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They were getting ready to leave. Adrik looked to Andrei, and said in Russian, “Hold onto her until they’re gone.” Andrei nodded once, reached over, and pulled me to him again. I curled up against his side, with his giant arm over me protectively. Adrik stood up, as well as Misha, Stephen, and Viktor. Those three stood in front of me while Adrik talked to the officers.
Andrei looked down at me, somewhat curious. “Why are you so worried, spider monkey?” he asked me quietly, still speaking Russian. Misha, who was close enough to hear the question, glanced down at us, curious as well.
I pulled my hand out of my shirt sleeve far enough that he could see my bruised knuckles, quickly pulling my hand back inside. Recognition spread over his face. “No unnecessary questions,” I said quietly. Viktor and Stephen escorted the officers back downstairs. Misha turned to me and said, “You were born for this shit, gazelle.”
Chapter Seventy-Two
Sephie
While Adrik’s schedule had mostly been clear, the morning filled up quickly with a few meetings. Ivan and Viktor also needed time to get the doctor’s picture out to their people. Will had sent over the aged version of the doctor the previous evening, as promised. They gave both versions to their people, hoping that someone would recognize him.
Misha and Andrei were with me. We stopped by Adrik’s office on our way back from the gym, just because I had a feeling his schedule had changed yet again. Not long after we walked into his office, Andy walked in. He nodded to Andrei and Misha, then walked to Adrik, his hand extended. As he went to sit down across from Adrik’s desk, he noticed the picture of the doctor that Ivan had left on the coffee table. Instead of sitting, he walked to it, picking it up. He looked at it, then looked to Adrik, confused.
“Why do you have Dr. Moretti’s picture?” he asked.
We all stood at the same time. “What did you just say?” Adrik asked. He was trying to remain calm, but only barely keeping it together. I glanced to Andrei, who quickly pulled his phone out. He called a number, let it ring, then hung up. Within seconds, Viktor, Stephen, and Ivan were in the office as well. Andy didn’t even have time to respond to Adrik’s question before they were there.
“Dr. Moretti’s picture. Why do you have it?” Andy asked again.
Ivan, who wasn’t even trying to control his anger, walked up to Andy. He towered over him. “How do you know him?” Ivan asked, his voice heavy with anger.
Andy, who was now completely terrified, sat down. He didn’t respond right away, like he was trying to figure out how best to proceed. I looked at the guys, who all looked ready to kill something, then looked at Andy, who was pretty sure he was the thing about to be killed. I walked quietly to the door of the office, closed it, then walked toward Andy. The guys were aware of my movements, but hadn’t taken their eyes off Andy. Andy, however, was watching me. I put my hand on Ivan’s arm, which caused him to look at me. I pushed him to the side gently, so I could stand in front of Andy. Once Ivan moved, I leaned against Adrik’s desk, trying to be less threatening toward Andy.
“Andy, this man took something from me. Something important. Something I’ll never be able to get back. How do you know who he is?” I said, trying to remain as calm as possible, even though I could feel my anger just below the surface. I could also feel Adrik’s anger getting stronger, the longer it took Andy to answer his question.
Andy looked at me, still wide-eyed. I could see him struggling, trying to find the right thing to say. He finally took a deep breath. “Fuck it. I’m already a dead man if Sal ever finds me. Not like he can kill me twice.” I glanced up at all the guys, who were still standing, ready to pummel something. I gave them all a tight smile and made a motion for them to sit. They begrudgingly took a step back and sat down.
I looked to Andy again, trying to smile as genuinely as possible at him. “What does that mean, Andy?”
“This is the guy that originally created brawn. He works for Sal.” I didn’t need to see him. I knew Adrik was about to explode behind me. I put my hand up, trying to at least buy me another minute to find out more. I heard him exhale, but his fist still made contact with his desk. Andy flinched.
“How much do you know about this doctor?” I asked. “In case you couldn’t tell, this is very important, so it’s worth your while to tell us everything.”
Andy took another deep breath, glancing around the room. He had the look of a cornered animal. One that knows it’s caught and is about to give in. He continued, “I’m not sure how Sal found this guy, but he’s been paying him for years. He does backroom abortions for Sal’s prostitutes mostly, but since Anthony got into human trafficking, he’s branched out into, um, other stuff.” He glanced at me, still nervous.
“Organ harvesting,” I said flatly.
Andy’s eyes went wide. He nodded. “It’s huge on the black market, especially overseas.”
“And you said he’s the one that created brawn? How do you know that?” I asked.
“Years ago, Sal’s dealers weren’t making him the kind of money he wanted. Sales had dropped off in his area and he didn’t like it. He was on the phone with Lorenzo when Dr. Moretti walked into his office. Sal kept talking, telling Lorenzo about the dip in sales. Dr. Moretti suggested they formulate a new drug. A designer drug, I think he called it. He said, ‘People like new things, right? Give them something new and sales go back up.’ Sal liked the idea and paid Dr. Moretti to formulate it. He experimented for a few weeks and came up with brawn. The first edition was really popular. While aggression was a definite side effect, it got the users high as fuck, basically.”
“They didn’t realize the dangers until later, did they?” I asked.
He shook his head no. “No, it took almost a year before they realized that continued use was killing people. The dealers are the ones that first noticed it. Other areas of the city had already stopped selling it. The dealers are the ones that stopped it, not the bosses. They said they weren’t going to kill their customer base. Sal’s dealers were the only ones selling it at the last, but they eventually stopped too.”
“Is this doctor the same one that came up with this new formulation of it as well?” I glanced at the guys again, who were still visibly tense. Adrik had started pacing back and forth behind me, trying to remain calm. I wanted to go to him, but I also didn’t think Andy would keep talking if I wasn’t close to him. He knew I was standing in the way of the guys.
“I think so, although I can’t be sure. I know Sal still pays him,” he said, watching Adrik pace behind me.
“Do you know how to find him?” I asked.
He thought for a moment. “Yeah, unless he’s moved. Sal lets him use one of his houses just outside the city. He used to be a doctor at one of the hospitals in the city, but he had his license revoked after too many medical misconduct cases. When he was still working at the hospital, Sal would pay him under the table only when he needed him. Once he had his license revoked, Sal put him on the payroll and he started roving clinics around the city. People would come to him for various things, pay cash, and he’d do whatever, no questions asked, as long as the cash was flowing. When he created brawn, he initially made Sal a lot of money, so Sal let him have that house as thanks.”
“We’re gonna need to know where that house is,” I said.
“Yeah, of course. I don’t know if things have changed now or not, but he never has security with him. Sal always offered, but he said he didn’t need it because no one could remember his face that he worked on. He said he would see people all the time that he worked on. He would purposely go and talk to them because there was always the faintest hint of recognition there, but they could never place him. He liked to mess with their heads,” Andy said.
