The little weasel had always been worth more alive, but now he was worth more dead and Butch was loving the idea.
***
The agreed upon meeting time was still over an hour away, but Sonya was restless and needed to get out of her house before she went crazy. She decided to go early and find out if Jennings had gotten a moving truck and hired Butch. The thought of having to spend extra time with Butch almost made her change her mind, but not quite.
She was reaching for the knob to the door leading to the garage when it turned on its own and opened. She jumped back and stifled a scream as her eyes darted around the room for a weapon.
Lloyd stepped inside and she sighed with relief.
“You scared the crap out of me!” Sonya yelled. She punched him in the arm, and then hugged him with a sigh.
“A little tense, are we?” he asked, and chuckled.
She nodded her head against his chest.
“This FBI thing is freaking me out—they’ve never been this close to us before. Or at least, we’ve never known about them being this close before.”
“We’ll be fine.” He squeezed her and kissed the top of her head.
She pulled back suddenly and looked up at him with a frown. “I thought you were staying away from me for a while…”
He laughed. “Do you want me to leave?”
She shook her head.
“I was going to stay away so Butch wouldn’t know where you lived, but he’s at his meeting with Jennings.”
“Oh,” she said. “I wonder how that’s going.”
Lloyd’s face went serious. “It’s going well for both of them,” he said. “Not so good for us…well, me.”
“What does that mean?” she asked.
“Jennings just offered Butch one million dollars to kill me.”
“What?” Sonya exclaimed, stepping away from him. “Why would he do that?”
“Gee, I wonder…” Lloyd said sarcastically.
She smiled ruefully. “I guess if someone was going to be on his shit list, it would be you.”
Lloyd laughed. “You think?”
“How do you know he wants Butch to kill you?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
“I planted a bug in the meeting room of the factory,” Lloyd said with a grin. “I don’t trust the bastard and he just proved why.”
“Did Butch accept the offer to take you out?” Sonya asked.
“Yeah…I would kill him for one million too. There’s no love lost between us. We’ve always shot sparks off each other in a bad way.”
“Then why did you bring him in on the job if you don’t like him either?”
He shrugged. “Because he was the only one I could think of who would be willing to help us slaughter a family. He won’t bat an eye.” He paused and looked at her. “Why don’t you like him, anyway?”
“Slaughter?” she asked, and arched an eyebrow. “You know I don’t like to think of it that way.”
“Sorry, I know,” he said, reaching forward and massaging her shoulders. “Are you going to answer my question?”
“Not right now. Right now you’re going to earn forgiveness for the slip of your tongue.”
Lloyd threw back his head and laughed. “Am I, now?”
She winked. “Well, since I’ve got you here and I’m all tense…I might as well make use of you.”
“Okay,” he said, “but after we seriously have to make some plans on how to deal with Jennings. He fucking told on himself about having money at his fingertips when he put the hit out on me. Get this. He told Butch that he and his wife had decided it was a good idea to have me taken out.”
She stood on her tip toes and kissed him for a moment.
“I really don’t want to talk about Jennings,” she said, looking up at him. “Let’s help each other relax so we don’t go to the meeting and kill them all tonight.”
Lloyd grinned, shoved his hand into her hair, tugged her head back roughly, and kissed her hard.
Chapter Thirty
Agent David McCoy sat in an interrogation room in a Pittsburgh police precinct, drank stale coffee from a Styrofoam cup, and sighed as he went through the file that had been compiled on William “Bill” Housen and his disappearance again. There wasn’t much in the file and he’d gotten painfully little from the man’s wife.
He sighed, laid the papers on the table, closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose. He felt no closer to finding Daniel’s kidnappers than he had before he’d come to Pittsburgh. He’d called over to the Pittsburgh FBI office and let them know he was in town and that he’d be there the following day—he’d decided he would stay at the police precinct for the afternoon. He felt he could get some valuable information from the officers and detectives of the precinct at this point in his investigation. Detective Jones had already been invaluable with her knowledge of the local crime rings. He’d sat down with her for over an hour after Jan’s interview and they’d talked about the area and its crime in depth. She didn’t know of any human trafficking rings in the area, but she didn’t know about organ harvesting, either. She knew of a couple of informants that might know of such activity, so she and her partner had set out to see if she could talk to them before the end of the day.
“You look stressed,” a feminine voice said.
“I hope you have some good news for me,” David said, looking up to see Detective Jones standing in the doorway, “or just news period.”
Detective Jones laughed and stepped into the room. Her partner, Detective Cridge, followed her in.
“Well, I have some news for you,” she said. “There are no human traffickers in Pittsburgh that handle adults—that’s all I could get on that subject.”
“Definitely not,” Detective Cridge said. “Everyone we talked to thought that was the most comical thing they’d ever heard.”
“It was worth a shot,” David said, and shrugged. “What did they say about organ harvesting?”
“No one knew anything about it, but they said it could be possible,” Jones said. “But it was very clear that if it was going on, they would have to have inside connections to move the parts while they were still usable.”
