Alex Evercrest Collection Two

Body Parts

1

Business Success

Reston stood in front of the almost live sized human poster of a man with his hands out to its sides. He was surrounded by similar posters of both genders. He was learning the details of the new human body parts business he had been instructed to establish by his bosses in Italy. The poster graphics were detailed and captioned for both the exterior and internal body parts. He felt like a medical student. He was not going to do any memorization, but he knew he would be referring to the posters as the body parts orders came in.

He was use to trafficking in a wide variety of drugs and had never imagined that he would be getting into the business of trafficking in human body parts.

The posters had what each body part was worth. The arrow pointing to the skin indicated that it was worth thirty thousand dollars. The scalp was worth one thousand dollars.

He walked around the room, and it became clear that one body was worth more than a half a million dollars if all the parts could be sold.

He wondered about the people that were willing to pay for the body parts. He knew that he would be making more than the half a million per body. The black market would be many times more.

He had been informed that the legitimate body parts market was a billion-dollar industry. He figured that the black market would be worth to one hundred times more if properly managed

Adding the body parts business to the distribution of drugs had been a path that Reston had not envisioned getting into. He was surprised to find that the company had selected Cincinnati to be the central point of both production, acquisition, and distribution. Many of the body parts were stolen from various legal body parts distributors. The rest would be collected from the appropriate local people.

The posters covered eyes, liver, heart, pancreas, stomach, a large and small intestines, penises, the list went on to cover almost every organ in the body.

He had spent a great deal of time in setting up his own body part production operation. He knew that many of the bodies that he would be asked for would need to be harvested from individuals that he would need to identify that had the right match to some person willing to put up the money to obtain the body part they needed. He knew that speed and maintaining a supply of the most desired parts would be important.

He had spent a fair amount of time designing the layout of his parts production, inventory holding room, and distribution supply chain.

His factory was located in a warehouse that had all the legal licensing and had passed the required warehouse inspections so that he had a five-year window before the next inspection. He of course had set it up as a regular warehouse and later added the special features that turned it into a human parts production center.

The interior construction had been done by a special group out of the New York area that were all partners of the mafia. They had come in and used the drawings he and a new York architect had made. The work was quickly done in a quiet low-key way.

His few permanent employees were trusted mafia members who had been recruited, trained, and then sent to him.

Recruiting the right person to do the dissecting of the bodies was not as difficult as he had expected. He had forged papers that he presented to the surgeon that he recruited. This surgeon had been on a list of a dozen potentials that had been identified from their participation in a conference on human body parts. The surgeon was a resident at one of the local hospitals and deep in debt.

He activated his various connections in all the major cities along the East Coast and soon he had a list asking for almost every human body part.

The body parts business was significantly more lucrative than the drug business and distribution was relatively easy since the drug business had an established distribution network.

He kept an eye on the books and soon realized that the money being taken in warranted an expansion.

He was always short of some organ or another. He looked at the back orders and knew that he would need to enlist another surgeon to harvest more parts.

He would also need to be more aggressive in getting the right "donors’ on the dissection table.

He had his acquisition leader get more referring doctors enlisted. He was ready to throw the net more broadly so that he could fulfill the surging parts requests.

He spent many an hour watching the harvesting process through an observation window. He had designed a business office that had a window that allowed him to see the dissection table.

He also participated in the inventory inspections of the parts stored in the cold room. Many of the body parts could be held for days and still be used by someone needing it and willing to pay to get around the various waiting lists that prevented them from getting the parts legally.

Those parts that aged beyond their viable period were processed and disposed of in a furnace that operated only at night.

He was making a small fortune running the business.

His surgeon was making one as well.

Reston had set up an offshore account for this surgeon but kept himself on record as a co-account owner. This ensured that the doctor could be kept in check if the working relationship went south. He also tracked much of the doctor’s personal life and contacts. He did not want the good doctor to stray from the agreement that had him spending about two hours a day harvesting body parts.

He was currently watching one of the harvesting sessions being performed on specifically ordered body. The good doctor had already removed the eyes. This was an organ that was always in demand somewhere in the country. He was currently carefully sawing the rib cage open so that the heart, liver, and other organs could be carefully removed.

A series of containers were ready to receive each of the organs as they were removed. The process was handled very efficiently, and a body could be harvested in the allotted two hours unless some unique part had been requested.

He always stopped watching when it came time to skin the remains and harvest the skin tissue, the scalp, and any miscellaneous organ. It was the only time he got grossed out.

The young man that was on the table had been identified, tracked, and then brought to the warehouse and kept in a cell. He had been killed just prior to the harvesting session. This was one step that the doctor did know about.

He wondered if the good doctor recognized how fresh most of the bodies he dissected happened to be.

A few weeks later Reston received word that a second surgeon had been recruited. He informed the good doctor that he would be training the second surgeon on the harvesting procedures.

That was when he first got the word that the good doctor wanted to quit. Reston reminded the good doctor that he had made a small fortune, and that quitting was not an option.

