“He’s incredibly smart, and likely enjoying this.”
Then, Elizabeth knew what that meant.
“I’m walking on a gameboard, and trying to avoid the pitfalls. From Devon Slater’s building to the fact that the ME’s father sold organs on the black market, everyone involved was put into play by this person, apparently.”
He stopped walking.
“Wait. Pardon? We have someone selling organs?”
She laughed.
Apparently, he hadn’t gone through all the information on the drive. Then again, it wasn’t a long drive from the rez.
Oh, well, she was going to enjoy sharing this one with her profiler. For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why this person put that particular player into the game.
Or if it was a genuine coincidence.
Who?
Freaking?
Knew?
“Oh, Alexi’s father was also a doctor, and guess what he did to end up in prison?”
Well, he didn’t have to guess.
She just told him.
“Uh, organs?”
She nodded.
“To the tune of about half a billion dollars. Apparently, he was doing the surgery to remove them, and they sold them to willing buyers who were desperate to save a loved one. To avoid us finding out, and anyone else he came across, Alexi, took his mother’s name to hide. Now we have to figure out why we have a dead ex-soldier who turned up with no kidney. Was it to lead me down that trail, or was it just a case of the dude was in the wrong place at the wrong time?”
Ethan blinked.
“Wow. This person is thorough and really set this up to be a nightmare. You should hire them to work for you.”
She snorted.
“Yeah, well, I already hired Tora and Mac,” she offered. “They are good investigators.”
On that, he agreed.
As they kept walking, she kept talking.
“Last night as I was laying there beside Gene, and I do love a bear cuddle,” she joked, “it hit me. He’s going to give me all false clues in hopes that I’m dumb enough to fall for it. Nothing is going to fit, and nothing does. The building and richguy who owns it, the missing organ, the dead vagrant… I am willing to bet my gun that this person hid this so well to protect himself from ever being caught. This feels like I’m peeling back layers and they’re all rotten. Nothing will fit.”
He didn’t like this.
Oh, and there was one reason.
“We have to catch him. If this person has had years to do and perfect this, that’s going to make them far more dangerous. He’s methodical, and highly intelligent enough to lay traps.”
She was aware.
“I just need to work my way through the breadcrumbs that he’s leaving me. I am betting the big clue is the cemetery and the bodies. He didn’t think I’d figure that out, and we caught him off guard last night by going back. I just have to cross it all off my list and weed through it to find the real details he’s tucked away.”
