by E A Price
He could hear Cutter’s annoyed voice coming from inside the trailer, asking what the fuck was going on.
“I’m coming in,” said Gunner. “Don’t worry, I’ll use the front door.”
He jogged round and was soon inside the cramped trailer. It was probably okay under normal circumstances, but now that four large, male shifters were inside, it seemed to be groaning under the weight.
Tom was sat on a shabby couch, idly flicking through channels on a portable TV like he hadn’t a care in the world. Like he hadn’t been declared dead and just tried to escape out of a window.
Alfie was leaning up against the trailer wall, eyeing them distastefully. “Something we can help you with, agents?”
“Just following up on the tip you made about a murder victim,” said Gunner nonchalantly.
“Tip? What tip? I don’t know anything about a tip,” replied the elephant shifter in a rush.
Tom stopped pretending to watch TV and looked up at the ceiling, muttering to himself. Yep, Alfie might be scary and a good guy to have on your side in a fight, but he didn’t do subtlety.
Gunner nodded at Cutter, who played the recording. “That’s you, Alfie.”
“Prove it,” he spat.
“It’s your voice, fuckwit,” said Cutter slowly and condescendingly. “That’s all the proof we need.”
Alfie let out a loud trumpeting noise as his own animal fought for control. Shit, that was all they needed, a freaking elephant bursting forth in that tiny trailer.
“Don’t even think about it!” snapped Tom. “You’ll destroy the trailer.” He turned his vicious gaze to Gunner. “Have you come to harass my associate for doing his civic duty? By the sounds of it, you have a lunatic on your hands, and Alfie here was just trying to help you out. Instead of wasting your time, why don’t you go and look for some real criminals.”
“There’re plenty here,” growled Cutter, never taking his eyes off Alfie.
The two of them were trying to outstare one another, trying to prove their dominance. They could be there all day.
Gunner spoke directly to Tom, it was pointless addressing Alfie; he was just a puppet for the hippo. “We need to know how Alfie came by his information.”
Tom hunched his shoulders. “We hear things.”
The bear paused for a few moments. “You look remarkably well for someone who was stabbed in the heart with a silver knife.”
The hippo let out a rumble. “Is that what you heard?”
“Strange coincidence, you getting stabbed in the heart, a hippo shifter turning up dead missing his heart, and then you making a full recovery.”
Tom smirked. “We truly live in an age of wonders.”
“I wonder what we would find if we took a DNA sample of that heart in your chest.”
“Good luck with that.” Tom waved his hand around. “I may not be living in the same splendor as I was a year ago, but all this is temporary, and I still have five lawyers on retainer. You’ll never get a search warrant to go rooting around in my chest.”
“You think you’re untouchable?”
“I think I can survive anything,” replied Tom, smugly.
If Tom had survived something like getting stabbed in the heart, then yes, he might start to believe that he truly was invincible. The thought almost had Gunner shuddering; the bastard didn’t need a confidence boost. He already acted like a dictator to anyone who unfortunately crossed his path.
Tom switched the TV off and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “But just say I did get stabbed, and I did need a new heart. What would I do in that situation? Would I go on a hospital waiting list? Do you have any idea how often shifter transplants are performed? But, oh boy, it would be mighty helpful if there were someone out there who was willing to find a donor and then do the transplant for me. Don’t you think? And I’ll bet there are lots of other shifters who feel the same way.”
Gunner stared at him placidly. “I’ll bet you’re right.”
“I usually am,” laughed the hippo shifter. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m a busy man. Come back when you get a warrant.”
“Let’s go, Cutter.”
He turned and strode away with a reluctant and grumbling wolf following him.
Cutter waited until they were on their way back to the office to let rip. “What the fuck? We could have taken them!”
His bear let out a warning yowl to the wolf. “We weren’t there to ‘take them.’ We were there to get information about our victim and we did. He was a victim of circumstance. He happened to be the right species, the right sex, and the right blood type, so he was picked to donate a heart to that asshole Murphy. We now know it wasn’t personal.”
Cutter threw himself back into the seat mumbling and flexing his claws. “I still say we should have beaten them up. They’re culpable for this murder, too.”
“If it came down to it, they’d argue that they had no idea where the heart came from. They could claim that they thought this was all legal. Those two are a fight for another day. Right now, we have to focus on finding the guy currently relieving people of their vital organs.”
“You think the same thing happened to our other missing shifters?”
Gunner sighed. Unfortunately, yes he did. Which meant they were looking for a serial killer - a crafty, money-grabbing serial killer, but a serial killer nonetheless.
“Short answer, yes. We need to get back to the office. We need to start looking into this as if all the missing shifters are victims are dead and work out how the killer is picking them.”
Before he picks the next one.
Chapter Fifteen
The Director tented his fingers. “So our theory is organ trafficking?”
They were in the Director’s office updating him on what they’d found.
Erin and Jessie were sat demurely in the seats facing his desk while the other four larger shifters prowled around the room, trying not to bump into each other.
“This is more like a made-to-order service,” said Gunner. “Our theory is that people who need organs contact our killer, he finds someone who’s a match, abducts them, takes their organ, then kills and ships them off to the waste disposal plant.”