The good doctor made the mistake of arguing with the position he was taking and threatened to expose the operation if necessary.

Reston knew immediately that he needed to take drastic and dramatic action to put the doctor back into his place.

Reston had his bodyguard do a little checking and learned that the good doctor had entered into a relationship with a surgical nurse at the hospital where he practiced. He figured that the relationship between the good doctor and the nurse was the reason for the good doctors change of heart. He came to an immediate solution.

The fact that the good doctor had more than ten million in the offshore account was probably an additional incentive to quit.

The nurse was very attractive. Reston obtained records and made note of the key DNA, blood type and other key attributes.

He waited until the right parts request came in. He was going to snuff out the superior attitude of the good doctor. He was going to emotionally destroy him.

A few weeks later after a couple more discussions about the desire to quit, Reston took the action he knew would totally change the good doctors attitude and ensure he had control of the situation.

He had the nurse, that the good doctor was having an affair with, snatched, and brought to the warehouse.

He waited until the good doctor was ready for the next body and walked in and handed him the extensive list of parts to be harvested. The list had every organ, a knee joint, an entire right leg, eyes, and the breast nipples on it.

He wanted to be in the room when the good doctor realized who his next harvest victim happened to be.

He stepped to the far end of the room with a direct view of the operating table. He had Dennis his bodyguard standing next to him in case he needed protection.

Sara was scared as she sat in the cage and watched the two men who had snatched her from the parking lot the day before as she got ready to go home. They had not replied to any of her questions or explained why they had snatched her.

Zack and Brent had exchanged a few quiet comments about their next victim. They agreed she was too pretty to be processed but they had their orders.

Zack got the call to prepare her for the next harvest. He opened the door to the cage and let her know that she could leave the cage.

As she stepped out of the cage, Brent hit her with the knuckles of his thumb on her two temples. She went out like a light when the switch was flipped.

They lifted her and put her face down on the processing table. Brent then slit each of her arteries in her neck and then focused on undressing her as her blood pumped out and ran down into the collection bag. The blood would be filtered and sold to a blood bank.

He admired her beautiful body and was sorry that she had been selected but that was the bosses decision not his.

When the call came to wheel the body into the harvesting room they opened the door and pushed the table in.

James asked why Reston was in the room instead of behind the observation window. He was surprised to hear that Reston say that he had a surprise for him.

James watched as the table with the harvest body was pushed into the room and put next to the dissection table. He walked over to help in rolling the body over onto the table.

There was something familiar about the body, but he could not quite place the feeling.

As the body was turned over, his brain exploded, his life was shattered. It was Sara, the woman that he had fallen in love with.

He heard Reston call out, surprise as he picked up his scalpel.

He took the only action that flashed into his mind.

2

The Nurse

The large panoramic screen in the living room zoomed out to the mountains, then slowly panned along the river and finally on the campsite where her father was putting up the large tent that they had all shared. Her mother had just transferred all her family videos to the cloud and wanted to view a few. The family had traveled extensively around the country and had camped in many of the national or state parks. The clip that was on the screen had been taken in a campground near the Tetons. She remembered the cold stream water where she swam briefly in a clear pool where she could see the fish swimming below her. She also remembered catching some of those fish and watching her father clean and fry them over the open campfire. At that time, she was probably fourteen. It had been one of many bright memories of growing up.

The other memory of that trip was the drive through Yellow Stone, seeing the buffalo and Old Faithful. She was sure her mother would have extensive footage of that drive as well.

She took a sip of her wine and had to admit that she had grown up in a loving family as a spoiled young girl.

Her early school years were a blur and she had little recall about specific events.

She considered her high school years to be rather busy and exciting. She had been on the school paper, a cheer leader, and was a lettered field hockey player. Her senior year was especially fun because of all the parties she had attended. The only thing that she regretted about that time was that she had not been very serious about what she was going to do after high school.

As graduation loomed, she decided to go into nursing and was admitted to the University of Cincinnati. That made her parents happy because she would stay near home. She was excited because she felt that she had found her way into a field that felt right for her. She realized that she enjoyed helping people and thought that nursing would satisfy her desires. Her mother had suggested becoming a doctor, but Sara knew she did not have the desire nor the grade point average that would get her accepted in most US schools.

She graduated and was pleased when she was hired by the UC hospital as a practicing nurse. She was first assigned to be a floor nurse. She worked hard and received excellent feedback on her performance.

A year later she applied for and got a position as a surgical assistant. This assignment at first was a little overwhelming and watching surgery took getting used to. She at first had a quesy stomach but slowly got over it.

Then she had assisted Dr. Westin during one of his surgeries. He was fast, accurate, and seemed to have a good sense of humor.

He seemed to like her and requested her by name for several subsequent surgeries.

Their relationship seemed to take a natural turn toward intimacy.

