Chapter 8 - THE NIGHT AT PIER FOUR
Z
The operation at pier four unfolded under a low gray sky. Investigators intercepted containers associated with the Saint Agnes shipment and detained several individuals for questioning. Inside one container they found falsified employment documents and evidence suggesting a network of exploitative labor recruitment. The people involved were given access to interpreters, medical care, and independent advocates.
Nikolai watched from a distance after providing information. He recognized names on the shipping manifests—men he had once trusted to keep the legitimate and criminal sides of his businesses separate. He now understood how easily that separation had been used as an excuse not to look closely.
Markov was not at the pier. Neither was Ksenia.
At the hospital, Maksim's medical team completed the assessment for his procedure. The surgeon explained the risks to Anya without false promises. She signed the consent only after asking every question on her list. Boris, improving but still weak, sent a voice message: "Little captain, keep your heart brave. Misha and I are waiting."
Maksim laughed when he heard it.
Later, an investigator called Nikolai. Ksenia had been located in a hotel outside Tampa. She was requesting legal counsel and offering information about Markov in exchange for consideration in her own case. Nikolai felt no triumph. The woman he had intended to marry was now a witness to a crime that had shaped his childhood.
Anya found him sitting alone in the hospital chapel. "You don't have to forgive her," she said.
"I don't. But I won't have her hurt to satisfy me."
"Good."
He glanced at her. "That's all?"
"That's a bigger change than you realize."
May you like
He smiled faintly. Then Maksim's surgeon appeared in the doorway. The procedure had been scheduled for Monday morning.
Anya stood so quickly her chair fell backward. Nikolai righted it without speaking.
