Dockingboys

Chapter Six

Declan spent the first few seconds sitting in disbelief, almost one hundred percent sure that this was a stupid joke made by the rich boys from the city that went to night school with them and often made fun of them and even bullied the younger dockingboys from time to time. Most likely from Hector, a blond boy of 16 that thought he was better than the dockingboys just because he had a pretty face and had a lot of money. But then again, they wouldn't have gotten the news of some nobody that fell off a crane and died at the docks. And on top of that, why send it to him? Why not send it to Eli?

Gulping down the fear and the doubt that there could be a murderer lurking at the West Docks, Declan slowly read the sentence, that dreadful, fateful sentence, over and over and over again until those eleven words were permanently seared into his mind. Then, he dropped the letter and picked up the first paper, the one with the chart that he'd immediately disregarded, and read it over carefully.

After a few moments of studying, Declan realized that it was a table of all the cargo that came in and out of the Saint Morales. The table was well written and organized, with a column for the container class, the contents, the origin city and dock, and the designated destination. At the very top, it listed that there were 532 containers, and each one had a designated code that began with three letters and ended with six different numbers. Declan figured if this chart was sent along with a letter claiming that Rake hadn't died by accident, there had to be some sort of vital information on this paper.

After a few tries, Declan finally had the notion to turn the paper over and sure enough, there was another single sentence written there.

TRV- 486201. Codename "Package". Something's wrong with it. I don't know what.

South Docks, Cargoyard, Warehouse 2, September 4th, 8:00 PM

There's something going down. I can't explain, so you'll have to see it for yourself.

Declan stared at the words. It was August 28 currently, and this meeting or whatever was in a week. But what did the writer want, and again, why him? And of course, why couldn't the writer just jot everything down so that he didn't have to do anything? He quickly turned the paper back over to the table and immediately went down the column of codes and found the code on the 27th line. Then he moved his finger over to the container class and found that it was a black Titan container. But weirdly enough, the contents area was empty, and Declan moved on. Apparently, this cargo came from the North Docks, surprisingly enough since it was still a part of the same city, and it was scheduled for the South Docks. Then, as if someone had flipped a switch, Declan suddenly recognized the black Titan container that everyone was acting so weird about. That must be it!

But what was wrong with it? Why did this mysterious write him a letter notifying him of something, and more importantly, how did they get the information? And from who?

Looking at the clock on his wall, Declan saw that it was just past ten, and everyone would be asleep. He had to go check on the container, take a few peeks, and make sure there wasn't actually anything wrong with the black container. He couldn't be too sure about the ship's crew members being asleep, so he had to be careful.

With that, he carefully slipped both pieces of paper back into the envelope and pulled on a checkerboard jacket. Concealing the envelope in his jacket pocket, he quietly opened the bunk door and turned off the light, then headed off to the shipyard. As far as he knew from the day's events, the container should still be on the Saint Morales. He started walking, but then quickened up the pace, as using a truck would've caused too much sound.

After a few minutes of running, he arrived at the dock of the Saint Morales. It was still amazing to the eye, with it's six own cranes, three decks, and it's cargo resting on top. There were still countless containers on the ship, but most of them had been taken off and placed into the cargoyard already. Declan quietly walked down the boardwalk and onto the ship, slowing his pace to a tiptoe. He moved across the deck and immediately began searching for the container.