*Sephie*
“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 back-room 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.
I felt like I almost had the wind knocked out of me listening to Andy speak. “What the actual fuck,” I said, louder than I meant to. Adrik stopped his pacing, as well. We all just stared at Andy for a moment, completely dumbfounded at how evil this man really was.
I suddenly had a thought. I looked at the guys and turned to look at Adrik, saying in Russian, “we need to make sure the police don’t release his picture. He’s going to run if it gets out that we know what he looks like. Sal will get him out of the city.”
Ivan nodded. He got up and walked out of the office, his fingers dialing a number on his phone as he walked out. Andy had a renewed sense of worry on his face, since he couldn’t understand what just happened. “Don’t worry, Andy. Your life is safe,” I said. I couldn’t muster a smile, but I tried to say it softly enough that he wouldn’t hear my anger.
We were silent for a moment as we waited for Ivan to come back into the office. If the police had already released his picture, we would have to move quickly. If they hadn’t, we had a little more time. If Dr. Moretti believed he was anonymous still, he would be easier to catch.
Ivan walked back into the office, somewhat relieved. He said, still in Russian, “we’re good. They haven’t released it. They’re not going to now, either. Jason asked if he and Ryan could come with us when we go get him, though.” He had a small smile on his face.
We all audibly exhaled. I looked at the guys. “Guess we’re not going to the house today, after all.” They all chuckled while Andy still looked like he was barely keeping control over his bladder. I looked at him, curious. “What did you need before this revelation, Andy?” I asked him in English.
He looked at me, a deer in the headlights look. “It’s not important. It can wait.”
Normally, I would have gotten that information out of him, but right now, I didn’t care. I nodded, standing up. I walked around Adrik’s desk. He was still standing in one spot. I could see he was fighting to keep control. His jaw was clenched, his hand in a tight fist at his side, his shoulders tense, every muscle in his body flexed. I found myself oddly turned on as I walked to him. I chewed on my bottom lip, without realizing what I was doing. He glanced at me, clearly recognizing the look on my face. It was what he needed to calm down. He smirked at me as he pulled me to him quickly. Viktor had called Andy to him, finding out the location of the house and any other details he knew about, so they weren’t necessarily paying attention to me and Adrik. I saw Adrik glance in their direction briefly, then one arm pulled me to him by my waist, the other hand on the back of my neck as his lips crashed into mine. He kissed me so passionately that I just about couldn’t breathe. He stopped, pressing his forehead to mine. His breath was heavy as well. “I needed that. I need you, solnishko,” he said, still trying to catch his breath. “To keep me from destroying everyone.”