The Body Hunters (19 page)

 
           As they were told, the agents sat in two of the uncomfortable sitting area chairs. A few minutes later the door leading to the patient examination area opened. A man with a nutmeg complexion who Aiden guessed was in his mid-30'sintroduced himself as Dr. Walters. The man was tall with the wiry build of a basketball player and with wire rim glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. The agents followed him into the interior of the building, headed toward his office
.

 
           Taking note of everything around him, Aiden observed the skeleton crew that was working at the site including a Hispanic man in hospital scrubs whose arms were embellished with vibrant tattoos. He was in an examination room where another shabbily dressed woman was waiting. He shut the door to the room as Aiden and Alejandro walked past. Even though the man was wearing scrubs, he didn't seem the type to be working at a medical clinic, not with the gang graffiti on his arms.

 
          "So, what is this about a murder?" Dr. Walters asked. Seated across from them he crossed his hands in front of him
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          "We're investigating the murder of Sherry Cavender." Aiden handed the doctor a photo of the teen in happier times. "We've heard that she may have been seen around this clinic right before she disappeared two years ago.
"

 
          Walters shook his head mournfully then passed the photo back to Aiden. "I've never seen this girl before in my life. She would kind of stick out in a neighborhood like this.
"

 
          "True, but Ms. Cavender was a meth addicted prostitute. She was abducted probably about a mile from this location. We have some eyewitness accounts that placed her at this facility.
"

 
          "She may have stopped by. Some of the prostitutes in the area have been known to see us for treatment, this being a free clinic and all, but I'm positive I've never seen that girl. I mean I've been here for two years. I'm pretty familiar with our patients.
"

 
           "How about the other employees, the nurses or the medical assistants? Aiden persisted.

 
          A fretful frown mushroomed over the doctor's face. "They wouldn't know. Most of them haven't even been here a year.
"

 
          "What about anyone else who was working here two years ago?" Aiden carried on
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           Dr. Walters raised his shoulders. "The other employees have moved on since then. Once they quit we don't keep track of them."

 
           "Any other doctors that may have seen Sherry besides you?" Aiden queried.

 
          Walters looked even more nervous if it were possible. "Yeah, but they've since gone on to other practices. Of course they left me behind for bigger and better things while I'm stuck here. This isn't exactly a thriving practice.
"

 
          "It would be helpful if we could get their names and the names of the other former employees." Stone pressed
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          The doctor's talkativeness suddenly escaped. "I think I'd like to talk to a lawyer before I give you that information. I don't think the other doctors would appreciate me giving their names out to the FBI.
"

 
          Stone cursed himself for overplaying his hand. Getting the warrant would take precious time that they couldn't afford to lose. "That's fine you can consult your lawyer if you want, but we will get a warrant for those names.
"

 
          After a few more questions the agents were headed back out to the lobby when Dr. Walters asked a question of his own
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           "You said the girl's name was Sarah Cavender?"

 
          "Sherry Cavender." Ramirez corrected
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          "That's the girl they've been talking about on the news, right?" The doctor's eyes abruptly widened
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          The news outlets had bombarded the public with the news of Sherry's demise. The Cavender’s had granted interviews for all the major networks for morning, afternoon, and evening broadcasts. The family had even posted a $10,000 reward for any information that would lead to the arrest of her killer or killers. Subtlety was something the Cavender’s were lacking when it came to justice for their little girl
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          Aiden bobbed his head. "She was the daughter of Senator Cavender.
"

 
           "Geez, small world."The doctor mumbled
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          Something was going on with this Highland Clinic, Stone would bet his military pension on it. He just had a feeling in his gut that something was off about the place. He would just have to do a little reconnaissance work
.

 
           Under the cover of night, He returned to the clinic. Not wanting to jeopardize the rookie's badge, he had left his partner back at the motel more than likely sound asleep. He didn't need an accomplice for what he was about to do. During his career with MARSOC, he had participated in what civilians called Black Ops. His team had been sent on covert missions, some of them stretching the law to the point of breaking. That was exactly what he was doing tonight.

 
          He wheeled the SUV behind the clinic. Since this was the type of neighborhood where the 'Don't Snitch' code was probably in effect, he figured he wouldn't have to worry about any trouble from the cops, though he was worried if the FBI found out what he was doing. Entering a building without a warrant was something that could put his ass and badge on the line, not to mention it might result in some jail time. That made him all the more careful about what he was doing
.

