So what in the hell was he smelling?
CHAPTER9
Suggestion
The instant Rhyne felt he was free to leave, he bid Andy goodbye to let the man know he was gone for the night, grabbed his bike, and rushed over to the hospital after a quick detour to the house to grab the backpack of empties.
He was surprised to find Norris sitting on the sidewalk in front of the emergency room entrance, instead of near the rear exit where he usually met him.
“Hey.Thanks for waiting.”
Norris shook his head.“Before you ask, I didn’t have the chance to look up your mysterious donor.”He picked up the backpack sitting beside him and held it out to Rhyne.Rhyne glanced around to make sure no one was watching and that they were out of view of the security cameras.Although he knew Norris wouldn’t make that kind of mistake, he double-checked anyway for safety’s sake.He was also aware that the man had placed himself in front of a small hedge to partially hide their handoff.The chances that someone would report them as suspicious activity this late at night were slim but never zero.
Rhyne gave him his identical backpack that held the fully flushed bags and shrugged the loaded one over his shoulders.
“But I discovered another AB neg sitting in the cooler,” the man added.
“Just one?”
“Yeah.It was dated yesterday.But get this.I noticed it had the same ID number as the bag you gave me this afternoon.”
Rhyne tried to hold in his excitement.“Are you sure it’s the same ID?The same person?”
“Ninety-nine percent sure.I won’t guarantee a hundred percent until I can verify it through the computer.”
“And it’s the only AB neg you have?”Rhyne stated.
The guy nodded.“There’s just the one bag in there, which more than likely tells me there’s only one donor with that blood type in this area.”
“Or maybe there was more of that blood type but it got used or shipped off,” Rhyne suggested.
“Nope.No way,” Norris denied.“I handle all shipments.None of that blood type’s been sent out, or even requested.At least, not during one of my shifts.”He narrowed his eyes at Rhyne.“I’ve never seen you guys so interested in a particular type before.Is this something new that I need to know about?”
Rhyne bypassed the question with one of his own.“The only people who can receive AB neg are those who are also AB neg and AB positive, correct?Tell me if I’m wrong.”
“You’re correct.Only other AB negative and those who are AB positive can receive that blood type,” Norris concurred.
“Which means you either have an AB neg or an AB positive patient here at the hospital who needed a transfusion, right?”
“That would have to be the case.Just not in this instance.”
“What do you mean?”
“It was old blood, so I had to dump it.”
Rhyne felt a chill go through him.“You…dumped the blood?”
“Yeah.It’s common protocol.Just like in grocery stores.Anything over its past-due date has to be dumped.I found that particular bag I gave you yesterday in the far back of the fridge, behind some O negative.Someone must’ve placed it there by accident.Anyway, since it was almost nine weeks old, I dumped the contents first before adding the bag to your stash.”
“Wait a minute.”Rhyne held up a hand.“Youdumpedan entire bag of blood, only to give me theemptybag?Why the hell wouldn’t you go ahead and give me the full bag?”
“I probably would have, but I had a supervisor looking over my shoulder at the time.I couldn’t afford to have him question me.”
“Okay.So how often do you think the hospital gets a patient with that blood type?”
“Rarely,” Norris admitted.
“And drawn blood can only be kept in refrigeration for…”
