The Body Market: A Leine Basso Thriller

by Berkom, D. V.

  Zamir started for the ramp. Leine crossed the gap between them and snapped her foot up, delivering a savage kick to the Albanian’s hand and sending the .45 spinning through the air. Zamir spun toward her and she pivoted, swinging her leg in a roundhouse kick that connected with the side of his knee. Zamir collapsed with a grunt but at the last second rolled toward the gun.

  Leine covered the distance in two strides, threw her weight onto her back foot, and using the momentum, thrust her other leg up, feeling a satisfying thud as her heel connected with his jaw. His head snapped back and Zamir fell to the ground, stunned. He rolled onto his elbow and shook his head.

  At the same time, Andre darted from behind the dump truck and fired at Grigori. Still holding the unconscious guard, Grigori pivoted and returned fire, the automatic spraying bullets. Hit in the thigh, Andre lurched backward, dragging himself behind the truck. Gregori let go of the gunman he’d been using as a shield and advanced up the ramp toward Andre.

  A popping sound split the air as a burst of automatic gunfire exploded behind him. Grigori stumbled. Leine turned in time to see the barrel of the MP-5 swing toward her from behind the hood of the refrigerated truck.

  Adrenaline hammering through her, Leine dove to the ground and rolled, chunks of dirt exploding around her.

  “Don’t let her get away,” Zamir screamed, trying to rise. Focused on Leine, the driver stepped around the truck and took aim.

  Shots rang out from Leine’s right. The driver doubled over, gripping his stomach, and dropped the submachine gun. He raised a blood-covered hand, disbelief filtering across his face as he collapsed.

  Grigori hobbled into view. Blood stained the tan material of his fatigues. He leveled his gun at Zamir.

  “Grigori, don’t—”

  Grigori shook his head, his eyes on the Albanian. “I am going to enjoy killing this asshole.”

  “He may have information I need,” Leine said, gritting her teeth against the searing pain in her arm. Blood soaked her left sleeve.

  “Where’d that come from?” she asked, nodding at the blood-smeared knife Grigori was wiping on his fatigues.

  He smiled, a mischievous glint in his eye. “They didn’t find all of my pockets.”

  Grigori covered Zamir while Leine patted him down. She found a cell phone, which she handed to Grigori, and a wad of bills, which she pocketed.

  “Don’t shoot him. Yet,” Leine said to Grigori.

  She walked to the Yukon and climbed inside the cab. There, she found a handful of zip ties in the console, along with several of the grenades and a book of matches, and brought them back to Grigori. She pocketed two of the grenades and the matches, and walked over to where the .45 lay. Picking up the firearm, she moved behind Zamir, kicked him behind the knees to force him down, and secured his wrists and ankles.

  “Don’t take your eyes off him, Grigori,” she said, and started for the refrigerated truck, stopping to pick up the MP-5 next to the mortally wounded driver.

  “We don’t have much time,” Grigori called.

  She glanced at her watch. He was right. Nicholas would be expecting the shipment in the next couple of hours. Since the donor had surely given up his or her life to provide the kidneys, she couldn’t allow them to go to waste. She turned back.

  “Call Nicholas. Tell him what happened. How long will it take to get through the tunnel?”

  “With no problems, maybe twenty minutes.”

  She reached the truck, climbed onto the tailgate, and yanked open the door.

  Chapter 33

  Elise walked out of the doctor’s office in the main house and headed for the barracks. Ramirez had changed the dressing on the incision to a smaller bandage, similar to Julia’s. Time was running out. She feared she would soon be offered to the men who visited the ranch. The evening before, two men had come to the cafeteria and taken Julia away. She didn’t return to the barracks until late, after everyone had gone to sleep. The next morning, when Elise asked her if she was okay, Julia replied that they had to leave that night.

  The early afternoon sun filtered through filmy clouds, sparing Elise the scorching heat she had come to expect during the day. She barely registered the rocky terrain, having gotten used to it—which was the only good thing about not having shoes. She hoped it would make the trek through the desert easier.

