Tempted by Love

by Jennifer Ryan

“Stupid, but that is the reality with the rise of painkillers being so widely prescribed.”

  Alina read the article and found the name of the other person killed during a similar robbery. Something nagged at her. She scanned the list of customers and found Mr. Ramos. “Mandi, look. Mr. Ramos died four months ago, but his prescription has been renewed every month since, too.”

  “That’s weird. I remember him. He was a widow. His wife died of breast cancer last April. I forget what happened to him but a few months after that he got hurt on the job and ended up on disability.”

  Mandi found Mr. Ramos’s wife in the files. “Amy Ramos. She’s been renewing three different medications every month since last April when she passed.”

  Something didn’t make sense.

  She and Mandi both jumped at the sound of Noel’s voice. “What are you guys working on?”

  Alina put a hand on Mandi’s arm to keep her quiet. “The research for my prescription drug talk. We were discussing how many customers have been on painkillers long-term.”

  Noel shrugged. “Sad, really. Long-term use of the drugs probably causes more problems than the reason they were originally prescribed them in the first place.” Noel glanced down at his jacket covering his hands, then quickly back to her and Mandi.

  His overt casual manner, hands clasped in front of him with his jacket draped over them, sparked her curiosity.

  “I was prescribed ten days of Dilaudid after my car accident.”

  “You were severely injured.” He studied the way she held herself without turning her neck too much. “You took the brace off your neck. You still look sore, but you heal quickly.” Noel reached with one hand to touch her. The coat slipped, making something in his other hand crinkle. Noel snatched his hand back and buried it under the coat again.

  What was he hiding?

  “After a few days, a couple of Advil has been enough to see me through. I didn’t need that many narcotics. Some people may think they need to continue to take the prescription even though a less addictive and milder medicine would work for them once the initial pain subsides.”

  “It’s something the medical community is trying to address, but they still have a long way to go.” Noel glanced over the reports in front of her and the article on her screen. “Looks like you’re putting together a comprehensive class for your next talk. The community will benefit from your dedication.”

  “I’d like to talk to you about working with the DEA to do a take-back program here, so anyone with unused drugs in the home can bring them in for proper disposal. Mandi was telling me about the rise of teens stealing medications from their parents. Something like this could help educate parents and get deadly drugs out of children’s hands.”

  Noel’s lips pressed tight. “You know, when I gave you this project, I didn’t think you’d take it this far.”

  Alina raised an eyebrow at the tone. “What do you mean?”

  Noel shook his head. “You’re still recovering. I never expected you to spend this much time and effort on this. I’ll take it back and do the next talk. I’m sure you’ve got better things to do with your time.”

  “This is important, Noel. The epidemic in the state is growing.”

  “People are dying,” Mandi added, her incredulous tone matching her narrowed, black-lined gaze.

  Distracted, Noel didn’t seem to hear them. He checked the time on the clock hanging on the back wall for the fourth time. “I’m late. I said I’ll do it. Leave all this on my desk. I’ll go through it later and use what’s relevant. You’re off the project.” With that emphatic statement, he practically ran for the door. “I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

  Did he really think she’d drop this?

  “What is up with him?” Mandi shook her head, sending her purple hair swishing back and forth.

  “I don’t know.” But Alina wanted to know what he had in the white paper bag he’d been hiding under his coat. She didn’t want to believe it was filled with bottles of pills, but it sure did look like it.

  Maybe they were prescriptions for his wife.

  The bell over the front door dinged. Mandi went to help the customer. Alina had filled all the prescriptions for today’s orders while Noel worked on orders that required phone calls to insurance companies and doctors. She hadn’t seen anything for Lee, but that didn’t mean Noel hadn’t filled it himself.

  She pulled up Lee’s name on the computer. The last prescription refill had been two weeks ago. None of the prescriptions were due to be refilled for a few more weeks.

  So, what was in the bag? Why hide it?

