Chapter 6 - The Unlikely Ally
I met Marcus thirty minutes later in the back corner of a crowded diner on the edge of town.
He handed me a manila folder containing Emily's lab results.
"This paralytic keeps the victim entirely conscious but unable to move or speak," Marcus explained.
"It makes it incredibly easy to extract blood without the victim fighting back."
I showed Marcus the terrifying photographs I had taken inside the basement.
His face turned completely pale as he swiped through the images of the restraints and the refrigerator.
"This is an underground harvesting operation," he whispered, staring at the screen.
"Rare blood types sell for massive amounts of money on the unregulated black market."
"Emily has O-negative blood, the universal donor type," I realized with crushing horror.
"That is exactly why they wanted legal custody of her, Clara."
"They need absolute control over her so nobody asks questions when she looks pale or exhausted."
I slammed my fist onto the diner table, causing our coffee cups to rattle.
"I am going to the FBI field office in Cleveland right now," I declared.
Marcus shook his head and pulled another document from his jacket pocket.
"The local police chief is Daniel's brother-in-law from a previous marriage."
"He has been intercepting all federal complaints from this zip code for the last three years."
"If you walk into a federal building, the local cops will be notified immediately, and Emily will disappear forever."
"Then how do I get my daughter away from him?" I begged, tears finally spilling down my face.
Marcus looked around the diner to ensure nobody was listening to us.
"We have to steal the buyer ledger from Daniel's personal safe."
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"If we give the feds the names of the wealthy people buying the blood, they will bypass the local cops entirely to make the bust."
"And I know exactly where the safe is, because I saw it when I treated Lucas."
