Shut your ass up, or I'll put another hole in ya."

  Julian immediately shut up, hands still raised.

  "Why were you looking for that company's name?" the man asked.

  "One of my business partners asked me to check it out."

  "Company?" The man stepped forward.

  "Yeah," Julian nodded vigorously, "a few friends and I started a company in Corsalis. Ironwood furniture. You can check it out online. Now it's big enough to handle overseas supply. I'm the operations manager, Julian Frost. I was sent here to check on transportation details."

  The man tilted his head, his gaze fixed on Julian. "Why didn't you check the port during the day?"

  "I did. But nobody gave me answers. When I went to check on the administrator, he was gone." Julian's hands started to ache. "Then a friend sent me the company's name and told me to check the port at night."

  "A friend, huh?" The man smirked. "Did he tell you exactly where to find it?"

  "No," Julian replied, shaking his head. "He just gave me the company name and said to check it out tonight."

  The man glanced back, noticing one of his buddies approaching.

  Julian's shoulders tightened. "Look, there's obviously been a misunderstanding, and I'm more than happy to forget all about this. I'm great at forgetting things. Childhood memories, birthdays – I, uh, I wouldn't even recognize my own father."

  "Is that so?" The man said coolly. "You don't like someone who forgets."

  "I don't look like a lot of things."

  "Then tell me this, Julian Frost." The man's eyes lingered on his hands.

  Julian froze.

  "If I let you walk away from here, alive, what happens next?"

  "I-I'll go home. Eat dinner. Sleep. The next day, I'll wake up, take a hot shower, and forget any of this ever happened."

  The man raised the rifle to Julian's head. "And what if I just kill you right here? You gonna forget what you saw here then, too?"

  Julian fell silent, his eyes on the muzzle pointed at his head. "I don't know," he answered weakly.

  "You don't know, huh?" The man raised his eyebrows. "You really don't know how things work around here, do ya?"

  Julian swallowed hard, his lips trembling, his eyes starting to close.

  Bang!