  Maybe being hyperaware these last few days had made her paranoid and she was looking for things that didn’t exist. But the knot in her gut and the little nagging voice in her head said she should pay attention. It wasn’t nothing.

  Noel had been kind, attentive, even overly protective of her the last few days. Something about her doing all this research made him uneasy. Why?

  She stared at the article about Mrs. Green and thought about the prescriptions refilled after her death and Mr. and Mrs. Ramos’s.

  Why were dead customers getting prescription refills?

  They weren’t the same kind of painkillers, but in the same Schedule II class. If they died, why was the doctor still prescribing medicine for them? Who was picking it up? Did the doctors know the prescriptions were still being filled?

  She pulled up Mrs. Green’s information and called the doctor’s number.

  “Eastside Medical, this is Fran, how can I help you?”

  “Hi, Fran, this is Dr. Cooke at Vista Pharmacy. I’m calling regarding Mrs. Evelyn Green. Can you tell me the last time Dr. Mitchell prescribed her medication?”

  “Oh dear. Mrs. Green shows as deceased in our system. Dr. Mitchell last prescribed her medicine over three months ago.”

  “Thank you, Fran. I’ll update our records.” Alina hung up, but didn’t change the record in her system. Instead, she pulled up Mr. and Mrs. Ramos’s files and called their doctors and got the same results: the doctors had not written prescriptions for them after their deaths.

  So, the doctors weren’t in on the scheme. But what exactly was happening? Before she accused Noel—she didn’t suspect Mandi, who hadn’t shown any reservation about pulling all the records—she needed to gather more evidence. Those drugs were highly regulated. If Noel found a way to game the system, make it look like doctors were prescribing medications when they weren’t, then he’d put his life, hers, and their business in serious jeopardy.

  The disturbing thought twisted her gut.

  She needed to move fast. Noel wanted her to stop working on the project. He didn’t want her to uncover his scheme. If Noel got caught before she went to the authorities herself, they may never believe she had nothing to do with this.

  But was she right?

  She hoped not. But she needed to keep digging. The business and her life were on the line. She didn’t want to go to jail for something she didn’t do.

  “Alina, are you okay? You look a little green.”

  “Uh, I’m okay.”

  “It’s really sad those people lost their lives during something as stupid as a burglary. Don’t people have anything better to do than steal from old ladies and widowers? Seriously. Try not to let it bother you so much.” Mandi patted her shoulder and went to help another customer.

  Alina wanted to dig deeper, but the bell over the door dinged again. Another customer. The start of people streaming in after work to pick up their prescriptions before closing.

  By the time they locked the door for the night, Alina was tired and feeling the weight of her suspicions.

  She went back to her desk, thinking about how best to tackle the problem, when her cell chimed with a text.

  Jay: Meet me at Pizza Party on 7th St.

  Alina: When?

  Jay and pizza sounded better than digging through data. And yes, she admitted, she feared what else she’d find and what that would mean to her future.
And Noel’s. Procrastination was just a form of hiding and not facing the hard truth. Maybe she should stay.

  Her phone interrupted her swirling thoughts.

  Jay: Now! I miss you.

  So sweet. And a much better way to spend the evening than blowing up her life. She thought of Noel’s sick and dying wife and her stomach dropped. Poor Lee. If what Alina thought was true, Lee would be devastated.

  Alina: Order me a beer. Bacon, tomato, green onion pizza. Be there in 10.

  Jay: You got it.

  Jay: And me.

  Alina smiled for the first time in the last two hours. He was hers.

  She had a boyfriend and a date. A couple weeks ago, she didn’t have either. She grabbed her purse, left her troubles for tomorrow stashed under some files in her desk drawer, and went to join the one person sure to keep a smile on her face.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Noel drove to the head of the hiking trail on the outskirts of town and parked in the dirt lot with his car facing out so he could leave in a rush. He didn’t want to spend any more time with these guys than necessary. This late in the afternoon, only two other cars were in the lot. Their drivers probably still on the trail, but they’d return soon.

