The Hollow Docks were never quiet. Even at night, the water slapped against rotting wood and gulls screamed overhead. But the silence outside the warehouse was different. Heavy. Measured.
Aric pressed himself against the wall, revolver in hand. The boots outside moved with discipline. Not drunk dockhands. Not petty thieves. Enforcers.
Through the crack in the boards, he saw them: six figures in dark coats, faces hidden by gas masks, lanterns glowing faintly in the fog. Each carried the same weapon—short batons studded with copper. Tools for control, not for war.
The Circle moved like ghosts. Mira slid into the shadows, clutching her pamphlets tight. The thief vanished through a loose plank as if he'd rehearsed it a hundred times. The veteran stayed close, knife drawn, jaw set.
But Aric knew if anyone fought here, none of them would leave alive.
The woman who had brought him here whispered, "They don't arrest. They collect. And no one comes back."
The warehouse door creaked open. Lantern light cut across the oil drum fire. Aric didn't breathe.
One of the masked men stepped inside, scanning the room. He paused by the barrel, staring at the fire as though it offended him. His hand twitched toward it.
Then, as quickly as they'd come, the men pulled back. A single phrase carried through the fog as they left:
"The files aren't here. Move to the next sector."
Aric exhaled, shoulders tight. The Circle began to re-emerge from hiding, but the tension didn't fade.
"They're searching," Aric muttered. "Not for us. For the records."
Mira's voice trembled with fury. "Then we're close. Closer than they want us to be."
Aric studied the folder in his coat. The charred papers weren't enough. But they were a start. Someone inside the machine was burning files… and someone else was risking their life to smuggle the remains out.
The detective in him woke fully now. This wasn't just grief anymore. This was a trail. And trails were meant to be followed.
Outside, the fog swallowed the enforcers. But Aric knew better. They hadn't vanished. They were waiting. Watching.
The cat-and-mouse had begun.