Chapter 115: You Don’t Need To Know
The side of the warehouse was almost completely unlit.
A cold wind pushed scraps of paper and dust along the pavement as Liam moved toward the entrance, keeping close to the wall, his footsteps swallowed by the distant traffic.
When he reached the door, he stopped. Old metal. Cheap lock. Poor maintenance. He examined it for a second before forcing it open with controlled pressure.
The hinges gave a faint groan, and Liam froze. Nothing. No footsteps. No voices. He slipped inside.
The ground floor was almost entirely dark. Rows of storage cages stretched into the shadows, filled with cardboard boxes, old furniture, rusting machinery, and miscellaneous equipment.
Dust hung in the air, illuminated whenever a thin strip of light slipped through the windows. Liam moved deeper inside.
Then he heard voices above him. Two men, arguing.
...the numbers don’t make sense.
"They’ll make sense when the next shipment arrives."A third voice answered. Calmer.
That’s Ben.
Liam stopped at the bottom of the metal staircase. So the intel was right. He glanced upward a thin line of yellow light spilled through the gap beneath the door on the second floor. Three people. No more, at least for now.
Liam climbed. One step, then another. The metal stairs creaked beneath his weight, but the voices upstairs drowned out the sound.
When he reached the top, he stopped beside the door and listened. A chair scraped across the floor. Someone muttered something. A bag zipper opened.
Then Ben’s voice.
"Make sure everything is ready before midnight."Liam pushed the door open.
The room beyond was larger than he’d expected.
A folding table sat beneath a hanging fluorescent light. Ben occupied one side, counting stacks of cash.
To his left, one of the men was packing tightly sealed bricks into a black duffel bag, stacking them with hurried efficiency. Another stood near the window, half watching the empty street below, one hand resting casually near the pistol tucked against his waist.
Neither man noticed Liam immediately. That was their mistake.The man by the window turned first. His eyes widened. Liam was already moving. Three steps. That was all it took.
His hand closed around the man’s wrist just as his fingers reached for the pistol. Liam twisted sharply, redirecting the draw and driving the man’s arm against the wall with enough force to make the weapon slip halfway from its holster.
Before the man could recover, Liam stepped inside his guard. His elbow drove into the man’s ribs.
The man grunted and folded slightly. Liam caught the back of his collar, spun him off balance, and slammed him shoulder-first into the wall.
The pistol dropped. Before it could hit the floor, Liam drove a short strike into the side of the man’s neck.
The man’s eyes rolled back, his knees buckled, and Liam released him, letting the unconscious body slide down the wall and hit the concrete.
The second man finally understood what was happening. "What the...."
His hand went for his waistband. Liam turned toward him. The man managed to pull his weapon halfway free before Liam crossed the distance.
A hard strike to the wrist knocked the gun from his grip. The man swung wildly with his other hand, but Liam ducked beneath it, his shoulder driving into the man’s chest and carrying him backward.
The impact knocked the air from his lungs. Before he could regain his footing, Liam caught his arm, twisted it behind his back, and used the man’s own momentum against him.
The concrete came up fast. He hit it hard. Liam released him only after he was certain the man wasn’t getting back up.
The room fell silent. The entire exchange had lasted seconds.Ben hadn’t moved. He was still sitting behind the table, cash clutched uselessly between his fingers, his mouth hanging slightly open.
His eyes darted from the unconscious man near the wall to the other sprawled across the concrete, then slowly, almost unwillingly, settled on Liam.
Liam stood in the middle of the room as though nothing had happened. Ben’s face drained of color."Who... who the hell are you?"
Liam didn’t answer. He started walking toward him.
Ben immediately pushed himself back from the table. "Wait." Liam kept coming. "I don’t know you." Another step. "If this is about money, we can talk."
Liam’s expression remained unreadable. Ben’s breathing became faster."Whatever they told you, it’s wrong. I swear to God, you’ve got the wrong person."
Liam stopped several feet away. Ben stared at him, desperately trying to place his face. Nothing. He had never seen him before. That made everything worse. There was no warning. No demand. No explanation.
