The Charity Chip (26 page)

“Maybe we have to accept that she really did overdose,” said Julio.

“Do you accept that?”

Julio looked up at the sun shrouded by the high thin layer of clouds. He didn’t accept that Graciela overdosed, in spite of the evidence. He wasn’t sure why. He looked into her eyes. “No, I guess I don’t.”

“Neither do I. So how did they get the first drug into her system?”

Julio rubbed the charity chip in his left hand. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe it is in the chip, but how could we prove that?”

Angelica stood and started pacing. “You say you have helped Doctor Barilla. Do you think you could remove someone’s chip for us to examine?”

“I guess I could, but as soon as we remove it, Isak will know. Besides, what do we look for when we get it out? Have you thought about using an X-ray?”

Angelica shook her head. “Martín said that it might damage the chip and probably wouldn’t show us much because the chip is so small.”

“Then we need Caritas to release the specs on the chip to the authorities.” Julio stood and put one foot on his skateboard.

“They could lie and release bogus information. Maybe we should help Martín hack into the computers at Caritas first. He can get the information, and then we can go to the authorities.”

“And what do we tell them when they ask us how we got the information?”

“At that point, how we obtained the information won’t matter.” Angelica chewed at her bottom lip. “I say we at least try to talk with the police first. We tell them what we suspect. We tell them what we saw. We show them Graciela’s folder. If they won’t help us, then we hack into the computers at Caritas.”

“After what happened to Papá, I don’t trust the police.” Julio slipped on his backpack and motioned for Angelica to join him on his skateboard. “But if you think we should, I guess it’s worth a try.” She smiled and shook her head like she couldn’t believe what they were about to do, but after stuffing Graciela’s folder into Julio’s backpack, she climbed onto the board.

* * *

The two gate guards armed with black machine guns eyed Julio and Angelica when they hopped off the skateboard in front of the concrete wall topped with concertina wire that enclosed the police station. Another two guards looked down on them from gun positions on top of the wall. When Julio saw the gun positions, he almost changed his mind. He pulled his Saint Michael pendant from under his shirt and kissed it before scooping up his skateboard and tucking it under his arm.

The guard at the doorway stood with his rifle slung over his back and stared at them without saying a word or cracking a smile as they approached. Julio gathered his courage and spoke. “We need to speak to someone about a suspicious death.”

Without a word, the guard pulled out a scanner and scanned Julio and Angelica. Apparently satisfied with the results, the tacit guard opened the large metal door and let Julio and Angelica pass. Julio hoped to breathe a sigh of relief as they passed through the door, but instead his stomach did another somersault when the door clanged shut behind them.

They found themselves in a cramped lobby with low ceilings in front of a body scanner. Another uniformed officer sat next to the body scanner reading a magazine with a woman on the cover. “Remove any hats, jackets, belt buckles, or shoes, and place them on the belt before passing through the scanner,” commanded the officer without putting down his magazine.

Angelica slipped off her jacket and shoes, placed them on the conveyor belt that ran through an X-ray machine, and stood with her hands above her head for the body scanner. The scanner whirred and then beeped. She looked back at Julio and rolled her eyes.

The sedentary officer set down his magazine and stroked his thick black mustache as he walked around the scanner toward Angelica. “Do you have anything in your pockets? Any piercings?” asked the officer. Angelica pursed her lips and shook her head. “Very well. Raise your hands above your head and spread your feet apart.”

Angelica grimaced as she assumed the position, but she maintained composure. The officer strolled behind her and ran his hands down her bare left arm to her shoulder. He repeated the process for the other arm. He lifted her hair and ran his fingers across the back of her neck. She flinched as both of the officer’s hands slid from her shoulders and across her chest. She bit her bottom lip as his hands followed the shape of her hips and checked her legs.

Julio was red with rage as he watched, but Angelica shook her head signaling for him to do nothing. When the officer had finished, Julio passed through the scanner without incident.

The officer returned to his seat and picked the magazine back up. “Pass through the double doors and talk to the desk sergeant,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” whispered Julio as they gathered their belongings.

Angelica shrugged. “I’ve dealt with worse.”

