Page 76 of Hidden Hero

As soon as they were in the vehicle, Jeremy said, “We need to submit a new subpoena request. With this information, if we can tie Buford into the Parker murder, then?—”

“We need to talk to Elizabeth and John. They’ve got the Parker murder case. We’re only following the drug trail.”

“Shit,” Jeremy groused. His concern over the case had him skipping protocol. While Pete put the vehicle in reverse, Jeremy pulled out his phone and called John. “Hey, man. Are you and Elizabeth at the station? Good. Pete and I need to meet with you. Looks like we might have info on your Parker case. And it might tie into what we’re working on.”

As they pulled out of the church parking lot, Jeremy saw Donna standing in the doorway, a peaceful smile on her lips as she waved goodbye.

* * *

Jeremy, Pete, and Terry sat with Elizabeth and John in one of the conference rooms with Colt at the head. They were joined by Will Sicowski from the state police and Tom Rodman from the DEA office out of Virginia Beach.

“It looks like you’ve uncovered a trail of prescription pill thieves who gather them from a variety of victims… the amount from each victim is small enough not to be noticed right away. Whoever they pass them off to is someone else higher in the chain and as the drugs make their way up the chain, the amount of street value is staggering.”

“So what we have uncovered that was stolen here is just the tip of the iceberg,” Jeremy said. When Tom nodded, he sighed. “That’s what we assumed.”

Will asked, “What do you have?”

“We have no idea how long this may have been going on or how large the scope is in our jurisdiction. If it hadn’t been for Fred Rudolph’s death involving a car accident when he was transporting a bag filled with prescription drugs, we wouldn’t have been alerted to what was happening. We have reason to believe that someone is stealing the prescriptions from the elderly or paying them a pittance to give the drugs to someone, perhaps someone they trust. Because of the victims that we suspect, we’ve looked at anything that tied them together. That led us to a driver, Jed Harborrow, who we have under surveillance. And then that led us to Buford Grissley, our main suspect.”

Pete continued, “He visits the elderly, not only in his own congregation but also anyone who doesn’t already have a church affiliation. We just got the subpoena to check the bank statement for the church and he and his wife.”

“And?”

“We’ve only started looking. From first glance, the church seems to be taking in very little money. Enough to pay him a pittance of a salary and keep the building running. He uses his wife as a receptionist, cleaner, organizer, secretary… you name it, and she does it without pay.”

“We’ve just started looking at the bank statements for him and his wife.”

Elizabeth spoke up with hesitation. “What would the profit be for some of these drugs?”

Terry looked over at her. “A lot more than you’d think. Street value per pill of an opioid could be up to eighty dollars per pill?—”

“Damn,” John said, shaking his head.

Tom added, “A prescription bottle of ninety pills could bring in close to five grand.”

“Whoever is taking the pills here on the local level would be paid less, but it would still be significant,” Pete said.

“Certainly, in an area where close to twenty percent of the population is at poverty level,” Colt said.

“What about Mrs. Parker?” Elizabeth asked. “Right now, she and her son are still our suspects in Roy’s murder.”

“Keep looking into them,” Terry said. “No stone unturned.” He looked at Jeremy and Pete. “And I want you to get something out to Karen and the woman who heads the ES Area Agency on Aging … they need to warn the elderly that they aren’t to give or sell their prescriptions to anyone.”

“I’ll talk to Karen, and Pete can handle talking to Angie,” Jeremy said, keeping his face straight and ignoring the death glare from his partner.

“Whatever you turn up on the drug case, keep us in the loop. We might be able to take down more than what is happening in your jurisdiction.”

“Will do,” Terry promised, eyeing his detectives.

The meeting ended, and Jeremy started to hustle to his desk when Pete’s punch hit him in the arm. “What the fuck, man?” he asked while laughing.

“If you’re calling Karen, there’s no reason for me to call that ESAAA lady?—”

“You know her name is Angie.”

“Fine. I might know her name, but… fuck… you know what? I’ll do it just to shut you up,” Pete grumbled.

Walking to his desk, Jeremy kept a grin on his face. Despite the gruesome case they were on, he liked the idea of the playful Angie lightening up Pete’s world.

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