Page 38 of Seductive Secrets

There was a long silence after that announcement. “Okay,” Angela breathed, “do we all think these papers represent invoices? How many drug dealers work in this kind of volume and how many drug dealers have this sophisticated of a system? Not to mention, what drug dealer leaves a paper trail that is so obvious?”

“A stupid one?” Callum offered.

She looked back at him. “Do you really think that a drug dealer who could commission such a sophisticated drug would have a stupid, easy to follow distribution plan that’s laid out on paper?”

Kasim shook his head. “Not a chance.” He sighed and shifted some of the papers. “Which means that we’re missing something. If these are your company’s distribution codes, what if the drug dealer in question is merely piggy backing on these codes?” He looked over at James. “Your friend must havefigured out how the dealers are using Hazelton’s distribution routes to get the product into the country.”

Angela shook her head. “No way.”

“Why are you so sure?”

She crossed her arms over her stomach. “Because every box is weighed at the time of departure. That weight is then validated when it arrives at its destination. It’s a way to cut down on theft while the products are in transit.”

Marco nodded his agreement. “I use that system in my business too. It has cut down on theft by more than ninety percent.” He looked at everyone. “But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to fake.”

Kasim nodded. “We just need to figure out how they’re doing it.”

Dash waved his hand at the papers and the unopened boxes. “The information is in here somewhere. DuBreck had to know what he was looking at.”

Angela straightened, a thought occurring to her. “Hey!” She paused until everyone was looking at her. “His fiancée. She’s a doctor. Melissa Abernathy is a general practitioner. Maybe she saw something in these papers while she was with Mark. That’s how he realized what was going on.”

“Yeah, but what was it that she figured out? What was her clue?”

Silence.

Angela’s cell phone rang, shattering the silence, and everyone turned to stare at her. “Sorry,” she whispered, taking her phone out of her purse. She walked over to the corner, looking at the caller id. It was her boss. “Hey Joe, what’s up?”

There was a heavy sigh before Joe replied. “Thank goodness! Angela, I’m so sorry, I know that you’re on leave, but there’s a situation at the Baltimore loading docks. The workers are threatening to walk off if their demands aren’t met.”

Immediately, Angela’s mind shifted to the new problem. “What are their demands?”

“I’m not exactly sure. No one had this on their radar. We weren’t aware of any tension between the workers and management over there. But you’re near Baltimore, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am.” She pushed her hair out of her eyes and looked over at the others.

“Can you help out? I know this is a huge imposition on your time off, and we’ve been nagging you to take some time off for a while now. But we desperately need your help right now. I promise I’ll make it up to you once this issue is resolved.”

“Of course I will help! Send me the details and I’ll head over at once. I can talk with both parties and see if there’s some way to mediate.”

“Thank you! I’m sending you the details now. You’re a lifesaver!”

She ended the call and pulled up the documents on her phone. Unfortunately, there were too many of them so she walked over to James. “I need to head into Baltimore, to the loading docks. There’s some sort of issue with the workers that I need to address.”

James blinked down at her, then shook his head. “This feels off,” he replied.

She shook her head. “No, I know what you’re thinking. No one heard of any issues before now and…” Angela stopped, hearing her words. Her mouth snapped shut and she looked atthe others. Then she grimaced. “Yeah, I get it. I’m so used to just jumping on whatever my boss asks me to deal with that I didn’t pause to question this one.”

She turned and headed to the table, her mind tumbling through the details as she tried to figure out this latest twist. “I think our investigation is on someone’s radar,” she told the others. Angela explained the recent phone call. “I need to go in.”

“Not a chance.” James declared firmly.

She smiled at him. “I will be fine.”

“I agree with James,” Kasim replied. “This is a set up.”

Dash, Callum and Marco all agreed. Even Chloe and Rosalee nodded.

Angela sighed and nodded sharply, accepting their consensus. “Okay, so what do I do?”

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