Sara had dated James for more than a year when he asked if she would go on a vacation trip with him. She had accepted and he had asked her to pick the vacation trip that she wanted to go on. She had thought about going to Yellowstone but was not sure that camping out would be that romantic. She decided that an Alaskan cruise sponsored by one of the famous magazines on one of the smaller ships would be just the thing.

They had a main deck cabin that had an outside view. The cruise departed Seattle and for fourteen days they spent their time together. They dined each evening with a number of the guests. Sara noted that there were thirty couples on the cruise and another handful of single people for about sixty people in total. The small number of people was what had attracted her to this particular cruise.

She knew that it was rather expensive, but James had let her know that the cost was no issue.

They had enjoyed hiking, biking, kayaking at various moments, and strolling through Petersburg and learning about its fishing industry. She had followed in her mother’s footsteps and used her phone to capture most of what she saw. She of course took many selfies that she sent to her parents.

The tour ended in Sitka Alaska where they caught a flight back to Cincinnati.

Sara felt that it had turned out to be fourteen of the best days of her life.

On the way back to Cincinnati, James suggested that she move in with him. She accepted on the condition that they each had their own bedroom.

He had accepted and said that he currently rented a three-bedroom apartment a few blocks from the University hospital.

They agreed that she would move in as soon as her own apartment contract ended in two months.

Her mother asked her to come to dinner and share the highlights of the vacation. Sara knew that what her mother wanted was the inside scoop on the romance.

She was eager to share that news, but she also had a great video of the highlights of the vacation that she had purchased as part of the tour. It was professionally done, and she knew her mother and dad would love it.

Sara floated along in sort of a haze as she waited for her lease to end. She went to James apartment and was amazed at how spacious and comfortable it felt. She was ready to make the move.

After work, she was walking out to her car when suddenly she was grabbed and felt a cloth going over her mouth and nose. She identified the smell of chloroform before she passed out.

When she came to she was lying in a barred cell. She sat up and tried to get her bearings. She realized that she had been kidnapped and wondered what was happening. She spent the night awake and scared.

Then the next day a person that she did not know approached the cell and told her she was going to be just fine if she did as she was told.

She asked what was going on.

The reply that everything was going to be alright did not satisfy her.

Alright meant to not have been kidnapped.

A short time later, the first person returned with a second one. He said it was time for a surprise and opened the cell door and told her to come out.

She was warry but figured that getting out of the cell was better than resisting and staying in the cell. As she stepped beyond the door, suddenly she was hit on her two temples, and everything went dark.

Zack picked up the young woman and put her on the dissection transport table. They had been instructed to undress her, bleed her, and then turn her face down before pushing the gurney into the dissection room.

He nodded when Brent commented that it was pity to have to kill such a beautiful young woman. The two of them knew better than to question the bosses direction and they did as they were told.

A few moments later they had everything ready.

3

The Doctor

All he could remember about his father were the beatings that he regularly received and the smell of alcohol as his father yelled at him for doing something wrong or being so stupid. He also remembered the beatings that his mother endured and the purple bruises on her face.

Then his father abandoned the family and things actually got better.

His mother struggled as she tried to raise five children and work to get food on the table. The food stamp program started and that at least ensured that there was food to eat but having a place to live was a struggle. They ended up living in a two-bedroom basement apartment with no windows. The saving grace was it was within three blocks of a park that had slides, swings, and a ball field.

He was the oldest and often had to take his brothers and sisters to the park and watch them. He actually enjoyed this responsibility.

He remembered his father calling him stupid which made him focus on his schoolwork and focus on getting the best grades possible. He excelled in school and as he went through high school he targeted being the top of his class. He wanted to go to college and was hoping to get a scholarship to do so.

He was also sensitive to the fact that there was little for anything extra. He got a job at a Wendy’s and was soon the lead supervisor and made a whopping nine fifty an hour. He worked twenty hours a week, mostly on weekends.

He was a loner that had few friends and in his senior year his extracurricular activity was to work in the refreshment stand which gave him a good view of the football game being played.

He hit his goal of being top in his class and accepted a full scholarship to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. He was excited but realized that once again he needed to be at the top of his class to enable his entry to some medical school.

The four years there was far more intense than his high school years, but he ended up as the student with the third highest grade in his class.

He had filled out requests to more than twenty medical schools. He was blown away when he received an offer from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (Pittsburgh, PA). He knew they were ranked # 3 in the plastic surgery field. His only concern was paying for the program and again rejoiced at receiving a stipend that went a long way to helping pay for the program.

He knew he would end up in debt but figured he would make it up when he graduated. He had researched and found out that the average salary of a plastic surgeon was three hundred fifty with a high of five hundred fifty thousand dollars a year.

The intensity of his studies increased by several multiples. He often slept at the hospital so that he would not have to go to the apartment he rented. The whirl wind seemed to last for a lifetime but then it was time to get into a residency program. He was very happy to be offered one at the University of Cincinnati hospital. This brought him back to his hometown and to his family. He however had an income issue in that his residency pay though at the top end was only seventy thousand dollars a year and with only a five thousand dollar per year increase.

