The delivery was twelve boxes of printer paper and one damaged carton of labels. Kellan checked the address against the manifest while Sera counted the boxes on the van. The morning was cold enough that her breath showed in the open loading bay. She stamped her feet once, then counted the cartons again from the other end so she would not miss one hidden behind the wheel arch.
“Thirteen,” she said.
“The labels make thirteen. The order says twelve paper and one labels.”
“Then why did you write twelve?”
“I wrote the paper count.”
She pointed to the blank space beside the label carton. Kellan added a one. The delivery supervisor, who had hired them for a short shift, watched from the loading dock with a clipboard.
“You two finished arguing?” he asked.
“We’re finished counting,” Kellan said.
The supervisor checked the damaged carton. One corner had split, but the sealed packages inside were intact. He marked the outer damage and initialed the manifest. Kellan signed for the load, then helped Sera arrange it so the labels would not be crushed beneath the heavier boxes.
Their destination was Jalen’s new workplace. The job was legitimate, offered through the same delivery board Eli had used for his earlier shift. Kellan had checked the route, pay and receiving instructions. The employer needed a driver and a handler; Sera had applied for the second position. Neither had to invent a reason to enter the loading area.
Before leaving, they had spoken with Jalen. He still wanted his identification returned. He had agreed that they could meet him during his break if the delivery coincided with it, but he did not want them to confront the supervisor or reveal his concern to other workers. Nora had arranged a call with Priya, the labor advocate, for that evening.
The van pulled onto the service road just after ten. The former print facility stood behind a low fence, its upper windows painted over. A pedestrian walkway ran along the front. The loading entrance opened into a covered bay where a guard checked the manifest.
“Who are you delivering for?” the guard asked.
Kellan named the distributor and handed over the paperwork. The guard compared the number with a list and directed them to bay two. He asked Sera to leave her bag in the van. She did, taking only the delivery sheet and her phone.
At the bay, a worker in a yellow vest opened the rear doors. He counted the cartons as Kellan passed them down. Sera placed each on a trolley and checked the count against the sheet. The damaged label carton drew a frown.
“I’m not accepting a broken box.”
“The outside tore at the depot. The inner packs are sealed,” Kellan said. “You can inspect them before deciding.”
The worker opened the carton and examined the packets. One seal had a small crease, but no tear. He called a supervisor, who inspected it again and accepted the carton with the outer damage noted.
The dispute gave Sera time to look toward the pedestrian corridor. Workers entered in pairs, stopped at a desk and continued through a door marked STAFF. At shift changes, some people came back to the same desk before leaving. She could see hands passing cards or papers across the counter but could not identify the documents from the loading bay.
Jalen appeared among a group carrying empty plastic trays. He wore a temporary badge clipped to his shirt and moved with a careful limp. The crutch was not with him. He saw Sera and gave a slight nod before the group passed through the staff door.
The supervisor returned the manifest. “All received. You can go.”
Kellan looked at the signed sheet. “One number is wrong. The label carton should be thirteen, not twelve.”
The supervisor checked the count and corrected it. While he wrote, Sera asked where drivers could use a restroom before the return trip. He pointed down the public corridor beside the office.
“Don’t go through the staff door.”
“We won’t.”
Kellan took the manifest back to the van. Sera walked toward the restroom, passing an office with its door partly open. A woman inside was carrying folders to a tall metal cabinet. Labels on the drawers included employee names and document categories. Sera could make out identification on one label. The woman closed the drawer and turned a key.
Sera did not enter. She continued to the restroom, then returned along the same corridor. The office door was now closed.
Kellan waited outside. “What did you see?”
“A cabinet. A drawer labeled identification. I couldn’t see what was inside.”
“Jalen’s card?”
“Not yet.”
They finished the delivery, signed out and moved the van to a public parking space near the café. Kellan called the delivery supervisor to report completion. The supervisor told them to return the vehicle after their break; he did not object when Kellan asked for twenty minutes.
Jalen arrived at the café with his crutch and sat carefully. He had brought a sandwich in a plastic container. He opened it, then closed it again when Sera told him what she had seen.
“That sounds like the cabinet,” he said. “The desk attendant put my card in a folder and walked into that office. I saw her open the top drawer.”
“Did you see the card go into the drawer?” Sera asked.
“I saw the folder go in. I couldn’t see inside after she turned.”
“Have you asked today?”
“Yes. She said the supervisor was reviewing the intake records.”
Kellan set the manifest on the table. “Do you want us to ask the supervisor?”
“No. I want Priya to tell me what happens if I file something.”
A worker came in behind him and stood at the counter. Jalen lowered his voice. He had noticed other people being called to the office at the beginning and end of shifts. One had complained that her card was still there after three days, but Jalen did not know her name and had not asked whether she wanted help.
“Did she say they took it without her agreement?” Sera asked.
“She said she needed it back. I didn’t hear the rest.”
