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Kiana’s chest hurt, her heart breaking for her sisters and herself. She felt sick as full realization sank in. “We’re here to provide body parts for your daughter?”
“Your sister,” he threw back at her. “She’s younger than you and hasn’t had a chance to live her life. She deserves the chance to live.”
“Did her kidney fail again?” Meredith asked. “You could’ve asked. We might’ve offered one of ours without you kidnapping us and stealing parts of our bodies to give to your daughter.”
“Does Tina know what you’re doing?” Kiana asked. “Is she okay with it?”
“She doesn’t know. And she won’t. We’ll tell her a donor was found. A crash victim or something like that. My baby girl needs a liver this time,” he said. “All we’re waiting for are the results of tests I’m having run to determine who is the better match. Once I have those results, I have my transplant team on standby.”
“Standby, as in they’ll fly in from Europe, South America or China?” Kiana asked, praying that was the case, giving them time to figure out how to escape.
“They’re here, enjoying a week-long Hawaiian vacation in the villa on my property. I had planned on this being done already. And it would’ve been done if the Demons hadn’t botched the job.”
“They were the ones who shot my client and grabbed me out of his car,” Meredith said, her voice tired. “They said I couldn’t go to the police because I’d be blamed for my client’s death. That the police would turn a blind eye toward the Demons.” She laughed. “I believed them because I’d seen it happen a number of times. The news would report that they were captured, and then they’d report they’d been released with no charges filed.”
“You did that?” Kiana asked. “You’re the one who is paying off the Honolulu police? Why?”
“Outfitting an entire operating room and flying in specialists isn't cheap. My pharmaceutical corporation was making money hand over fist for a long time, but we’ve been hit with a number of lawsuits over the past decade that have drained the coffers and tanked our market shares. The board of directors is focused on the bottom line. I had to come up with another source of income.”
“Illegal drug trafficking,” Kiana said. “With your own drugs.”
“Tina used the name T. Mercer for her social media,” Meredith said softly.
“As in Roland Mercer of Mercer Pharmaceuticals?” Kiana curled her lip. “And you’re the owner of the corporation, selling your own drugs under the table at a huge profit.”
“It pays the bills and keeps my daughter in the medicines she needs so that her body doesn’t reject the transplanted organs.” His lips pressed into a tight line. “Although, I understand your boyfriend and his friends staged a little coup and captured the leader of the Demons.”
That was good news. Hope swelled in Kiana’s chest. She prayed Dev hadn’t been injured in the process of bringing down Rocko.
“Rocko was getting too careless and cocky. I’ll find someone else to do the job,” Mercer said. A chirping sound erupted in his pocket. He dug out a cell phone and stared at the screen, a smile curling the corners of his lips. “The results are in.” He glanced up, his gaze fixing on Kiana. “Congratulations, Kiana. You’re the closest match. You have approximately an hour until the team will be ready. I suggest you say goodbye to your sister.”
“No!” Meredith cried. “Don’t hurt her. Take me. Tina can have my liver. Leave Kiana out of this.”
“Meredith, I’m the logical choice,” Kiana said as calmly as she could, though her heart pounded against her ribs. “I’m the closest match.”
When Mercer turned to leave the room, Kiana called out, “Mercer, you have me. Let Meredith go. You don’t need her. She’s not the closest match for Tina. She’s of no use to you.”
Mercer looked back at Kiana and Meredith, his eyes sad. “You know I can’t. She knows too much.”
“What are you going to do with her?” Kiana asked.
“Keep her in case my baby needs anything else.” He turned and walked toward the door.
“You can’t do that,” Kiana cried out. “Please. Release her.”
“Kiana,” Meredith said. “He’s not going to let either one of us go free.”
“She’s right,” Mercer said. Neither one of you is getting out of here alive.” He left the room, closing the door behind him.
Chapter 16
Dev paced back and forth next to what was left of the communications van, sick to his stomach that he hadn’t been there to protect Kiana.
After George had announced on the airwaves that Kiana had been taken, Dev brought up her tracking signal on the device he’d used to track Silas. It hadn’t taken Dev and Silas long to find the pendant lying on the ground next to the wrecked van.
Dev called 911 immediately. With several ambulances already en route to the warehouse, they diverted one to his location.
Paramedics pulled George from the crushed vehicle and were loading him into an ambulance despite his protests that he was fine.
