The phone sitting on the drafting table buzzed twice against the bare laminate. The screen illuminated with an incoming notification from the municipal board clerk's private cell. Victor’s eyes flicked toward the device for a fraction of a second.
In that single beat of hesitation, I didn't reach for the door. I grabbed the heavy cast-iron drafting t-square hanging from the pegboard beside the desk and swept it hard across the table.
The steel ruler knocked the smartphone flat off the edge, sending it skittering across the floorboards into the open utility hatch. At the same moment, I drove the heavy fiberglass corner of the transit case directly into Victor’s chest.
The impact knocked the breath from his lungs with a sharp grunt. He staggered back against the doorframe, his shoulder slamming into the jamb. His hand came out of his coat pocket, clutching a heavy brass master key fob, but his balance was broken.
I didn't wait for him to recover. I threw my entire weight against his chest, driving him back through the open doorway onto the exterior gravel landing. The cold marine fog hit my face like an open hand.
"Naomi!" he yelled, his voice raw, catching the railing as he fought to stay upright. "Security! Main dock!"
Down the asphalt lane, three hundred yards toward the water, the diesel engine of the cement mixer roared as the driver increased the drum speed. The two guards in high-visibility vests dropped their thermoses and turned toward the sound of Victor’s shout, their heavy flashlights slicing through the white mist.
I didn't run for my truck parked by the county road. If I hit the open asphalt, the guards’ floodlights would catch me before I covered thirty yards.
I dropped low, vaulting over the wooden handrail of the trailer ramp directly into the marsh grass flanking the storm run. The mud gave way beneath my boots, sucking at my heels, but the heavy mist swallowed my silhouette immediately. Behind me, Victor’s boots hit the wooden ramp, his voice barking orders into the fog.
"Lock the north access gate! She’s carrying an unregistered flash drive! Don't let her vehicle leave the easement!"
I kept my head down, shielding the surveyor's box with my body as I plowed through the salt marsh toward the western edge of the pier. The ground was treacherous, crisscrossed with rotting cedar stringers and iron tie-rods discarded during the 1990 harbor expansion. My lungs burned with the cold salt air, but the yellow notepad pressed firmly against my ribs gave me traction.
I reached the underside of the main municipal boardwalk where the city drainage easement met the public tidelands. Instead of climbing toward the street where the guards were already sweeping their vehicle lights, I ducked under the heavy cross-bracing of pier three.
High tide was forty minutes away. The dark water slapped against the green-slimed pilings six feet below my boots. I pulled out my cell phone, shielded the glow against my jacket, and hit Henry Lin’s direct line.
He answered on the second ring.
"Where are you?" Henry asked. His voice was completely steady, but I could hear the background rumble of an old engine idling—his county inspection truck.
"Under pier three," I whispered, pressing my back against an eight-by-eight creosote timber. "Victor was in the trailer. He knows I have Dad's field log. He's locking the vehicle gate."
"Did you find the core logs?"
"Concrete failure at minus twelve feet," I said. "Victor used unwashed marine aggregate. Slag blend with four times the legal salt limit. And I have the rental receipt showing Victor rented the core drill on Sunday night, twelve hours before Dad collapsed."
Henry was silent for a breath. "That establishes Victor knew the wall was compromised before Arthur went down. But it doesn't break the notary seal on that quitclaim deed. If Victor shows that stamped conveyance to the commissioners at nine tomorrow, they'll certify the site control. Once Pacific Horizon has certified control, municipal code prevents me from halting the pour without a superior court injunction."
"Where is Dr. Chen?" I asked.