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Margaret was the last to arrive at Cameron’s house. Kim called promptly at six o’clock California time. Her husband Nathan was on an extension phone.
With everyone there now, Cameron put the phone on the coffee table with it set to speaker as before, then introduced everyone to Nathan. It was time to get down to business.
“Nate, we’ve continued to do some sleuthing of our own. I know Kim told us there’s a big joint investigation going on and not to jeopardize it, but what Maggie has to tell you is from a source the DEA or the cops would not have been talking to. Don’t be mad. We have lots of our HOA money at stake here.”
They all traded glances when the voice of the United States Attorney General came over the speaker. Even Clarence raised his head from his sleeping position. Nathan’s voice was rich and commanding.
“I’m all ears, Cami, as long as you stay out of our hair and don’t do anything to expose or impact the investigation that’s been underway for quite a long time. With Shady dead and his wife missing, obviously another of the elderly doctors will be taking his place, but we haven’t identified which one yet. This is very big business, folks. No wonder the Rojas Cartel is on the rampage. We estimate this network of amateur drug dealers has cut into their trade to the tune of close to a billion dollars. That’s billion with a B.”
Garrett let out a low whistle. “Yep, I bet they are as mad as Hell and out for blood. No wonder Shady was beaten before he was shot. The way I see it, the odds are the Rojas boys sent some of their muscle to get as much information from Shady as they could, but I guess he wasn’t talking. What I don’t get is why they shot him up with Oxy. Maybe they just gave him too much and it wasn’t that he wouldn’t talk—it was that he couldn’t talk. That probably sent them into a real rage, and it would explain why they grabbed his wife Barbara so they could get whatever she knows. My guess is they don’t have the identities of everyone involved and were determined to get it out of Shady. But now he was dead, so they figured his wife was their best bet.”
“Sounds like a reasonable theory, Agent Garrett. Um, Kim told me you are former FBI, and even if she hadn’t, I’ve read some of your books. Who have you guys been talking to and what have you discovered? I’ll let you go first, and I’ll fill in some blanks after I hear your side. I’m anxious to see if you learned anything that we’ve missed so far. Oh, by the way, about your HOA money, I understand before she went missing Shady’s wife helped herself to a few million dollars of it. I definitely understand your concern. I might have some resources to see if some or all of it can be tracked down.”
Cameron was happy to see Nathan was still the down-to-earth guy she had known most of her life. While Garrett gave Kim and Nathan a short background on his friend and co-author Margaret that qualified how she was able to obtain the information she was about to reveal, Cameron spent a few minutes pondering how she and her friends seemed to have the knack for getting into hot situations.
Margaret talked about her Beverly Hills friends and in particular what she had been told about Al Shady before he married Barbara. Apparently he had changed radically within a few months after they were married and said the team knew about all of Barbara’s late husbands, adding that all of them died under questionable circumstances. “Kate’s researcher discovered Barbara’s birth name was Barbara Overbeck, but to date she has used various other names.”
Margaret wrapped up by telling him that by all estimates Barbara Shady was one clever, tough cookie. A tough cookie they suspected of being a black widow who had money stashed all over the place under various names.
Nathan Hartman was surprised that they had uncovered all of those details without interfering in the DEA investigation. Also, the question of her being, as they called it, a “Black Widow” had not been part of what they were checking into. They had concentrated on Al Shady and his network.
Garrett added, “In the back of our minds, we suspect she might have been planning to kill him in a way that looked like he died of natural causes. That was the scenario with her other husbands. Old, wealthy, suddenly dead. She was married to Shady much longer than any of the others, and maybe this drug ring has something to do with that.”
“Good work. We knew a lot of this, of course, but have been concentrating on Shady and his gang of old doctors. Nice way to guarantee a great retirement income. Anyway, with the Rojas boys playing hardball now, that’s why it is imperative that we learn who will succeed him in heading up this Oxy ring. Of course, it’s possible that it could fall apart without his leadership, but whatever happens, all those doctors are in danger and are also very well aware of how much they can make with bogus prescriptions. They certainly know which pharmacies will fill them without question. However, we don’t know if they are aware of which distributors will turn a blind eye to questionable pharmacists who fill large quantities of the drugs.”