  Elise checked to make sure no one was watching before she edged around the barracks and walked down the slope to the lone tree at the bottom of the gulley. Not seeing anyone at first, relief flowed through her when Sebastian poked his head around the trunk, a big grin on his face. Elise smiled.

  “I didn’t think you were coming,” Sebastian said, staring shyly at the ground.

  “Of course I came, Sebastian. You’re the only nice person I’ve met here.” She picked a piece of lint off his shirt and flicked it away.

  Sebastian bobbed his head, his cheeks growing a deep shade of pink.

  “I have something for you.” He reached into his pocket and brought out a shiny metal bracelet, which he eagerly handed to her. “It’s a magic bracelet.”

  “How sweet.” Elise smiled, touched by his generosity. The copper bracelet was made of little metal flowers and leaves woven into links. “Would you put it on for me?”

  Sebastian grinned as he looped the bracelet over her wrist and snapped the clasp closed.

  She held it up for him to see. “Why do you say this bracelet is magic?”

  “That’s what the man told me when I bought it. That it was a magic bracelet.”

  Tears sprang to her eyes at his earnest expression. It seemed like such a long time since anyone showed her kindness. Whenever she saw Sebastian she made a special effort to talk to him and find out how his day was going. Now that she and Julia planned to escape, her relationship with Sebastian took on a new urgency. She just hoped he wouldn’t get in trouble for what she was about to ask him.

  “Sebastian,” she began. “Someone told me that you get to go lots of places, not just here on the property. Is that right?”

  He nodded enthusiastically. “Yes. Sometimes Master Garcia takes me into town. I help him carry the supplies to the car.”

  “I miss going into town so much. How far away is it?”

  Sebastian looked skyward for a moment and then frowned. “It’s longer than I can walk.” He fell silent for a minute, thinking, before another grin split his face. “Do you want me to ask Master Garcia if he’ll take you?”

  “No. No, that’s all right, Sebastian. When you go with Master Garcia, which way does he drive, usually?”

  Sebastian pointed past Elise to her right and then at a ninety-degree angle. “We go on two roads. The second one is really long.”

  At least now we know which way to go, Elise thought. She stepped closer to Sebastian and put her arms around him, giving him a squeeze. He froze for a moment, but then his body melted into hers and a small sigh escaped his lips. Elise patted his back like she would a newborn. A warm feeling flowed through her. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt even the slightest bit nurturing. It felt good.

  She took a step back and raised her arm, holding up the bracelet. “Thank you, Sebastian. I’ll keep the magic bracelet with me, always.”

  ***

  Elise jumped at the shrill whistle coming from the yard. The heat returned later that afternoon with the intensity of a forest fire. Elise and another girl had just finished cleaning the bathrooms in the stifling yellow house. Celeste was no longer assigned as Elise’s cleaning partner. In fact, she hadn’t seen the dark-haired girl anywhere. When Elise asked about her, she was told to go back to work.

  An anxious look passed between Elise and the other girl before they picked up their buckets and made their way outside.

  Master Garcia and the dog man stood in front of the main house with a girl Elise had never seen before. Her dress was filthy and torn and there was dried blood and scratches on her legs. Manacles encased her ankles. She stared at the ground while the rest o
f the girls gathered around them, leaving a wide space in front.

  Elise searched the crowd for Julia and found her a few yards away. She inched over to stand beside her.

  “Who’s that?” she asked.

  “The girl who escaped,” Julia said, her voice flat. She was staring at the dog. Its ears lay flat against its head and a low growl emanated from deep within its muscular chest.

  A spike of anxiety shot through Elise. “What do you think they’re going to do to her?”

  “I don’t know,” Julia whispered.

  The doctor and another guard joined Garcia, the doctor carrying a coiled bullwhip. The rest of the guards stood at various intervals around the crowd’s perimeter.