  With the car off, the interior became stifling. He rolled down the front windows, hoping the soft breeze would cool him off and ease his frayed nerves. Sweat dripped down the side of his face. He wanted to believe it had only to do with the rising heat in the car, but anxiety held him in a state of turmoil.

  Lee wanted him to spend more time at home. They’d had to hire a part-time nurse to care for her during the day. Another added expense to the growing number of bills. He wanted to be there for her, but he couldn’t stand to see her wasting away each day, dying right before his eyes.

  He wanted to end this bad business with Brian.

  To top it off, he feared Alina might inadvertently stumble on his operation while researching for her pet project. He told her he’d take it back, but she wasn’t the kind of person to easily let things go.

  He should have never suggested she give the talk at the community center. His reaction at the pharmacy sparked her suspicions. If he pushed any harder for her to let him take the project back, it would look even more like he was trying to hide something.

  It had been so easy to hide from Mandi. She did her job, took her paycheck, and lived her life without questioning anything. Alina had a deep need to help people. She sympathized with customers. Her empathy for them shone through. They loved her. He loved her for it.

  But if she kept digging and putting pieces together, he’d have to do something. What, he didn’t know.

  He couldn’t fire her, she owned a piece of the business, but he’d made sure whatever they found on him, implicated her.

  He hated to threaten her, but if it came to that . . . Desperate times . . .

  He hoped she kept her nose out of his business and stuck to doing her job from now on.

  The drug take-back program had nearly made him heave when she brought it up. That meant the DEA. But maybe he could use it to his advantage. Take in the pills, covertly hold some back for his side business, and come out looking like a community member who cared, an advocate for taking dangerous drugs off the street, and a friend of the DEA and their efforts. Maybe then, they wouldn’t look too closely at him if a hint of what he was doing came to light.

  Brian pulled into the lot and stopped in front of his car, blocking him in.

  So much for a quick getaway if he needed one. Why had he ever thought it a good idea to partner with a drug dealer who enjoyed being a thug? He might be able to bend Alina to his will if need be, but he couldn’t control Brian.

  Brian and Davy climbed out of the truck. Brian came to the driver’s window. Davy leaned in the passenger side.

  “What’s up, Doc?”

  Davy laughed at Brian’s Bugs Bunny imitation. Both their eyes were dilated and red-rimmed. Higher than kites, they gave him dopey smiles. The smell of stale cigarette smoke and pungent marijuana wafted into the car. Strong as it was, he might get a contact high. The stench made him scrunch his nose and feel light-headed.

  Brian held out his hand. “What do you have for me today?”

  Noel handed over the white paper bag filled with bottles of pills.

  Brian dug through the bag, moving the bottles around, and reading their labels. “A little light, but nice. Where’s the list?”

  “Not this time.”

  Brian narrowed his eyes. “We have a deal. I’ll have this sold in the next day or two. We need more product.”

  “My partner has become aware of the rising number of break-ins in town.”

  “Nosy bitch,” Davy spat out, then stared across him at Brian. “You should have killed her.”

  “If she can’t keep her nose out of our business, I’ll do just that.”

  The matter-of-fact tone sent chills up Noel’s back a split second before fury ripped through his system as suspicion became truth. “It was you! You ran her off the road!”

  Noel lost his head and shoved Brian’s shoulder. He tried to open the car door, but Brian planted his hands on the edge and held it closed.

  “Knock it off, Doc.”

  Brian held the door closed with one hand and pulled his phone out with the other. He thumbed the screen a couple times and held the phone up. “You don’t want this to be you.”

  Noel gasped at the photo of Alina slumped in the front seat of her wrecked car, head bowed toward the deflated airbag.

  Brian glanced at the picture. “She saw us together. She knows ‘who.’ Now she’s looking for ‘why.’ Get her to back off, or else.”

