by David Archer
“Sure, honey,” she said. She turned and headed toward the kitchen as Noah sat down in the chair beside the couch.
Neil nodded to him, saying he understood what Noah had been saying. He hadn’t learned anything that would help the mission, but he had made it through the day and managed to at least look like he knew what he was doing. “Oh, well. Life is what happens while you’re making other plans, right? Hey, I wanted to tell you about this new 3D printer I got. It’s really awesome, I can make just about anything with it. If you think of something you need, let me know.”
“That sounds cool,” Noah said, pretending to be surprised. “I can’t think of anything we need at the moment.” He turned and looked at Sarah, who was just coming into the room from the kitchen. Jenny was right behind her. “Marsha? Brett has a 3D printer, can you think of anything you need him to make for you?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I need a new head. This one is getting frustrated trying to figure out how to follow recipes.”
Neil looked at her and blinked. “I don’t think I’m quite ready for that kind of project, not just yet.”
Sarah walked up to Noah and put her arms around him, then pulled him down for a kiss.“Don’t worry about it, then,” she said. “The cure just got home.”
Noah raised his eyebrows. “I’m a cure?”
Neil chuckled. “I guess you are for her. By the way, this is Jenny, the girl Marsha met on the beach. Jenny, this is Rob Townsend, Marsha’s husband.”
Jenny grinned and waved her fingers at him. “Yeah, I kinda thought that,” she said. “Hi, Rob.”
“Hello, Jenny,” Noah said. “You’re in college?”
“Yep, Texas A&M. Marine biology, if you’re curious.” She grinned.
“Wow, that’s awesome,” he said.
There was a knock on the door, and Noah went to answer it. Marco and Renée were standing there and he invited them in.
“Hi, Robert,” Marco said. “I was telling Diana all about meeting you today, and how you live in the same building. I do hope this isn’t a bad time, I just thought we ought to come over and get acquainted.”
“Sure, no problem,” Noah said. “Have you met Brett Wilson? He lives across the hall. He’s a security cnsultant, computer geek type.”
“No, I hadn’t. Hello Brett, I’m Jim Coolidge, and this is my wife Diana.”
“Good to meet you,” Neil said. “And this is Jenny West, she just started college here.”
“Marine biology,” Noah said. He closed the door as they all pretended to be meeting for the first time, and then turned back to Neil. “So tell me, Mr. Security Consultant, are we secure around here?”
“We are,” Neil said. “I ran a very thorough scan, there are no bugs or cameras anywhere in our apartments. We can talk freely.”
“Good,” Sarah said. “All the different names get confusing.”
“I agree,” Noah said. “Jenny, are you seeing any indications that this group is actually operating around here?”
“Nothing specific yet,” she said. “On the other hand, one of the first things I had to do this morning was decide whether I wanted to be an organ donor if something happened to me. There’s an organization on campus that promotes it, they offer a hundred dollars to everybody who signs up. I figured it would be in character to want the hundred bucks, so I had to fill out my organ donor preference sheet and give a blood sample.”
Noah narrowed his eyes. “That would certainly fit,” he said. “That means they could be building a bank of potential victims. Who is behind this organization?”
“Supposedly it’s just a student group,” Jenny said. “It’s called Life Gift America, and it’s part of some big organization started by a student group somewhere. It has branches at colleges all over the country, now.”
“And maybe other places. Being an organ donor is considered a good thing, so it shouldn’t be hard to recruit people, and the blood sample probably gives them enough DNA or whatever to let them evaluate prospective organ matches. Neil, find out if Life Gift America is really all that widespread.”
Neil picked up his computer from the coffee table and went to work. “They are everywhere,” he said a moment later. “Colleges, big corporations, even in high schools. Depending on local laws, they might pay cash to sign up, but some branches offer other incentives like gym memberships and such.”
“And all of that information is going into a database somewhere. We need to know where, and who has access to it.”
“That’ll take some research, but I’ll get it. By the way, now that we’ve all ‘met’ each other, is it okay for me and Jenny to hang out together?”
Noah looked at him for a moment, then nodded. “I think so,” he said. “Nobody would think it amiss if a couple of young people seemed to like each other.”
“That’ll be fun,” Jenny said. “I can play hard to get.”
“Yeah, but not too hard,” Neil said.
“Noah,” Marco said. “Any sign of our targets yet?”
“I haven’t seen anything yet,” he said, “but this organ donor recruitment program makes me think we could be on the right track. What about you?”
Marco shrugged. “Hey, I’m just a paramedic,” he said. “But I’ll be sure to let you know if we bring in any fatalities.”
* * * * *
For the next three weeks, nothing seemed to be happening. Noah, Marco and Neil all went to work when they were supposed to, but none of them were coming across any information that would help with the mission.
The new software upgrade allowed them to stay in communication. Noah’s subcom connected to the medical center’s Wi-Fi that first day and they were able to keep in almost constant communication.
Jenny, even when she was hanging out at the beach, would turn on the mobile hotspot on her phone. This worked out very well for Neil, who could talk with her whenever he wished. The same applied to Noah and Sarah, and to Marco and Renée. Because the subcoms had five channels, each of the couples was able to have one for themselves. They could all be brought to a single channel by any of them saying “activate all,” so Noah didn’t object to letting them have privacy.
