The Harvesters: A Detective Devora Lobos Novel

by William J Manning

  “So you think that makes it okay for you to kidnap people and sell their body parts?”

  “No. I will not sit here and debate the morality of what I’ve done, Agent Lobos. I know what I did was wrong on so many levels, but it was a necessary evil.” His jaw tightens. “The system failed to care for the sick because some rich kid on the list had better insurance.”

  I nod. “Right… so you help the mayor’s wife get a new liver so she can wreck herself all over again from alcoholism?”

  “That wasn’t my handy work, that was one of the other surgeons.”

  “Oh, right, you’re the good psychopath.”

  Munroe stops at a traffic light. “If you really believe in what you are doing, then why should we trust you to help us burn it all down?”

  “After we emptied the bodies for Radomir, he uses them to smuggle his filthy poison. That I can’t abide.”

  “So cutting up people is okay, but drug trafficking is crossing the line? Interesting morals you got there, Doc,” Munroe says.

  “Where does he take the bodies?” I ask.

  “He owns graveyards across the country. He drops the bodies off at those locations, and his people pick them up and retrieve the drugs.”

  I flick the cigarette out the window. “What happens to the bodies after his people get the drugs?”

  “Graveyard. They cover bodies back up with dirt and left there no one is the wiser.”

  “What are the names of the graveyards?”

  “Nope, not until you cut a deal with the DA that I won’t face the death penalty.”

  Sons of a bitch. Personally, I’d love to see this fucker take the long walk, but if I want to shut down the Harvesters, I need his info on Radomir and the other doctors.

  Munroe parks the car in the FBI field office’s parking lot. “We’re taking you to an interview room where you will wait on the DA, and then we we’ll talk more,” Munroe says.

  Chapter 24

  FBI field office

  The building is a towering all-glass structure with a warped architecture that almost makes the building frame look as if someone had twisted it. In my opinion, the building is an eyesore, but no money came out of my pocket to build it, so what the hell do I care.

  After Munroe spoke to the DA, she got him to take the death penalty off the table. So we head back to chat with Merryweather. “I got the death penalty off the table for you. All you gotta do is spill your guts to seal the deal,” Agent Munroe says, laying a document in front of him.

  Déjà vu. Wonder if Munroe will fuck him over like she did the last guy?

  He slumps shoulders and sighs and signs the document. “Thank God. Okay, what do you want to know?” He tosses the pen on the table.

  “Let’s start with the doctors. I want their names and where to find them?”

  “Doctor Lorna Belle, Xander Shaddix.”

  “Wait. I thought there were three doctors involved. That’s what the mayor said.”

  “Agent Lobos, you’re looking at the third doctor.”

  “Where can we find the other doctors?”

  “I only know Doctor Belle’s address, but the others I don’t know. However, these doctors are easy to find.”

  My brow furrows. “What do you mean?”

  “These doctors are popular within the medical community.”

  “Why are they so popular?” Munroe asks.

  “They are Miami’s top surgeons.”

  “What kind of surgery do they do besides stealing people’s parts?”

  “Belle is a plastic surgeon, and Sahddix’s is a Pediatric surgeon.”

  Son of a bitch is working around children.

  “What’s Belle’s address?” I say.

  “She lives in Marathon, Florida, Copa D Oro West; look for a house with a circular design.”

  “You stay here with him, Munroe. I’m going to pick up Lorna before Radomir does.”

  “That would be a wise course of action, Agent Lobos. Radomir’s paranoia will only fester now that you’ve apprehended me.”

  Munroe tosses me her keys as I leave the room and head to the destination.

  Waiting for the warrant felt like forever. The judge finally got off his ass and faxed it over to me. Now time to arrest that sick bitch Lorna Belle. Again, I refuse to call these fucks doctors. These assholes don’t deserve the title a doctor treats and heals people and doesn’t chop them up and sell them off for parts.

  Chapter 25

  Marathon, FL

  I cruise down the narrow street, searching for the circular house Merryweather described. I never understood people buying homes down here. The land is below sea level, and when a good hurricane blows through, your home will get washed out to sea.

