Rain hammers through the open service door and beads on the concrete. Paolo is still flattened against the shelving, breathing hard. Nikki’s phone throws a cold stripe of light across his face.
Nichole "Nikki" Capozzi
Name. Who does he work for?
Paolo swallows. His eyes flick to Luca, then to Nikki’s phone, like he is choosing which fear hurts less.
Paolo Rizzi
I was told to keep my head down. He said the hit needed a warehouse face, somebody nobody notices.
Lucifer "Luca" Capozzi
A cover inside the warehouse, not just a courier.
Paolo Rizzi
The broker used the same burner line for the office wipe and for me. He called himself Mercer.
Nikki’s thumb moves fast over the screen. Her expression tightens as the search catches. Paolo’s color drains when he realizes the name is already opening doors.
Nichole "Nikki" Capozzi
Luca, I have it. Mercer is tied to the office account and a clean transfer trail. He is not a ghost, he is the bridge.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn who Mercer works for
“As in Sal Mercer?”
SUCCESS (Good Investigation, rolled -1)
Lucifer "Luca" Capozzi
Sal Mercer?
Nichole "Nikki" Capozzi
Yes. That lines up with the transfer trail. Mercer is the bridge, not the end of it.
Nikki tilts the phone so Luca can catch the screen, where the name Mercer sits beside a clean web of payments and account access. Paolo’s shoulders sag, and the work badge clipped to his shirt swings once in the draft from the open door.
Paolo Rizzi
He knows the name now. If Mercer hears about this, I am finished.
Rain spits harder through the doorway and a brief camera glitch fuzzes the edge of Nikki’s screen. The corridor feels narrower with the answer in it.
Nichole "Nikki" Capozzi
Luca, Mercer is real, and he is tied to the account. Tell me if you want the next hop pulled now.
“Sal Mercer is dead. Joey ate him. Unless he crawled his digested ass out of Hell, it can't be him.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +2)
Lucifer "Luca" Capozzi
Mercer is dead. Joey ate him. Unless he crawled his digested ass out of Hell, it is not him.
Paolo’s face drains as the words land. His eyes flick from Luca to Nikki’s screen, then down to the wet floor, like the corridor itself might swallow him next.
Paolo Rizzi
No... then I was passing messages for a ghost.
Nichole "Nikki" Capozzi
That rules out the obvious middleman. So whoever is using Mercer’s name is borrowing a dead man’s skin.
Rain needles through the open door and the badge on Paolo’s chest taps once against the shelving. Nikki keeps the phone up, but her thumb stops moving, waiting for Luca’s next word.
Paolo Rizzi
I did not know that. I swear it. He only used the line, and the pickup points, and a voice that never stayed on long enough to hear.
“I press Paolo for Mercer's real name”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -2)
Luca tightens his forearm just enough to make the point, and Paolo cracks. The name spills out with a shudder. He says Mercer reports to a man called Silvio Trent, through a payroll shell tied to Trent's import company.
Paolo Rizzi
Silvio Trent. That is the name he used. I never met him, I only got the instructions.
Nikki’s thumb snaps again across the phone, then stops on the line. A faint glitch jumps through the screen as rain spatters the glass, and she looks up with the answer already hardening in her face.
Nichole "Nikki" Capozzi
That matches the transfers. Trent's company is the employer on paper, and Mercer was the cutout.
Paolo swallows and sags against Luca’s hold. His work badge swings once, tapping the shelving beside his ribs.
Paolo Rizzi
I am telling you everything I know. If Trent hears I talked, I am done.
The open door keeps breathing rain into the corridor, and Nikki lowers her phone by an inch, waiting for Luca to decide whether Paolo walks out of this room or gets handed over broken.
Quest Complete
Learn who Mercer works for
New Gift: Corporate Espionage Specialist