When I got there, I noticed a police car in the parking lot. I went by Sharon’s office to see what was up. Her door was closed, but looking through the glass side panels, I saw a policeman and two men in suits talking with her. I decided to go on to visit Gramma and stop by to see Sharon after. But she noticed me walking by, and came out and got me. The men in suits turned out to be drug enforcement agents investigating Dr. Ahmed. Sharon wanted me to tell them what I had overheard in the hall outside Dr. Ahmed’s office a week ago Saturday. They had a bunch of questions, but I didn’t know anything other than what I’d heard in the conversation between Ahmed and the unidentified woman in his office, so they didn’t keep me long.
Over on the Alzheimer’s unit, staff were whispering to each other in corners. Tanya pretty much ignored me. The residents were agitated, as if picking up the bad vibes somehow. I found Gramma in her room. As soon as she saw me, she asked, “When will James be here? I need to see James.” Her eyes darted around the room and she fidgeted with the buttons on her blouse.
“He’s not going to be able to come today, Gramma. Maybe I can help you.”
“No, I need James. Tell him it’s important.” Her eyes pleaded with me.
Gramma, I’m here now. Is there something I can do to help?”
“No, I need to talk to James.” Gramma grabbed my arm and pulled me closer. “I need James.”
We went on like that for a few more minutes, getting nowhere. I would have liked to ask her what bothered her, but I knew she wouldn’t be able to tell me and talking about it would have only frustrated her more. So I sat with her, held her hand and calmed her down by playing one of her favorite CDs until I had to leave to get back to my office for a late client.
I was on my way out of the parking lot when Pablo called. “Cleo, you need to stay away from that Dr. Ahmed, and don’t be talking about him either,” he said in his police voice.
“Actually, I’m at Shady Terrace. The police are here, and they’ve already asked me about him. So what’s the big deal?”
“It’s a big undercover drug trafficking bust. I can’t tell you any more, but you should check tomorrow morning’s paper.”
“So, do they have Ahmed in custody now?” I asked, momentarily forgetting that Pablo had just told me to stay away from Ahmed.
“I told you I can’t talk about it, Cleo. I just wanted to tell you to stay out of it—okay?”
“Fine. Thanks for the heads up. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” I had to hurry to get back to my office, and I figured Pablo wasn’t going to tell me any more anyway.
That evening, I called Sharon to see if she could fill me in. She said Ahmed wasn’t at Shady Terrace that day, but everyone was talking about him and a couple of the nurses. No one really knew what was happening, except it had something to do with drugs. All the resident charts were being audited. I told her what Pablo had said about tomorrow’s paper.
“So things should be popping tomorrow over at Shady Terrace,” I said.
“Actually, we’re going camping tomorrow up in Rocky Mountain National Park—with Erik,” Sharon said. “The surprise Erik had for Nathan on Saturday was a tent! Nathan was so excited, he could hardly wait to go camping. It turned out that Erik had already reserved a camping site for this week, hoping we could go. I decided a break would be good for me and Nathan, so we’re going tomorrow.”
“Wow, I’m surprised you could get time off from work on such short notice.”
“I had already been planning to take most of this week off to spend some time hanging out with Nathan, once soccer camp ended. Actually, Erik knew that—so that’s why he made the reservation for this week.”
That didn’t surprise me. Erik seemed to be good at knowing everything about everyone. I began to think we were all part of some master plan of his.
“So, tomorrow is Tuesday,” I said. “When will you be back?”
“Don’t worry. We’ll be back in time for my Contact session Friday afternoon. I have a strong feeling that I’m going to reach Adam this time.”
First thing the next morning, I got the paper off my porch. Sure enough. There it was on the front page.
Local Physician Accused of Drug Trafficking
(DENVER) – Colorado U.S Attorney Morris Maxwell today announced the arrest of pain clinic owner Dr. Fahim Ahmed and pharmacy owners Todd and Samantha Hadden, all of Boulder County, on 12 counts of trafficking in OxyContin and other controlled substances, and other charges involving improper narcotic drug prescriptions that resulted in more than $1 million in Medicaid fraud.
The felony criminal charges allege that the Boulder physician and pharmacy operators provided the controlled narcotic oxycodone to patients unnecessarily and in potentially lethal doses at high cost to taxpayers.
“We have shut down a medical practice and pharmacy kickback scheme that our investigators found was fraudulently billing the state Medicaid program over a million dollars,” Maxwell said. “We are prosecuting a sophisticated drug-dealing operation. By taking this action, we are shutting down suppliers of a highly addictive drug that has been improperly distributed.”
The lawsuit charges Ahmed with prescribing Schedule II and Schedule III controlled drugs without providing good faith medical examinations and without need or medical justification. Drug Enforcement Administration and Colorado Bureau of Investigation investigators found the physician to be running a patient mill with patient examinations typically being cursory at best and lasting no more than a few minutes. After these exams, he routinely prescribed a mix of Lortab, Oxycontin, Soma and Xanax that local pharmacists dubbed the “Ahmed cocktail.”