  The road curves, and I come to a circular house. I run the plates on the Mercedes in the driveway. The owner comes up as Lorna Belle matching the address I’m at. I type her name into Google, and she’s listed as the top plastic surgeon in Miami. Her age is thirty-eight, short brown hair with blonde highlights, eyes blue, and race Caucasian. She holds dual citizenship to America and Quebec. Her only priors are unpaid parking tickets and a speeding ticket.

  I dial Tanner. “Sir, we’ve got Merryweather in custody one of the Harvesters, and I’m at the address of Lorna Belle, one of the other Harvesters.”

  “Coordinate with local law enforcement before you bring her in.”

  “Copy that, sir.”

  After hanging up, I call Marathon’s Sheriff Department and fifteen minutes later a squad vehicle shows up with two Sheriff’s Deputies inside. They step out of their SUV and walk up to me: a man and a woman. The man has a high and tight cut, and the woman has strawberry blonde hair done up in a ponytail. “Good evening, Special Agent Lobos,” the male officer speaks. “So we got one of the Harvester suspects living right here in our quiet community?”

  “Afraid so, Deputy Miller,” I say, glancing at his nameplate.

  “So, you got a warrant yet?” the woman asks.

  I tap my coat pocket. “I got it right here. I was just waiting on you two.”

  The two officers draw their weapons. “Let’s shut em down,” he says.

  Drawing my service weapon, we advance on the house. I walk up a long flight of stairs and stop at the front door. I knock on the door. “DEA! Open up, or we’ll break it down!” A few minutes later, there’s no answer. I wrap on the door again, and no response. “Last chance, open up!”

  Still nothing.

  I nod at the officers. “Hit it with the ram.”

  “You got it.” she readies the ram and slams it into the wooded door. The door slams against the interior wall and the uniforms move in, peering down the sights of their Glocks. I bring up the rear and notice the place has been ransacked. “Someone’s been here. Watch yourselves,” I say.

  I head to the bedroom at the end of the hall and find Lorna… she’s handcuffed to the bedpost, naked with her throat cut. “Shit.”

  “House clear!” The male officer calls out.

  “All Clear!” The female officer yells.

  The two officers step into the bedroom. “Christ!” Officer Miller says.

  “Get the ME down here and the crime scene techs.”

  Two down, one to go, I wonder if I should thank Radomir for this rather than cursing him.

  I step outside and call Munroe. “Go head, Lobos.”

  “Lorna Belle is dead. Radomir’s people beat us to her.”

  “Damn it!”

  “Put out an APB on Xander Shaddix. Maybe we can get him before Radomir does.”

  “Doing it now. I’ll call you back.”

  ***

  Dirty dishes litter the coffee table and a stack of unopened mail lays abandoned on the kitchen counter. I’d say she’s been dead for twenty-four hours. Dried blood says at least more than an hour.

  The ME walks up to me. “I can’t say I am going to lose sleep over her death, but I would say the way she was killed, someone wanted to silence her. Multiple stab
wounds in her kidneys and a stab wounds to her carotid, and a puncture to her Adam’s apple. They ripped her clothes, so naturally, we have to test for rape to see if they left any DNA behind.”

  “I doubt rape was in the picture here. Radomir saw Lorna as a potential snitch, so he told the killer to leave her hanging up naked as a form of degradation. Radomir is a sick fuck, so he could’ve told his people to rape her to further add to the degradation.”

  “I’ll run the test and get back with you, Agent Lobos.”

  I walk through the house, eyeing for signs of forced entry and nothing. My only deduction here is the killer must have knocked, and the victim opened the door. I stare at the bookshelf with pictures of Lorna shaking hands with other doctors at some kind of medical convention up in Gainesville.

  They probably wouldn’t be so damn buddy-buddy with her if her fellow MDs knew she was cutting people up and selling their parts as a side hustle.

