Chapter 42
Atreus
Days later
I stare at my phone and scroll through the evidence over and over, trying to decipher the motive, but my eyes keep going back toward that hit list and the one guy who got away.
I’ve been following Samuel for days now, but I’ve never seen him go into this neighborhood. A grimy-looking building up ahead is clearly visible through my windshield, right next to Priory Forest and close to the road leading up to Spine Ridge University.
A young man with plenty of tattoos enters the building through a broken-down door.
Samuel.
All this time, the bureau assumed the building was vacant after a thorough search, but maybe we missed an important clue.
A catalyst.
I open my car door and step out, tucking my phone back into my pocket as I lock my car and head toward the building, following in the man’s footsteps while trying to remain unseen.
The dark, damp place has moss growing in the corners of the concrete walls, and my eyes skitter past several open doors scattered across this hallway, all empty.
At the far end is a thick wooden bookcase with dusty old medical books, nothing out of the ordinary.
But my eyes land on a corner behind the bookcase that was previously not visible.
A gap.
Narrowing my eyes, I push my fingers through and feel an opening.
Fuck.
I grab the bookcase with both hands and slide it forward far enough so I can slip through. It leads to a staircase going down into a basement.
What the hell? Why did the cops not see this when they searched this building?
Someone is rummaging through something downstairs, so I grab my phone to light my way down into the darkness. Rows and rows of doors have narrow windows, and when I look through them, each one reveals an old metal table lined with unsanitary medical supplies and equipment.
Blood stains the walls. The floors. Even the equipment itself.
What is this place?
I swallow as my stomach begins to flip, but I push ahead as there’s a small light visible up ahead all the way on the other end of the hallway.
This is the young man I’m looking for … he’s the last piece of the puzzle that will unravel everything.
He’s frantically picking up notes, folders, books, and anything he can get his hands on, stuffing it all into a bag.
Is he trying to get rid of the evidence?
He doesn’t seem aware of my presence yet, so I stalk slowly and pull out my gun before he turns. I point it at his forehead the moment our eyes lock.
“Don’t move,” I warn him.
He immediately drops the things he gathered onto the concrete floor. “Don’t shoot me.”
“Who are you?” I ask.
His lip quivers as he speaks. “Samuel. Samuel Garcia.”
Precisely who I’m looking for.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“Gathering … things I found.”
I click off the safety. “Don’t bullshit me.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” he says, sweating profusely. “It’s all just one big misunderstanding.”
“You knew your way around here too well,” I say. “Which means you’ve been here more than once.” I glance around. “What is this place?”
“A hospital.”
Hospital, my ass. It’s way too unsanitary for that.
I push the barrel further into his forehead. “Don’t. Lie.”
“I’m not, these are operating rooms. You saw them yourself, didn’t you?” He points at the doors behind me.
That part is true.
“What kind of operations would take place in such a disgusting place?” I growl, pushing him further back.
“They help women, children, men, anyone who needs it, off the record, off the books. So no one gets registered,” he says. “Look, I don’t know—”
“They would die of sepsis before they exit this building,” I interject and grab his shirt to pull him closer. “No, you’re not telling the truth here, and I swear to God I will put a bullet in your brain if you don’t tell me exactly what I want to hear.”
“Don’t kill me, please. I was just here to pick up some stuff, that’s it.”
He’s hiding something, I just know it.
I snatch the papers from his hand and hold them out in front of me, reading a list of names, probably patients that once came here for God knows what reason. But I stop the moment I see the words that bring a chill to my spine.
Sunny Reed.
I hold up the paper in front of him, my finger underneath her name, as I grit. “Do you know her? And don’t lie to me again,” I say, as the barrel of my gun bores into his head.
“S-she…” He stutters, “She’s m-my ex, my ex-girlfriend.”
My eyes widen.
This man … he’s the one she was targeting, the last one on her list, and it’s her ex-boyfriend?
No, that can’t be right, this can’t just be a lover’s quarrel, right?
Grinding my teeth, I pull him even closer. “That doesn’t make any fucking sense. Why would she kill the others if she was aiming for you?”
His pupils dilate. “Kill me? Oh God. She’s coming.”
He runs his fingers through his hair and lets go of the bag he was holding that’s filled with incriminating evidence. Suddenly, he shoves me so hard I’m knocked into a table, and I groan when a sharp pain runs through my back.
Goddamn, that hurt.
Samuel bolts off through the open door, and I chase him. Too late, as he’s rushing through the hallway.
I raise my gun and shoot.
BANG!
Orion
We enter the grimy-looking building, following the clues Sunny left behind for Xavier, who stole valuable info off her phone before it got confiscated. This place gives me the creeps, and I don’t get that often, considering I enjoy the stench of death.
“What is this place?” I mutter.
“I don’t know, but whatever they used it for can’t have been good,” Xavier responds as we head down the hallway lined with rickety, half-emptied rooms, which looked like they were once part of some clinic.
At the end of the hallway is a bookshelf that has been partly pushed off the wall.
Narrowing my eyes, I approach it to touch the books inside, curious about why she led us here, and my gaze lands on the small gap between the bookshelf and the wall when, suddenly, eyes meet mine in absolute terror.
BANG!
A bullet ricochets off the walls, and a man pushes the bookcase forward. “Out of the way!”
He shoves both of us aside, and we turn to look as the man runs through the hallway, out the door, and disappears from sight.
“What the…” Xavier grumbles as he forcefully tears the bookcase away to reveal a hidden hallway behind it.
But the moment we enter it, we’re met with the barrel of a gun.