Almost immediately he began looking for a moonlight job where he could leverage his degree.

He was having a night out and sitting alone at the bar talking to the bartender about his predicament. The bartender nodded and said he might have the answer to his problem. The bartender left and a few minutes later a person, who looked exactly like an Italian mafia actor from the movies came and sat next to him.

He introduced himself as Reston Sanclemente and asked him about his experience as a plastic surgeon.

James shared his scholastic and medical experience and the fact that he was almost a half a million dollars of debt and that his current pay was only seventy thousand a year.

He listened as Reston let him know that he ran a legitimate body parts business and that he was looking for a surgeon that could harvest body parts from fresh cadavers. He pointed out that it was a gory business but very lucrative.

Reston then said that if James could begin immediately he would pay fifty thousand for every cadaver that was processed and that he estimated that each harvest would only take about two hours. He needed someone willing to work six hours a week.

James was surprised and a quick calculation let him know that it was worth about four million a year. He said that he was definitely interested. He was already thinking about what that kind of money would mean for him.

Reston stipulated that James needed to finish his residency and get licensed.

James agreed and before leaving Reston took out a contract that specified everything that had been discussed and James read and signed it.

He focused on his residency, processed bodies at the facility that Reston operated and watched his bank account slowly reach twelve million.

Never in his life had he dreamt of having the kind of money that he was making. He set up a college fund for each of his brothers and sisters and moved his mother into her own home.

Over the first year he came to the realization that something about the operation seemed fishy. He began to pay attention and suspected that Reston was in fact running a body parts black market business.

He knew that he was in too deep to say anything.

Reston approached him to let him know that a second surgeon was being added to the business and that he expected him to bring him on board rapidly so that the new guy could begin contributing immediately.

James decided that it was the time to see if he could get out of the body parts business. He had a blossoming love affair going and he was coming to the end of his residency and had received his license. It was time to move on and get his personal life organized.

He mentioned that it seemed that this was a good time for him to go into his own practice and stop harvesting body parts.

He was surprised by Reston’s response that leaving was not an option.

James pointed out that he had fulfilled his contract and that he intended to go into practice on his own. That was when he learned that the millions he had in an offshore account was not going to be available if he left the parts business. He then realized that Reston was a second person on the account and could block his withdrawals.

He thought that a way out was to transfer most of the money to a separate account and then quit. He had no idea what Reston had in mind. His account was blocked when he went to transfer money to another bank. He knew that he was boxed in.

He focused on his work and his new love affair. He was able to pay for the vacation that he and Sara planned. They went together on an Alaskan cruise. Each day he knew he had found the person of his dreams. It was the best time of his life. He came back eager to have Sara with him every day.

Everything seemed to be going right.

He went to his moonlight job where Reston said he had a surprise for him. He wondered what in the world Reston had in mind.

When the next body came in and he turned it over, his world ended. He could hear Reston shouting out surprise and looked down at Sara. He took his scalpel and swiftly pulled across his throat.

The world that he had dreamt about had ended for him.

4

A day at the Waterpark

The day was hot and a day at the water park seemed to be the best way to enjoy it. Alex and Matt had joined Trey, Lindsey, and Nolan for the day. They were all in the shallow end of the pool enjoying staying cool. The talk was about their last case, the fun they had in Montreal and the fact that it had been a quiet month since they had returned.

Nolan was having a great time swimming and jumping into the pool. He was content to play alone.

Then Annie arrived with Linda and Lorie and the swimming action went into full gear.

Alex teased Annie about having increased the noise level three-fold.

Annie pointed to the table that had several bags on it and countered that she could leave but she would have to take the picnic lunch with her.

Alex laughed and said that she was ready for lunch and would set the table. Lindsey said that she would help, and they got out of the water, took a quick clean water rinse, and toweled off.

Lindsey asked what the next work assignment might be.

Alex said that the Chief had purposely not assigned them to a case and had promised that he would try to assign an easy one that might come up. She then laughed and said that was a line he had now used multiple times, but it seemed that easy cases didn’t exist.

Lindsey nodded and agreed. She said that she always asked Trey about the cases that were assigned, and he always told her to relax because he had the best partner he could possibly have, and she always took care of him.

Alex smiled and replied that she felt the same about her partner.

The picnic consisted of spareribs, broccoli, asparagus, a half a corn cob and a baked potato. It was a robust meal.

Annie called everyone to get their lunch.

Alex commented that everyone must have been hungry because no one was talking.

Nolan asked who the next bad guy was.

Alex smiled and said that as soon as she knew she would make sure to tell him.

He laughed and said that the last bad guy turned out to be a woman.

Alex replied that the bad woman was one of the worst bad person that she had so far experienced.

It was at this point that her phone rang. She knew not to ignore it because it was the Chiefs’ Hail to the Chief ring.

He began by asking how she was and what she was doing.

