Page 14 of Estranged Heart
“I will.” She pauses in front of the door. “You sure you’re alright taking all those boxes to the attic by yourself?”
Shoving my hands in my pockets, I bite the inside of my cheek. “Yeah. I’ll do it a little at a time. There isn’t a whole lot.”
“Okay.” She leans in for a hug and I wrap my arms around her briefly. She gives a quick kiss to my cheek before pulling away and rests a hand on my shoulder. “It really was good seeing you.”
“Yeah, same. You know you’re welcome whenever.”
“You too.” Taking a step back, she opens the door and I watch her walk to her car. She waves before getting in, and when she pulls out a black car I don’t recognize parks where she was. I wasn’t expecting any other company. Wearing a suit with his dark hair slicked back and tie crooked, Detective Samuels steps out, approaching me with a serious expression. “Mr. Pena.I hope you don’t mind me dropping in unannounced but I couldn’t reach you on the phone and thought you’d want to hear this in person.”
With my breathing and heart rate increasing, I nod and lead him into the house. He sits down on the couch and I stay standing. If I feel bigger, I can handle it better, or at least I like to think so. “Did something happen? Did you find out anything about the man who rented us the boat?”
“No. We still can’t locate him unfortunately, or anyone who knows him. The number your husband used to contact him has been disconnected and is untraceable. The boat isn’t registered to anyone either.”
“Then why are you here? Is it regarding Landon’s body?” I ask hopefully, while also preparing myself for more disappointment.
“Yes. We found your husband.”
All the air pulls from my lungs and I fall back into the nearest chair. “Where? When?” I press my palms into my knees. I’ve been waiting for this day and now that it’s here I’m not sure I’m ready for it after all. With my heart a chaotic mess, I can’t stop from shifting in the chair. I’m either too far back, too close to the edge, or sinking in the middle. Comfort is a stranger right now and I don’t recognize it anywhere in the room.
Clearing his throat, he scoots forward, fumbling with the buttons on his jacket. “In the lake, not far from where the boat was.”
“What? But you said y’all searched the whole lake already. I even had friends and neighbors help look. How can that be possible?”
His Adam’s apple bobs in his throat. “Someone placed his body there . . . after.” He takes a breath and I follow the movements of his lips. “After they removed his organs. The body was burned. We weren’t sure it was him until we saw his wedding ring. The one that matches yours. It was—”
My stomach knots. “Hanging from a necklace around his neck. How did you . . . how did you know what mine looked like?”
“When you were in the hospital and in a coma, they showed us where your belongings were, and I noticed the same scripture written on the inside. I’m really sorry, Mr. Pena. It’s clear to us now that this was no accident. Landon was murdered.”
“Why would some sick fuck take his body out of the water and put it back? Who removes someone’s organs?”
He stares down at his hands before meeting my eyes again. “We have reason to believe your husband was a victim of organ trafficking. I think they might have been tracking him beforehand. Got a hold of the results from recent blood tests and x-rays. Your friend told me about him being sick and going to see the doctor a lot. This is the fourth time this year we’ve stumbled upon a case like this. The others were staged as accidents too, with the bodies showing up weeks or months later with missing organs. These people look for men and women from wealthy backgrounds who are in desperate situations. They sometimes have matches picked out ahead of time, so they don’t keep them waiting. We’re thinking they either have access to medical records or know someone who does.”
“Organ trafficking.” My blood goes cold. “Out of all the people in the world they chose my husband. Why?” Some asshole thought their life was more important than his. I bet they paid a pretty penny to have an innocent person tracked and hunted down like some fucking animal so they could continue living out their sorry, selfish life while his was cut short.
“There’s no way of knowing. Sometimes it’s random. They have someone working behind the scenes going off a list they’re given and they call them whenever they have a match.”
“Bastards.” My skin stings as my nails dig into my legs. “What happens now? You’ll go after them, right? Can I see my husband’s body?”
“I . . . It’s kind of hard to go after them when we don’t know who’s behind it all, and these people don’t make themselves easy to find.”
My teeth press together so hard I think they might crack. “So they get away with it then?”
His brows pull tightly together. “Sadly, yes. They’re good at what they do for a reason, and they have sources everywhere. We won’t stop looking into it, that I can promise you.”
“My husband might never get justice. These assholes will just do it to someone else and no one will ever stop them.”
“It’s a messed up world we live in, Mr. Pena. I wish I could tell you everything you wanted to hear, but I’d rather be honest with you so you can move on easier.”
“Move on?” I jump from my seat, pressing my palms to my forehead. “You think I can move on easier knowing my husband’s killers won’t be punished for what they did? They took him from me. Shortened his life. People are out there walking around with organs that should be inside his body, not theirs. They get to be happy when he can’t, all in the name of fucking money.” I pace in front of the table, tugging at the hem of my shirt, my skin wanting to crawl away from my body. “The doctor he used to see. You have to look into all the people who worked there. He had all kinds of tests done recently. It had to start there.”
“We will look into it, but Mr. Pena—”
I tug at my hair, walking in circles. “It had to be someone there. A nurse or doctor. Someone who handles records. What if we’re too late and they aren’t working there anymore? They could be long gone by now and—”
“Mr. Pena,” he says again, this time firmer. “I know this isn’t easy to hear and you’re going through a lot, but you need to let us do our job and the only way we can do that is if—”
“I’m so fucking tired of people saying that. You don’t know shit.” Tears roll down my cheeks and my vision blurs. Everything hurts. My head, my throat, my eyes, but most of all my fucking heart. Deep down in my chest is a wound that won’t heal. It bleeds heavier with each stab of his words. “I’ve been letting you do your job and look what good that’s doing me.” My voice cracks. “So don’t sit here and tell me what I need. What I need is something no one can give me.” Landon. To hold him in my arms again and feel his smile against my lips.
