Page 39 of Hidden Hero

“I can do better than that. I’ll call Angie Brown.” She picked up her phone and quickly placed a call. “Angie? Hey, it’s Karen. I have two detectives here who have questions about some of the people who drive our elderly around. Can they come talk to you now, or are you out in the field?” She laughed. “Yes, they’re friends of my Mark. Um… I don’t know.” She pulled the phone away from her ear, her grin turning mischievous as she eyed the two men. “Are you single?”

Jeremy and Pete looked at each other in surprise before Pete nodded and said, “Yeah…?”

Karen said, “They said yes. Anything else?” She burst out laughing. “Yes, I can definitely say they are nice looking.” She winked and added, “I’ll tell them.”

Jeremy held back a snort as Karen said, “Angie Brown is the head of the ESAAA. She’s wonderful at her job, very busy, and constantly in motion. But she’s got a hilarious sense of humor. She said that if you were handsome, she’d make time to see you this afternoon. And if you were also single, you could come over right away!”

Jeremy couldn’t help but chuckle, while Pete shook his head, his grin wry. “Well,” Pete said as they stood, “I guess we’ve passed the first test.”

Saying goodbye, they headed outside and walked the block to the building where the ESAAA offices were located. They had just walked through the main door when a blond woman with a purple stripe in her hair walked from the back with her hand already extended, her smile wide, and her blue eyes twinkling behind bright purple glasses.

Her outfit was a cheerful riot of colors: a flowing, multicolored skirt that swirled around her ankles, sturdy boots, and a bright pink blouse. She exuded confidence and charm, her energy filling the room. She shoved the glasses up onto her head like a headband and exclaimed, “Hello! You must be the handsome, single detectives Karen told me were coming. I’m Angie.”

They shook her hand, both grinning at her exuberance. “Jeremy Pickett and Pete Bolton,” Jeremy said. It didn’t miss his attention that while her outfit wasn’t revealing, she had a bombshell figure with tits and ass galore. It also hit him that she was exactly what would have grabbed his attention in previous years. Now, he just appreciated her exuberance, but compared to the quiet intelligence of Cora, he felt no pull toward Angie at all.

“Come on, detectives. Let’s talk about what you need. And if you’re lucky, I might just spill all my secrets.” Angie winked, walking past a reception desk with a woman who wiggled her fingers at them while she talked on the phone.

They walked down a hall to a small office, much like Karen’s. And just as crammed full of items. A folded walker sat in the corner next to a folded wheelchair. Several canes stood upright in an umbrella stand. And files were piled on top of the filing cabinet.

“Have a seat, detectives,” she said, waving to the two chairs pushed close to her desk. “Welcome to the Eastern Shore Area Agency on Aging. How can I help you?”

Pete remained surprisingly quiet, so Jeremy jumped in and gave an abbreviated version of the information they sought and why. Angie nodded, popped her glasses back down on her face, and immediately began tapping on her laptop. “I want to make sure I’m giving you the correct information. I know so many of the elderly in our two-county area, but as our society’s aged population grows, it’s hard to remember everyone.”

“We appreciate that,” Jeremy acknowledged.

Pete leaned a little closer, his back straightening. “Take your time Ms. Brown. We know you’re busy and have seen us on short notice.” He handed her a piece of paper with the victim’s names written down.

Jeremy glanced over, seeing Pete’s attention focused on the pretty Angie. He blinked, not remembering the last time his partner talked about going on a date. Jeremy chuckled under his breath. It seemed like the afternoon was about to get interesting—for more reasons than one.

“Please, call me Angie,” she said, peering over at Pete with a smile that hadn’t left her face since they’d met her. “We have a lot of volunteers. We provide training and have the sheriff’s department do a basic background check, but there’s no way to know everything. I only say that because as much as I’d hate to think it’s one of our volunteers who is doing something they shouldn’t, I’d be naive to think that it would never happen.”

She peered down at her computer, sighed, and shook her head. “Helen used our transportation services for several months. According to the log, she was taken back and forth from their home to the hospital complex where their doctor’s offices were located. I don’t have any official transportation on the other three.”

“I was afraid this might be too easy,” Jeremy said, feeling the weight of the case with few clues. “Do you know any unofficial volunteers from churches or organizations who will drive the elderly.”

Angie pushed her purple glasses up on top of her head again and sucked in a deep breath before letting it hiss through her teeth. “There is a very good chance of that. I’m not knocking that mode of transportation, you understand. We are spread too thin as it is. So Good Samaritans who take it upon themselves to help out a fellow church member or neighbor are all a good thing even though we can’t track who’s doing what.” She scrunched her nose. “Well, it’s a good thing as long as they’re not doing anything illegal!”

Jeremy wondered when Pete was going to start asking questions. When his partner remained silent, Jeremy continued, “Is there anything else you can think of?”

“We do have our delivered meals program.”

“What does that entail?”

“There are two senior centers on the Eastern Shore, one in each county. A lunch is provided daily for any seniors who can come. If a senior is unable to make it to one of the centers, they can apply to have the lunch now delivered to their home. We have drivers that specifically deliver meals. They might go into people’s homes if the person is unable to take the meal from them and warm it. These services also provide buyer volunteers.”

“Can you check those names?”

“Aren’t you lucky today?” she said with a smile. “I certainly can.” It only took a moment for her printer to start whirring, and she leaned back to snag several pages. Handing them to Pete, she said, “Okay, Man of Mystery… here’s a spreadsheet of our volunteers and the logs of who they see and in what capacity.” She batted her eyes dramatically. “Sorry… it’s just that you’re so quiet it makes me wonder what you’re thinking.”

Jeremy slid his gaze to Pete, noting his stalwart partner’s expression not changing—with the exception of the slight blush that crept along his neck, from the collar of his shirt to his ears. Hiding his usual smirk, Jeremy thanked Angie.

She propped her elbows onto her desk and rested her chin on her knuckles with a thoughtful expression. “What can you tell me? I know, I know… it’s an ongoing investigation. But if I knew a little more about what you think is going on…” Her shoulders lifted to her ears in a shrug. “Maybe I could help.”

“We’re investigating why we have a rash of elderly persons in the two-county area of our jurisdiction who are dying, and their regular medication isn’t being taken, nor is it in their homes,” Pete said.

Her eyes widened as her gaze stayed riveted on Pete, and she stared for a moment. “And you’re looking for a connection between them.”

Pete just nodded, so Jeremy added, “If it hadn’t been for Fred’s automobile accident, we might not have been clued into the problem. But he had a plastic bag filled with prescription pills that weren’t his. Where was he getting them, and where was he taking them?”

---