Page 30 of Operation: Discovery

Moira screwed up her mouth in thought. “I’m not sure. Less than an hour, but a long time.”

Blood typing could be done with at-home tests, and all that was needed were testing kits and four drops of blood. If they were looking for people with an exact blood type, that would be the easiest way to do it. Suddenly, the wait and the risk made a lot more sense.

She thought back to the day before when they’d looked through all the rooms, but she couldn’t recall seeing any test waste anywhere. There were no cards sitting out with samples waiting to process, and no used pipettes anywhere. They had to have quickly bagged the evidence when they ran, knowing that proof like that would lead investigators down the path of organ or blood harvesting. Just as Brendon had thought.

“What blood type is Adam? Do you know?”

“You think that’s what they were doing? Testing his blood type?” She shuddered. “The police wouldn’t tell me what they suspect was going on, but I know it was serious. They’d strapped him to that bed and drugged him.” She blinked away tears. “I don’t know what type he is. I’ve never had a reason to have him tested.”

Dee gently gripped Moira’s arm. “When he’s ready, we should have him tested. If he happens to have a rarer blood type, that will narrow down the list of potential victims. Police can warn the community to be careful of anyone wanting to test their blood for any abnormal reason. I know it’s a stretch, but we’re a small community. There has to be something we can do to protect ourselves.”

Moira sighed. “Except they’ll just move on to another small community that’s closed off from the big city and won’t suspect anything like this could happen in their backyard. Whoever this is must be desperate.”

What could they hope to gain? Was it organs, blood, or something else? Adam was a very young child. Was it possible the recipient was a child, too? Could she find out who might be on a list of people in need of an organ transplant based on age? If she had the blood type and age, that would probably narrow the list down to a slim few.

“If it will help solve who did this and put them behind bars, then we’ll take Adam in and have a real doctor test his blood type, but I will never go to donate blood anywhere but with the Red Cross or a hospital.” Moira adamantly shook her head. “Never, ever, again.”

ChapterThirteen

It couldn’t be true. Dee raced back to Brendon’s office. He’d mentioned organ harvesting and she’d tried to ignore that possibility. It was just too horrible to think about. Who would do such a thing? What kind of person would kill another so they could live?

A desperate and powerful person, that was who.

She quickly knocked on his door as bile reached the back of her throat. Adam was a child. Just eight years old with an entire life ahead of him. Someone had wanted to take his life, to cut his short, so they could possibly gain a few years. Transplant surgery wasn’t even a guarantee. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it caused even more trouble. Would they take multiple lives to save one?

“Come in,” Brendon said from behind the closed door.

She pushed inside and rushed to sit down. His professional mask slipped just a little as he watched her. “What’s wrong?”

“You were right. I didn’t want to believe it, but after talking to Moira, I can only believe you were right. They tested the blood of all the children. They were told it was a glucose test or Moira assumed it was, but by her description, I think they were blood typing. Brendon, they took those tests with them. If they are keeping track of everyone’s information, they have all that they need to find anyone they want.”

His brow furrowed. “And with the right blood type, they might be able to choose a match, which means they must have a donor already in mind. Not like usual harvesting where they just take what they can get and sell it on the black market.”

Cold shock spread through her limbs, making her fingers tingle. She clenched them together, trying to hold her feelings in check. “There’s a black market for organs? I don’t even want to know how you know that.”

He met her gaze with reassurance. “I certainly didn’t go out and look. This line of work will get you in touch with all sorts of people who want to rid the world of this stain. There are groups who travel all over the country to help. Believe it or not, human trafficking is huge in the United States, not as big as in East Asia and the Pacific, but huge. Some groups say as many as 33% of the children who are kidnapped in the US will become victims of trafficking.”

Likely, the missing boy had been. It had been more than 24 hours since his abduction. Time was running out on the likelihood of him to be found alive. “We need to find Jacob. We need to find out if he’s still alive.” Her voice was horse and quiet, all the energy stolen by the gravity of the subject.

“We don’t have a clue where he could be. I don’t blame you for wanting to stop this. I would love to. I just don’t know where to begin. We don’t know which group took him, since there appears to be more than one now. Even if it was Viceroy, we only know the general area where operations seem to be headquartered. We don’t know where they are. We’ve never seen him.”

Lord, why can’t this be easy? Why are these people allowed to be evil and why can’t we stop them? Please keep that little boy safe. Return him to his family.

Dee knew her prayer might be ineffective, but that didn’t make her want it answered any less.

“How is Rebecca?” Brendon changed the subject.

“She is out with Sam. She got her chair stuck between the boards on the porch, but I was able to help her get free.”

He frowned. “Did she ask for help?”

Was he questioning her ability to help Rebecca again? This issue seemed to bother him every time she mentioned doing anything for her patient. If she couldn’t be trusted to help, then why was she here? Unless that was the issue Brendon had originally had with her …

She’d supported him completely, urged him to try new things and continue to grow stronger. She’d encouraged him to try any device or prosthetic the military offered—and some they didn’t—because he’d been such an active and mobile guy. He’d jumped from airplanes, so she’d never assumed he’d be content to sit in his wheelchair.

Yet, here he was. He was still in the wheelchair and not only content, but happy and living a fulfilling life. He had a career and a home. He had a life where he got out, exercised, ate right, and managed everything he wanted to. He was better adjusted to his life than many people who had use of all their limbs.

“Yes. She didn’t have the phone number of anyone else to text for help, so she texted me. I was able to get her out of the rut quickly and she’s now with Sam.” She waited to see what he would say in answer to that.

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