Dallas drags Jackson Temple and the envelope deeper into the rusted container, then shoves the warped door shut behind them. The pier noise drops to a muffled throb. Salt stink, grease, and hot metal fill the dark.
Jackson Temple
We cannot stay here. They know the pier. They will check the containers.
Murderbone keeps his nose at the seam in the doors, listening. Outside, footsteps pass, then slow. A beam of light slides across the corrugated wall, thin as a blade.
Jackson Temple
Dallas, tell me you have a plan. That envelope is going to get us both killed if we wait.
Dallas Fontaine
The envelope is heavier than paper should be.
Dallas peels back the flap and catches a glimpse of a marina access card, a folded route map, and a key stamped with Pier Nine. Jackson stops pacing when he sees it, pale under the flashlight beam.
Jackson Temple
That key opens the old chandlery office. If someone is coming, they are coming for that.
A knock lands on the container door, soft and deliberate. Murderbone bares his teeth. From the other side, a man's voice says Dallas's name like he already knows the answer.
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify the man who knocked on the container door
“Does Jackson recognize the voice of the man knocking on the door?”
EXCEPTIONAL YES (Likely, rolled 7)
Jackson Temple
That is not just anyone, Dallas. That is Captain Miller. He was my mentor at the academy, and he is the only man who knows the override codes for the entire harbor grid.
Jackson Temple
If he is here, he is not just cleaning up a mess. He is here to bury the entire unit.
Dallas Fontaine
The mentor turned cleaner. The betrayal runs deeper than the ledger.
“I yank the captain into the container and have Jackson close the door again as I do”
SUCCESS (Superb Strength, rolled +0)
Dallas hooks an arm through the doorway and yanks hard. Captain Miller stumbles inside on one heel, trapped against the container wall as Jackson slams the door shut on the dark behind him.
Jackson Temple
That is him. Captain Miller.
The metal door shudders under a hit from outside. Dust shakes from the ribs of the container, and the flashlight on the floor throws broken light across Miller's face.
Captain Miller
You should not have pulled me in here, Fontaine.
Dallas Fontaine
He knows my name. That means he came prepared.
Jackson straightens, breathing hard, one hand braced on the wall while the other points at Miller like an accusation he cannot keep inside.
Jackson Temple
Tell him who sent you. Tell him why you are at the pier.
Miller glances at the envelope in Dallas's hand, then toward the seam in the door. He lowers his voice, all the fight narrowing into one careful sentence.
Captain Miller
If you want the truth, Dallas, keep that door shut and listen fast.
Quest Complete
Identify the man who knocked on the container door