  “Let this be a lesson to all of you here,” Master Garcia’s voice boomed. He grabbed the girl’s chin and jerked it up so everyone could see her face. Her body trembled and there was terror in her eyes.

  “This Jezebel left under cover of night. Walked into the desert alone. She had no water, no food.” Garcia dropped her chin and placed his hand on her shoulder. “She is lucky we found her. So many terrible things could have happened.”

  The girl closed her eyes and licked her dry, scorched lips. Tears coursed down her cheeks, streaking through the dirt on her face. Elise wondered if anyone had given her water, or if they were just going to let her suffer.

  The answer came soon enough.

  “I am displeased,” Garcia roared.

  Fear in both the girl and the crowd was palpable. Elise’s heart skipped in her chest.

  What if Julia and I get caught? This girl was out there for four nights and they still found her.

  “Hold her,” Garcia commanded.

  Dog Man and another guard gripped the girl’s wrists and pulled until her arms were fully extended. Garcia seized her shift and in one movement ripped the back open to her waist. He then turned to the doctor, who handed him the bullwhip.

  Garcia walked into the crowd, and they quickly parted to give him room.

  “They’re going to use that?” Elise couldn’t believe he needed that big of a whip, not when she could still feel the sting of the smaller one he’d used on her when she first arrived.

  “He’s going to kill her.”

  Julia’s voice almost didn’t register. She’d said the words so quietly that Elise wasn’t even sure she’d heard her correctly.

  “But—he can’t, can he? I mean, what about the police? Aren’t there laws?”

  Julia ignored Elise and watched, stone-faced, as Garcia snaked the whip through the air, testing it. The girl flinched with each loud snap.

  With a grim expression, Garcia brought the whip back and Elise turned away. There was a sharp crack! and the girl screamed.

  Another blow split the air. The screams turned to sobs.

  And again.

  Elise put her hands over her ears and ran from the crowd, fury at Garcia and the doctor burning in her chest.

  She didn’t care if Julia backed out or not. She would escape.

  Tonight.

  Chapter 34

  Leine scanned the interior of the back of the truck. Nicholas’s shipment was secured to one wall with a bungee cord. The pallets were held in place with floor locks.

  There was another door at the far end. Expecting more organs, Leine threaded her way toward it and yanked the door open.

  A dozen pair of eyes blinked at the influx of light like owls on a tree branch. Leine’s breath caught in her throat at the sight of twelve children—none of them could have been older than twelve—wrapped in ratty blankets and sitting on the filth-encrusted floor of the cooler.

  “Mamá!” a little girl cried. Another girl shushed her, jabbing her in the side with her elbow.

  “I—it’s all right,” Leine said in English, her throat tight. She remembered where she was and switched to Spanish. “It’s safe to come out now. You all must be very cold.”

  One by one, each child made his and her tentative way out of the cooler toward Leine. Many of them glanced at her as they walked past, curiosity filling their dark eyes. As soon as they had found their way to the back of the truck, Leine climbed down and began to lift them out.

  Grigori joined her, his eyes widening as he took in the scene.

  “They were going to—” he whispered, staring at the children.

  Leine nodded, her lips pressed into a hard line. He clenched his jaw and turned away. He’d tied his T-shirt around his upper thigh to stem the bleeding, leaving him bare-chested. His back had several scars—a few resembled bullet wounds that had healed, but one extended from his shoulder across his back to below his kidney.

  She glanced to where he’d been holding Zamir at gunpoint. The Albanian wasn’t in sight.

  “Where’s Zamir?” she asked, alarm sweeping through her.

  “Do not worry. I will handle Zamir.” He spoke his name as though he’d tasted poison. “I found this on the driver.” Grigori handed her the man’s cell phone before he disappeared around the back of the truck. Sliding the phone into her pants pocket, Leine glanced at the next child in line—a girl of about eight in a pretty green dress—and smiled.

  “Stay there. I’ll be right back to help you down, okay?”

  “Okay,” she answered in a tiny voice.

