Fatally Yours

Chapter 13

•INDIANA•

The next day, three black SUVs pulled up outside my driveway, and Lee was in one of them. I was expecting them, so I had gotten up early and gotten ready. Then, I called Keith and told him about Lee's plans for the day.

I could be wrong, but we still need to be prepared for what's about to happen.

I walked out of the house, and Lee's guard opened the door for me. I joined Lee in the backseat. He gave me a quick, tight-lipped smile before focusing on his phone.

The car started moving, and I folded my arms, focusing on my surroundings, taking note of every turn we took and every stop sign. If everything blows up today, at least I'll know where my backup can find me.

Thirty minutes later, we finally stopped at a container depot. It was far from town, and I could see why they'd want to operate their business here.

This place looks sketchy as fuck.

We stepped out of the vehicle, and I saw Alexa and Katarina getting out of the other car that had been tailing us. Katarina barely hid her eye roll when we glanced at each other.

Same, girl. I'm not a fan of you either.

"So, what exactly are we doing here?" I asked Lee.

"Waiting for our shipment to arrive," he answered, tucking a cigarette between his lips and lighting it.

Shipment. It could either be illegal weapons transported from another country or illicit drugs.

Both are dangerous, and I hope Keith and our backup are ready and waiting somewhere to stop this deal before it starts.

A loud horn sounded from afar, and we all turned to see a huge ship approaching the docks. A few men were on board, and one of them saluted Lee, who grinned back like an excited schoolboy ready to devour junk food.

"There she is," Lee mumbled. He was referring to the ship, which was named 'Oana.' I immediately realized it was a Romanian name, so this ship must have come all the way from there.

Lee must have been waiting for this shipment for days. Judging by his excitement, it must be important.

Lee's men walked over to the docked ship as the crew began disembarking one by one. Lee left my side and greeted one of them with a handshake and a smile.

I watched the exchange carefully, keeping an eye on the crates they started unloading from the ship. I barely took two steps forward to check what was inside when I suddenly heard police sirens blaring from behind.

Weren't they supposed to wait for my damn signal?

Three police vehicles pulled up, and two officers stepped out. Their hands were already resting on their gun holsters, which made Lee immediately warn his men to stand down.

"Officers, lovely to see you this morning," Lee greeted cheerfully. "What can I do for you?"

The two officers, whom I knew and had worked with, were aware of the sting operation I was conducting, so they carefully avoided acknowledging me. Not even a hint of eye contact, which was good.

"We received an anonymous tip about a ship arriving this morning, delivering a container filled with illegal arms. Mind if we take a look around?" one officer asked.

"Knock yourself out. But I must tell you, your intel could be wrong. There are no arms or drugs being shipped here. Who would do such a thing?"

The two cops exchanged glances before walking over to the pile of crates.

"Then you won't mind if we take a look inside these boxes, right?"

Lee shrugged and came to stand by my side. His reaction was calm—too calm for someone about to get caught smuggling illegal goods.

The officers opened one of the crates and stared at its contents for what felt like forever. Lee chuckled beside me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

He walked over to the cops. "Is there something inside that confuses you, officer?" he asked, and they finally looked up.

"No, sir, but we still have the authority to thoroughly inspect it."

"Do you have a warrant?" Lee asked.

"We don't need one."

"Alright, go ahead. I don't know what you're looking for, but you won't find it in there," Lee replied.

Katarina joined us, looking more irritated than ever.

"We need to hurry; he's getting impatient." she muttered to Lee. I looked at them in confusion— who is she talking about?

I turned back to the cops searching the crates, pretending I hadn't heard anything.

The cops began pulling out food items that looked like chocolates, along with a few wine bottles. They glanced at Lee, who just smiled innocently.

"We've been feeling nostalgic, so we had a few items from home shipped over. We missed these," he explained.

The cops shot me a quick look, and I narrowed my eyes at them. They should have waited for my signal before determining what was inside the crates. Idiots.

That was all for nothing.

They loaded the items back into the crates and walked up to Lee.

"We apologize for the disruption, Mr. Lee."

"No worries, officers. You were just doing your job."

"Have a good day," they said before getting back in their vehicles and driving off.

Once they were out of sight, Lee turned to the girls, and they smirked at us.

"Did they manage to get the crates safely to the warehouse?" Lee asked. The girls nodded.

Realization dawned on me.

"Wait, so there's another shipment?" I asked. Their expressions turned serious as they all faced me.

"Always have a backup plan, Nova. That's your lesson for the day," Lee said.

I scoffed. "So what are we doing here then?"

"To buy time for the guys to deliver our real supplies to the warehouse," Alexa answered.

They started walking back to their cars, and I fell in step behind them. My frustration simmered over the edge as I realized one more thing:

They're always one step ahead of everything.