“Yes, I suppose,” Jan said slowly, wiping her face with a paper napkin, sniffling. “It’s just…”
Sonya waited with her eyebrows raised for Jan to continue.
“It’s just that I would feel stupid reporting him missing just to find out he’d left me,” Jan finally blurted.
“I see,” Sonya said. “Has he ever cheated? Don’t you two get along?”
Jan shrugged. “We get along just fine most of the time. I don’t know if he has cheated, but I’ve been suspecting it for a long time.”
“Hmm…sounds complicated. You two have children?”
“Yes,” Jan said, “and that makes it worse. What if he did leave, and I drag the police into it, thinking he’s missing? I would put the kids through all that drama. What kind of mother would that make me?”
A waitress brought their food over and set the plates down on the table.
“Enjoy,” she said cheerfully and walked away to take someone else’s order.
“I think you should at least call the police and report him missing,” Sonya said, picking up her fork and digging into her food. “Or, you could call the local hospitals and see if anyone close to his description has been admitted—that’s the first place the police would check anyhow.”
Jan thought for a moment and then said, “That’s a really good idea. Thank you!”
“No problem,” Sonya said, shoveling a bite of salad into her mouth.
“How do you know that’s what they do first?” Jan asked, picking up her fork and forcing herself to show interest in the food in front of her. “Checking the hospitals, I mean.”
Sonya swallowed her bite of food and said, “Because I’m a nurse and work at one. The police call all the time about missing persons.”
“You’re a nurse? I always wanted to be a nurse, but we started having kids right away and I never got the chance to finish school.”
“You aren’t missing much. Nursing is a grueling job, especially when you’re a traveling nurse and work with new people all the time.”
“So is being a mother,” Jan said. “What’s a traveling nurse? I’ve never heard of that job. It sounds like it could have its benefits.”
“In a nutshell, you take short term jobs at different hospitals that need nurses,” Sonya said. “They pay for your travel, housing, etcetera, and you get to move around and see the country.”
Jan sighed. “Now I really wish I would have gone to school to be a nurse. But I wouldn’t change having my children for anything.” She shrugged. “Life’s a tradeoff, I guess.”
“Yeah, it is,” Sonya said, taking another bite of food and chewing thoughtfully. “Has his work called? Asking why he hasn’t been there?”
“What?” Jan asked, swallowing her food and taking a sip of her drink. “Oh! You mean, has Bill’s office called? No, they haven’t called. He owns the company and sometimes takes time off without telling people, or travels for work—sales and stuff.”
Sonya nodded slowly. “Then how do you know he’s missing at all?”
Jan frowned and waited until she’d finished chewing the bite of food she’d just taken before replying.
“He always tells me,” she said. “He’s never not told me. Bill has always been concerned with the kids, especially our son. He’s the youngest and a diabetic.”
Sonya nodded. “I can see why he’d be eager to keep in touch.”
“Nothing’s making sense…” Jan said, pushing her food around with her fork, staring down at her plate like it had all the answers. She sighed heavily. “My gut tells me something is wrong, that something happened to him.”
“I think you should trust your gut,” Sonya said. “You’re his wife. If anyone would be able to sense something was off, it would be you.”
Jan laughed. “True. I have been with the man for a long time.”
“How long have you two been married?” Sonya asked.
“Eleven years.”
“That’s a long time—congratulations!” Sonya said.
Jan sighed and started eating again, looking around the restaurant.
“Thanks for this,” she said, glancing at Sonya. “You were right…I feel better having talked about what was on my mind. I don’t have any friends who live close-by. We moved here last year, after Bill decided to open his own business. There was more of a demand here than where we used to live.”
“What does Bill do?” Sonya asked.
“He’s a computer programmer. He writes business specific software for companies with custom systems.”
“That sounds complicated,” Sonya said. “I bet he spends a lot of time at work.”
“He does,” Jan said with a sigh. “That’s why I’m so lost right now. I’ve never had him go silent on me. We’ve always talked at least a couple times a day.”
If he was as attached to you as you think, why was he in the bar that night? Sonya wondered as she ate.
They kept chatting until the meal was over. Before separating, they hugged and exchanged cell phone numbers with Jan promising to let Sonya know what she found out about Bill.
***
On her way home, Sonya called Jennings.
“I made contact with the woman—Jan,” Sonya said before he could say more than hello.
“I’m proud of you,” Jennings said.
She rolled her eyes.
“They’re his kids and she thinks Bill has gone missing or left her,” Sonya informed him. “Their youngest son has diabetes.”
“That’s great! The diabetes won’t be an issue—the organs can still be used. Now I can figure up how much we’ll make off the family.”
She sighed. “By the way, I got her phone number and found out she doesn’t have any close friends.”
