Tilting his head to the side, he waited.
Kyle didn’t make him wait long. “Now, the smartest thing she ever did was fall in love with someone who deserves her.” Kyle drained his beer and slid off the stool. Glancing down at the table full of empty bottles, he said, “I’ve got this. It’s on me.” He started to walk away, then stopped and turned around, pinning Carter with his gaze. “We took care of that loser. Just make sure we don’t have to take care of you.” With a grin, he turned and walked out of the pub.
His brow furrowed as he swung around and caught Brody laughing. “What the hell did he mean by that?”
“It’s part of Tara’s story that she doesn’t know.” Brody chuckled some more, then continued. “Tara didn’t walk away from her marriage easily, but she knew when Calvin said he didn’t want to be a father, she had no choice but to let him walk away, which he did. But during the divorce, she knew he wasn’t worth anything and would probably not pay child support, so she made sure to get the furniture, keep the money she had made, protect her savings, and get full custody. What none of us were expecting was that he tried to go after her money, claiming that since she made more than he did—hell, that wasn’t hard since he practically never worked. So, Sean, Kyle, Rory, Brock, Blay, and I paid him a little visit.”
Eyes wide, Carter reared back and stared. “No shit? Six against one?”
“No, no, we didn’t kick his ass. But let’s just say there were a lot of implied threats. The asshole was pissing himself by the time we got through with him, and he promised he’d never go after her money.”
Shaking his head, Carter grinned. “That’s fuckin’ brilliant, man. After what Tara’s told me about him, I wanted to do the same. Since I wasn’t around then, I’ll just say thank you.”
The two walked out of the pub, shaking hands as they each got ready to head to their vehicles. He felt better, having won the approval of Tara’s brothers and friends. Checking his phone, he saw that she had not replied to any of his texts nor had she tried to return his calls. Sighing, he drove home, determined to give her only a few days more space before stepping up his game.
19
After a sleepless night, Carter walked into the clinic early the next morning. Part of him wanted to see Tara, but the other part desperately hoped that she stayed away. He needed to focus on the case and not her anger—at least for now. He arrived before they opened, and as before, Kate unlocked the door for him.
As soon as he walked into the office, the whisperings of the other employees quickly came to a halt. Eyes wide, they stared at him in unison. Behind him, Dr. Tiller and Robert were walking into the clinic as well. Before giving Dr. Tiller a chance to take charge, Carter said, “I’ll be conducting interviews with each of you. Dr. Tiller, if you would designate a room that I can use.”
Dr. Tiller opened and closed his mouth several times before finally sputtering, “Uh… Well, I guess you can use my office. I’ll be seeing patients this morning.”
After obtaining everyone’s name, he decided to start with the nurses first. Once settled in Dr. Tiller’s office, Kate knocked on the door. “I’ll be first if you don’t mind, Detective Fiske. Another nurse is going to cover for me, and then I’ll cover for her.”
It did not take long for Kate to answer all of his questions. She had no idea Polly had been squirreling away antibiotic samples. She had never seen Polly give them to a patient, although she admitted that if Polly was in an examining room with a patient, Kate would not have known what was happening behind closed doors.
The questions continued throughout the nurses, nursing aides, techs, and other staff. He discovered there was no accountability for the sample prescriptions that were given to them by the various pharmaceutical representatives that came by.
Taking a few minutes to review his notes before he interviewed the pharmacy staff at the clinic, he stayed seated at Dr. Tiller’s desk.
“Oh, Doug, I’m so sorry to hear what happened to Polly—oh!”
He looked up as Beth came stuttering to a halt just inside Dr. Tiller’s office. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth snapped shut. “Ms. Washington. How convenient for you to stop by. As you can see, I’m not Doug, but Detective Fiske, and I need to interview you.”
“I… I… oh, yes… um… now?”
“Now is a perfect time.”
She looked as though she were going to bolt but moved forward and perched on the edge of the chair. Composing her face, she clasped her hands in her lap and smiled. “Detective Fiske, I assure you I had no idea what Polly was doing with the samples.”
“Before we get to that, I’d like you to explain your procedure, please.”
“Procedure?”
“Yes. Your procedure from the moment you’re given the drugs at Kilton Pharmaceuticals until they leave your possession.”
“Oh, my, Detective. I assure you I follow every regulation—”
He had no doubt the smile on her face was a calculated attempt at either coercion or seduction. Maybe, even both. Shutting her down, he said, “The full procedure, please.”
Her brows lowered as though confused as her smile drooped. “Oh. Okay. Um… I usually plan my next day the evening before. I get to about five or six locations each day and have about two hundred on my rotation in total. Sometimes, I just call the office to see if there’s anything they need, but usually, I try to get in and see them in person.”
“The drugs that you carry. What is the procedure for those?”
“Those are samples of drugs that Kilton produces. I have to learn all about the drugs and the
