by J. L. Drake
In shock at what he was discovering, he stood up and paced the room while his brain processed all the new information.
According to one of the sites he’d visited that provided facts about organs and the transplant list, no human organs were sold on the black market in the United States. That meant that if the kidnappers were kidnapping people to harvest their organs for medical reasons, they were either selling them to someone outside the US or they were really good at not getting caught. He was betting it was the latter. If they were indeed killing people to harvest their organs in the US, they would have to use them quickly…although a couple of the organs, stored and handled properly, could make it out of the US in time to be used in a nearby country.
The more he thought, the more his chest tightened. He tried to ignore the tears that burned the backs of his eyes and the churning of his stomach.
If what he was thinking was true, Daniel was definitely dead.
Since he’d found the new case files he’d let himself hope he’d find Daniel alive and well, just somewhere remote. That hope was slowly sucked from his body and he felt the compounding of grief he’d been keeping at bay for almost two years.
Unable to hold his pain back any longer, he fell to his knees and sobbed as he let the loss of his brother become the reality he’d refused to face for far too long.
The only rational thought he had as he lay on the hardwood floor of his living room apartment while his body convulsed in painful sobs was: At least I didn’t call Mom and give her false hope.
***
Once David’s emotions were spent, he forced himself to get up off the floor and trudge into the bathroom to clean himself up. He turned on the cold water at the sink and cupped his hands under the flow before scrubbing his face with the cleansing and awakening chill of the water. He repeated the process until his mind was once again clear.
As he stared at his face in the mirror, noting the puffiness of his eyes from crying didn’t quite mask the dark circles under them, he couldn’t help but feel he’d overacted when he wasn’t positive his brother was dead. At the same time, he felt in his gut that his new theory had to be true. Just thinking about the human organ harvesting theory while looking at himself in the mirror―feeling like he was also looking at his brother―his throat contracted again and tears welled in his eyes.
He again felt like the ultimate failure because he hadn’t been able to keep Daniel safe. He hadn’t been able to save him…
***
When David’s cell phone alarm went off, he was back in front of his laptop, searching for a way to determine whether he could find out where Daniel’s organs had gone, if indeed they’d been harvested. The alarm indicated it was time for him to leave his apartment if he wanted to get to the airport on time for his flight.
While he still wanted to go, and knew he needed to, he felt interrupted and annoyed by the alarm.
Grumbling and cursing, David turned off his laptop, packed it back in his carry bag, and picked up his suitcase. He looked around his apartment one last time and headed out the door.
He planned to type up a detailed explanation of his theory and email it to Agent Harmon. He wasn’t a hundred percent on anything right then, but he still wanted his boss to know what might be going on just in case he was correct.
Because if he was, Daniel was dead, but parts of him might still be living elsewhere, in someone else, and that’s what he was clinging to in order to keep himself sane.
Chapter 16
“We’ll discuss Roger,” Lloyd assured her. “Are you on your way home?”
“Yup,” Sonya said. “Why? Are you going to come over and keep me company?”
“I was thinking about it,” he said playfully.
“Just thinking about it?” she teased.
“Maybe I was waiting for an invitation.”
She laughed. “Would you like to come over?”
“Yes, I would, thank you,” he said. “How long until you’re home?”
“Um, about five to ten minutes, depending on traffic.”
“I’ll be there in a half hour with dinner.”
“You’re too good to me,” she said, and smiled.
“Do you want me to change?” he teased.
“No!” she exclaimed, and laughed. “I’ll see you when you get to my house.”
“Make sure you’re naked…in a bubble bath, and I’ll show you just how good I can be to you.”
She shivered in anticipation.
“I think I can arrange that,” she murmured suggestively.
He hung up.
She sighed, hung up as well, and dragged a hand through her hair; an evening relaxing with Lloyd sounded nice, and since they didn’t have to sneak around anymore because the others knew about their relationship, it wasn’t as complicated. She just hoped their knowledge didn’t foil the bigger plan.
As Sonya drove, she thought about how she was going to do what Jennings requested and help the widow—Jan Housen—find out that Bill had gone missing without making the woman suspect her involvement. The request probably seemed simple in Jennings’ mind, because he knew Sonya would figure it out, but she still hated him for making her life more complicated with all the little bullshit jobs. Hell, he could have told Jack to befriend the woman or something. Apparently he had time on his hands if he was concerning himself with her business.
Before she realized it, she was pulling into her driveway. She waved at a neighbor who was out gardening while she waited for her garage door to open. She promptly pulled in and closed the door behind her. She didn’t mind being semi-friendly with her neighbors, but she didn’t want to get to know them too well, and she didn’t want them knowing any of her business. Keeping a low profile without seeming strange or weird was an art she’d perfected over the years, and it had kept her, and the team, out of prison.
***
Jack watched as the psychotic bitch—Sonya—arrived home. He shook his head when he saw her being all neighborly, knowing what a joke that was. She’d slit the middle-aged woman’s throat if she sneezed wrong.