Ben swallowed hard. "What do you want?"
Silence."I can pay you." His voice cracked.
"Whatever you want. Money? I have cash here." He gestured toward the bags with trembling hands. "Take it. Take all of it."
Liam’s eyes didn’t even flick toward the money.
Ben’s desperation deepened. "Then tell me what this is about." He slowly rose from his chair.Liam’s gaze sharpened. Ben immediately stopped.
"Okay. Okay." His hands came up. "I’m not going anywhere."His eyes flicked toward the fallen pistol beside the table. Liam noticed. So did Ben. For half a second, neither moved. Then Ben’s hand twitched.
Liam kicked the pistol away. It skidded across the concrete and disappeared beneath the table.
Ben flinched. "No." He raised both hands higher. "Please." The word came out much quieter. "I don’t know who you are."
Liam stepped closer. Ben backed away until the edge of the table pressed against the backs of his legs.
"Please, just stop." There was genuine confusion in his voice now, mixed with rising panic. "I don’t understand. What did I do to you?"
Liam said nothing.
Ben shook his head desperately. "Whatever you think I did, we can fix it." His eyes moved toward the unconscious men. "Look, I’ll give you everything. The money, the product, Everything."
Liam continued forward.
Ben’s composure finally broke. "Please!" He stumbled backward. "Don’t kill me!"
Liam stopped in front of him. Ben stared up at him, breathing hard.
"I don’t know your name. I’ve never seen you before. Why are you doing this?"
"You don’t need to know."
Ben’s face tightened with fear. "But—"
Liam stepped forward. Ben raised an arm instinctively. "Wait!" His voice cracked. "Please, give me one chance. Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you. Just tell me what you want."
Liam looked at him for a long moment.
"You."Ben froze. Confusion all over his face.
"Me?"
Liam didn’t elaborate. He reached out. Ben tried to retreat. There was nowhere left to go. One precise strike ended the struggle.
Ben’s eyes lost focus, and his body sagged forward across the table, the stacks of cash scattering beneath his weight.
Silence returned. Liam stood there for a moment, looking down at him. Three men. Three seconds of meaningful resistance. That was all.
He glanced around the room. Nothing had been damaged beyond what was necessary. No gunshots. No unnecessary noise. No witnesses. Exactly as it should have been.
Liam reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He typed a single word and sent it to Vargas.
Clear.
Then he slipped the phone away. Less than a minute later, footsteps would begin climbing the stairs. Liam simply waited.
Less than a minute later, footsteps thundered up the stairs. Vargas entered first and stopped, his eyes moving across the room the two unconscious men, Ben slumped over the table, the scattered cash, the abandoned weapon. He looked back at Liam.
"Clean," he muttered.Liam said nothing. He walked toward the table. The black duffel bag contained the remaining product, each package wrapped tightly and stacked with almost obsessive precision.
Another bag beneath the table contained cash. A ledger sat beside it, and that interested Liam more than either.
He opened it. Names. Dates. Amounts. Payments.
Enough information to turn a simple drug seizure into something much larger. Liam photographed every page before handing the ledger to Vargas.
"Make sure Dexter gets this."
Vargas nodded. His men moved efficiently the product secured, the cash counted and packed away, the warehouse searched from top to bottom.
No hidden rooms. No additional people. Ben’s two associates were restrained while the team finished securing the scene.
One of the men looked toward Vargas. "What about these two?"
Vargas glanced at Liam. Liam’s expression didn’t change."They’re part of Ben’s operation."
Vargas understood the implication and gave a short nod. The matter was settled without further discussion.
Outside, the night remained quiet. The first vehicle carried the seized product, cash, and ledger. A second took Ben away, still unconscious and under guard.
Within minutes, the warehouse began to empty men disappearing into vehicles, doors closing, engines turning over. The entire operation had taken less than forty minutes.
Vargas remained behind for a moment. He looked at Liam.
"Dexter said you were good."
Vargas glanced toward him. He gave a faint, almost amused shake of his head.
"Now I know why he thinks highly of you"