“Meaning they would have to have their own person moving the organs that they already have connections with—no one in the area has those kinds of contacts at this time,” Cridge said.
“That would make sense, since they change locations so often,” David said. “But what about hospitals? If they are medical professionals, could they have inside connections and move things through the morgue? How hard would that be?”
“I think that would be plausible,” Jones said. “I guess hospitals and morgues would be the first logical place to check, since the human trafficking ring idea was blown out of the water.”
David nodded. The human trafficking theory was the one where his brother might be alive. That theory was dead now, just like his brother probably was. He focused inwardly and forced himself to keep his breathing steady—he would have plenty of time for his emotions once he was alone in his hotel room.
“I’ll be heading into the FBI office tomorrow morning,” David said. “I’ll see if I can get warrants for each hospital’s morgue paperwork for the last month, just in case.”
“If you need any help, let us know,” Cridge offered as he and Jones headed for the door. “We know the area and are willing to help in any way we can.”
“Thank you,” David said, standing as well. “Can you make a copy of this file and send it to the FBI office for me? Oh, and a copy of the interview video too?”
“Sure thing,” Jones said, pausing at the door and looking back at him. “We’ll do it before we leave so you’ll have everything you need in the morning.”
“Perfect,” David said, grabbing all his stuff and following them into the hallway. “Thank you for all your help.”
He headed out of the building after handing Jones the Housen case file and saying his goodbyes. They had been more helpful than he
’d expected. He was thankful for their connections and assistance.
***
Roger arrived at the factory a little early and frowned when he saw the rusted pickup in the parking lot, then he remembered Butch’s meeting with Jennings and relaxed.
He made his way into the building and heard Butch and Jennings talking and laughing in the meeting room; something about that bothered him. He didn’t think they knew each other that well and he didn’t see them as being of the same ilk―at least not enough for them to be chummy.
He stopped a few feet away from the door and listened for a few moments. He heard them planning Lloyd’s death.
With a sigh he thought, Everyone is planning to kill everyone else. This could get interesting and we could all wind up dead. He swallowed the laugh that fought to escape from his throat as he thought about the irony of the situation.
“Whatcha doin’?” Sonya teased, grabbing ahold of Roger’s hips from behind.
He jumped and spun to face her.
“Don’t scare me like that!” he exclaimed, and half-smiled.
“Sorry,” she said. “What are you doing standing out here? Why haven’t you gone in yet?”
“Just listening for a second…” Roger said, smiling at her. “Sounds to me like things are getting all fucked up and we’re in for a whirlwind of shit—at least Lloyd is.”
Sonya nodded and he noticed she wasn’t surprised.
“You already knew?” he asked, cocking his head to the side. “This is messed up.”
She smiled coldly and nodded again.
“Let’s go in before we get caught lingering out here,” she said, walking past him into the meeting room.
“Hello, Sonya,” Jennings said a little too loudly.
She smiled but didn’t respond other than a polite nod in his direction.
Butch whistled and let his eyes travel over her.
She shot him a disgusted glare.
“Don’t look at me like that, doll,” Butch teased. “I remember you…”
She shook her head and looked away.
Roger stood just inside the doorway watching the exchange and nodded to Butch when he looked in his direction.
“So, I take it we’ll be working together,” Roger said, holding out his hand to the new man on the team. They were almost the same build, but Butch was slightly taller.
“Looks that way,” Butch said, shaking Roger’s hand.
“Good,” Roger said, “we need to get this job done fast!”
“No shit,” Sonya said. “I don’t like it when the FBI is all but breathing down our necks.”
“What did you find out, Sonya?” Jennings asked.
“Shouldn’t we wait until Lloyd gets here to discuss everything?” she asked, blinking innocently.
“I suppose,” Jennings said, crossing his arms.
“Don’t wait too long,” Lloyd said, sauntering into the meeting room, “’cause I’m here!”
Roger fought to hide a smirk as Jennings’ eyes filled with hatred, which he blinked away before plastering a fake smile on his face.
“Great!” Jennings exclaimed. “We’re all here, so now we can get on with the meeting. Sonya?” He looked at her again.
She nodded and began. “Jan said the FBI is already here. I really don’t know how much more they know right now. I was careful when I left her to make sure I wasn’t followed home.”
“If they figure out what we’re doing, setting up a contact inside a hospital will have been a bad idea,” Jennings said. “Have you warned Miles yet?”
“Well,” Sonya snapped, “since you didn’t tell me Lloyd was coming, I did what I thought needed to be done. No, I haven’t talked to him yet.”
“I suggest you do so,” Jennings said. “He’ll need to know so he can cover his tracks better. I guess you’ll have to go back to work.”
Lloyd and Sonya scowled at Jennings.
“I’ll take one more day off, so it actually looks like I was sick,” she snarled. “Then I’ll go back. I can text or call him tonight and let him know what’s going on.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Roger said, trying to break up the growing hostility. “Did you find out about renting a moving truck, Jennings?”