Noah finally got to meet Doctor Linden, but it was just a brief introduction. He didn’t see the man again for almost two weeks, and there was still no evidence available that he was actually involved in the black market operations.
In fact, there didn’t seem to be any such operation going on. During occasional calls back to Neverland, Noah was informed that no further interceptions of organs had occurred, and the FBI was about to conclude that they had been sent on a wild goose chase.
“I’m not ready to pull the plug just yet,” Allison said in one such call. “If something else comes up that we need you on, I might, Noah, but at the moment, I want you to sit tight. Keep working on this, because if we can find any evidence at all on where the victims are being held, my gut says it’s going to be there. You’re the best shot we have, so keep at it.”
Noah agreed and they kept going to work. Everything was becoming routine, and even Sarah and Renée were starting to feel like they were just marking time. Jenny was attending her college classes, then hanging out with Neil in the evenings now and then. They often compared notes in the evenings, gathering at one of their apartments to talk, but day after day, there was no sign that the black market operation even existed.
And then suddenly, that changed. Noah went to work one morning and was immediately called to Harold Conley’s office. He looked at the stack of folders on his desk and silently promised himself that he would get back to them shortly, then went up two floors to get to his boss.
The receptionist recognized him and told him to go right in. Noah stepped into Conley’s office and was surprised to find Doctor Barry Linden sitting there.
“Come on in, Townsend,” Conley said. “There’s something we want to talk to you about.”
“Certainly, sir,” Noah said. He closed the door behind himself and took the se
at next to Doctor Linden. “What can I do for you gentlemen?”
No one noticed that Linden seemed to be looking him over, but Conley smiled at him. “Robert, you’ve been doing an excellent job,” he said. “In fact, I’ve never seen it done more efficiently. The last guy we had was an idiot, I swear.” He leaned forward and put his elbows on his desk. “Tell me something, Robert,” he asked. “Are you making all the money you want to make?”
Noah glanced at Linden, then back at Conley. “Does anybody ever make all the money they want?” he said, putting a grin on his face. “I don’t suppose you’re getting ready to tell me I’m getting a raise, are you?”
“Well, possibly,” Conley said. “Robert, what if there were an opportunity for you to make ten, maybe fifteen times as much money doing what you do?”
Noah let his eyebrows shoot upward. “I’d ask you where to sign up,” he said. “That would be quite a raise, though.”
“I’m not talking about a raise on this job,” Conley said. “Let me ask you another question. How do you feel about the transplant program in this country? Do you feel that it’s handled properly, that the people who really deserve the transplants are the ones who get them?”
Noah licked his lips, trying to look like he was considering how to answer. “Well, to be honest,” he said, “I don’t guess I ever really thought about it. I mean, there’s some kind of transplant committees who decide who gets each organ that becomes available, right?”
“Yes, that’s the way it’s done, but what if there were another way, a better way? You know, a lot of these organs go to people who only end up with massive medical bills that destroy their lives, or to people who don’t contribute anything of value to the world at all. Do you think that’s right?”
Linden was still watching him, so Noah tried to look nervous. “Well—not really, I guess. Seems to me that they ought to go to people who are going to be, you know, more of a benefit to society.”
Conley glanced at Linden. “See? I told you he was our kind of people.” He looked back at Noah. “Robert, would it interest you to know that there might be another such system? One that bases the decision on who gets each organ on the oldest criterion possible, which is who is willing to pay the most for it?”
Noah shrugged. “I don’t guess I’d really be all that surprised,” he said. “Of course, that’s actually illegal under our laws in this country. You would have to be extremely careful not to get caught.”
“Which happens to be exactly why we called you up here. Robert, how would you feel about helping such a system by ensuring that the organs are properly shipped and arrive at their destinations ready to be implanted into the recipient, just as you do now?”
Noah grinned. “I’m guessing that’s what you meant about the high pay? I’d be very interested, but I’d like to know more about what I’d be doing, and how we avoid getting ourselves into serious trouble. I’ve got a wife, you know, and I wouldn’t want this to end up ruining our lives.”
“And nor would we,” Conley said. “I believe you know Doctor Linden?”
“Yes, sir, we met a couple weeks ago.”
“Doctor Linden helps me run the program I’m talking about. There are a few people other than him involved, but you only answer to the two of us if you decide to come aboard. However, let me warn you about this: if you do not come aboard, then you need to understand right now that this conversation never took place. If you ever mention it anywhere else, I can absolutely assure you that it will destroy your life.”
“I’m no fool, Mr. Conley. I figured that out as soon as you started talking, and I’d much rather get a piece of the pie than be baked into it.”
Conley burst out laughing and turned to Doctor Linden. “He’d rather get a piece of the pie than be baked into it,” he said. “I’ve never heard that one before, but I like it.” He turned back to Noah. “All right, then,” he said. “Doctor Linden will give you his cell number, and I’d like you to meet with him tomorrow morning rather than come to your office first thing. I think there are things we three need to discuss, and now is the time.”