The Director mulled that over. “Any luck in finding out how Silver’s body ended up at the plant?”
Avery shook her golden head. Erin was dazzled for a second; she looked like she had a halo.
“No, the body couldn’t have been taken to the plant and then put in one of the containers; it must have been thrown in with other trash. But, given that they were so backed up, it could have come from anywhere all over the city. I’m looking into it, but I don’t have much hope.”
The Director swung his gaze over to Erin, and her teammates were peeved to notice that he softened a little for her. She immediately flushed. Hey, she had no idea why the Director liked her so much! She’d done nothing to deserve it!
“Have you made any progress finding the woman from your vision?”
“No,” she admitted sadly, “and we couldn’t find any useful security footage from around the club where they met. I sat with a sketch artist earlier though, and he made this.”
She pulled out a picture of a blonde woman and passed it over to the Director. He nodded and gave her a genuine smile. “Good thinking.”
Gunner stood by his desk and looked it over. “Yeah, that was good thinking, Erin,” he added quietly.
She felt a trembling in her nether regions as she caught sight of the heat in his eyes. Oh, that was a look that she’d come to recognize and relish over the last few days. No, down nympho, bad girl!
“Let’s get this out there and see if anyone recognizes her.”
The Director looked up at the ceiling. “So if Silver was targeted for his heart, who would know that he was compatible with Murphy?”
“It wouldn’t be that difficult,” piped up Jessie in a surprisingly squeaky voice.
Everyone looked at her as red dusted her cheeks, a
nd she spoke quickly. “I did a bit of research before we came up here, and all you would need is someone of the same species and blood type. Because of shifter healing abilities, organs are never rejected.”
“But still,” said Wayne, “someone would have to know their blood type. I don’t know about anyone else here, but I’ve never been to a doctor. The only person I’ve donated blood to is the SEA for their files.”
Erin gasped. “Never?”
The tall gator shrugged. “Nah, my congregation had its own healer, and we hardly ever get sick.”
“Wow!” breathed Erin. She couldn’t count the number of doctors she’d seen over the years. But then, she had grown up in an institute, so she was kind of a special case.
“Me, either,” added Cutter, “but then I am a fine specimen of manhood.”
“That’s debatable,” muttered Erin.
She flushed as everyone around her – including Cutter - laughed, even the Director had to stifle a smile. Crud. Damn shifter hearing. Oh, well, score one for her.
Gunner pulled himself together. “That’s probably why our un-sub is doing this. The number of shifter transplants must be pretty low. Most shifters die of old age or die in an accident, and their organs aren’t viable.”
Erin frowned. “So by that logic, the list of shifters actually needing transplants should be very short. Wouldn’t most shifters just heal themselves, and if the injury is so bad that they can’t, they would most likely die?”
“She has a point,” said Jessie. “I can see if I can find a list of shifters needing transplants.”
Gunner nodded. “And maybe see who is no longer on the list, see who was recently taken off it. A doctor had to have done the surgery, so let’s for now assume that it was a doctor who found the victim. Jessie, check out who was our victim’s doctor – who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky.”
“When do we ever?” grumbled Cutter.
“Avery keep working on the Cinderella aspect and keep up to date with the tip line. Cutter and Wayne, check with local PD about the possibility that someone has started a made-to-order shifter organ business. If we’re right about this, someone out there is making a business out of harvesting organs, and one way or another they have to get the word out.”
“What about us?” asked Erin, keenly.
“I thought we could go through our victim’s things, give you a little break from the blonde hunt.”
She nodded. “Sure.”
“You get started; I just have to check in with the Zeta team about their missing person investigations. I better let them know that if our suspicions are right, they’re all dead and before they died they lost an organ.”
*
Erin braced herself as she held their victims toothbrush and… she got a vision of him brushing his teeth.
Ugh. She’d touched six objects, had six visions, and all she was left with was a headache and mild case of dehydration.
Oh, well. She picked up a shoe and saw him putting it on and… looking at his reflection in a mirror.
“Hey!”
Erin jumped and mashed the heel of her hand into her heart. “You scared me!” she squawked.
Isis grinned widely. “Sorry.” She didn’t sound the least sorry. “What are you doing?”
Erin hesitated, they were colleagues – technically - but all Erin could think was that this bitch was trying to steal her polar bear!
“Just touching some of our victim’s belongings, I’m trying to get a vision that might help.”
Isis nodded her head. A bright lock of red hair escaped from her ponytail. Jeez, even that looked artful and on purpose. “How interesting. Enjoying your time here?”
“Yes.”
“Enjoying working for Gunner?”
“Yes.” Where was this going? Was she about to admit that she wanted to thrust her catty tongue down his throat?
“Yeah, he’s a great guy, don’t you think?” she asked with wide, innocent eyes.
Erin shrugged. “Sure.” Although, she could think of some much better words to describe him.
“Well, I better get going, busy, busy, busy! By the way, you look really pretty today. That shape of top suits your body type.”
“Umm, thanks,” she said uncertainly.
Isis gave her a finger wave. “See you around, Erin.”
