I get out of the SUV and move around to the back, pulling out a digital measuring tape from the field kit.Our job today is to observe and notate what improvements can be made.It’s a job that Josie could probably do on her own but two eyes—two fields of perception—are always better than one.
I inhale, noting the air at the waterfront has a different quality than the rest of the city—salt and diesel—which is more than unpleasant.
“Northeast corner first,” Josie says, studying the site map on her tablet.“There’s supposedly a camera blind spot between the secondary warehouse and the container staging area.That’s where the manifest discrepancies are concentrated.”
“Lead the way,” I say.
We move along the eastern fence line, the stacked containers forming a natural corridor between the perimeter fencing and the warehouse wall.Workers in high-visibility vests move through the open lanes twenty yards away, too focused on cargo schedules and handheld scanners to care about two consultants studying infrastructure.Josie is three paces ahead of me, reading the environment and recalibrating her mental map every time a truck blocks a lane or a crane shifts its arc of motion.
“Camera here,” she murmurs, pointing at the corner of the secondary warehouse and typing notes into her tablet.She studies the wall above us, not just for height but for sun exposure, glare bounce, and how the afternoon light will shift the image quality over the course of the day.“If we mount it at approximately eleven feet, we get a one hundred and forty–degree view of the staging area and the access road, and we avoid direct sun flare during peak hours.”
“Blind spot on the south side,” I note, scanning the layout where a double stack of containers temporarily blocks the line of sight from ground level.
“We can put a unit on that container crane housing,” she says, pointing to her left.“Overlapping fields.No dead zone once both are live.”
“I like it,” I say and follow her to the next building.
“So,” she says conversationally, her voice barely above the chorus of dock noise, “when are you going to tell her?”
“Tell who what?”I lean against a container as Josie takes a series of measurements.
“Tessa is thewhoand thewhatis that you’re in love with her.”She says it the same way she’d report a data point.Flat.Factual.Completely without mercy.
“We’re working,” I say drolly.“Let’s keep this professional.”
“We’re making a game plan of where to mount cameras,” she corrects.“I have plenty of bandwidth for this conversation.”
“Josie.”
“Cole.”She mimics my tone precisely enough that I can hear her smiling without seeing her face.“I’ve watched you for five days walk around that building like a man who’s been handed a package he’s terrified to drop.It’s very sweet.It’s also slightly exhausting to witness.”
“I’m not—”
“You set a mug out for her before you leave in the morning,” she says.“Every single day.Before she’s even awake.”
I don’t respond.
“Tessa told me,” she adds.“It matters to her that you do that.”
“It’s common courtesy,” I mutter.“She’s a guest in my home.”
Josie rolls her eyes and we move toward the container crane housing, skirting the edge of the staging area where two workers are moving a pallet jack near the far wall.Neither of them looks our way.
I wait for her to hit me up again, trying to force conversation about Tessa.And while I pushed her off once, to be honest… I’m kind of interested to know what Josie thinks.She and Tessa have bonded.
“She’s almost done with the article,” I say, reopening the door.
“I know,” Josie says.“She told me.Two more days, maybe three.”A pause as we reach the base of the crane housing and she studies the mounting options above us.“Then what?”
“Then we push it to the police,” I say.“We have Malik’s FBI contact standing by.The evidence package is as solid as we’re going to get it… financial trails, shell corporations, Pelham’s connection to DelRey, and I assume we’ll be able to tie Vega to SAPG.It’s not everything a prosecutor would want, but it’s enough to open a federal investigation at a minimum.”
Josie nods, hands moving over the crane housing surface, finding the right mounting position to notate.“And the article drops at the same time?”
“The article will drop first, then we’ll hand all the evidence over to the FBI.Public pressure plus a federal investigation running simultaneously.DelRey won’t be able to buy his way out of both.”
“She’s the one, you know,” Josie says, not looking at me.
“I know,” I say quietly.