Kate digested what Nathan Hartman just said. “So, Nate, you remember that frauds are my specialty and I’d say what we have here is not only drug dealing, but also the kind of case I investigate. The thing that jumped out at me is what appear to be legal prescriptions. I’ll bet a huge portion of the supposed patients have prescription insurance. That means that the insurance companies are also being defrauded big time. We exposed a large accident fraud ring last year composed of doctors, therapists, accident ‘victims’ who were actually not hurt, attorneys and some other players. Am I correct about the insurance fraud aspect and is that under investigation also?”
“Spot on, Kate. You see, this group isn’t the only one pulling this off. We have things like this happening all over the country. It’s huge, triggering payback from a few of the major cartels like the Rojas, billions in insurance fraud and a whole population who are addicted to opioids with the help of doctors and the pharmaceutical industry. We use every case like this that we crack as examples in the media to make the remaining ones see the danger of exposure. I hate to say it, but Shady’s murder will be a prime example. And we still don’t know the fate of the wife.”
Their conversation continued for another half hour with both sides promising to keep the other apprised. It ended with Nathan Hartman thanking them for the extra information and their integrity. Before the call disconnected, he said, “I meant it when I said I have resources that can help you find and recover some of your HOA money.”
CAMERON POURED CELEBRATORY glasses of wine with a club soda for the recovering alcoholic actor Matt Darwin. Clarence lifted his head from his snooze and padded over to see what the happy voices were about. He was rewarded with some slices of cucumber. After wolfing them down, he returned to his place by the fireplace, stretched out and went back to sleep.
“That was really an experience,” the Colonel said after taking a sip of his wine. “Imagine, we are working with the Attorney General. You people are really something. This is the most excitement I’ve had since retiring. Kate, Danny, do you have any idea of what he meant by resources to help find our money, assuming it’s still around?”
Kate said, “Well, I assume he could help with some of the tools they use to track money from money laundering. Whatever she has done with everything she either inherited or stole, in a sense it is all illegal. You can’t inherit from someone you murdered. I guess he could stretch the facts a little to make our situation qualify.”
Garrett added, “Yeah, and in recent years there is also something called money mules. They think they are hired as couriers and they transfer the money innocently to accounts set up for that purpose, often offshore or in foreign countries. That way the name of the true person who has either stolen or laundered money is hidden, and the money mule gets a fee for the job. They generally have no idea they have done something illegal.”
It was getting late and they decided to put things to rest until the next day. The Colonel limped over to Clarence and gave him a gentle nudge to wake him up. The big dog looked up with adoring eyes as if to say, “My goodness, time to go already?”
Garrett and Margaret left first along with Matt. It took a little time for the Colonel to get Clarence hooked back on his leash. As the two oldsters reached the front door, the Colonel turned and said, “Ya know ladies, it really is amazing what this world is coming to. Good night.”
Before they headed upstairs Kate said, “You know, when I came down here to meet with my agent and the studio, I had no idea I’d be adding a new chapter to the next book I plan to write. The insurance angle is something I hadn’t thought about. The people who literally buy the prescriptions fill them at one of the pharmacies in Shady’s network, the pharmacy gets the drugs from a distributor who looks the other way although they are supplying product for an inordinate number of opioid prescriptions for these select pharmacies. Everyone involved benefits with very good kickbacks or fees. Then, depending upon the kind of insurance the user has, their insurance company picks up most of the tab. No wonder the price of prescription drugs is skyrocketing.”
“You bet. It makes sense if they’re being ripped off for billions. They pass that on to us.” Cameron plopped back down in one of the chairs, seemingly deep in thought. “But here’s something I don’t understand. Something I think you might want to delve into deeper since fraud is in play. How do the doctors make enough to make it worth their while if all they get is a fee for faking a prescription? I have a hunch there’s a lot more to it.”
Kate yawned. “And, I would bet money your hunch is correct. But right now I need to get some shuteye. Tomorrow’s a busy day and I don’t want to look like something that the proverbial cat dragged in.”
Cameron arose from the chair and said, “Okay, time to turn off the brains and turn in.” She started up the stairs, then turned to her friend. “One thing wrong with that last statement, though. There is no way you would ever look anything but gorgeous. See ya in the morning.”