Chapter 2: What Mason Knew Before He Was Asked
Mason arrived in under two minutes.
He was a quiet man.
Broad.
Careful with words.
Lorenzo had trusted him for eleven years.
"I need the freight district covered," Lorenzo said.
"Old warehouse row near the train tracks.
Tonight."
"How many men?"
"Enough to watch.
Not enough to scare."
Mason nodded.
Then stopped.
"Sir.
There's something you should know first."
Lorenzo looked at him.
Mason reached into his jacket and placed a small photograph on the desk.
It was a still frame.
Security camera quality.
Grainy and gray.
A woman in a dark coat standing near a chain-link fence.
Her face was turned slightly away.
But the dog beside her was unmistakable.
Large.
Black.
Head low.
And around his neck — a brown collar with something bent at the ring.
Lorenzo's hand didn't move.
"When was this taken?"
"Three days ago." Mason's voice stayed flat.
"The camera belongs to the cold storage unit two blocks from the warehouse.
I pulled the footage this morning."
"This morning."
"Yes, sir."
"Before I called you."
Mason said nothing.
Lorenzo looked up slowly.
"Why did you pull that footage before I called you, Mason?"
The room went very quiet.
Mason's jaw tightened.
"Because it wasn't the first time I'd seen her."
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What Mason said next made Lorenzo's entire world stop.
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