The DEA and the CBI estimated that Ahmed’s prescription pads were used to deliver more than 10,000 illegal doses of OxyContin, sometimes for resale on the streets. As police were taking him into custody, Ahmed said he only prescribed pain killers to people who genuinely needed them.
But undercover agents said that when they went into Ahmed’s We Feel Your Pain Clinic, they were able to get out quickly with a potent painkiller. “They would go in with old MRIs or old x-rays. Most of the time he didn’t even look at the x-rays, and he would write them a script for OxyContin or methadone,” explains Lt. Gary Absher.
Some of Ahmed’s patients have also been arrested in this investigation. Police say they were cashing in on the painkillers by selling them on the streets.
The felony complaint also alleges that the physician pursued an illegal kickback and referral scheme that directed business for drugs prescribed for residents of Shady Terrace Health Care Center to Todd’s Pharmacy, owned and operated by the Hadens. The scheme facilitated improper drug billings to the state Medicaid program totaling more than $1 million.
Shady Terrace employee, Penny Easterbrook, LPN, was arrested yesterday on a warrant while leaving Todd’s Pharmacy. She had with her owe sheets—a list of people to whom she had fronted drugs, who still owed her money.
Also involved in the investigation were the Colorado department of Health and Environment, the Boulder County Drug Task Force, the Boulder Police Department, the Longmont Police Department, and the Boulder District Attorney’s Office.
Ahmed’s Colorado physician’s license was suspended under an emergency order. Administrators at Shady Terrace Health Care Center, where Ahmed is the medical director, refused to comment for publication.
I had almost finished reading the article for the second time, when Sharon called. “Can you believe it? This must be what Jenny was talking about. Remember I told you that when Adam was working on that website for Ahmed, he was kind of suspicious about all the drugs? I’ll bet he confronted him and Ahmed realized he knew too much and had him killed!”
“You could be right,” I said. Do you think he would have known that Adam was going to the Grand Canyon?”
“Absolutely! Adam talked about the trip to anyone who would listen before he went. After he died, I can’t tell you how many people told me how much he’d been looking forward to being at the canyon.
Everyone knew. And he did that work for Ahmed not long before he went.”
“I wonder how we can find out how much Adam knew about him. If you can actually reach Adam, maybe he can tell us. Of course we’d still need proof. No one is going to accept a dead man’s word.”
“I’m going to talk to the police this morning before we go camping,” Sharon said. “I want to be sure they question Ahmed about what happened to Adam.”
Chapter 29
At about 10:00 that morning, Sharon called again. The harsh reality of police department procedure had crushed her earlier excitement. She sounded as frustrated as a rat running circles in a maze.
“They refuse to question Ahmed about Adam’s death because they say they have no evidence of murder or any foul play. I told them over and over that Adam would never be so careless that he’d slip off a trail like that, but they just said, ‘Ma’am, his death was ruled accidental by the county medical examiner in Arizona. We can’t question someone about a death we have no reason to believe he was involved in, especially when the death was ruled an accident.’ It’s so frustrating! How are they ever going to get any evidence if they won’t question anyone?”
“I agree that’s disappointing, but I’m not surprised. Maybe when they’re questioning Ahmed about the drug trafficking, he’ll let something slip that will make them suspicious about Adam. Or maybe we’ll find out something if you contact Adam. Maybe we should wait a few days and talk to them again. If Ahmed had Adam killed or did it himself, he’s going to have a hard time covering it up now that he’s in so much trouble.”
“Couldn’t you talk to your boyfriend? Isn’t he a policeman? Maybe he could convince them.”
“The thing is, Pablo doesn’t actually believe that Adam was murdered either. He says the same thing about no evidence. I can bring it up with him, but I don’t think he’ll be much help.”
“Please try. I don’t want to let Ahmed get away with this.” She was silent for a few seconds, then sighed, “I’m not really in the mood for a camping trip, but I promised Nathan, and I don’t want to disappoint him, so we’re going. I guess I’ll talk to you on Friday.”
I met with a couple of clients, and had just finished some charting while lunching on yogurt and fruit at my desk when I got a call from Narmada.
“Cleo, I need to bring you something. Are you going to be at your office this afternoon?”
Great, just what I needed—another visit from Narmada. “I’ll be here, but I have clients. What is it that you need to bring me? Can you put it in the mail?”
“Not exactly. It’s a computer.”
“Why are you bringing me a computer?”
“It’s actually Adam’s computer. I want to get it back to Sharon, but being around her unbalances my energy connections and messes with my intuitive sense. I thought I could bring it to you, and you could get it back to her.”
“Wow! You have Adam’s stolen computer?”
“Look, I didn’t steal it. But I have it now, and having stolen property is bad karma. I need to get it back to Sharon. So, can I bring it to you?”
I had some questions, but I told her to bring it by at 4:30, when I’d be done with my clients.
She showed up right on time. I had moved my car so she could park in back of the office, and went out to help her bring the computer in. She wore a tight white cropped top that showed off her flat bare midriff above a long pink and white gypsy-style skirt. No question all that yoga gets results.