  “She doesn’t know anything, you idiot. You want me to cooperate and keep the supply coming, leave her alone. She’s not looking for us, she’s looking into prescription drug abuse.”

  “Do-gooder.” Davy didn’t sound impressed.

  Noel fumed. “Leave her alone before you give her a reason to look harder into who tried to kill her. Stick to business. The DEA finally backed off the accident. Let’s keep it that way. I’ll keep an eye on my partner and handle her if she needs handling.”

  Brian tucked the phone away. “Told you it was a bad idea to bring someone else into your business.”

  “Yeah, well, I needed her money to keep it. You go after her again, her DEA boyfriend and brothers will either kill us or lock us up. So don’t be stupid. Stick to business and steer clear of the pharmacy from now on.” This time, Noel held out his hand to Brian.

  Brian stood, dipped his hand deep into his front pocket, and pulled out a wad of cash. He leaned down by the window again, slapped the money into Noel’s hand, then held tight. “Careful, Doc, you get caught by that sweet piece of ass you want to keep all to yourself, I’ll cut you down before I let you rat me out.”

  Noel jerked his hand back, barely gave a glance to the thick bundle of money in his hand, and swung his gaze back to the man who’d just threatened him. Brian would kill him. If he tried to put a stop to the business, if he got caught, if there was any indication that Noel’s existence meant jail for Brian, he was dead. He wouldn’t be the first person to lose their life at Brian’s hands. The deaths during the robberies weighed on Noel’s heart.

  Another fat bead of sweat ran down his face. He needed to leave before this meeting turned even more hostile. No telling what Brian and Davy would do when stoned.

  “We’ll meet again next week.”

  Brian frowned and shook his head. “That’s too far away. I need that list. Business is picking up.”

  “You’ll have to wait. It’s too risky to get it right now.”

  “Because of your pretty partner?” Davy stared hard at him.

  “We need to be smart. Give me a few days to be sure we’re in the clear.”

  “Why wouldn’t we be?” Brian grabbed his shirt. “Does she suspect something already?”

  “After you ran her off the road and nearly killed her, she’s cautious, looking
for a reason it happened. That’s on you.”

  “You said the cops don’t have anything.”

  “They don’t. At this point, I don’t think they’ll ever tie it to you.”

  Brian released him. “You’re getting as paranoid as this one”—Brian pointed to Davy—“when he’s high.”

  “You’re probably right, but it’s better to be cautious than reckless.”

  “Two days, Doc. We’ll be in contact.” Brian backed away from the car, pulled the cigarettes from his shirt pocket, shook one out, plucked it from the pack with his lips, then lit up, and exhaled smoke right into Noel’s window.

  Noel waved the smoke from his face and held his hand out to the truck blocking him.

  “Two days, Doc.” Brian and Davy jumped back into their truck and drove out of the lot so fast they sent up a cloud of dust that nearly choked him to death.

  He rolled up his windows and blasted the AC. It didn’t cool his rising temper. He didn’t like them calling the shots.

  “You’ll get the list when I say,” he shouted, finally finding his voice.

  He had more to lose than them.

  “I’m in control.” He slammed his palm against the steering wheel. “Not them.”

  And if he wanted to keep things working the way they had for the last year, he needed to keep Alina out of his business.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Alina sat in the quiet office and took a deep breath. The last few days had been everything she’d ever wanted with Jay and she’d been busier than ever at work. Now that she had a minute to sit and think, pieces fell into place in her mind and amped her suspicions to a level that made her gut sour and tense.

  Noel suddenly filled the doorway.

  She stared up at him from behind the desk, feeling trapped. “I thought you left with Mandi.”

  “I locked up after her. I wanted to check in with you.”

  “Oh. What about?”

  “Are you happy here?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “I thought so.” His tone said he thought so before, but maybe not now. “Business is good. Customers love you.”