To Butterfly: Not illogical, though improbable. Given the number of Lynchpin moles they've found, sabotage on the part of the police is a possibility.

To yellow 14: Just a little unfortunate!

The truck hummed down the street at a steady rate after leaving the highway, traffic light for the time of day. Rundown brick buildings lined both sides of the street, a handful of people visible on the sidewalks. At one corner close to the highway, five men lounged on the stoop of an apartment building, watching the truck pass while a couple cars paused in front of their building. The truck passed through an intersection, and a car parked on the side street quickly turned out to follow them. Gouger let out a breath. One checkpoint passed; they were that much closer to completing the sting.

"Okay… less than a block from the warehouse, driving a truck I've never handled before, and all we've got to do is talk our way past a couple of chuckleheads to get inside…" Ray muttered to himself. "No big deal; do it all the time. Just have to keep our wits about us and avoid getting shot… like the guys who were supposed to be doing this. But at least there weren't any bullet holes in the truck itself."

Gouger turned and glared at him, frowning. Ray stilled instantly, his grip tightening on the steering wheel, staring straight ahead at the gatehouse they were approaching. "We'll be fine," she told him curtly. "Just stick to the facts."

"Oh, yeah, not a problem," he assured her, the tension still visible around his mouth. "All the facts except the fact that we don't actually work for them…" They pulled up to the gatehouse, and Ray rolled down his window to look down at the guard standing there with a clipboard. "Fine day we have," he greeted him.

The guard looked down at his list. "Name?" he asked.

"Marcel Dumas."

The guard cocked his head in confusion. "I don't have you listed."

"We're new," Ray answered, waving his hand dismissively. "Just started last week up at Rouen."

"Where's the regular driver?"

"Who, you mean old…" Ray snapped his fingers a couple times, brows furrowed in thought.

"Pierre?" the guard prompted, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Pierre!" Ray chuckled. "Of course, Perky Pierre! How could I forget? Sick – bronchitis, I think he said. Or something like that. Happened pretty suddenly and he just couldn't manage the drive this time. So they tapped the new guy to make the delivery. Guess they figured I needed to get broken in sooner or later, right?"

"I haven't seen you before. First time?"

Ray nodded. "Drove for CEVA for a few years, but jumped ship since the pay was better."

The guard looked across at Gouger, who stared back at him evenly. "Who're you?" he demanded. She glared intently, raising one eyebrow in a challenge.

"Not much of a talker, this one," Ray explained, poking his thumb at Gouger. "I haven't gotten a word out of her since we left Rouen. Can you imagine it? That long stuck in a car with someone who won't talk?"

The guard frowned, examining Gouger intently, before looking back at his clipboard and shrugging. "Alright, alright. You're okay. You'll pull in here and back up to the loading dock," he instructed him, waving them through and returning to the guardhouse.

Ray rolled up the window and let out a relieved breath. "One down; one to go."

"If you're always this chatty in the car, I feel sorry for Delphine." Gouger watched the guardhouse carefully in the mirror as they pulled through the gate and into the loading yard. The guard stayed put while Ray carefully maneuvered them forward. Turning to the front, crates and boxes littered the loading dock. A small group of workers clustered around the Loader near the open warehouse doors. Next to the Loader stood a tall thin man in a dark suit that she recognized from the briefing as Luciano Andretti. Surreptitiously, Gouger raised her phone and snapped a quick picture of Andretti at long distance. Ray swung the wheel and started a careful turn to line the trailer up with the loading dock. He slowly backed up, and the trailer starting to swing in the wrong direction. "If you jackknife, they'll know there's a problem," she warned him.

"Ya think?" he grunted, pulling forward to straighten out and try again.

"Turn the wheel fifteen degrees clockwise," Vernant instructed him over their communicators. Ray flinched in surprise but obeyed. "Now straighten out and turn fifteen degrees counterclockwise."

"It's a good thing this thing comes with 'parking assist,'" Ray observed, backing up to the loading dock. He stopped a centimeter from the dock, turning off the truck's engine.

Gouger and Ray shared a look and climbed out of the cab on opposite sides. Walking along the side of the trailer, Gouger smacked it a couple times, raising a solid ringing sound. Climbing up onto the loading dock, she stopped next to the trailer's door, leaning casually against it, moments before Ray joined her. Andretti stepped forward, examining them closely, brows furrowed. His eyes lingered on Gouger a moment longer, using his thumb to rotate the ring on his pinky. Gouger looked back at him impassively. "Ready to inspect the shipment, boss?" she asked.

Andretti hummed dismissively. "It looked like our driver had a bit of trouble there," Andretti observed, turning to stare at Ray impassively.

Ray grimaced. "First time delivering to a new location is always a bit tricky," he answered, looking back at Andretti nervously.

"Perhaps…"

Ray straightened. "Won't happen again, boss."

"I'm sure it won't." Andretti nodded to the Loader, who stepped forward. "He will take it from here," he told them, turning to walk back into the warehouse. "You'll be on your way back just as soon as the truck is unloaded."