This business of her bringing me the computer felt strange. I was curious and a little skeptical. “How can I tell if this is Adam’s computer?” I asked as she opened the back of her SUV.
She stopped dead and turned to face me with a troubled look. “Lack of trust can be toxic, Cleo. You should know that. You need to accept what the universe offers you.” Well, she had me there. How did she know trust is one of my issues?
“It’s not that I don’t believe you. I’d just like a few more details about how you ended up with Adam’s computer, and how you know it’s his.”
“I have a very high level of trust, and I am also attuned to people’s emotional frequencies, so when the person who gave me this computer said it was Adam’s, I knew it was true.”
I still wanted answers. “So who was this person who stole the computer, why did they take it, and why did they give it to you?”
Narmada shook her wild mop of dark hair vigorously in my direction. “None of that is important to you. You don’t need to know, and I don’t want to pass that negative energy on to you.”
“Oh, go ahead and tell me. I think I can handle some negative energy.”
“Look, Cleo, I’m returning the computer. Isn’t that enough? Whatever—it will have to be, because I’m not going to talk about it anymore.”
I figured I could mention the police, or even call them, since Sharon had reported the theft, but I decided getting the computer back was the main priority right now. If I involved the police, they’d probably impound the computer as evidence or something and we’d never be able to look at what Adam had on there. So I kept quiet as we took the computer inside.
“I have to tell you, no one was able to boot up this computer anyway,” Narmada said, as we set the computer down on a table. So it’s not as if Adam’s privacy was invaded or anything.”
“I don’t know whether that will make Sharon feel any better about someone stealing it, but I guess it’s good that no one messed with Adam’s files.”
“Cleo, you might not want to keep this computer around here too long. I have a strong sense that it contains some evil material.
I’m glad to be getting rid of it. By the way, how are you coming with Donald Waycroft’s attack?”
“I’m still working on my written response to the regulatory board,” I said, thinking the less discussion I had with Narmada about this, the better.
“Don’t forget you have waves of positive energy supporting you.” The woman actually waved her arms through the air as she said it. “I hope you can feel that. We’re getting a protest rally together soon. Well, I’ve got to run. Have faith!”
And with that, she bounded out the back door to her SUV and took off.
Chapter 30
I sat there for a while staring at the computer. Sharon wouldn’t be back until Thursday or possibly Friday morning. And Erik, who supposedly had a disk that would boot it up, was gone too. So just to see for myself, I took it over to my desk, connected it to my monitor and keyboard, and turned it on. Sure enough, it asked for a user name and password. I made a couple of guesses, but got the error message “The system could not log you on. Make sure your user name and domain are correct, then type your password again. Letters in passwords must be typed using the correct case. Make sure that Caps Lock is not on.” So I unhooked the computer and put it in a closet to keep it safe until Sharon got back.
It was 6:00 by then and I was ready to go home, grab a quick bite to eat, and get some painting done. With all that had been going on, I’d been totally neglecting my art.
I was in the kitchen microwaving some frozen chicken tandoori with spinach and rice, when Pablo called.
“So did you read the article? What did you think?”
“Interesting, for sure. Sharon thinks Adam found out some of this stuff when he worked on Ahmed’s website, and maybe confronted Ahmed and maybe Ahmed had him killed. She talked to the Boulder police about it this morning, but they wouldn’t take her seriously.”
“Of course not. From what you said, there’s no evidence that her husband was murdered. And didn’t you say it was ruled an accidental death in Arizona?”
“Well, yes. But that doesn’t mean they were right. And if they refuse to ever consider any other possibilities, how can they be sure they were right?”
“Okay Cleo, we’re way past anything I have any jurisdiction over. You were right about Ahmed giving out too many drugs and being involved in some illegal activity, but that doesn’t mean he’s a murderer.”
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“But he might be.”
“True, but anyone might be. We need evidence, not just supposition. Anyway, I have something else to tell you. I did some checking into Erik Vaughn—which, by the way isn’t his real name.”
“What is his name?”
“He’s used quite a few aliases. But his real name is Horace Honigman.”
“Well, I can see why he’d want to use a different name,” I said, thinking I couldn’t really picture Erik as a Horace.
“It may not be a great name, but I don’t think that’s his reason.” Pablo sounded exasperated with me, which I thought was unwarranted.
“I guess there’s no way we’ll know what his reasons are unless he tells us..”
“As a matter of fact, I was able to track down his brother in Minneapolis. He said Horace has changed his name a lot because of some shady business deals.”
“You found Erik’s brother?” I refused to call him Horace. “Is his name Harry?” I asked, remembering that Jenny had told Sharon to ask Erik about his brother Harry.
“Yes, Harry Honigman. He runs a seafood restaurant there— called Harry’s Grill—very upscale and popular. He didn’t want to talk much about Horace. Said he’s no good and don’t lend him any money.”
“How did you find out all this?”
“A few people owed me some favors. But that’s not the point. The issue is this guy isn’t who he says he is, and his business may not be legitimate. I’m still looking into that. But I wanted to let you know you should stay away from him.”
Too Near the Edge Page 17
