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Avery wanted to smack him in the head. Couldn’t he see his brother was trying to help?
Paul’s face fell at the criticism before he covered it with a cocky grin. “I did a pro job. I grabbed them off the floor of the trailer I was repairing. Stupid driver tagged the corner of a building. One of the pallets inside broke. There were little white pills all over the floor. Easy to pocket a couple. No cameras and no witnesses.”
“Uh huh,” Mason said skeptically. “Just be more careful, alright? One slip and this whole op blows up.”
“I’m not an idiot,” Paul muttered.
Avery knew that longing for approval all too well.
“What?” Mason asked, clearly noting her disapproval.
She bit back a rude reply. Mason was touchy enough as it was. Unlikely he’d appreciate relationship advice from her. Or anyone.
She plucked a pill from Paul’s palm. “Let’s see what these are. Might be just what we need.”
As she researched the markings on her laptop, Paul shot her a grateful look. Her distraction had been welcome, even if the brothers’ complicated dynamic ran deep.
In less than a minute, she had IDed the pills. “Wow. These are expensive.” She eyed the two men. “They’re a specialized form of statins, used by patients who can’t take normal cholesterol meds.” She paused for effect. “A month’s prescription runs three to four thousand dollars.”
“A full pallet would be worth millions. Multiple millions,” Mason calculated.
“Do you think they’re real?” Paul asked.
Avery stared at the pill in her hand. “Doesn’t matter. If they’re counterfeit, they’re still worth millions.”
Paul stared at the pills in his hand, mouth open. Understanding brightened his eyes. “Because people will think they’re real.”
“Exactly.” Avery turned the pill over in her fingers. Her instincts had been right about the criminal activity here. Whether stolen or fake, these drugs represented massive illegal profits.
She met Mason’s gaze, seeing her own excitement mirrored there.
“I know you don’t want to alert the Bureau yet,” Mason said, “but I can find us a confidential lab here in Seattle. It won’t be hard to get those analyzed.”
That she’d have to think on. Paul was a civilian, so the fact that he took the pills wouldn’t necessarily preclude them from being used as evidence. Maybe.
She considered the legalities. But what did she care? At this stage, she wasn’t building a case for the attorney general, she just needed enough facts to goad Ryan into convincing the higher ups to re-authorize her investigation.
She smiled gratefully. “That’s a sound plan.”
Mason set down his fork. “I’ll text my people. We should be able to drop off the evidence first thing in the morning.”
The three of them sat in charged silence as the implications sank in. This pill sample was the hard evidence they’d desperately needed. Part of it, anyway. Now, she just had to prove that it was either counterfeit or stolen.
The sample also proved the danger to Paul was escalating rapidly. She’d suspected the trucking company was involved in transporting some kind of contraband, but pharmaceuticals? They might as well have been dealing with illicit drugs.
Mason’s gaze was granite as he stared her down. “I’ll hang around as long as you want me, but Paul works one more day to wrap things up, then he’s done.”
Fear constricted her throat. She should argue, insist they needed longer, but the words died inside her. One look at Mason’s implacable expression crushed any debate.
Honestly, he was right. The risks were too great now.
“Okay,” she conceded softly. “One more day.”
Paul started to argue, but Mason cut him off. “Not negotiable. We get what we can tomorrow, then you’re out.”
The gravity of their situation pressed down on Avery. After tomorrow, things would come to a head, for better or worse.
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