Chapter 6 - THE NOTEBOOK THAT NEVER LEFT
Elias Mercer had been investigating financial misconduct connected to the port.
He wasn't a police officer.
He worked for a private forensic accounting firm.
Three months earlier, he'd discovered irregularities in shipping invoices.
The same containers appeared in multiple records.
The same companies received payments for work they hadn't performed.
And several contracts led back to businesses associated with the Gallow organization.
Roman knew about the investigation.
He'd hired Mercer to identify who was stealing from his legitimate shipping companies.
Then Mercer vanished.
Roman had spent months trying to determine whether the disappearance was connected to his business rivals or someone inside his own organization.
Now Paige had revealed that Mercer left a notebook at the restaurant.
A notebook Arthur denied receiving.
Roman looked at the surveillance records.
The footage showed Paige clearing table four.
She picked up a leather notebook.
Carried it to the service station.
Then handed it to Arthur.
Arthur placed it beneath the counter.
Ten minutes later, he removed it.
And walked into the private office.
The camera did not cover that room.
Roman stared.
"Luca."
"Yeah?"
"Find out who Arthur met that night."
Luca nodded.
Hours later, he returned.
"Donovan."
Roman looked up.
Luca continued.
"He entered through the service entrance."
Roman's expression hardened.
Donovan.
The man who had grabbed Paige's wrist.
The man who had been losing heavily at the poker table.
The man who had been demanding access to shipping contracts for months.
Roman looked toward the window.
May you like
The pieces were beginning to fit.
And he didn't like the picture.