It was Sunday but it was clear that he was about to assign the next case. He apologized about interrupting her picnic but said that the fire department had called him with a situation that he felt she needed to address. He said that it was a gruesome situation and that she and Trey needed to get to the scene and see what to do about it. He said he would join them at the scene and then gave her the address and asked how soon she could get there.

Alex hung up and then she looked at Nolan and asked if he had called the Chief on her. He shook his head and said he didn’t have his number. She then looked at Trey and said they had to go. She asked Matt to take her personal stuff back to the apartment and that she and Trey would take the car.

On the way she brought Trey up to speed about what the Chief had shared about the situation. He was meeting them at the site and would go into the warehouse with them.

When they arrived, Alex pointed out the Chief’s car and pulled in behind him.

The Chief got out of his car and as he approached them apologized for ruining their weekend but said he had little choice. He explained that the fire chief had called him and said there was a locked cooler that they opened that was full of human body parts.

The fire chief called the owner of the building who claimed to run a legitimate human body parts distribution center. The fire chief then found a surgical room and what appeared to be a preparation room. This was not on the license that his staff found on file, so he had called me, and I called you because I have a bad feeling about this operation. I also called Bill and found out that he and Trevor were boating out on Lake Cumberland. I told them that they should enjoy their time and that on Monday he would bring them on board.

Alex nodded pointed to where the fire chief was standing and led the way.

The fire chief greeted her and said that he was glad to see that the Chief had called in his star detective. He warned that what he was going to show them was gory, disgusting and alarming. The owner claimed to have all the necessary paperwork but had not shown up to present it as promised.

Alex thanked him for the warning. She looked at the Chief and asked him if he had the phone number for Dr. Rogers the police coroner.

The chief replied that he did.

Alex said that even before entering the locker she already knew that she would want every body part to get verified as to its authenticity via a DNA analysis. She pointed out that in the last case that his analysis had been the key clue that had helped to solve the case.

She then said she was ready to enter the warehouse. She looked around the section of the warehouse that had been renovated. It was clear to her that one room was a holding and preparation room and a materials storage room.

She said she would wait until Dr. Rogers arrived before going into the cooler.

During this time Alex examined each of the other rooms.

When she entered the preparation room she stopped dead in her tracks. The room was clear where bodies to get dissected were prepared.

The cage that looked like a barred prison cell sent shivers down her back. The cell that looked like a prison cell clearly indicated that live people were put there.

She pointed to it and said that she thought they had uncovered a criminal operation that was killing people to get the parts that they were selling.

Across from it in the corner was what Alex surmised was a gas-powered furnace. The odor was nauseating to her.

She spotted a door to the side of the furnace and led the way in. She was surprised to find that it was an office area. She was more surprised to find a viewing window into the surgical room. She noted that it gave the viewer a direct view across the operating table.

She pointed out that whoever sat at the comfortable chair in front of the window must be a mentally sick person.

The surgical room looked like any well-equipped hospital surgery room, but it did not have any of the equipment associated with helping keep someone alive.

Dr. Rogers arrived after about an hour.

She was in the surgical room looking at the observation window that from the surgical room looked like a mirror when Dr. Rogers approached her.

Alex greeted him and said that she was asking him to take the lead in examining the body parts in the freezer.

He nodded and replied that every case that he worked for her seemed to get weirder. He asked how much weirder this one might be.

Alex said that she had no clue.

She followed Dr. Rogers in and realized that it was not a freezer or as cold as she expected. Many of the body parts were each sealed in what looked like evacuated plastic bags and there were a number of cooler like containers that she figured held specific body parts.

It was a gruesome site.

Alex took a quick look around and was amazed at all the body parts. She did not take a count but was sure there were hundreds.

She shook her head and said she had seen enough and walked out.

She recalled seeing the body parts of what had appeared to be that of a child. Now her heart stopped as she looked at the cell with a vision of a kidnapped child sitting there.

She shook her head and said that she wanted an arrest warrant put out for the owner of the warehouse and for anyone on record that worked at the facility. She was going to grill them on what might have transpired at the facility.

The Chief nodded and said that he agreed with her and that the next step would be to identify the people she had mentioned and bring them in for questioning.

He took out his phone and made several calls asking that warrants be issued for everyone listed on the warehouse records.

Alex turned to Trey and asked him about his feelings about what they had seen.

Trey shook his head and said that the case seemed to be taking a tack into a very weird world that he had never envisioned. He agreed that they might have uncovered a situation that was more than a nightmare and in a way worse than their last case.

Alex agreed. She said that she was ready to leave. She asked what he planned to do.

Trey made a call and found out that Lesley, Noland, Annie and her two were at his house. He hung up and replied that he was going home, have a beer and watch the kids play and try to forget what they had just witnessed.

Alex asked him to drop her off. She said that Matt had the rest of the day off. She was going to see if he would go out on a bike ride with her otherwise she would have to get on the treadmill and run for the rest of the day to help her release the tension that had built up.

The following Monday Alex and Johnnie arrived at the office and found Bob and Travis sitting at their desks and a box of donuts on her desk.