  While I’m sure Radomir is killing these doctors to silence them, part of me thinks Gabriella is tracking mine and Munroe’s progress, in this case, to see if they’re more ways she can poke at Radomir, like killing his doctors. It’s just a gut feeling.

  I step outside and let the crime scene techs turn the place upside down. I’m hoping the killer left something behind some kind of trace evidence, but I’m not holding my breath. Sitting down in my car, I call my boss. “Tanner, Lorna Belle has been murdered.”

  “Let me guess, Radomir is silencing the doctors?”

  “This didn’t start till after we picked up Merryweather.”

  “Definitely not a coincidence.”

  “However, there’s another possibility.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Gabriella. She mentioned her disgust for the Harvesters, so she may’ve been keeping tabs on me and Munroe to learn the identity of the Harvesters so she can send her Sicarios to kill them to bleed his revenue.”

  “Sounds thin. I’d stick with Radomir killing them. From what you told me, Gabriella seems more focused on Radomir.”

  “With Merryweather in custody and Lorna dead, that only leaves two Harvesters alive. Xander Shaddix, I already put an APB out on him, so hopefully, our people will beat Radomir’s people this time.”

  “We got Merryweather. That’s all we need to shut down the Harvester’s operation.”

  “What happened to shutting down the Volkov organization?”

  Tanner scoffs. “Like you said, It’s an FBI problem.”

  “Actually, it’s a DEA matter now. Radomir is stuffing the bodies full of drugs and shipping them to graveyards he owns.”

  “How did you find this out?”

  “Merryweather told me and Munroe.”

  “Do you have the names of the graveyards?”

  “No, not yet.”

  “Let me know when you do, and I’ll contact a local field office and have them send out agents to the graveyards.”

  “I’ll let you know.” The phone hangs up.

  The ME wheels the body out of the front door and puts it in the back of the meat wagon. The ME waves at me. “I’ll keep in touch, Lobos.”

  I reply with a wave.

  My phone pings with a text.

  Devora, we need to meet now.

  Who is this?

  You know who it is, Devora. We had a rather passionate conversation over drinks.

  Shit, Gabriella.

  Where do you want to meet?

  You’re in Marathon. Meet Mateo at the Shell station just five miles north of your location.

  I’ll be right there.

  The thought of being that close to Gabriella again turns my stomach. That being said, I’ve got no choice but to be at her beck and call because I don’t believe she’s bluffing about paying my loved ones a visit.

  ***

  My car parks in the Shell station parking lot, and Mateo is leaning against a black four-door BMW. I step out of the vehicle. “You know, my mother hates it when people don’t listen to her.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mateo.”

  “Cut the shit, Lobos. We know you are focusing your investigation on both Radomir and the Harvesters.”

  “Well, forgive me for them being linked; Radomir is the lead suspect in all of this shit. The Head honcho.”

  “Your job is to shut the Harvesters down, that is, it, comprende you deviate from her orders, and I may not be able to protect you from her wrath.”

  “If you think I’m afraid your mother, you misjudged me, Mateo.”

  “No. I know you’re not afraid of her, but I figured you would be afraid for your loved ones.”

  My muscles tense to the point my body barely wants to move. My jaw becomes tighter than a snare drum. “She hurts my loved ones, and I won’t care if I have a badge anymore. I will take her world apart piece by piece.” I shove my switchblade against his gut. “Starting with you, Pinche Cabron!” I hiss.

  Every thought in my mind tells me to open him up right here, but the more logical thoughts are telling me to think about your loved ones.

  He raises his hands calmly. “It won’t come to that, Devora, if you do as she has ordered.”

  I retract the blade and climb into his vehicle.

  He extends his hand. “You know the drill, give it up.”

  I hand him my weapons.

  “I’m getting really sick of your mother’s shit.”

  “Devora, she wants the same thing you want. An end to the Harvesters.”

  “Then she should let me do my fucking job and stay out of my way.”

  “That’s not gonna happen because too many powerful people are protecting Radomir and the Harvesters.”

  “Radomir’s killing the Harvesters to shut them up. I guess he got scared after we arrested Doctor Merryweather.”

