Five hundred dollars. Drake had to blink several times when he saw his total purchase. Who knew that art would be so expensive?
Now he understood why paintings would cost more than a million.
He was far from broke, but it did not help that Jerome was laughing at him when they got back from the store. Mace was carrying their coffee and he was left to carry all the supplies she had picked up.
"Drake, did you guys buy the whole store?" he asked, mirth written all over his face. His eyes, tired from working since last night, were filled with laughter.
"Don't start, Rome. You never said that -"
His words were cut off suddenly by a shout of disbelief.
"THE HELL DID YOU GUYS DO?! ROB A BANK?!"
Je Anne had seen the three paper bags that lined the wall of their little office. Her eyes widened when she noticed the logo of the bags. The price range of those supplies were not for the faint hearted.
"Seriously, Mace, what did you do?"
Je Anne asked while looking inside the bags. She couldn't believe the items they had bought. A whole set of watercolors. She remembered how much this cost. This particular brand was written on her bucket list of things to buy. The next bag contained her acrylics and the last were new sets of brushes.
Je Anne looked at Mace, her friend was grinning at her. The happiness in her eyes shone like a newly polished gem. She couldn't help but grin back at her.
"Did you like it?"
Mace asked, anxiously waiting for her answer.
When Drake told her to get the best, she had an idea of what Je Anne wanted, but it was way too expensive. She was only kidding about carrying that much cash. She was not prepared when the man talking to Jerome plucked the set she had been holding on to.
"Pick anything that Je Anne might need. Don't look at the price tag. Please," Drake told her.
He had given the go signal, but still she was still reluctant.
In the end, he asked the sales lady for help, which led Mace to finally pick up the things that Je Anne needed.
"Like it?" Je Anne said, "I LOVE IT!"
Mace breathed a sigh of relief. She was afraid that she would be mad at her. Buying something that expensive was not for Je.
She likes to save up for the things that she really wants. It was good that for this case, she doesn't need to worry about anything.
Mace looked at Drake and said "Thank you." The man nodded and scowled back at Jerome who was still in a good mood.
"Je, since you are on break, join us. I was able to talk to Neil last night."
The room suddenly became silent. It was time to talk about the elephant in the room.
Je Anne and Mace looked at each other and sigh. Je Anne took off her painting smock hanging it on the peg near the door. Mace waited for her, before sitting down on the worn down sofa of their office.
Jerome handed them a folder, and an envelope. After that, he sat down and gestured to them to look at what was inside.
Mace curse, Je Anne made the sign of the cross, and Drake?
Hr remained silent, while Jerome explained what was on their hands.
"Neil cross referenced all of the fifteen kids we found on the scene against the lost kids five years ago. As you can see, the kids Asi was looking for are found."
A five year old girl named Luisa who was reported missing at Region VII had lost her kidney. Another girl, from Region IX met the same fate.
Some of them lost more than just one organ, others had a missing heart, lungs, and stomach.
As for Jeron's sister…
"Jeron's sister lost her eyes and her brain."
"The hell…"
Drake finally said.
"Are they?"
"Harvesting?" Jerome added. "Yes they are. Not only that, Neil also looked at the bone marrows of all them. It looked like their marrow had been repeatedly taken. The pelvic area of all of them were…"
He let the words fade.
Jerome had to close his eyes to compose himself. These kids were not tortured, they became an illegal source of organs and blood. Some of the kids had missing body parts and it was hard to explain. Others…
"The only teen that they found," Mace began, "her uterus was badly damaged. According to this report, her body might have been used as a surrogate. Her ovaries were also missing. Like the rest of the kids."
"My god…" Je Anne whispered.
How could someone be this cruel? They were just children. They had their lives ahead of them. Greed was a very powerful thing, but to this kind of extent? Whoever did this was not human, they were monsters.
"As the reason why they were not detected…"
"Their bodies were frozen."
Mace declared.
She stood up, walked to the fridge and pulled out her coffee cubes. She took off the cap of her coffee and put some of the ice in it. She took a sip before she continued, "Cryogen, that is the only explanation. Someone powerful is behind these actions. Whoever he is, they need to be stopped."
Jerome was nodding in agreement then added, "We were lucky that there was enough ME in the hospital to help Neil. If it was just him, this would have taken us a week to give those bodies proper burial as well."
He looked at Drake and asked, "How many strings did you pull?"
The other man smiled and replied, "A whole hospital."
The Teves had a hospital that was rarely used and not known to the public. Most of the patients in that hospital were recovering from minor trauma. It was called the "Hospital of the Elite".
"Dad told me to tell the interns there that they will need to examine several bodies. They were given an NDA, and I guess Neil had told them of the outcome if one of them broke their NDA."
The interns were on the last leg of medical school, coincidentally, Neil was also their professor. With the permission of the lead ME, and the station chief, they were given permission to cut open the bodies and record any findings they noticed.
Neil's job was to verify all their findings, which will then be part of their overall grades.
"Someone in that crowd was happy, Jerome."
Je Anne broke the silence after Drake spoke. It was hard to keep that information to herself. Being an empath caused her to be super sensitive to her surroundings. She was used to Jerome's and Mace's signature. Drake was an enigma.
Which was easier to ignore.
But…
"He was at the scene."
Mace added. "The guy was that cocky. Then again, he doesn't know Je Anne."
There was a deadly smile on Jerome's lips. He knew. He had a general idea of who, as to why, he was not sure. Je Anne's paintings hold all the answers.
All they had to do was wait…
And hope that whoever did it will be satisfied with his previous hunt. Then again…
When the call to take beckon, they will be ready…
Soon…