“You …” Xavier growls, immediately pulling out his knives to defend himself.
Atreus Foley is here.
“What are you two doing here?” he growls. “I thought I told you to stay the fuck out of it.”
“We could ask you the same damn thing,” Xavier retorts.
Atreus narrows his eyes. “You following me?”
“Maybe,” I reply.
“Turn around now,” Atreus says, aiming the gun right at his face.
But Xavier refuses to back down. “Fuck that, you’re here because of Sunny, aren’t you?”
Atreus’ pupils dilate. “I’m investigating a lead, the last one on her hitlist, and you just fucking let him escape!”
Fuck.
I swiftly glance over my shoulder.
“It’s too fucking late now,” Atreus barks.
“Not our fault you can’t do your fucking job,” Xavier spits.
“You two keep butting in to every fucking investigation.”
“Excuse you?” I mutter, frowning. “We’re concerned about Sunny.”
Xavier points at Atreus with his knife. “Because you arrested the wrong person, and you fucking know it!”
“Gee, I wouldn’t fucking know, because my only lead just got away thanks to you,” Atreus hisses.
“Kill me then, because I will keep on getting in your fucking way until you let her go,” Xavier responds with fury in his voice.
Atreus sighs and lowers the gun. “Whatever. Do what you want. I don’t care.”
When he tries to pick up something off the floor, Xavier grabs him by the collar. “What are you hiding? Who was that fucker who just ran off?”
Atreus snorts. “I’m surprised you don’t even know. He was her fucking ex.”
My eyes widen. “Samuel? The last guy on her list was her ex-boyfriend?”
“Stop lying,” Xavier grits, holding up a fist.
“He literally just told me,” Atreus says. “Because I threatened him with arrest.”
I grab Xavier’s arm so he doesn’t turn this into another fight. “All right, I know you want to hit him, but let’s be sensible about this.”
“Fuck that,” Xavier growls. “He couldn’t even make sure at least one fucker on her list actually went to jail and got proper justice. He just wants the honor of arresting the girl who killed them. Pathetic.”
Atreus seems unaffected by his threat. “I was going to arrest him if you two hadn’t interfered.”
“Xavier, enough,” I tell him. “Stop the fighting. Do you really think she wants us to bicker and fight among each other?”
“She gets off on it, doesn’t she?” Atreus taunts.
THWACK!
Xavier hits him square in the face.
“Fuck you, she’s a goddess, and you don’t deserve her.”
“No, but I guess I deserved that,” Atreus says, snorting.
I tear them apart and shove Atreus away so Xavier can’t hurt him anymore. “Stop. This isn’t helping anyone.”
“She’s in jail because of him,” Xavier roars. “Are you on my side or his?”
“I’m on her side, and she would want us to work together to get the last guy on her list.”
Atreus rolls his eyes. “You mean the guy you just let run right past you?”
“Listen here, you fucker—”
I block Xavier with a single hand so he doesn’t go charging at Atreus again. “Both of you … quiet.”
“Why?” Xavier retorts.
“Out of respect to her, let’s figure this out together,” I say.
Xavier’s nostrils flare. “I don’t trust that motherfucker.”
“Likewise,” Atreus muses, as he leans against a table.
“Let me have him,” Xavier says.
“And then what? What are you going to achieve?”
“Revenge.” Xavier smashes his fist into his own hand.
“It won’t bring her back,” I say.
There’s so much pain in his eyes, and I recognize all too well what that feels like, how it rips your soul apart.
“Killing him won’t bring her back to you,” I say. “But if we work together…”
“No one said anything about working together,” Atreus scoffs. “I work alone.”
“Yeah, we can see that,” Xavier retorts, making a face.
Atreus ignores him as he grumbles to himself, then turns around and snatches a bag and papers off the floor.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“The guy dropped this when he fled. I presume he meant to pilfer them from this place,” Atreus mumbles as he goes through them one by one.
“What is this place anyway?” Xavier asks.
“It fronts as a hospital,” Atreus answers stoically.
My brows draw together. “Fronts?”
Atreus pulls out a cigarette and lights it up. “Do you honestly believe anyone treated here was better off than when they came in?”
My eyes flicker with interest.
He’s talking about illegal stuff.
And the only ones participating in that kind of underground shit in this city are the Bones Brotherhood.
The exact same types of guys Sunny was hunting.
My skin begins to prick. “Organ harvesters.”
The room suddenly drops ten degrees.
“She knew them,” Xavier says.
Atreus nods. “Not just Samuel. All of the fuckers on her list. They’re all connected.”
“What’s the ex have to do with this?” I ask.
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” he says, reading the notes like he’s completely unbothered by our presence.
Xavier grinds his teeth, visibly irritated, before suddenly charging at him to snatch the papers right from underneath his nose. “Let me see that.”
Xavier filters through the papers while strolling around the room.
“Give that back!” Atreus barks, following him in circles.
Suddenly, Xavier pauses and stares at a singular page in his hands, and I look over his shoulder to read along to whatever is on the paper.
“It’s Sunny.”
Atreus grabs the paper too, but doesn’t steal it back, as we’re all too fixated on the words inked onto the pages. It’s an operative report with a date and an exact description of what was done.
SURGEON: Carlo Ferreira
ANESTHESIOLOGIST: Mike Smith
PRE-OPERATIVE DIAGNOSIS: Fetal Gestation, 9th week
POST-OPERATIVE DIAGNOSIS: Post-Abortion Hemorrhage
PROCEDURE PERFORMED: Medical Abortion