The desk sergeant’s desk was elevated above the room and gave him a commanding view of incoming traffic. Behind his raised desk, uniformed officers sat at metal desks, shuffling papers and talking on the phone. A constant stream of uniforms with their quarry moved in and out of the several hallways that led into the bowels of the building.

“
Buenas tardes
,” said the desk sergeant without looking up from his computer screen.

Julio stood as tall as he could and tried to project himself. “We would like to talk to someone about a suspicious death.”

The officer glanced up but continued to type at his keyboard. “Your chips don’t show up in our system. We need to take a hand scan.” He motioned to the scanner in front of his desk.

Julio placed his right hand palm down on the scanner, and the green light flashed. The desk sergeant read from the screen, “Julio César Camino de Pachacutec.” He glanced down at Angelica. “Your turn,
señorita
.”

Angelica shifted in place. “Is this really necessary? We aren’t criminals. We are coming to report a crime.”

The sergeant looked down his nose at Angelica. “This is standard procedure for everyone who enters the station, no matter what the reason. If you don’t have a chip registered in our system, we make a hand scan. You scan your right hand and continue,” he said, shrugging, “or you exit through that door. It’s up to you.” He went back to his typing.

“Do you want to leave? I can take care of this on my own,” offered Julio. Angelica tapped her foot. She let out a disgusted sigh and placed her right hand on the scanner. The green light flickered and scanned her hand.

The desk sergeant watched the computer screen for a moment and then looked at Angelica with a raised eyebrow. He picked up a phone. “I have a couple of juvies that need a holding room.” He hung up and smiled down at Julio and Angelica. “Officer Nuñez will escort you to a room.”

A short officer appeared from behind the desk. “Follow me, please,” he said and started down a hallway to the right. They passed several windowless gray metal doors with large black numbers painted on the front. He stopped in front of door number seven, pulled a key from his belt, and unlocked the large brass dead bolt above the doorknob. He opened the door and ushered them in, but instead of helping them, he closed the door and locked them in.

Angelica slumped into the corner of the room. “All this trouble for nothing.”

Julio tossed his backpack and skateboard on the floor and sat on one of the small metal chairs next to a worn metal table. He put his head in his hands. “Mamá used to tell me that the truth would make me free. Right now, I’m not so sure.”

Angelica pulled her legs up into her chest and buried her face into her knees. “What do we do if they call Isak?”

Julio stood and paced the room. “If they do, we won’t have to worry about Caritas anymore. Most likely they will ship us off to one of the government barrios.” He spat. “Slaves to President Navarro . . .”

Angelica looked up. “That’s better than getting chopped up for organs.”

“Have you ever been to one of the government barrios?” asked Julio.

“I came close to being sent once.” She shook her head. “I managed to avoid it.” She shrugged. “At least the buildings are fairly new.”

“I skated by the one in Lince once. New buildings or not, it looked more like a prison than a neighborhood.” Julio stood on his skateboard and rocked back and forth. “Why did you let that officer grope you like that?”

Angelica shrugged. “What choice did I have?”

“You always have a choice.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re a guy.” She tucked her face into her knees.

It was almost an hour before they heard the dead bolt turn. Neither of them had been much on conversation. Julio sprang to his feet, but Angelica only raised her head. An officer with coarse black hair graying at the temples and a thick mustache walked in carrying a stack of files in his hands and dropped them on the metal table. He had a scar stretching from his left eyebrow and disappearing somewhere past his hairline. It was the officer that had arrested Julio and turned him over to Isak.

“Sit,” he ordered as he motioned to the two chairs in front of the table. Julio took his seat, and Angelica pushed herself up and moved to a chair.

The officer stood behind the table and leaned forward supporting himself with his closed fists. “My name is
Comandante
Ugarteche. Now, tell me what you are doing here.”

Julio glanced at Angelica expecting her to begin, but she stared at the files on the table and bit her lip. “We came to talk to someone about a suspicious death,” began Julio. Angelica kicked his shin.

“Suspicious death?” asked Ugarteche as he pulled up a chair and took a seat. “Who?”

Julio opened his mouth to answer, but Angelica interjected. “A friend of ours died of a suspected overdose. We were concerned.”