  Leine hurried around the end of the truck, hoping she wasn’t too late. She needed to interrogate Zamir, not bury him.

  Yet.

  His face a deep shade of red and breathing heavily, Grigori loomed over the Albanian with the AK-47 shoved against his forehead. He had tied Zamir by the wrists to the back of the dump truck with zip ties.

  “You bastard,” he said in Russian. “You were going to use those children like—like they were your own fucking body parts supply store?”

  “Don’t kill him just yet, Grigori,” Leine said.

  A vein pulsed in the Russian’s temple. “Why not?”

  “I need to find out if he knows anything about a case I’m working on.”

  Rage plain on his face, Grigori continued to stare daggers at Zamir. Leine waited while the Russian got himself under control. Little by little, like a boiling teapot that had its burner turned to low, the tension in his body lessened. He took a deep breath and stepped back, lowering the gun. Leine inserted herself between the two men, facing Zamir.

  “Where do these children belong?”

  Zamir turned away. Grigori stepped forward, his fists clenched.

  “You son of a whore—”

  Leine gave him a look that said back off. He hesitated but stood down.

  “I’m only going to ask once more. Where did these children come from?”

  Zamir’s stony gaze focused behind Leine and she turned. Several curious children had drifted from behind the truck into the main area. A little girl walked next to the wounded driver. He moved his arm, startling her, and she began to cry. Leine glanced at Grigori.

  “Would you make sure they stay behind the truck? And ask them where home is,” she said.

  Grigori nodded stiffly and hobbled over to retrieve the little girl and corral the rest of the kids. Leine turned her attention back to Zamir.

  “Now, I can make this easier for you or I can let Grigori have at it when we’re finished. If you answer my questions truthfully, I promise you won’t suffer. If you refuse to answer, I’m sure Grigori would love to have a few moments alone with you.”

  Zamir sneered. “Why do you think I would tell Nicholas’s bitch anything?”

  Leine smiled and shoved the barrel of the .45 into his crotch. Zamir’s eyes narrowed, fear reflected in their depths. Beads of sweat appeared above his lip.

  He remained silent. Tired of playing games, Leine stepped back, aimed the .45 at his leg, and shot him. Zamir screamed and tried to fold himself into a fetal position.

  “This isn’t helping, Zamir.”

  Groaning, Zamir squeezed his eyes closed and clamped his lips together. Sweat rolled down the side of his face.

  She reached inside her
pocket and slid out a copy of Elise’s picture. “Do you recognize this girl?” she asked, holding it in front of him.

  He refused to look. Leine grabbed him by the hair and forced his head up. “Open your eyes.”

  With an insolent glare he glanced at the picture. Dawning comprehension lit his face, and he glowered at Leine, fury evident in his eyes.

  “I knew it was you who killed my men,” he said, his voice dripping venom.

  “So you do know where she is.”

  “I know you will die soon.” He spit at her feet.

  Leine put the picture back in her pocket. He’d just confirmed he was connected to Elise’s disappearance, at least by association, thereby sealing his fate. She was pretty sure Grigori wouldn’t have a problem with that.

  Clearly, it would take too much effort to extract the information she needed from Zamir, and she was running out of time. Leine made her way over to the dying driver. Wariness on his face, he gazed up at her through pain-filled eyes. Blood had pooled in the dirt below him. She checked to make sure none of the children were watching.

  She hunkered down and showed him the gun. Misery and resignation swam in his eyes.

  “You think you can intimidate me,” he gasped, his voice weak. “You are nothing, an ant.”

  “And you’re in pretty bad shape,” she said, surveying his wound. “I will help you if you help me. All you need to do is tell me where this girl is.” She showed him the picture of Elise.

  When he didn’t respond, she pressed the gun to the side of his head. The driver flinched, his breath coming faster.

  “Zamir should have killed you when he had the chance,” he wheezed. “Like Ivan should have done to that bitch’s mother when she betrayed him.”

  What is he talking about?