CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
One thing the two women had done right was not to leave a paper trail in their office. The computers had lots of information according to the tech nerds but there was no paper.
“I think we have to interview some of the staff,” said Hex. “Someone there has to know something. It couldn’t have been just the two of them.”
“Maybe we do backgrounds on the entire office,” said Mike. “I’m going to bet that we find some sketchy things.”
“Already done,” said AJ. “Mostly clean. A few traffic tickets, one DUI, one who lied about their GPA on their resume but everything else seemed pretty clear.”
“Can I see what you have?” asked Everest. AJ nodded, handing her the stacks of paper files. “I’ll go in the boardroom and review these, just to see if it matches what I know. Our old office was closed last year and this one in New Orleans was opened but most of the people were transferred here.”
“Wait,” frowned Luke. “Were there issues with the drugs or anything else at your old office?”
“No. Now that you mention it, it all started when we got here about a year ago. Maybe someone who was newly hired,” she frowned. Then she shook her head. “No. No, that can’t be it. We only hired one new person in the last year and he’s already gone, other than Colt and Jordan.”
“Well, if you’d take a look anyway. Something might stick out to you,” said Eric smiling at the woman. She carried the files down the hallway and they all turned to look at AJ. He grinned, then cleared his throat, shrugging.
“What? I know when you guys want to discuss things in secret. I printed the files instead of having her look at them on the laptop.”
“I don’t like your tactic but I appreciate your ingenuity,” frowned Cam.
“What I’m still trying to figure out is what they hope to achieve by all of this. I mean, they’re scamming hospitals, doctors, even the fucking insurance companies. The drugs they’re switching out are killing people, they’re not working,” said Mike.
“For some,” said Hiro looking up. The men around him folded their arms across their chests and glared at the other man. Hiro cleared his throat, looking up at them.
“Why the fuck do we always have to beg for the information?” growled Luke rubbing the spot between his eyes, just above the bridge of his nose. “What do you mean, Hiro? And by all means, take your time. Get a sandwich and a coffee if you need it, just fucking tell us what you mean!”
“Wow, someone needs a break,” he said too casually.
“I can still kill you,” said Luke. “Only Winter would be pissed at me.”
“Not true, I have lots of friends and Mama Irene…”
“Hiro!” yelled Cam, Luke, Eric, Hex, and Mike at the same time. Rory, O’Hara, Magnus and Bron were leaning back in their chairs just watching the show.
“Okay, okay. Sebastian Myers was definitely being helped by the drugs but what really damaged his health were the unnecessary surgeries, tests, all of those things. He’s safe now, thanks to the team that went up there. But there are a few others, not many, where the drugs did work.
“Eighty-two-year-old Coral Smythe of Winter Park, Florida was taking PxR-645 for her osteoarthritis. Nothing had worked up until that point. The drug was switched out with her other drug and within three months she was walking better, had less pain, and had returned to regular daily activities.”
“Was she on anything else? Maybe changed her diet or something?” frowned Mike.
“Nothing. There are four more just like her. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are dozens that got worse or died from the drugs but there is something there. PCiX9 – the drug for libido and penile growth was probably the biggest killer of them all.
“We received the coroner’s report this morning for Jordan.
His, uh, penis size was ten-inches but according to the coroner, and I don’t know how they determine this, he was erect for an average of twenty hours a day.
That had to have been painful. The drug is what killed him but not because of the constant hard-on.
“The guy was twenty-six years old. Twenty-six. He had multiple tumors on his heart, liver, and lungs. All related to the drug. They were killing him slowly and he didn’t even know it.”
“Fucking hell,” muttered Eric rubbing his bald head. “So, is the game here just money? They get their investors to buy into the drugs or buy into the software? Which is it?”
“I think it’s both,” said AJ. “The drugs can’t be sold, not legally. The only way that patients can get them is if they are switched at the dispensing site.”
“Then pharmacies would have them,” said Cam with a hint of excitement.
“No,” said Hiro. “All of these patients are on prescription delivery services. Their drugs come directly from the manufacturer. If they’re switched in mid-process, no one would know.”
“Shit!” yelled Luke. “We have to find out who owns that fucking company.”
There was a soft knock on the door and Everest came in carrying a small stack of paper.
“Finished already?” smiled Mike.
“No. I mean, maybe. Alice Quinn. This report can’t be right. She was on my team and was a junior developer. Her salary should have been around ninety or ninety-five thousand a year. This says she was making more than three-hundred thousand a year. That’s just not possible.”
“Let me see,” frowned Hiro. He typed the information in once again and nodded to her. “That’s what the payroll and human resources system pulls up. Why would that be? Why would she be working a low-level role but be making more than you?”
“I-I don’t know,” said Everest shaking her head. “She was sitting beside me that day when Colt and Jordan were brought in. She even whispered some digs about Abigail to me.”
“Was she there the day you were let go?” asked Mike.
“Yes. She sits right next to me. We work in pods, open air cubicles basically. She sits next to me. She didn’t even look up at me as I was packing my box.”
“That seems odd,” said Cam.
“Not really,” said Everest. “I mean, think about it. Someone you care for get’s relieved of duty but you can’t show emotion or the boss will put you in the same ‘wagon’ as them. I’m sure she was afraid.”
“Did she look afraid?” asked Mike.
“No,” whispered Everest, closing her eyes, thinking back to that morning. “No, she looked determined. She was working on something and when I glanced at it, I thought it was strange.”
“Why?” asked Hex. “This is really important, Everest. What about her screen made you think it was strange.” Everest opened her eyes, staring at the men.
“She was in the backend of the system,” she said opening them. “She was entering information as if she worked for the hospital. That’s what made it strange to me. I was so upset about losing my job I just looked away. She was entering a request for tests and surgery on a patient in Mississippi.”
“How long have you known her?” asked Mike.
“Three years. She transferred to New Orleans the same time I did.”
“Everest? Abigail seemed terrified when we questioned her,” said Rory. “But Samantha acted as if it wasn’t a big deal. I don’t think that woman would have said a word had Abigail not crumbled. What do you know about her?”
“Nothing. I mean, she was already hired when I moved here.”
“Her background says she worked for a pharmaceutical company,” said Hiro. Everest folded her arms and stared at him, staring at his screen. She pursed her lips like a teacher who was about to scold her student. “Oh, uh, sorry. We just needed a bit of privacy.”
“Don’t lie. It only makes it worse,” she frowned. “What’s the name of the pharmaceutical company?”
“Kartage Pharma,” said Hiro.
“They were shut down by the FDA,” said Everest. “We took every drug they had in our system out because it was proven they defrauded Medicare for millions of dollars, sold drugs that hadn’t actually met the trial requirements, and they forged patient outcomes.”
“How did they do that?” asked Mike.
“Easy. They forged the patients.” They all looked at her.
“They just made-up names, birthdates, all of it. Some of them were deceased people that they miraculously brought back to life. It was a big mess and they paid dearly for it. Their top five executives, including their compliance and legal head were all sentenced to prison terms.”
AJ’s fingers were tapping away behind them. When they heard him say something that they knew was coming.
“We have a problem.”