Pier Nine sits dead under a bruised sky. Dallas and Elena crouch behind stacked containers as dark-coated agents sweep the yard, flashlights knifing over crates marked for transfer.

One agent kneels by a loose crate seal, slips a ledger-sized packet into his coat, and signals the others toward the loading ramp. Another man stays back, guarding the route like he expects a fight.

Dallas rises into the shadow line, revolver low, while Murderbone tenses beside him. Elena shifts to flank the nearest agent, using the stacked steel as cover.

A flashlight beam catches Dallas's coat edge. The guard snaps his head around, and the agents nearest the crate tighten their grip on the packet, seconds from disappearing into the dark.

Dallas fires low. The shot cracks across the yard and chips the concrete at the guard's boots, kicking up pale dust in the flashlight beam.

The Guard jerks back and the packet slips free, bouncing off his coat and skidding onto the wet concrete between the stacks.

The Agent flinches at the sound, his flashlight jerking wide as he reaches for the fallen bundle instead of the ramp.

Elena cuts in from the left, forcing the guard to turn away from Dallas, while Murderbone surges forward with his body low and teeth bared.

Dallas darts out from cover as the others hesitate, boots splashing through the salt-wet sheen. His hand closes on the packet before any of the agents can snatch it back.

He pulls it in close to his coat, keeping his body between the bundle and the nearest flashlight beam. The loose corner flashes once in the dark, then disappears under his arm.

Elena drives harder across the left side, forcing their line to split, while Murderbone snaps into the open lane and pins their attention forward.

For one beat the yard goes taut, then the packet is secure against Dallas's chest and the agents have to choose between pursuit and saving themselves.