“Good,” he said. “Next time you talk to her, help her find out Bill’s missing.”
“You want me to do what?” she screamed into the phone. “Wouldn’t it be easier to leave her clueless about the situation so the family doesn’t suffer?”
“No, it will help you gain more of her trust.”
“Okay, fine,” Sonya snapped. “I have to go…I’m driving and almost home. I’ll talk to you later.”
She didn’t really have to go, but she didn’t want to talk to Jennings anymore. She ended the call and pressed the number on her phone that would speed dial Lloyd. He answered on the first ring.
“Hello, babe,” he said in a low, sexy voice.
She smiled sweetly. “Can I add someone to the list?”
“Who made you mad now?” he asked with a laugh.
“Jennings,” she said.
“I thought he was already on the list…”
“Well,” she said, almost snarling, “he has really pissed me off now.”
“Okay, I get it,” he said, still chuckling.
“I have another request,” she said cheerfully.
“What would you like? I live to serve,” he teased, trying to lighten her mood.
“I want to bring Roger in on it,” she said.
Chapter Fifteen
Before heading to the airport, Agent David McCoy checked over what he’d packed one last time. He wanted to make sure he wasn’t forgetting anything important. When he was satisfied he had everything he needed, he sat down in his recliner and turned the TV on. He was well-versed in the new case files he’d be looking into, so he didn’t need to study them. He knew he’d probably read them again on the plane anyway. What he needed right then was a distraction to calm his nerves. He was nervous with excitement. While he was glad he had a lead and the go ahead to investigate it further, he was scared of what he might find…and that he was somehow missing something. His theory of human traffickers kidnapping adults still seemed…off to him.
At first, David didn’t pay much attention to the TV. He’d turned it on to be a distraction from his thoughts, but it was only mildly working. The programming that happened to be on the screen was a talk show where they were interviewing a doctor about organ transplants. He
had no reason to be interested in being a transplant patient, so he picked up the remote from the coffee table.
Just as he was about to press the button on the remote, something the mother of one of the young transplant patients said caught his attention. She was in tears, talking about what a struggle it had been to be on the transplant list for so long while she’d watched her child suffer…then, finally, their miracle had arrived in the form of a heart for her small son. He’d apparently had a birth defect and, despite many surgeries, it was something that couldn’t be resolved. Without the heart, her son would have had mere months to live. The arrival of the heart at just the right time had saved him.
They cut back to the doctor and he started talking about how people got on the transplant list and what the statistics and death rate of those on the list were. Apparently someone was added to the transplant list about every ten minutes and twenty-something people died every day that were on that list. He then went into explaining how long organs could survive outside the human body in expert hands and how important it was to become an organ donor: one person could save up to eight lives in optimal situations.
He went on to explain how there were over one hundred thousand people waiting for life saving organs, despite the almost twenty thousand lifesaving operations done each year.
David was mesmerized by the stories of successes and failures of such families on the show. He felt compelled to go to the website displayed at the bottom of the screen and put himself on the donor list. He felt that if something happened to him in the line of duty, he would want to save as many lives as possible. He also couldn’t help but feel that Daniel, with his study and love of helping people through medicine, would want him to do so.
As soon as he thought of Daniel, his wishes, and wanting to save lives…an idea hit his brain like lightning. The thought was so strong it was painful.
No bodies had been found for any of the cases…
Over a hundred thousand people were waiting for organs to be donated…
The death of one person could save eight lives…
And just as he was thinking that organs would be valuable to the families in transplant need situations, one of the other parents on the show half-joked they would have paid anything to get the organ that had saved their child’s life while hugging said child close.
David couldn’t help but wonder if the lack of bodies meant something more significant than mere kidnapping. He couldn’t help but wonder if they weren’t finding anything because there wasn’t anything left to find.
It made complete sense to him. Way more sense than adult human trafficking. The kidnappers had to be taking people to harvest their organs and sell them on the black market.
In a frenzy, he got up from his chair and retrieved his laptop from its carry bag beside his suitcase by the door. He went online to the websites the show provided and started doing research into what parts could be transplanted and how long they were viable—he couldn’t remember everything the doctor had said.
While he was at it, he also looked into what laws were set in place as far as organs and medical procedures. What he found was the National Transplant Act of 1984. He was almost shocked to find out that before the government had stepped in to research the issues of organ harvesting and medical practices that human organ sales had been ready to go commercial in the United States. The rights to dead bodies and their use for medical purposes had fallen under a very gray cloud for a while.
He also learned that this wasn’t something new. As early as 1828 two men, known as Burke and Hare, had killed people to make money off selling the bodies of their victims for medical research in Ireland. Apparently, murder for body parts was an age-old crime.
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 Sixteen
“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.”
Nurse Blood (The Organ Harvester Series Book 1) Page 10