“What are ya up to this evenin’?” he mumbled to himself. He lifted a pair of binoculars to his eyes. “Open a blind or somethin’ and let me have a sneaky-peek into your house.”
He sighed heavily when nothing about the house changed.
Jack waited and watched, jotting down her arrival time in a notebook. He was intent on learning as much as he could about her and her precious lover boy so he could plan his revenge.
About fifteen minutes after Sonya went into the garage and closed the door behind her, Jack noticed movement in the bushes behind her garage.
Lifting the binoculars again, he hastily adjusted them to focus on who or what it was.
“Lloyd,” he said, and chuckled. “I knew ya wouldn’t be able to stay away long. Gotta get your fuck on, don’t ya?”
He watched as Lloyd struggled with a bag he was carrying while he navigated through the tall bushes; it had the logo of a local Chinese restaurant on the side.
“Aw, you’re such a good boyfriend, ya chump,” Jack said, laughing. “I think you’re just hopin’ she doesn’t decide to rip your dick off and feed that to ya for supper.”
After Lloyd disappeared from view, Jack wrote down the time and the name of the restaurant the food was from.
He settled into his seat and closed his eyes, knowing he’d be waiting a while for lover boy to leave. He planned to follow him back to wherever he was staying, so he would have the upper hand when it came time for action.
***
Sonya was soaking in a hot bubble bath when she heard faint noises somewhere in her house. She knew it was Lloyd, so she wasn’t worried. A smile crept across her face and she bit her lip, anticipating him coming into the bathroom and finding her just the way he’d requested. If this went like normal, he would take his time washing her, and then she’d be expected to reciprocate—they’d end up in the shower together for the finale before dinner.
/> She lay in the bathtub with her eyes closed, thinking about what she knew would happen, and smiled as the bathroom door opened with a haunting creak. The sound didn’t grate on her nerves like it usually did—this time it made her shiver with anticipation. She opened her eyes to see Lloyd standing in the doorway, looking her over.
“Perfect,” he said, and smiled, coming into the room and closing the door to keep the warm air in the bathroom. “I’ve been thinking about you like this all day.”
“Really?” she asked, blinking up at him.
“Oh, yeah,” he said, kneeling beside the tub. “Have you washed your hair yet?”
She shook her head no and bit her bottom lip.
He reached for the shampoo bottle sitting on a little shelf beside the tub.
One of the things that had drawn Sonya to the house when she’d been looking for a place to stay was the separate bath and shower: the bath was an old clawed foot one; and the shower was a stand-alone unit along the opposite wall from where the tub sat.
She and Lloyd made good use of them both.
***
“Shit,” Jack said, shifting uncomfortably in his car. “How long does it take to screw and eat?”
He glanced at his watch and noticed it had been almost four hours since Lloyd had entered Sonya’s house.
“Either they’re fuckin’ like rabbits or they’re asleep,” he mumbled, and decided to climb out of his car to take a leak in someone’s bushes since it was finally dark enough for him to move around without being seen.
Jack climbed out of his car, stretched, and headed toward Sonya’s house. When he reached the home directly across the street from hers, he turned to walk up the driveway like he knew the residents; he even walked around toward the backyard. No lights were on in the house and he hadn’t seen any movement from it all day, so he knew it was a “safe zone” for his bladder relief needs.
Just after he’d unzipped his fly to urinate in the bushes beside the house, a car turned the corner and drove down the street in his direction. The car pulled into the driveway, and he hurriedly hopped into the bushes while trying not to piss on himself. He tried to stop, but he couldn’t get the flow to shut off.
A family climbed out of the car.
Squeals and laughter could be heard as two small children charged across the yard toward the front door, and that’s when Jack picked up the sound of a dog barking—a large dog.
He squatted down a bit so he could see the family and the car better, and that’s when the tone of the barks changed.
The dog paused and sniffed the ground before its head swung in the direction of Jack’s hiding place.
Shit! he thought, trying to hurry up and finish.
The dog growled and lunged in his direction, but a man stepped forward and grabbed the dog’s collar before he could get to the bushes.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” the man scolded. “Remember what happened the last time you went after a skunk? We aren’t playing that game again—I’m too tired tonight.”
“What’s going on, hun?” a woman called from around the front of the house.
“I think there’s a skunk in the bushes again!” the man hollered, dragging the dog back to the front of the house. “Keener is freaking out!”
“Get him inside,” she yelled back. “We don’t need him stinking up the house again.”
“Really?” Jack heard the man mutter sarcastically.
The man pulled the dog around the house, swearing at it the entire time.
Jack breathed a sigh of relief once the family—and dog—were inside, but light now poured out of the windows and he knew he would have to be careful heading back to his car.
***
Sonya purred and stretched, opening her eyes as Lloyd climbed out of her bed.
“Where you going?” she mumbled sleepily.
“I gotta go, babe,” he said, looking around for his clothes.
She pouted. “I don’t want you to go.”
“I know you don’t, but I have to—I have a meeting in the morning. Where are my clothes?”
She rolled from her stomach onto her side, enjoying the view of him standing in front of her naked.
“In the bathroom, silly,” she said, and giggled.