Ugarteche smiled and stroked his mustache. “You’re lucky they alerted me instead of Isak.” He picked up one of the folders opened it. “How nice to see you have become a model citizen, Angelica Maria Tapia. Have you been helping other people spend their money?” Angelica squirmed. Ugarteche read from the folder. “Convicted for fraud and electronic embezzlement at the age of thirteen. Sentenced to three months of juvenile detention. Escaped after one month. Arrested again for fraud and electronic embezzlement less than six months later, but never convicted because of a benefactor, Isak Blixt.”

Angelica looked down at the floor.

The comandante tossed her file onto the table and opened another one. “Julio César Camino de Pachacutec,” he read in a courtroom voice, “was caught in the very act of stealing food from a little old lady. He also was freed by the intervention of one Isak Blixt. It even says the act was caught on video. Shall we watch it?”

The comandante tossed Julio’s folder onto the table and picked up the third folder. “Graciela Maria Suiza de Gomez was arrested for solicitation and drug possession at the age of fourteen. She also was freed under the care of Isak Blixt and Caritas. She died two days ago due to a drug overdose.” He tossed the third folder onto the table and stared at Julio and Angelica. “Now, tell me, what did you need to talk about?”

Julio and Angelica stared at the floor.

Comandante Ugarteche ran his finger over his mustache. “That’s what I thought.” He opened the door. “Stay out of my precinct unless you want to have a meeting with Isak.”

* * *

They rode Julio’s skateboard in silence to Martín’s store. Julio kicked the board and guided them through traffic with one hand on Angelica’s hip. She seemed relaxed and natural on the board, and followed his lead like a good dance partner.

When they pulled up in front of Martín’s store, Angelica nimbly slipped off the board before Julio had stopped. She brushed back her hair with both hands and smiled at Julio. “I need to get my own skateboard so I can ride all the time. Riding seems to clear my head.” Julio grinned, but he wasn’t anxious for her to get her own board. He preferred having her close to him on his board.

Angelica glanced at the front door of the store. “Don’t tell Martín that we went to the police. He would probably freak out.”

“It was worth a try, but we still don’t have any evidence,” said Julio as he grabbed his board.

“No, but Martín has a plan.” She opened the door, and Julio followed her in.

Martín glanced up from his computer. “Didn’t I tell you that we should meet somewhere else?” he asked while he continued to type. “Every time you come here, you increase the risk of getting caught.”

“We have Graciela’s medical file,” answered Angelica.

Martín stopped typing and held out his hand. “Give me the drive and let’s take a look.”

Angelica unzipped Julio’s backpack and pulled out the folder. “It’s actually a hard copy.”

“Hard copy? Leave it to doctors to be a hundred years behind.” He took the folder and started reading.

“You won’t find much,” said Julio. “Doctor Barilla told us that the toxicology report confirms she died of an overdose.”

“We also saw her body, or at least her hand. We even saw her ring,” added Angelica. “Caritas isn’t a front for human trafficking like we thought. Graciela really did die of an overdose, but they harvested most of her organs and gave them to some French company.” She pointed to a page in the folder. She looked at Julio. “Julio isn’t convinced, but I think Caritas is a front for organ smuggling, and we’re the inventory.”

Martín let out whistle. “Organ smuggling? Of course! Why didn’t I see it before?” He folded the page and banged away at his keyboard. “Come look at this.” Both Angelica and Julio slid in behind Martín where they could see the computer screen. “
Marques Médical,
the company that handled the organs, is huge medical conglomerate with facilities worldwide. They also have a contract to support UN troops in the field.” He clicked the mouse. “And guess who is on the board of directors? Pascal Goulet.”

Julio could see Pascal Goulet’s picture with his unmistakable oversized white teeth.

Angelica elbowed him. “Now do you believe?”

Julio rubbed the chip below the skin of his left hand. He remembered Doctor Barilla’s warning.

“Don’t be too hard on him. He has reason to doubt,” said Martín. “This is nothing more that circumstantial evidence. We need more irrefutable evidence.” Martín turned to look at them both. “I need you two to get me into Isak’s system ASAP.”