Aren's gaze stayed lowered, avoiding the question in Veydrick's eyes. After a moment, Veydrick raised his hand and rested it softly against Aren's cheek, tilting his(Aren's) face upward until their eyes finally meet.
Looking up a little, Aren looked at Veydrick's eyes, it showed a little longing and curiosity. As if wanting a honest and raw answer. But Aren knew that he was been followed...and that telling him would put Veydrick in danger too. So Aren stepped back a little, even though he didn't want to. Veydrick lowered his hand, after a moment.
"I am just tired...so I am not in mood to talk that Veydrick." Aren told. "Well you are here, so..."
Aren interfered, "it's late night now, can I stay here?.." Aren smiled. Veydrick knew that he is hiding something but didn't pressurized him. And replied: "sure, you can stay in the guest room, its on the side. " A Simple Answer. Aren paused for a moment, and then said him thank you for letting him stay.
While leaving, Veydrick spoke from behind: "You can wear my cloth but it would be a little big for you" Aren looked back and laughed faintly.
The next morning, at the station, Mirelle was already there in the stationAren flipped through the file again. Shipping manifests. Port entries. Delivery routes. At first glance everything looked normal.Too normal.
He frowned.
"These records look… cleaned." Mirelle nodded. "Exactly. Every shipment matches the paperwork perfectly."
"Which means someone took time to make sure it did." Aren leaned forward, scanning one page again. One detail caught his attention.
"Wait." Mirelle stepped closer.
"What?"
He pointed at a column of delivery locations.
"Half of these addresses don't belong to actual businesses." She blinked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean they're shell addresses." Mirelle quickly opened her laptop and typed. Within seconds the results appeared. Empty warehouses. Abandoned storage buildings.
Closed factories. Her expression darkened.
"…That's not normal logistics." Aren leaned back in his chair. "No." He tapped the file slowly.
"This isn't a transport company." He looked at Mirelle. "It's a distribution network."
We Are Finally A Step Deeper
An hour later they were standing in the evidence room, staring at a large digital map.
Mirelle had marked every Helios delivery location.
Red dots spread across the city.
Aren noticed something. They weren't random. They formed a pattern.
A chain.
Mirelle stared at it.
"…It's like a relay." Aren nodded slowly.
"Each location passes something to the next one."
"What kind of system does that?"
Aren answered quietly.
"A shadow network."
Mirelle frowned.
"You mean illegal supply routes?"
"Not just supply." Aren looked at the map again.
"This is the kind of structure used when someone wants to move things across a city without anyone tracing the origin."
Weapons.Information. People. Money. Anything.
Mirelle crossed her arms.
"Whoever built this is organized." Aren closed the Helios file.
"There's only one person we know who could run something this big."
Mirelle sighed.
"Veydrick."
Far across the city… Inside a tall glass building. Slovar sat calmly in his chair.
A tablet screen in front of him showed the same map Aren and Mirelle were studying.
One of his assistants spoke nervously.
"Sir… the police have begun reviewing Helios shipments." Slovar didn't look worried.
In fact…He smiled faintly.
"Of course they did."
He rested his chin on his hand. "They were supposed to."
The assistant looked confused.
"…Sir?"
Slovar's eyes gleamed slightly.
"If they follow the trail…"
He looked toward the city skyline.
"They'll only see what I want them to see."
By evening, Aren and Mirelle were already standing outside Veydrick's office. The corridor was quiet, most of the staff having already left for the day. Mirelle knocked once before pushing the door open. Veydrick looked up from the documents spread across his desk.
"A little late for a casual visit," he said calmly.
Mirelle walked in first, placing the Helios file on the desk. "Unfortunately, this isn't casual."
Aren stepped in behind her. Veydrick's eyes moved briefly toward him, pausing for just a moment longer than usual before returning to the file.
"So," he said quietly, opening the folder. "What did you find?"
Mirelle crossed her arms. "Helios Logistics."
Veydrick's expression didn't change, but he leaned slightly forward.
"Go on."
Aren stepped closer to the desk.
"Multiple delivery locations across the city. All legal on paper."
"But?" Veydrick asked.
"But most of those locations are empty buildings."
For the first time, Veydrick's pen stopped moving: "so this case is more lengthy than it expected." Mirelle opened her tablet and placed it on the desk. A map appeared on the screen. Red markers filled the city.
"These are the delivery points," she explained.cVeydrick studied the map carefully. Then he slowly leaned back in his chair.
"…Interesting."
Aren frowned slightly.
"You see something?"
Veydrick tapped the screen.
"These locations aren't random." Mirelle nodded. "That's what we thought."
"They form a chain," Aren added.
"Yes." Veydrick replied
His finger traced a path across the map.
"Each point connects to the next… like a relay system."
Mirelle sighed.
"Meaning?"
Veydrick looked up at them.
"Meaning this company isn't just transporting goods." He paused.
"It's moving something through stages so no single location holds the full operation."
Aren crossed his arms. "A shadow network."
Veydrick didn't immediately respond.
Instead, he studied the map again, his expression growing more serious.
Then he asked quietly,
"Slovar owns Helios Logistics?" "Yes" Mirelle replied.
For a brief moment, the room went silent.
Veydrick closed the tablet slowly.
"…I see."
Aren watched him carefully.
"You know something about him?"
Veydrick leaned back in his chair, fingers folded together.
"Not personally."
"But I've heard the name."
Mirelle raised an eyebrow.
"And?"
Veydrick's voice remained calm.
"Slovar is known for building systems that look completely legal from the outside."
Aren frowned.
"And from the inside?"
Veydrick looked at the map again.
"They're usually much more complicated."
"So what do we do now?" Mirelle asked
Veydrick tapped one of the red points on the map.
"You don't investigate the whole network."
He pointed at a single location near the docks.
"You start here."
Aren glanced at the address.
"Why that one?"
Veydrick's expression was thoughtful.
"Because if someone built a chain like this…"
He paused. "…one of these locations will be the control point." Aren nodded slowly.
"And you think this is it."
Veydrick looked at him.
"I think it's the weakest link."
Mirelle grabbed the tablet again.
"Well then," she said, already moving toward the door.
"Looks like we're visiting the docks tonight."
Aren followed her, but before leaving, he glanced once more toward Veydrick. For a brief moment their eyes met.
Neither of them mentioned the night before when Aren stayed over At Veydrick's.
Veydrick simply said, "Be careful." Aren nodded once. Then the door closed behind them. Veydrick remained alone in the office.
After a moment, he looked back at the map on the screen. After leaving Aren reflected for a moment..."The man who was following me? Would I meet Slovar there?" Then he looked at his gun.
While Veydrick in his office, gaze settled on the name at the top of the file. Slovar. For the first time that evening, Veydrick's calm expression faded slightly.