Page 66 of Out to Get Her
“Wait, you can’t think your grandfather was on some kind of Nancy Drew mission.”
“No, I think everyone in this town knew the truth already, so he wasn’t solving a mystery.” Erin paused, biting her lip for a second, then continuing. “I think he might have been on a mission to take them all down.Everyoneinvolved.”
“Everyone,” Samantha repeated.
Everyone meant the doctorandwhoever was filling those prescriptions. The only pharmacy in Etta and its only pharmacist.
Nathan.
“So what’s Paul’s connection to all of this?” Samantha was thinking through this out loud, the same way she worked through so many of her cases with the chief or Dustin. She shouldn’t have been discussing these details with Erin, but she needed to work it out, and this was the only way she knew how.
“What’s Paul’s connection to the doctor?” Erin asked. “Or… you know who.”
“I’m assuming Trey filled you in on Paul’s disability?”
Erin nodded.
“He was hooked on prescription painkillers. Oxy, when the company was in its prime. That wasn’t a secret. Same doctor on the edge of town, I’d guess. Some doctor from out of state who set up shop in an area they knew had a lot of oil field injuries and disabilities needing pain management. Except, instead of helping manage, they used them as cash cows. We’ve tried to shut them down for years with no solid ground to build a case on. No one wants to snitch and lose their supplier. Even with the Sacklers out of business, some of the pill mill doctors have contracts with other brands now, from what I understand. Just shifted instead of shutting down.”
“Makes sense,” Erin said. “So Paul wouldn’t have been working with Grandpa to take down his own doctor.”
Samantha shrugged. “He was also pretty angry about his situation. And impulsive. But no, I don’t see your grandfather involving him.”
“Maybe he just knew Grandpa had the prescriptions and was trying to steal them? Wrong place, wrong time?”
“That seems more likely.”
But then there was that part about Paul’s car not being at the scene. How did he plan to steal them and get out in a hurry without a vehicle?
Erin’s expression deflated. “But that leaves us back with no murderer and no motive.”
Us.
Samantha decided to let the word slip by uncommented upon. Pointing it out might blow it away like a wisp of smoke.
Besides. She’d never admit it to anyone, but she liked the idea of working together with Erin. Being partners. Even for this one stormy night.
As if on cue, the old house rattled and shook with a gust of wind.
“The bands are getting closer together. And stronger.”
“We should be fine here,” Erin said. “This house has stood through a lot worse.”
A lot worse, like a murder.
But Samantha knew Erin meant storms. The winds on this thing would be nothing compared to some of the storms that had passed through over the last several decades. They were safe inside.
Safe inside a crime scene.
“So Paul was here to score easy access to drugs.”
It was clear Erin wouldn’t let this go. Samantha could relate, and it was downright endearing. Erin hadn’t even wanted to be in this town to begin with, but had an overwhelming need to solve a crime. Like a grown-up Veronica Mars who wasn’t getting paid.
“The question is,” Erin continued, “who killed Paul and why?”
“That is the big question.”
“Another addict?”
