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to a live show. Or
maybe even just to one of those hip city bars we talked about,
where the professionals like to hang out.”
    Hannah beamed. “Exactly! Now you’re getting
into the spirit!”
    “Will you come with me?”
    “Of course! What are best friends for?”
    The girls fell into another companionable
silence, each lost in their thoughts. Sam picked up her beer and
took another drink. Hannah chewed on another slice of pizza. When
they were finished, Sam collected the leftovers and tossed them
into the trash. Hannah rinsed the plates and left them to dry.
    “Would you like another beer?” Sam
asked.
    “Thanks, it would be nice.”
    “It might even be warm enough outside to sit
on the balcony.”
    With drinks in hand, the girls headed to the
sliding door that connected the living room to a small balcony. A
light breeze greeted them, but the air temperature wasn’t cold.
    “It feels like spring already,” Hannah
smiled.
    “Yes. Soon we’ll be complaining it’s too
hot!”
    Hannah merely smiled again and took another
sip from her beer. Sam sat in a deck chair and Hannah took a seat
opposite. For a moment, the girls enjoyed the silence until Hannah
let out a heavy sigh.
    “My, that sounds ominous,” Sam teased.
    “Maybe it is.”
    Sam straightened in her chair, a little
alarmed at the solemn expression on her friend’s face. “Don’t tell
me Aaron is giving you grief again? Sorry, I should have asked
earlier how things were. When will that man face the fact that the
two of you are over and you’re never going back?”
    “No, it’s not Aaron. I haven’t heard from
him in weeks, thank God. I think he’s finally gotten the message
we’re through.”
    “Then why do you look so troubled?”
    Hannah stared at her and then sat forward in
her chair. Her shoulders slumped on another heavy sigh.
    A sense of foreboding crept through Sam’s
veins. “Hannah… You’re scaring me. What’s going on?”
    “You know when we were talking about the
increase in the number of bodies coming in with missing
organs?”
    Sam grimaced. “Donated organs. They’re not
exactly missing. I assume someone knows where they are.” She
attempted a smile at her joke, but it fell flat. Hannah’s
expression remained serious.
    “I don’t receive any paperwork, except the
patient’s personal details and the name of the hospital that sends
them. I only assume the organs and tissues have been donated
because, what else would have happened to them?”
    Sam frowned. She stared hard at Hannah and
her pulse picked up its pace. “What are you saying?”
    “I’m not sure, but yesterday I had a body
that was missing nearly everything.”
    “What do you mean, everything ?”
    Hannah spread her arms out wide, sloshing
her beer. “Everything.”
    Sam shook her head in confusion. “Like, all
of the organs?”
    “I couldn’t tell just by looking at the
suture lines which organs were gone, but from the position and
length of the incisions, I’m guessing most of them had been
removed. On top of that, there were no tendons or ligaments; both
corneas and sclera were missing; even a large piece of skin. I
didn’t immediately realize the skin had been removed too, because
it had been taken from the deceased’s back. It wasn’t until I’d
turned the body over to clean it that I saw the fresh wound.” She
shook her head. “It was awful. I think there’s something weird
going on.”
    Sam stared at her in shock, her heart now
thumping double time. She could barely believe what she was
hearing. Never in her years as a doctor and pathologist had she
heard of people donating their ligaments and tendons, or even
pieces of skin. Though it was possible to reuse that type of
tissue, most people weren’t aware of that and didn’t pay them any
heed. She thought back to Natalie Piccoli and the missing consent
form and unease trickled like icy water down her spine.
    “I’m thinking about going to the
police.”
    Hannah’s quiet words