Gouger put her hand on the handle. The special prosecutor Prefect Raincomprix had selected (no doubt vetted by the Heroes of Paris) had briefed them before the operation, and she had been very clear on this point. Pictures of Andretti at the warehouse would help build their case, but without getting photos of him receiving the drugs, it would be hard to sell the case to a jury. "Are you sure you don't want to check the shipment for yourself?" she called.

Andretti scoffed but didn't stop. "Why?"

"What if it's damaged?" she suggested cautiously. "You saw yourself that the new guy had some trouble," she pointed out. Ray flinched, glaring at her. "He took a couple of sharp turns getting off the highway; things could have shifted."

Andretti stopped. "Is that so?" he asked, turning his head and giving Ray an appraising look. "If any of my product is damaged, that will mean both your heads…" He shrugged. "The Loader will see to it and let me know if there is any damage."

Damn. Gouger pulled the handle and threw the doors wide open, advancing toward Andretti. Ray stepped to the side, and the far door swung in front of him. Ramus and Roux both burst out of the trailer, Roux already with his pistol raised. Ramus aimed his prosthetic at the Loader. "Paris Police!" he shouted, eyes shifting between the Loader and Andretti. "You're under arrest!"

Startled workers scattered in all directions, jumping off the loading dock and running for the gates while others ran back inside the warehouse. A handful hid behind the crates, drew energy pistols, and began shooting. Ray drew his own sidearm and leaned out from behind the cover of the trailer door, and he and Roux began exchanging fire with them. The Loader strode forward, his attention entirely on Ramus. Gouger moved to interpose between them, but Ramus shook his head, not taking his eyes off the Loader.

"Go after Andretti!" he ordered, waving her off. An energy beam lanced out from his prosthetic and melted through one side of one of the Loader's claws. The Loader let out a grunt of frustration and swung his other claw over his head to bring it down on Ramus. Ramus rolled forward out of the trailer and raised his prosthetic over his head, deploying his shield as he did so. The Loader's claw smashed into the shield, and Ramus shifted its angle, deflecting the Loader's claw off to one side and into the ground. The Loader stumbled, and Ramus punched him between two of the support struts. The Loader jabbed at him with his half-claw, and Ramus backed away from him, shooting taser leads at the Loader's metal exo-suit. Energy beams shot back and forth across the space, striking boxes and melting through the thin metal siding of the warehouse. As it was peppered with energy beams above him, Ray slid out from behind the trailer door and punched one of the criminals in the throat when he reacted too slowly to the move. Another appeared behind Ray, his gun centimeters from Ray's head. On the opposite side of the truck, Gouger was too far away to react. There was a flash of white light, and the criminal fell to the ground without a head.

"I've got you," Wilson called over the radio.

Roux took cover behind one of the boxes inside the truck, firing steadily at three men who had taken cover to the side of the warehouse door. "Don't worry about us!" he called to Gouger.

With a resolved nod, Gouger sprinted into the warehouse after Andretti. Stacks of boxes lined the walls. A row of folding tables across one side of the room sagged under the weight of the drugs being cut and bagged. On one side of the room was a dark SUV; oil stains showed where the three delivery trucks normally parked. The warehouse itself was otherwise deserted, silent apart from the clattering footsteps of Andretti on the far side of the building, close to the SUV. Gouger raced after him, trying to cut down his lead before he could escape. "Give up, Andretti!"

Andretti paused, only a few meters away from the SUV. "Did you really think it would be so simple, Officer?" he asked her, not turning around.

"We just have some questions for you," Gouger called. "About the Lynchpin."

He scoffed. "About who?"

Gouger had reached the middle of the warehouse. Something clattered above her head, and she looked up just as, with a tremendous rending sound, sunlight poured into the warehouse through a new hole in the roof. With a bellow, something – or someone – brownish-tan dropped through the newly-formed hole and into the warehouse. He landed on the ground in front of her, bending and straightening his legs as he landed to absorb the impact. Rising to full height, he fixed his gaze on Gouger, flexing his arms. Gouger eyed him dispassionately, her gaze drifting down to the hand claws on his belt.

"Sorry I'm late, boss," the unknown figure called behind him, not taking his eyes off Gouger. "Got held up on the way."

"Don't let it happen again," Andretti replied, pulling open the SUV door. "Now…"

The figure drew his hand claws as Gouger flicked her baton out to full length. With a yell, he leapt at her, claws extended. Gouger stepped to one side, narrowly avoiding the claws, though one snagged on her sleeve, ripping the hem and biting into her arm, drawing blood. She spun around and kicked him across the back as he passed, only for him to flip over her leg. His claws descended, and she flipped her baton around to lie along her arm and block it. The claws bit into the metal, cutting a piece off the end. Without the end cap, the leads for the taser hung free, and Gouger flicked them out to touch his leather suit, hitting the trigger button as she did so. He growled, and she backed away. He shook his head, gnashed his teeth, and advanced. She clenched her fists, tensing.

"Time to go!" Andretti shouted, revving the SUV's engine.

The stranger groaned in frustration but jogged over to the SUV with Gouger in hot pursuit. He quickly outstripped her and reached the SUV, jumping in the still-open back. The SUV sped out the side door, and Gouger got a quick glance of the Loader racing after it. Ramus fired wildly after him, melting a circle in the fence as the Loader grabbed onto the back of the SUV, which tore through the gate and out onto the street.