 
          It was an easy task to run a bypass on the building's security system and gain entry. The security system was primitive compared to some he had hacked into back in the day. Silently he headed to Dr. Walter's office down the darkened hallway
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          When he and Ramirez were here earlier he had noticed security cameras. To the casual eye they looked like smoke detectors, but he was certain that the devices were wireless cameras. For a place that could barely afford to have a landscaping company cut the grass, it was kind of strange for them to have expensive hardware like the cameras. What would a free clinic be doing with cameras in the first place? The answer to the question had driven him crazy all afternoon
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           His gloved hands playing over the keyboard, he booted up the computer. The workstation was password protected, but with a few keystrokes he had hacked into it. It was just another one of those skills he had picked up in his former life. As he had hypothesized, the digital files from the cameras were loaded into the pc's hard drive. Looking in the external hard drive, he located the footage from two years ago.

 
          Through her forensics in the spirit realm, Danny had been able to pinpoint the exact day that Sherry disappeared. Selecting two weeks around that time frame, Stone plugged his flash drive into the computer's USB drive and downloaded them to the device. After a couple of minutes the files were transferred to the gadget. After stashing the flash drive in his pocket, Stone checked the file cabinets for any leads but couldn't locate anything
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           Satisfied with his stealthy mission, Stone left the building exactly as he found it. In minutes he was headed back to his motel room.

 
           Sitting at the table in his rented room, he sifted through the digital footage on his laptop. Since the recording covered over half a dozen cameras and various angles, it was time consuming and tedious. Stone had nearly given up when he found Sherry. Soon he was cured of his slouching position, sitting upright in the chair at full attention.

 
          The agent zoomed in on the video so he could get the full view. In the video Sherry was alive and well before a shadow stepped up to her as she tried to leave, roughly grabbing her by the shoulders. The shadow was Dr. Gerard Wolfe! He and Sherry stepped out of the camera's range, but in moments the girl was on the ground with the doctor looming over her ominously
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           What the hell is going on here?
 

Chapter 1
2

 
           Over the past couple of days Danny had been spending more time at her apartment than at home. Gerard had his hands full with surgeries so it afforded her much needed time to herself. Not in the mood for talking she had even shut off her phone to prevent any disruptions. She was purposely throwing herself into work to avoid thinking about her relationship with Gerard. For all intents and purposes it was over. There was no way she was going to marry him when she wasn't happy now. All there was left to do was to tell him
.

Despite working as a police officer and the bureau, she was still a romantic. To her marriage was something that was done for life and not something to be taken lightly. She had made a grievous error by actually moving out here with him.

            Unbidden her thoughts once again wandered over to Agent Stone's neighborhood. She had been thinking a lot about the island Adonis over the last couple days. Not that she wanted to think about the man. He was egotistical and brash, exactly the type of man she should avoid. However, the bad girl deep down in her wanted to trace her fingers along that dangerous looking tattoo on his bicep. She speculated as to what type of lover he would be. Was he the wham bam thank you ma'am type out to just get his own or was he the type of man to take his time and discover every facet of a woman's body during his lovemaking?

 
           Sexually frustrated Danny twisted her engagement ring around her finger, contemplating the right time to remove it forever. Then she continued her online research into the Sherry Cavender murder. A sharp rap on her apartment door broke her concentration yet again. Since Gerard didn't know about the apartment she figured a visitor may have gotten her apartment mixed up
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          "Agent Stone, what are you doing here? Why aren't you in Dallas?" She asked, swinging open the door
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          In his usual denim jeans and polo, the FBI agent stood at Danny's doorstep. Her heart stammered in her chest, and she experienced that familiar fluttering in her belly that always happened when she was in his presence
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           "I still need your help." He admitted. His imposing figure stepped into the studio apartment, his large shadow falling over her.

 
           "Where's Agent Ramirez?" she asked locking the door behind him.

 
          Danny immediately felt him invade her personal space. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation, but he had a tendency to make her nervous. As far as her body's treacherous reaction to Agent Stone was concerned, she was missing his partner's presence because he acted as a shock absorber
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          "I left him in Dallas. He's narrowing down some leads with the Dallas FBI.
"

 
           A light bulb turned on in her brain, and she softly clapped her hands together.     "Speaking of leads, I've got some more information for you.
"

 
           She went over to the desktop computer and shook the mouse, rousing it from sleep mode. Agent Stone hovered closely over her as she sat at the desk, his hands on the back of her chair. His proximity to her made her even more edgy than before! She mustered the strength to ignore the sensation and continued working
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          "I did some online research on Highland Clinic." She moved the pointer over the screen bringing up a Google search website. "There are actually several of these clinics across the country
"

 
           She showed him the list she had assembled and printed it off the internet. Leaning on the corner of her desk, Aiden studied the printout. The gears in his head started to turn.      "They're all located in cities where the Jane Does were found." He mused, absently scratching his head
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           "Exactly." Danny was on a roll and could not be stopped. This is where she excelled.

 
          She walked over to her map on the white board where new blue magnets had been posted
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          "The clinics are only in locations where the women were found murdered. Some states even have several of these clinics. The farthest a victim was located outside the radius of a clinic was fifteen miles. It's too much to be a coincidence.
"