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“They’re long-release statins,” Avery explained. “At least they’re supposed to be. For people who don’t respond to regular statins.”
Fenn pulled a face. “Cholesterol drugs. Gee, Ortiz, could you have found a more boring smuggling ring to crack?”
Kate smacked him in the belly so hard the guy doubled over. Then she winked at Mason over the video feed. “You’re welcome.”
“Copy that. I owe you one.”
The gorgeous pilot grinned back. “Not to worry. It was my pleasure.”
“These meds are super expensive,” Mason added. “As in thousands of dollars a month.”
He thought about the modest homes they’d grabbed the packages from. If these drugs turned out to be fakes, not only were lives at risk: but these guys were stealing from people who could little afford it.
Oh the counterfeiters were going to pay. As if he wasn’t made enough already.
Graham’s eyes narrowed. “It would be hard to tell if a person was taking fake pills. You’re taking a drug that’s supposed to help prevent the buildup of cholesterol,” he mused. “So it’s unlikely anyone’s going to notice it’s not working until they see their physician every six months or so. And maybe not even then, right?”
“No kidding,” Paige added. She swept a hank of pink hair out of her eyes and frowned at her computer screen. “Hang on a sec, guys.” Everyone quieted while she typed. When she looked up, she shook her head. “This pharmacy is fake.”
Avery inched closer to the computer. “Are you sure?”
“One hundred percent.” Paige looked straight at the camera now. At Avery. “There are sites people can check out to see if the online pharmacy they plan to use is legit or not. SpeedCo Pharmacy,” she pointed at the box in Mason’s hand, “isn’t registered on any of them. Not one.”
“Why would a fake pharmacy dispense real drugs? That makes no sense at all,” Avery said, her voice hard and unwavering. “The drugs must be phony, too.”
“It gets stranger,” Paige added. “I can’t find a physical location for the pharmacy. No warehouse. No distribution center. Nada.”
Mason grunted. “Surprise, surprise.”
Bridger’s normal grin disappeared. “It’s a good thing you called us in, Mace.”
Kate eyed Avery stonily. “Agent Ellis? How concerned do we need to be about your fellow agents? It seems strange you got called off such a promising case.”
“She says her people are good,” Mason interjected. He didn’t blame Kate for considering all the options, but Avery had already told him she wasn’t concerned about her colleagues, or her superiors.
“Cases get back-burnered all the time,” Avery explained, in a much softer voice. “I can see why you’d ask. We’re probably looking at tens of millions in profits here. But I can vouch for my boss, and my other superiors in the Seattle office, anyway.”
Tai nodded quickly. “Good enough.”
But Mason knew the team––Paige especially––would dive deep into each agent’s background. The owners of Rain Bay Trucking, too. If there were any common threads, she’d find them.
In the meantime, no sense in antagonizing Avery.
Mason nodded in agreement, his mind racing with the implications. He thought about how close Paul had come to being in even deeper trouble, how grateful he was that his brother had reached out. Maybe he’d even tell him that sometime, when all this was over.
Paige’s face filled the screen again, her expression grim. “Heads up, guys,” she said, her voice tight with tension. “More trouble.”
Mason felt his stomach drop, a cold sense of dread washing over him. He glanced over at Avery, saw the fear in her eyes.
Paige looked uncharacteristically guilty. She spoke directly to Avery. “So, after Mason first read us in on the case, I tagged, uh, people at your office.”
Avery tensed next to him. “Tagged them how?”
“Internet notifications,” Paige explained. “In case someone else at your agency is looking into things. Make sense?”
“Not exactly,” Avery admitted. “But go on.”
Paige swallowed and nodded hard enough to make her colorful bangs sway. “I can totally explain my procedures later, but right now, you guys need to know that someone in Avery’s office accessed traffic cam footage from the North Seattle neighborhood you two just left.” Paige’s words came out in a rush. “Mason, you were caught on camera taking those two packages. And in one set of footage, Avery can be seen in the vehicle across the street.”