  “What?”

  “We went to arrest Doctor Belle earlier, and someone killed her before we got there. I guess your mother is not in the know as much as she thinks.”

  “Just hold that thought and tell my mother all this.”

  Gulf Port Cafe

  I join Gabriella on the outside patio that overlooks the Gulf of Mexico. She cuts off a piece of grilled tilapia and shovels it into her mouth. She lifts a napkin and wipes her mouth. “Nice to see you again, Agent Lobos.” She gestures to the wicker chair opposite her. “Please sit down.”

  I want to tell her to eat shit and die, but I know what’s at stake here. So I reluctantly have a seat.

  She snaps her fingers. “Server. Please get my friend a drink.”

  The server turns to me. “What would you like, Ms.?”

  “Captain Morgan spiced rum on the rocks make it a double.”

  “Very well coming up.”

  I light up a smoke and stuff my lighter back into my coat pocket. “So what do you want this time, Ms. Trevino?”

  “Information, of course. I want to know how much progress you made with the Harvesters.”

  “We arrested one of the Harvesters, Doctor Merryweather. We went to arrest Doctor Lorna Belle, and someone killed her before we could get there, and the last one is still missing, Xander Shaddix.”

  “Well, it sounds like things are going along quite well.”

  “Except for Doctor Belle ending up dead. You know anything about that?”

  “Oh, come now, Agent Lobos. You can’t honestly tell me you are sorry she is dead, can you?”

  I exhale smoke and the wind snatches it before it reaches Gabriella’s face. “Frankly, I don’t give a damn if someone offs every one of them, but it hurts us in implicating Radomir and every rich elitist fuck whoever did business with The Harvesters.”

  “Well, as I said to you in our previous meeting, Radomir is mine and mine alone. So, therefore, he is not your problem. Focus on the Harvesters and their customers.”

  I take a sip of my drink. “I don’t think I can do that now.”

  She takes a sip of her glass of red. “And why is that?” her voice lowers to a menacing tone.

/>   “The FBI is working alongside me now.”

  She takes a sip of her red wine. “I see.”

  “Stepping aside and letting you have Radomir is not an option anymore.”

  She glances at the horizon and back at me; her face void of emotion. “I disagree.”

  “Ms. Trevino, I’m a Federal agent. I can’t give you a wide berth with Radomir anymore.”

  Her eyes widen, and she tilts her head to the side. “I will kill your mother, your father, and your teenage niece and your boyfriend Grieg, and I will kill you if you do not stick to the plan.” Her voice monotone, not even raising a single octave. “Remember your debt to me.” she smiles daggers.

  I glower at her through my cigarette smoke. “Ms. Trevino, you’re not the first to threaten my family, and you won’t be the last. Your god complex doesn’t impress me.”

  She leans back, folding her hands on her lap, there’s a brief deafening silence between us “Agent Lobos, there is no logical reason for us to be enemies here. We both benefit from the Russians being pushed out of Miami.”

  “No logical reason? How about just replacing Radomir with just another asshole peddling poison on the streets?”

  “Now is not the time to get sanctimonious, Mi Amiga. Explain something to me, Agent Lobos. How am I any different from a pharmaceutical company that pushes pills on the population?”

  “Your drugs kill and ruin lives.”

  She takes a sip of her wine and smiles. “So do those companies, and yet the government still lets them continue to push their product, no? I, on the other hand, my product, kills someone, and the government is after my fucking head. The American government doesn’t want to shut me down for any moral reasons. They only concern themselves with me because they’re not getting a piece of the action. That is the only reason my cocaine is illegal, and it was the only reason Marijuana was illegal for decades. Americans love cocaine from the beggar on the street to the Wall Street bankers and politicians and the celebrities in Hollywood. You’re the same tired old Ideology, Agent Lobos that perpetuates the futile war on drugs. Granted, your country gave it the college try, but in the end, more drugs are on the street than there ever was. You’ll never be able to stop supply without stopping the demand, and if you can’t cull demand, you may as well be throwing water on a grease fire.”