And if he knew JD, the man was already in there and waiting. If JD wasn’t ten minutes early, he considered himself late.
Sure enough. JD sat at the corner of the table, chugging soda from a plastic cup the size of a football.
Dak closed the door behind him and pulled out a chair.
He didn’t even have to start the meeting.
Felicia was already opening a file folder. “I finished tracking Cummings’ movements for the last week. Other than work and home, she went to the coffee shop almost every day, the grocery store twice, the bank once, went hiking around Snoqualmie Falls on her day off, and donated blood.”
Blood. Dak straightened. Jason Boggess donated frequently. “Where?”
“It’s a mobile unit. Visits her neighborhood every month and it looks like she donates whenever it’s there.” Felicia glanced at her notes. “The mobile unit is connected to Plasma Centers of Seattle.”
The same group that phlebotomist, Lorelei Divers, worked for.
Coincidence?
Maybe. It was the largest blood bank in the city, with multiple offices and a number of mobile units.
But he didn’t believe in coincidence. Especially when it concerned two of his three missing persons.
He encompassed the people at the table. “Did Wes Andrews ever donate blood?” The blank looks that met his question provided answer enough. “We need to find out.”
“I got it.” Sid held up his hand. “I’ve been looking into some gaps on Andrews’ schedule anyway, so it should be easy to confirm.”
“Anything standing out?” Dak directed the question to Sid, who shook his head.
“Not really. There are a few blocks on his schedule that I’m going to ask the site manager about, but everything else looks pretty standard. The analysts are cross-referencing his patient list against Jason Boggess’ known contacts, but that feels like a rabbit trail.”
He agreed. The chances of the kidnapper posing as one of Andrews’ patients seemed slim. Especially since the kidnappings didn’t appear to be personally motivated.
Not that they knew the motivation. Yet.
“Let’s assume for a moment that the blood bank is the connection and Wes Andrews donated blood. How does that tie in?”
“Maybe people are being taken for their blood type? If they have a rare blood type?” Felicia suggested. “Maybe our kidnappers work for someone who has a rare blood type and needs regular transfusions and is having trouble getting those.”
Seemed like an extreme measure for a sick person to take, but if the condition were serious enough, it was possible. Either way, the theory would be easy enough to confirm or disprove. “Let’s find out the blood type on each of our vics.”
“I’ll get that.” Felicia jotted it down.
“If it has something to do with blood type, what about organs?” JD crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “What if our vics are being chosen for organ harvesting?”
Silence descended as a weight settled in his limbs.
People being kidnapped to have their organs stolen and sold. It was a horrifying thought that wasn’t as uncommon as he’d like.
It was also a disturbingly good theory.
Both paths of investigation started with Divers and the blood bank.
“Let’s see if Andrews or Cummings ever met Lorelei Divers.”
Divers was looking more and more suspicious. A fresh set of eyes might be helpful.
He slid a glance toward Kevyn. “How about you dig into Lorelei Divers?”
“Sure thing.”
They couldn’t ignore the rest of the employees at the blood bank either. He turned to JD. “Why don’t you find out who worked that mobile unit that serviced Cummings’ neighborhood. See if those employees ever took Jason Boggess’ blood.”
“You got it.”
Meanwhile, he’d cross-reference Lorelei Divers with Stacy Cummings. Maybe their paths had crossed at some point.
And reach out to the hospitals to see if they’d had any patients come in with complications from a recent transplant surgery. If this was being done on the black market, the post-surgical care would be subpar, if it existed at all.
His gut told him they were onto something.
He just hoped it was a lead and not indigestion.
₪ ₪ ₪
Mitch rolled back the desk chair and stretched.
Ugh. He’d sat too long.
Zane’s goon snapped to attention as he stood.
“Relax.” Mitch gestured to the bathroom. “Just taking a leak. Unless you need to watch.”
The man chuckled. “Knock yourself out.”
He headed for the bathroom, feeling the man’s eyes on him until the door closed.
This was insane. He couldn’t live like this.
He missed his penthouse. His own bed. His car. His privacy. Being able to do what he wanted when he wanted without someone watching.
Tio’s offer flooded back into his mind.
Maybe he should sign on.
He knew Tio’s strengths. He also knew Tio’s weaknesses.
If he joined Tio in this business venture, he could probably double Tio’s profits. Double both their profits.
Tio’s warning still rang in his ears, though. Whatever Tio was doing, it was something they both knew Mitch wouldn’t like.
He already knew it involved kidnapping. Could it also involve murder?
And if it did, could he look the other way?
When he came back out, Tio sat in the chair he’d vacated, scanning the computer screen.
Well, he had nothing to hide. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.
“Looks like a good shipment.” The chair squeaked as Tio leaned back. “Your contacts sure have come through lately.”
“I’ve spent years developing those contacts.” He bit back the reminder that Tio hadn’t worked with the contacts. Without Mitch, the business would dry up.
Although if Tio’s side gig was as good as he claimed, he might not care.
No. Tio was all about the profit. No matter how much they pulled in, it was never enough.
Maybe he could join in for a year or two. Grow the business for