The older man turned his attention to Roger.
“Yes, I did get ahold of someone about renting a truck, so we’ll have one by tomorrow.”
“Good,” Sonya said, “because I mentioned to Jan about knowing someone who could help her move.”
“So, she’s still moving?” Roger asked.
“Yup,” Sonya said. “She said she’s about broke and has to. The sooner we can get something set up the better. The FBI makes me nervous.”
“You? Nervous?” Butch asked, and chuckled. “That’s something new.”
Lloyd glanced back and forth between the two.
Sonya frowned and shook her head.
“You never did get to know me that well,” she said.
Butch laughed. “I knew you well enough, I think.”
“Do we have a general idea how many days it will be ’til this goes down?” Lloyd asked, putting an end to the interaction between Butch and Sonya. “I need to make sure I can move everything right away. We aren’t going to want even a slight delay.”
“I’ll keep you updated,” Jennings said. “It’ll mainly depend on what Sonya can set up with Jan.”
“I’ll get right on that tomorrow, since I’ll be calling off work again,” Sonya said. “Hopefully it’ll be in a day or two. Do you think we should move to another building? You know, in case the FBI finds my car on street surveillance tapes leaving the bar…and then driving around here.”
“That might not be a bad idea,” Jennings said thoughtfully. “You’ll have to stay away until we do the harvest.”
“I know,” Sonya said. “But since they’ll eventually be checking out hospitals—if they’re smart—that might be a good idea. There are cameras in their parking lots for sure.”
“So, we’re doing the harvest at the move—whenever Sonya can set it up—and we’re moving base?” Roger asked. “I guess I know what I’ll be doing for the next couple of days. Did you pick out a backup building already, Jennings?”
“I have one in mind, yes,” Jennings said. “It’s on the other side of town and is a bit more secluded.”
“Sounds good,” Lloyd said. “Is there anything else we need to talk about tonight?” He looked from Jennings to Butch, searching their eyes and finding nothing out of the ordinary.
“No,” Jennings said. “I don’t think so. I’ll keep in contact with Sonya, and I’ll keep you all up to date on the timeline. Let’s get this thing done and make some money.”
They all agreed and stood to leave.
Jennings and Roger started chatting about the move and what they would need to do.
Lloyd was on his phone, texting his contacts to see when they might be available in the next week or so.
Sonya turned and walked out into the main area of the factory. She didn’t realize she’d been followed until Butch grabbed her elbow and spun her around.
“Where you think you’re going so fast?” he asked in a harsh whisper. His breath was coming so fast he was almost panting. “Why are you acting like you don’t remember what we had?”
“Because that was a long time ago and it’s over now,” Sonya said, pulling her arm free. “You went too far and I didn’t like it.”
Butch smirked. “You liked it all up until then.” He stepped closer and looked down at her. “As a matter of fact, I think you loved it until I didn’t let you control me anymore.”
“What’s going on?” Lloyd said, walking up to them. “Everything okay, Sonya?”
Chapter Thirty-One
“Everything’s fine,” Sonya said with a smile, stepping away from Butch to put some distance between them.
Lloyd nodded, but looked between the two suspiciously. He could tell they had…history, and it annoyed him. Again he wished Sony
a would trust him and tell him what had happened in the past, but he didn’t want to push her—he wanted her to tell him because she wanted him to know.
“I have to go,” she said, glancing at both men. “You two have a good night.”
“You too,” Lloyd said, smiling at her politely.
Butch nodded—he sensed there was something between the two and knew they were trying to hide it from him.
Sonya turned and walked away, heading outside to her car. She didn’t leave right away, but sat in her car and tried to calm her raging emotions. Seeing Butch again, and having him bring up their past relationship had brought up more feelings than she’d thought still existed where he was concerned. Having Lloyd in the same room hadn’t helped either, because he brought up even more emotions and made her feel edgy.
She noticed her hands were shaking when she pulled out her cell phone to call Miles, so she decided she would wait until she was calmer to contact him. If he said or did the wrong thing at that moment she didn’t know what she would do with such a slight grasp on her self-control.
Butch and Lloyd came out of the building and that’s when she started the engine of her car. She didn’t want to see or talk to either of them right then.
She drove out of the parking lot a little faster than normal, but she didn’t care. She needed to get away from everyone and everything for a while, but she didn’t know where to go. Home was too quiet and lonely, and she didn’t want to go to a bar or anywhere where she might get hit on or recognized.
Jan suddenly sprang to her mind. She could go and talk to her as a “friend” and it wouldn’t matter what she accidentally told her because the woman would be dead soon. That knowledge made her feel comfortable driving through town to the woman’s house.
***
David wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone when he arrived back at his hotel. He went straight to his room and ordered his supper through room service even though he didn’t expect to eat much.
Nurse Blood (The Organ Harvester Series Book 1) Page 19