Page 107 of Girl Between (Dana Gray FBI Mystery Thriller #5)

Dana pushed her glasses into her hair and rubbed her eyes. It didn’t help. Sleep was the only thing that would, but that was a long way off.

The long night had bled into morning, and now she found herself, bleary-eyed, in the back seat of an FBI vehicle on her way to Levi Monroe’s last known address.

Today’s mission—divide and conquer.

Richter and Neville were on their way to Luis Fontera’s place with Creed and the rest of the task force. Dana had been assigned to George’s team with LaSalle and a handful of BAU agents she was still getting acquainted with.

She took another sip of the value-sized gas station coffee. It wasn’t helping. If she kept drinking it, she’d just end up with the jitters and a full bladder.

Setting her coffee in the cup holder, she tried to resist the comfort of her leather seat. The plush headrest was practically begging her to close her eyes. The ambient road noise, the gentle rocking of the suspension, the purr of the engine. It was lulling her to sleep.

“Mind if I roll down the window?” she asked.

“Suit yourself,” the young BAU agent driving replied .

Dana pushed the button, and the tinted glass rolled down, letting a rush of balmy air into the car. She took in the sparse farmland that rolled by. They were far from New Orleans now. Out in God’s country as LaSalle called it.

The ambitious NOPD officer called shotgun as soon as assignments were made, leaving Dana to ride in the back with two other agents. George was in the vehicle behind them with three more BAU agents.

Dana watched the glowing dawn light paint the morning sky like a watercolor. Yellow, to peach, to blue—pushing the dark blanket of stars away until night was only a distant memory.

For Dana it remained much too vivid.

She turned to look back at the SUV behind them, wondering if George had cooled off yet.

She’d pushed him too far with Landry. She saw that now.

It wasn’t just the way he’d snapped at her at the crime scene. Dana had expected that after forcing him to confront Landry. But when George bit Lena’s head off at the coroner’s office, she knew things were going to get worse before they got better.

This case was getting to George.

That wasn’t unusual, but his growing temper was. He’d kicked the trash can in Lena’s exam room so hard he’d left a dent, not to mention scattered medical waste. “Somebody clean that up,” was all he’d muttered before making his exit.

Dana could still hear Lena’s shattered voice. “I’m trying,” she whispered.

“I know,” Dana assured her. “So does George. He just can’t see that right now.”

“I can start again,” she’d suggested.

“Lena, you’ve been over these bodies twice already. If there was something to find, you would’ve,” Neville had said.

“He’s right,” Dana added. “Get some rest. Come back to it in a few hours.”

Dana let the memory fade as she continued to watch the scenery around her awaken. She didn’t know whether to admire or fear the way the world continued to trudge forward. Shouldn’t tragedies earn a brief concession?

Two lives had been snuffed out last night. Yet the morning dew washed the world anew, ready to begin again.

Dana understood why George was so agitated.

The warrants had come through, but they hadn’t managed to gather any new information from the crime scene or the medical examinations.

They had two more white females, in their mid-twenties missing organs and blood.

No IDs. No trace left behind by the unsub.

The victims had been scrubbed clean. Surgically clean.

Dana rolled the window up and flipped through Lena’s report even though she’d been through it a dozen times already. Both victims were found wearing white dresses and masks.

Like the first two Casquette Girls.

Both victims bore ligature marks on their wrists and ankles.

They’d been bound.

Both showed signs of atrophy.

Wherever they were being held, they’d been there a while.

Both victims were missing livers and kidneys. One of them was missing lungs.

Dana mentally cataloged all the missing organs on the victims thus far. It felt like she was arranging a morbid takeout menu.

“Shit!” The thought hit her like a bolt of lightning, zapping away the cobwebs in her sleep-deprived mind. “That’s what’s been bothering me!”

“What?” LaSalle asked, eyeing her in the rearview.

“The most recent victims are white women in their twenties. What if the unsub was targeting them because they were more likely to be a match organ-wise? I know we’ve talked black market organs before, but what if that’s what’s driving this thing?” Dana asked.

“We’ve been over that,” said LaSalle. “That market exists on the dark web. Our wunderkinds are working on tracking it, but it’s a vast world of mischief, right boys?” LaSalle asked the two agents glued to their laptops beside Dana.

“Yes, but what if our unsub started local?” Dana’s words were coming quickly now. “Say it’s Monroe. He was a volunteer EMS. Probably had access to medical records, hospitals. It wouldn’t be that hard to figure out who was on the transplant list.”

“Then what? He went out snatching bodies and selling organs? Don’t transplants need to be from a relative or at least have the same blood type?” LaSalle questioned.

“It’s more complicated than that,” Dana replied.

“But with Monroe’s medical background he could figure it out.

Besides, some people are so desperate they’re willing to do anything.

” Dana turned to the agent next to her. “I need a list of everyone in Louisiana on the transplant list. Past patients as well.”

“What are you thinking?” LaSalle asked.

“We contact people on the list. Find out if any of them were approached by Monroe.”

“I like it,” LaSalle said. “I’m all for gathering enough evidence to put this sick bastard behind bars for life.”

“If he’s our guy,” said the agent behind the wheel.

“He is,” Dana and LaSalle replied in unison.

LaSalle gave Dana a wink in the rearview before putting in her earbuds and closing her eyes. Getting even a few moments of rest would’ve been a good idea, but Dana was too wound up, her muscles coiled tight with the anticipation of a new lead.

For the first time since stumbling her way onto this case, she knew she was heading in the right direction.