“Duh,” he said, and slapped his forehead playfully, laughing at himself. “How could I forget?”
She shrugged and yawned. “Don’t know.”
“You should get some sleep—you have to work tomorrow,” Lloyd gently scolded over his shoulder as he headed out into the hallway and toward the bathroom to retrieve his clothes.
Sonya pouted and closed her eyes.
Lloyd came back into her bedroom a couple minutes later, buckling his belt, and caused her to jump and open her eyes.
“You were almost asleep again, weren’t you?” he asked, bending over her and brushing stray hairs off her cheek while kissing her shoulder.
“Mmm, hmm,” she mumbled, and turned her head to kiss him. “You can’t go yet, we haven’t talked about the plan.”
He chuckled. “You’re too tired to concentrate on that now. Rest—we’ll talk soon.” He kissed her soft, pink lips.
“I wish you could stay,” she whispered as he stood.
“Me too,” he said and sighed. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow—go to sleep.”
She smiled, closed her eyes, and buried her face in her pillow as he tucked the blankets around her.
Sonya was asleep before Lloyd left the room.
***
Jack had finally made it out of the yard and back to the sidewalk, and was heading toward his car when he saw a shadow slinking away from Sonya’s house.
“Shit,” he snapped angrily, and sped up to a jog. He knew it was Lloyd leaving and he didn’t want to lose him.
“‘Bout time, lover boy,” he muttered as he opened his car door and climbed into the driver’s seat, slamming the door behind himself in his haste.
He turned the key, which he’d left in the ignition, and peeled away from the curb, heading toward the end of the street to circle around to the next block, assuming that was where Lloyd had left his car. He no longer cared about keeping a low profile—his mind was set on not losing his prey.
Jack took the corners fast, squealing tires every time he turned. He almost crashed into the side of Lloyd’s car as he turned onto the next street over.
Lloyd looked up and Jack caught his surprised expression, which instantly turned to anger as he recognized Jack. The headlights only illuminated his face for a couple of seconds, but Jack knew his cover had been blown, because Lloyd floored it and sped away.
“Motherfucker!” Jack screamed, and punched his steering wheel in frustration.
He braked, steered roughly to the side, and skidded into a wide driveway sideways, before gassing it again and tearing through someone’s yard, giving chase to Lloyd.
After running multiple red lights and careening around a couple of sharp turns, Jack gave up on finding Lloyd.
He pulled up to a curb on a side street and ranted to himself about the damn family and the stupid dog who’d slowed him down. Sighing deeply and deciding he might as well go home and formulate another plan—one that would keep him alive now that Lloyd knew he’d been following him—and possibly get some sleep.
Jack sat forward and turned his head to check his blind spot before pulling back out onto the street, and nearly screamed when he saw Lloyd standing just outside his car watching him.
Panicking—thinking Lloyd planned to kill him there and then—he pressed his foot down on the gas pedal and shot away from the curb, almost plowing into a car coming up beside him. They honked and swerved to avoid him.
He looked back in his rearview mirror to see Lloyd still standing in the same place, calmly watching him drive away.
He was shaking, but he told himself it was anger for the rest of the drive home. Every time he looked in his mirrors, he expected to see Lloyd behind him, waiting for him to stop so he could kill him.
Lloyd watched Jack drive away with anger swirling in his soul like a rabid demon, burning to get free so it could kill. But he felt a perverse satisfaction knowing he’d scared the shit out of the damn idiot. Being smart, he knew Jack had to have been watching Sonya’s house, waiting for him to arrive and leave. He figured Jack wanted to know where he was staying, so he would have the upper hand. The man was sloppy and had ruined his chance of ever finding that out. No one knew where he was staying, not even Sonya.
Still standing in the street, he extracted his cell phone from his pocket.
He sent a text to Sonya, saying he was in full favor of Roger’s participation in their plan.
Lloyd knew they needed someone to keep tabs on Jack; he was proving to be too much of a variable. He didn’t mention what had happened, knowing it would be best to share the information in person, but after a slight hesitation he did add, “Watch your back” to the text message before he sent it.
Chapter 17
The world was dark when David got off the airplane in Memphis, Tennessee. The lights of the city did nothing for his depression. His external reality seemed miles away. He’d cried out his grief before his flight and had been numb while he’d typed up his theory to send to Agent Harmon.
He was desperate to get to Nashville and dig around, but he had to visit the FBI office in Memphis first. That’s where he’d have access to the missing persons database and the case files. Once he was satisfied with the research and information, he’d go out into the field to do the grunt work of tracking down, what he now believed, to be a group of medical professionals killing people and harvesting their organs for the black market.
Once he made it to his hotel, he continued with his research as much as he possibly could. While he could log into the bureau’s databases from his laptop at the hotel, he didn’t like to do so. He’d previously worked closely with one of the FBI’s cyber divisions and he’d learned how much information could be accessed and hacked using open or publically shared Wi-Fi signals. His most urgent concern was hearing back from Agent Harmon. He wanted to know what his boss thought of his latest theory.