Travis greeted her and said that he had been warned by Bob not to open the box and let the Boss take her roll first.

Bob piped up and said that he had not issued any warning and that it was Travis’s idea to wait for the boss. They both chuckled and said that they were eager to hear about the new assignment that they were all on. They commented that they had each received a call from the Chief and had been brought on board and that they would all be on the quest to solve the mystery of the fire at the warehouses and determine the legitimacy of the human body parts business.

Alex opened the box and took out a bear claw, cut it in half and put half on Trey’s desk. She was aware that Trey was later than normal and was about to call when he walked in with his cup of coffee.

Trey greeted everyone and then said that he was late because he had stopped to interview for a door greeters job at the lumber yard.

Alex smiled and told him he would be a failure in that role because he would scare away the customers. His comment worried her, but she would make sure Trey was OK later.. The two of them would be attending the AA meeting together the next evening. She was sure she would know if he was doing alright.

She was about to suggest that they go into a huddle room to discuss the case when the Chief walked in and said that he would like to talk to all of them in his office.

Alex noted that the rest of the people in the bullpen were all watching them closely.

The Chief sat behind his desk holding a cup of coffee. He made the comment that it seemed that lately each case got weirder than the previous one. He then added that he was once again putting two teams on the case because they seemed to work well together, and they solved cases. He asked if that suited everyone.

Travis smiled and commented that they didn’t have a choice but to work well together because he just couldn't stand to see Alex cry.

Alex smiled and replied that she would make sure that he got the best assignment for being so sensitive to her feelings. She knew full well that Travis had become one of her supporters.

The Chief nodded, said that he was sure they could work it out and then explained the details of the case as he understood it.

The fire chief had called him and let him know that the fire had been purposely set. A loose connection had been found on the cremation furnace and a short time later they had found the charred remains of a stick with the wick that most likely contained gas or some other flammable. The fire chief has the evidence secured and he said that the crime scene was taped off and was under twenty-four-hour watch.

He then shared the fact that Dr. Rogers had his teamwork working around the clock to move all the body parts into the morgue and he had worked over the weekend to get started in processing the body parts.

He looked at Alex and asked how she was thinking to approach the case.

Alex nodded her head and said that she wanted to get the team to discuss the case in a little more detail before deciding on the approach. She made the point that the proprietor seemed to have skipped, other members such as the person doing the dissection, and any helpers were unknowns and now an arsonist had been added to the list. This meant that there were multiple scenarios that needed to be addressed.

She suggested going to the morgue and getting Dr. Rogers to take on what the case. She added that he would have the best take on the body parts. Then they might talk to the Fire Chief to see if he had an ideas who the arsonist might be.

She added that when they found him they might need to give that person a metal.

The Chief nodded and picked up the phone and made a call. He asked if his team could come to the morgue and get an update on what the doctor had found out.

He stood up and said they should all go down to the lab.

Alex did not like the smell of the morgue. It made her nauseous. When they entered there was a full leg on the table that was obviously a woman’s leg. It sent a shiver down her back.

The doctor pointed it out and said that he had started with the largest of the body parts, was running the analysis and was about ready to put the sample back in the bag that it had come in.

Alex asked how long it would take to process all the body parts.

Dr. Rogers replied that it would most likely take the rest of the week.

Alex nodded and then asked what type of information would each analysis give them.

The reply was that they would get DNA, blood type, approximate age of the individual, and that he would add any additional information that he had from the observation of each part. He made the point that they had already concluded that the person doing the body part harvesting was a skilled surgeon.

Alex thanked him and asked him to send up each report individually so that the team could begin to use the information to hunt down who the person might be.

She then turned and said it was time to go to their huddle room and discuss the case.

5

New Digs, New Staff, New Business

The night was dark, and the Cheshire moon seemed to be mocking him as he lay on his sleeping bag looking up at the sky. He had abandoned his apartment and planned to leave the area, but he was thinking through how he could slow down the hunt for him that he was sure to follow. He had learned from one of his informants that the top detective and from the press she received that she did a very thorough investigation and always seemed to catch the person she was after.

He made up his mind that she needed to be killed. He figured that then there would be a lengthy delay and he would be able to disappear and reappear as a different individual.

He decided to have Dennis, his eager bodyguard, take a shot at taking her out. He knew that Dennis was always wanting to shoot someone, and this opportunity would attract him. He would ask Zack and Brent to back Dennis up. He figured the three of them had a good chance a getting the job done. If they were successful he felt he had a chance to relocate his operation somewhere outside of Cincinnati but still along the main path to the East coast body distribution thoroughfare.

He knew that he had to do so rapidly or face the ire of his bosses in Italy.

He knew that the paperwork he had that normally was sufficient to make the operation look legitimate would not stand close scrutiny. He hoped that most of the body parts would be impossible to trace but he worried about how good the coroner might be. He was sure most of the body parts would be impossible to trace. He had the records of who the persons were. These were records he had matched to the customer needs.