Kellan looked toward the facility. “Do you have a copy of yours now?”
“My sister found a photograph on her phone. She sent it this morning.”
“Keep it somewhere you can access if your phone is in the locker,” Sera said.
Jalen wrote down the number on paper and put it in his wallet. He did not seem reassured by the copy, but it gave him something to use if he needed to identify the document later.
The worker at the counter collected a drink and left. Jalen ate half the sandwich. Sera asked whether he had somewhere private for the call with Priya that evening. He said his apartment was private but the signal was poor; he could use the café phone if necessary.
“I don’t want her calling the workplace,” he said.
“She won’t unless you agree,” Kellan replied. “Ask her that yourself too.”
Jalen’s break ended. He wrapped the remaining sandwich and stood. The crutch slipped on the café floor; Kellan caught the back of his chair before it moved, giving him something stable to hold. Jalen regained his balance and thanked him without making a joke.
At the door, he turned back. “You didn’t go into the office?”
“No,” Sera said.
“Good. If they think I sent you, they’ll put me on the worst shift they have.”
Kellan watched him cross the street. The cabinet had been within sight. A lock could be forced; a file could be taken. The image of Jalen returning to a workplace where everyone knew his document had vanished made the plan less simple than the metal drawer suggested.
The guard approached their van at the public parking area and asked why they had parked nearby. Kellan explained that they had taken a break at the café before returning the van. The guard looked at the signed manifest and returned to the entrance. He did not ask about Jalen.
At the clinic, Tessa received their account after her last patient. Sera described the cabinet, the labels she could read, the locked drawer and the folder Jalen had seen. She separated what she had observed from what Jalen had told her. Kellan added the pattern at the desk and the worker’s reported complaint, without identifying the worker.
Eli looked at the map. “The office is on the public corridor.”
“The doorway is,” Sera said. “The cabinet is inside.”
He traced the line to the door, then stopped himself. Jalen had asked them to wait, and Sera had seen more than one labeled drawer. He put down the pencil and asked what Priya would need to describe the location accurately.
Eli ran a finger along the drawn corridor. He could imagine forcing the cabinet and finding a stack of cards. What would he do with the others? Taking only Jalen’s could warn the employer. Taking all of them would put other people’s documents in his hands without their consent. Leaving them could expose the workers to a search after the break-in.
Tessa placed the map beside Nora’s contact sheet. “Priya can ask Jalen what he wants to do. We can give her what you saw.”
Sera wrote an account while the details were fresh: the time, the open doorway, the cabinet, the visible label and the locked drawer. She did not list worker names. Kellan wrote a separate note about the delivery and the conversation with Jalen. They compared the times and corrected a difference of two minutes by checking the manifest stamp.
That evening, Jalen called Priya from his apartment. The signal failed halfway through the first conversation. He walked to a neighborhood café near his apartment and called again from its handset, feeding coins into the slot while rain tapped the window. Priya asked what he wanted most urgently.
“My card back,” he said. “And I want to keep working if I can.”
She explained the available complaint route and the limits of confidentiality. She asked for the intake date, the names he remembered and the responses he had received. Jalen read from his notebook. When she asked about the other worker, he said he had overheard only part of a conversation and could not say how her card had been taken.
“Would you like me to contact the employer?” Priya asked.
“Not tonight. I want to think.”
“I can send you the options in writing. If you decide to proceed, we’ll discuss what information the employer is likely to receive.”
The handset beeped as the paid time ran low. Jalen added another coin. He asked whether a complaint could force the employer to return every worker’s document. Priya said she would need to know the circumstances and could not promise a result for people who had not contacted her.
After the call, Jalen sent Tessa a message saying he had spoken with Priya and wanted the night to decide. He did not give details of the conversation. Tessa showed the message to Eli, Kellan and Sera, then put the phone away.
Eli went upstairs and looked at the timeline. Bram’s contract still sat between the two threat-rating documents. The cabinet was not on the board; it belonged to Jalen’s current problem, not automatically to the warehouse case. He took a separate sheet and wrote the workplace address, the date Jalen’s card was taken, and the date of his requests.
Sera came up with two cups of tea. She put one beside him and looked at the new sheet.
“You’re not adding Bram’s name?”
“I don’t know that he had anything to do with the card.”
“Good.”
He took a sip. The tea was too hot. Sera watched him set it down and smiled.
“That’s the first time you’ve believed me before arguing.”
“I argued downstairs.”
“Then we’re improving slowly.”
From below came the sound of Leah locking the cabinet and Mrs. Ortega asking whether anyone had seen her sewing pin. Kellan called that it was still holding the corner of the timeline. Mrs. Ortega demanded it back before someone used it to solve another crime.
Eli removed the pin and carried it downstairs. Jalen would make his decision after hearing independent advice. The team had a delivery record, an observed cabinet and a witness’s request for help, but the next step was not theirs to choose alone.