Before sunrise, August carried out his plan and had the entire consignment removed from the stable before Varek could arrive to collect it.
When Varek reached the location with the men he had hired, he expected to find the boxes waiting exactly where Davis had instructed him to look. Instead, one of the men hurried out of the stable and called to him.
"Sir, there's nothing inside!"
Varek stared at him in disbelief. "What are you talking about? How is that possible?"
Pushing past the men, he rushed inside and searched the stable himself. The place was completely empty. Not a single box remained where the consignment had been stored. Refusing to accept what he was seeing, he hurried upstairs and searched the rooms there as well, but found nothing.
"How could this happen?" he muttered, his face tightening with frustration.