He kept wondering how the fire had started. It seemed that when he drove by that the fire was in the area where the preparation and surgery room was located. He thought about what supplies were stored in that area and he went through the list of the chemicals stored there. There were cleaning supplies that were flammable, but he had his people store them in a separate area. He thought about the gas lines that came to a small cremation oven where the discarded body parts were cut up and cremated. He felt that it must have been a gas leak of some kind. He would watch the news to see if the fire department made their findings public.

The next morning, he used one his burner phones and called Dennis and asked him to meet him at the Hamilton County Park so they could plan on what to do.

Dennis was excited about the job of taking out Cincinnati’s Black Annie Oakley. He said she didn’t stand a chance.

Reston reminded him that she was a dead shot and that several other folks had tried unsuccessfully to kill her.

Dennis smiled and said he did not intend to play fair and that he would shoot her in the back.

Reston asked him to contact Zack and Brent and get them to help him and said there was a ten-thousand-dollar bonus for each of them.

He personally and desperately hoped that Dennis would be successful.

He gave Dennis the building address where the black detective lived and let Dennis know that she rode a bicycle into work early every morning and suggested that he observe her for a couple of days so he could decide when and how to shoot her.

Dennis said that his three fifty-seven would blow a hole the size of a basketball as it left her body. He commented that she would be dead before she hit the ground.

Reston worried about Dennis’s self-confidence, but he knew that Dennis was a dead shot and would probably not miss.

He suggested that Dennis buy a getaway car and gave him the name of the dealer he knew had a bunch of cars that were in relatively good condition.

He went to that used car lot, purchased an older Hyundai, and drove slowly toward Cleveland. It was a long drive and on the way he contemplated how he would set up the business in Cleveland.

He took a room at a Motel for the week. He was going to move slowly and keep his ears to the ground to see what would happen.

He transferred some of the money from the Jamaican bank account that he had set up with James his use-to-be plastic surgeon that was now in the body parts cooler. The twelve million was down to a little under eight million because James had set up a series of trust accounts for his brothers, sisters, and his mother. Reston had been aware of the setting up of the trust accounts and had actually thought that was the right thing for James to do.

As it turned out, when James had turned over the body of his fiancé on the parts table and had then slit his own throat it had startled him, but it turned out it was good that he had done so.

He had the new surgeon do the dissection and a few days later the fire had ended the business.

He could not sit in his room, so he spent the next couple of days going to a local pub and nursing drinks and listening to the news broadcasts. He was a little disappointed about the lack of information about the fire in the warehouse. The only thing that had been reported was that the fire seemed to have been purposely set. That just didn’t make sense. He wished he could take a walk through the warehouse to get a firsthand look. He wondered who would have wanted to set the place on fire.

He wondered how Dennis was doing and decided to give him a call.

His call gave him hope that things would improve.

Dennis said that he had watched the black detective leave her place for the last three days and knew exactly how he would take her out. He said that she was a dead woman walking but just didn’t know it.

It was uplifting to hear the enthusiasm and the certainty that Dennis was exuding. He reminded Dennis to be careful and have his getaway planned. He suggested he call when the job was done, and he had made his getaway.

Dennis took his two helpers on a walk to show them where they would wait the next morning and that they both should plan to wait for him to shoot but then shoot away to make sure that both she and her partner bike rider were dead. He said that he had the getaway car parked so that they would drive and get on US Highway Seventy-One north and drive north to Cleveland. He let them know about the thirty-thousand-dollar reward.

Zack said that it seemed easy enough and that he was sure they would be enjoying the reward.

The next morning the three were standing in the dark leaning against the apartment wall when Dennis heard the apartment door slide open. He had his three fifty-seven in his hand and as the detective was getting ready to mount her bike he fired three shots. He smiled as she was hurled forward but was stunned as she seemed to turn in midair and fire. Then the world ended.

Reston was stunned by the breaking news report that highlighted the fact that Cincinnati’s most famous detective was in the hospital where she was being treated for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. The reporter went on to say that she had killed two shooters and that her partner had killed a third. An apparent getaway car was found parked in the garage across from the apartment, which was the home of the detective.

The camera scene then showed three body bags that were getting ready to be loaded into the coroner’s van.

Reston knew that he would need to find a long-term hiding place and sent word to his bosses that the body parts business in Cincinnati had been disrupted.

His bosses told him he was to hide in plain sight and open up a new body parts factory in either Columbus or in Cleveland. They suggested Cleveland because they had a better network there and they had informants in the police department and several of the political offices.

Reston didn’t like it, but he knew he was toast if he declined. He changed his identity to Preston Clemente. This was a passport that he had obtain a few years prior. Then he found an apartment that had a view of the lake in a relatively prestigious area. Once he had set himself up in the apartment he went about finding an appropriate warehouse or building to use.