The tigress sauntered away, swinging her perfect hips and leaving a furious Erin to glare after her. Body type! Read – dumpy!
Erin was still fuming when Gunner came ambling in a few minutes later.
He stopped short on seeing the thunderous look on her face. “Everything okay?”
“It’s nothing, I just had a visit from your ex,” she muttered, bitchily.
Gunner raised his eyebrows at her tone. “Yeesh, babe, I’m sorry to say this but you’ll have to narrow that down.”
Her cheeks heated even more; you could almost fry bacon on her face! “Isis!”
“Oh.” His face hardened. “What did she want?”
“Whoa, back up, you mean you’ve dated women in this building other than her?”
“I wouldn’t say dated…”
“I don’t want to know,” she muttered grouchily.
“C’mon, babe.” He gave her his most ingratiating smile, and her ire did start to melt a little. “Don’t be like that. What did Isis say to make you all grumpy?”
He came to stand next to her and ran a finger up her arm.
“Nothing, really, she didn’t say anything. She was… polite.”
Oh, his finger had made its way up to her neck and was now tracing her collarbone.
“Hmmm, you’re gorgeous when you’re grumpy.”
Goose pimples peppered her skin. Mmmm, if only that finger would make its way down to her breasts…
“Don’t, not here,” she breathed regretfully.
A low growl vibrated through his throat. “Tonight cannot come soon enough.”
“Hey, what are you guys up to?”
Jessie cut through the erotic tension as she bounced into the room.
“Nothing!” squeaked Erin as she jumped a foot away from Gunner.
Erin looked at the floor while Gunner stared at Jessie blankly.
The squirrel pouted. “Mmm hmmm. Silver didn’t have a regular doctor, but after I went through his credit and bank statements with a fine-tooth comb, I found out that a month ago he was admitted to a clinic to have elective surgery.”
“Elective? What did he have done?” asked Gunner.
“Rhinoplasty,” replied Jessie.
“Rhinoplasty?”
“Nose job,” she clarified. “So the clinic will have taken a blood sample of his, and they’d have known he was a match to our delightful tyrant Tom ‘the screwdriver’ Murphy.”
“Hammer,” corrected Gunner.
“Like it matters.”
“What do you say, Erin, you up for a field trip?”
“Sure.” Was he kidding? Hell, yes she was up for getting out of there.
Jessie waved as she skipped out the room. “I’ll text you the address. Have fun, kiddiewinks.”
*
“This is a hospital? It looks more like a yoga retreat.”
The building was modern and surrounded by a lush garden, and people were actually practicing yoga on the lawn.
Gunner pursed his lips distastefully. “Yeah, it’s pretty awful alright. You didn’t have to come, you know? I know you’re not exactly keen on hospitals.”
“It’s fine; I was getting a little sick of being in the office.”
He pulled the door open for her, and she trotted through, marveling at the cool and serene interior. A blonde goddess pounced on them before the door even closed.
“Welcome to the Blue Lotus Health and Wellbeing Centre,” she trilled like a songbird.
The goddess took Erin’s hands. “I’m Lara, and I’d be pleased to be your guide on the road to wellbeing.”
Gunner held back a snort and Erin just gaped.
“Do yo
u have an appointment?”
“Umm…”
Lara beamed reassuringly. “No matter, I’m sure we can fit you in for a couple’s consultation.”
“Ahh…”
“We’re not here for that,” growled Gunner.
“Nonsense,” soothed Lara. “We could do both of you the world of good.” She tapped a manicured finger against her lips and surveyed Gunner. “Just off the top of my head, we could plump up those thin lips and perhaps smooth out those bags under your eyes. And as for you,” she swung her attention to a terrified looking Erin, “we could…”
“She’s fine as she is,” interjected Gunner in his harshest tone. “We came for information.”
“Information?”
Gunner took out his badge and flashed it at her. She deflated a little. “How can I help?”
“We need to talk to the doctor who operated on a former patient of yours. His name was James Silver.”
She looked thoroughly disappointed, but she didn’t forget her manners. “I’ll have to talk to the doctor, please, take a seat and help yourself to a glass of cucumber water or a shot of wheatgrass. And if you change your mind about the consultation, our brochure…”
“Thanks,” interrupted Gunner with a tone that didn’t invite any comeback.
Lara swept away.
“Would you like a glass of cucumber water or a shot of wheatgrass?” asked Erin, trying to hide a smile.
He grimaced. “Can’t say that I do.”
“Me either, give me soda any day of the week. Although, being around all these toned women is kind of making me rethink the way I eat.”
Erin eyed a couple more blonde goddesses who walked through the lobby and gave Gunner appreciative glances. She was pleased that he didn’t even look at them; his focus was directed exclusively at her.
“I wasn’t just trying to shut up that airhead woman, you are fine as you are. Better than fine, you know what you do to me.”
He gave her a lascivious smile and her eyes automatically flicked down to his crotch. Was he always hard?
“You know, if you are worried you could always work out with me.”
He watched her closely, gauging her reaction. She almost sniggered at his look of concern. He probably thought she might explode into tears and accuse him of calling her fat.