Linden handed Noah a business card with his cell number written on the back. “Give me a call tomorrow morning around eight,” he said. “I’ll tell you where to meet me.”
Noah accepted the card and left the office. He knew a dismissal when he heard one.
He worked the rest of the day like usual. As soon as he was back in his office, he used the subcoms to tell everyone what had happened. He didn’t get to call Allison until he was on the way home.
“I finally got an opening,” he said. “Turns out my own boss, Harold Conley, is one of the people involved in this thing, and my predecessor was actually working with them unwittingly. They’ve been watching me for a little while, trying to decide if they wanted to bring me in or not.”
“Well, it’s about time,” Allison said. “Do you think it’s his operation?”
“Conley isn’t that intelligent,” he said. “Linden is involved, as well, but I don’t think he’s running the show, either. There’s somebody else, higher up on the totem pole. Give me a little time and I’ll find out who it is. With any luck, it’ll lead right back to the European connections.”
“All right, but bear in mind that time is running out for the victims. The sooner we can find out what’s happening to the people they take, the better. Shutting them down is still mission priority, but we can always feed the location to the FBI, let them get a feather in their cap.”
“That would be great, but I’d like to take out the operators at the same time, if possible. If the victims are rescued before we’re ready to move, the people involved will go underground, and I doubt they’d let me stick around. The last thing we need is for this thing to rise from the dead on its own, with no way to know who steps up to run it.”
“I absolutely agree,” Allison said, “but it can’t take too long, Noah. Those are innocent people, and we need to sve as many as we can.”
“Yes,” Noah said. “And I’ve got a couple ideas on how we can do that. I’ll be talking with Linden tomorrow, and maybe I can get those ideas across.”
FIVE
“So,” Neil said when Noah got to the apartment, “how do you want to handle this?”
“We’ve already got easy communication,” Noah said, “so I don’t want any of you guys getting close to the situation. Jenny, is anything happening with you?”
“I have a lot of guys following me around,” she said, “but nothing seems to be connected to the mission. I suppose they could be scouting me, but I haven’t had any kind of issue with anyone. Anytime somebody tries to talk to me, I just put on my shy little kitten act, and then they tend to leave me alone after that.”
Noah nodded. “Once I get into the organization a bit, if I’m still in the dark about other participants, there might be a way I can point someone your direction. If you get snatched, we can use you to lead us to the rest of the victims.”
“Yeah,” Neil said grumpily, “as long as there’s Wi-Fi nearby. What happens if she’s taken somewhere she can’t communicate with us?”
“I thought of that,” Noah said. “It’s almost certain that the victims are being held somewhere on Galveston Island. If we all split up, we should be able to cruise the entire island and keep searching for her, because one of us would end up in range of her subcom. Once we know where she is, then we decide how and when to attack.”
They talked over a few more ideas, but then concentrated on acting like a group of friends having a dinner party. Neil, Jenny, Renée and Marco all left around ten o’clock, and Noah and Sarah headed to bed.
“I wish there was something I could do,” Sarah said. “I’m feeling pretty useless just sitting around here in the apartment.”
“You can go hang out with Jenny when she’s not in class,” Noah said. “Just be careful, of course, and keep your hotspot on. While it isn’t likely they would try to take both of you the same time, you are the right age
and general shape of a lot of the girls who have gone missing.”
Sarah looked at him, then reached up to caress his face. “Really? You wouldn’t get upset with me?”
“I’m not going to get upset,” Noah said. “To be honest, I have my doubts whether any of the victims who disappeared around here had anything to do with the black market organization. It seems to me it would be pretty stupid for them to hunt in their own backyard. I don’t think Jenny is really in any danger of being snatched, so I don’t think there’s much risk to you, either.”
Sarah kissed him, then snuggled up close. “Good,” she said. “Because I’m going a little stir crazy here. I’ll talk to her tomorrow and we can go do something fun for a while.”
Noah called Linden the next morning as soon as he got into his car.
“Doctor Linden?” he said. “It’s Rob Townsend. I was supposed to call you this morning?”
“Yes, Rob,” Linden replied. “Do you know Doctor Steve O’Brien? He’s the chief pathologist at the medical center.”
“I’ve heard the name, sir,” Noah said. “I don’t think I’ve ever met him.”
“Okay, that’s not a problem. Why don’t you meet me at O’Brien’s office? We got some new intakes that he wants to discuss, and there are some high bids coming in, so we need to get ready for the removals and shipping. I’ve already got a call in to the air ambulance people, now…”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Noah said suddenly. “Shipping that way leaves us open to exposure. I think we need to do something a little different, something that will keep us covered.”
Linden laughed. “Robert, relax,” he said. “We got it all covered. Nobody is on to us.”
“Yeah, you know what those are? Those are famous last words. Doctor Linden, we are talking about something that could send us both to prison for the rest of our lives, and I’m not fond of that idea. If there’s one thing I know about, it’s how to ship things like these without having to do tons and tons of paperwork. Paperwork is the thing that could blow up in our faces, don’t you agree?”