He went out personally and drove around various areas and found a shuttered three-story home that sat on the corner of a sleepy street not far from the lake. He took the time to visit the place several times under different weather conditions to ensure that there was always a good lake breeze. He wanted to make sure that his cremation furnace would not draw any attention. He then looked up the owner of the property and negotiated the sale. It was an easy one because the house had been unused for almost a year.

He then contacted his associates and asked them to recruit the harvesting surgeon and to provide him with three capable associates. He specified that one needed to be a bodyguard that was good with his weapon and had experience.

He also asked to be referred to the appropriate contractor that could come in and prepare the house for use.

He had the operating room on the second floor, the holding room, and the parts cooler on the first floor and the cremation oven in the basement. He put his observation room on the third floor with the viewing port through the floor. An elevator made the multilevel operation a convenient one.

One side of the house had an empty lot that he bought, and he made an enticing offer for the small home on the other side so that he had a buffer all the way around the building.

It was less than a month later that he was ready to begin his new body harvesting business.

His bosses congratulated him on getting back into business and gave him the names of the three persons that would be working for him. They would drive in from New York.

He hoped that the three would work out.

It turned out that the three were fresh from the home country and eager do what he asked. He offered to house them gratis at the small house next door and worked with them to get the house ready for their occupancy.

He went with all of them to a local gun range and was impressed with their shooting skill. He discussed how the body parts business was run and learned that all three were comfortable with how it operated and how the people that might become parts were selected.

He took them all out to celebrate.

He liked all three.

Luca was the bodyguard, but he said that he was willing to do whatever he might be asked to do.

Angelo and Dario were both darker individuals that said the they had no qualms at getting the bodies ready for dissection.

They all asked whether they could trust the surgeon that would be doing the dissecting.

Reston replied that he had not met the surgeon, but he was counting on the family to provide the surgeon that they had vetted, and the surgeon would also be coming from Italy via New York.

6

The Magician

Johnnie was disturbed by the new case. It seemed unreal. He had never imagined a business focused on making a profit from human body parts. When the team had gone to the morgue where Dr. Rogers was working his way through the body parts and getting the DNA signature and other metrics from each part. The doctor had joked about starting with the best-looking body part which was an entire female right leg. He pointed to a row of refrigerated drawers and said that his team had moved all the parts from the warehouse cooler shelves and put them in the top row. He had only gotten everything organized and had the result of only the leg.

He listened to Alex thank the doctor and asked that the information be sent to her so that the team could begin trying to verify whether it was a legitimate body part.

When the team was back in the huddle room he admitted that he was not sure what databases he would need to access to verify a body part.

They had all agreed with Alex that they would work together to get organized and get ideas on how they were going to verify all the parts. She pointed out that the listed business owner had not delivered the paperwork as he had promised and when she checked his given address it was a fake. She figured that the business was probably a black market one.

They discussed the assignment for a short time and then Alex had suggested they call it a day and go relieve the tensions of the day.

The next morning, he greeted Alex as she got off the elevator with her bike. He could tell by her looks that she had not gotten the best sleep. He led the way out of the building. He was just getting ready to get on his bike when the roar of gunfire cause him to drop his bike, pull his pistol and drop prone on the ground. He watched as Alex flew over her bike, spun in the air, and fired her gun four times and then hit the pavement. She had hit two of the three attackers, and he took out the third and put an insurance shot in the second shooter. It was clear to him that Alex had nailed the person who had done the shooting. All three of the shooters were down.

He jumped up ran to make sure that all three were dead and kicked their guns to their feet. He then spun and ran to where Alex was lying face up, but it was clear to him that she was out. He check for a pulse and was ecstatic to find a strong one. He quickly dialed the dispatch center and declare that there was an officer down and gave the address.

It seemed that he heard the sirens immediately after that. He was focused on trying to see what condition Alex was in. He rolled her to her side and saw that she had indeed been hit and was bleeding. He jumped over to his bike and got his first aid kit. With his pocketknife he cut the straps on the backpack that Alex had on and cut open the back of her blouse to expose the wound. He was surprised to see the exposed back of a bullet. He wiped the blood away and put his largest band aid over it. There was another wound along her right shoulder on which he sprayed a sealing adhesive with pain killer.

Suddenly it seemed that he was surrounded by police and an EMT pulled him away from Alex and said that they would take her to the hospital. He sat back on the curb and watched Alex being loaded onto the stretcher and then into the ambulance. He watched it pull away and then turned to look at the scene.

His bike was OK, but Alex’s bike had a bent back wheel that would need to be replaced. He was about to pick up his first aid kit when one of the police officers said that he should leave everything alone and asked him what had happened.

Johnnie stood up and pointed to the three bodies and said that he and Alex had come out of the building with their bikes and were just getting ready to take off when the roar of gunfire started. He described what Alex had done and then what he had done. He pointed to the weapons that the three attackers were using and said that it was a wonder that Alex was alive because all three were using three-fifty-sevens.

He said that he thought the only one that had gotten any shots off was the one that was in the lead position. Alex had nailed him, and the second person and he had taken out the third shooter and