A Huge Mistake

by Laney Kay

  After a few minutes of silence, Jake spoke up. “So, back at your condo you said you’re making some changes to your business and you didn’t have a lot of cases at the moment. What are you planning on doing?”

  Lola finished typing an email and then put down her phone. “Actually, I’m giving up my law practice.”

  Jake was surprised. “Really? Are you giving up law completely, or just practicing a different type of law?”

  “I’m not really sure, at the moment. I know I’m tired of dealing with criminal law, and I know I don’t want to do anything like domestic law, or wills and trusts. That shit would drive me crazy.” She shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know what I want to do. I already dabble in real estate, and I’m a silent partner in several local businesses, but I don’t want to get more involved in any of that. I do have a charitable foundation, and I’m thinking of reorganizing it and doing something completely different.”

  “Is the foundation yours, or is it a family foundation?”

  “There is a family charitable trust, but I also have a foundation myself. Up until now, I just donate to existing charities and organizations that I think are worthwhile. I’ve been kicking around the idea of setting up a couple of charities through my foundation, but I don’t really have any specific plans at this point.” He took out a couple of bottles of water from the fridge, twisted off the tops, and handed her one. She thanked him and took a big gulp. “I was going to meet with Bella to get her opinion.”

  He recapped his water and checked on the progress on the computer. Everything was rocking along while Big Al searched for anything having to do with Pandora Unlimited. “You said Bella is a charitable fundraiser?”

  Lola nodded. “Yep. She knows everything about every charity in the area, so she could help me decide if I can do the most good by starting my own charity or by donating to those that already exist and do a great job. I’m pretty clueless at this point.” She rolled her eyes and snorted. “I guess I’ll have to decide what I want to do when I grow up.”

  Suddenly, he perked up and he grinned at her. “Hey, does that mean that Mike will be available?”

  Her eyes widened in horror. “Hell, no, I wasn’t kidding before. You stay away from my Mikey.”

  “Well, if you’re closing your practice, I wouldn’t want him to be bored.”

  “Yeah, right. Your motives are totally pure. You’re just worried about Mike.” He tried to look innocent, but Lola shook her finger in his face. “Forget it, big boy. He takes care of all of the accounting and management for the various businesses I’m involved with, plus my personal bookkeeping, plus he manages my foundation, our family trust, and my brother’s real estate holdings. We all keep Mikey plenty busy.”

  “Fine. But if he ever wants to try something different, let me know. I’ll give him a job in a heartbeat.”

  She was just about to make a comment about what he could do with his job offer when the computer sounded that the search was done. Jake spun around to the desk, pulled his glasses back on his nose and checked the results. He printed two copies of the documents and handed one to Lola. “Interesting.”

  Lola rapidly scanned the pages. “Okay, so it looks to me that this is an offshore company related to DeLeon Labs. Tax evasion?”

  Jake shrugged. “Got me. I doubt it, though. Most people don’t understand that the Caymans aren’t really a tax haven. There are just significant tax benefits for any money made offshore. You’re still subject to the IRS and all of your income made through an offshore company is taxable through US law.”

  “Maybe money laundering?”

  Jake flipped through some pages. “Now, that’s possible. Especially if the cartel is involved, it may be easier to funnel money through an offshore company.” He flipped to one of the tabs. “Here, it looks like they’ve set up a manufacturing plant on Tobago, and the banking is set up in the Caymans.” He was puzzled. “At first, I thought maybe they could manufacture the opioid we discussed with Professor Littman without interference, but the truth is, if you’re going to sell pharmaceuticals in the U.S., you’re still held to the same FDA or WHO standards. In fact, there have been several instances where overseas companies have been shut down because of quality control issues.”

  Lola was frowning as she thought. “I know nothing about drug manufacturing, but I do know a good bit about corporations laundering money. The cases I dealt with were on U.S. soil, but several of them used offshore companies and banks. It’s definitely easier to funnel money through an offshore company than one on U.S. soil. Especially when you’re talking about autonomous islands like Trinidad or Tobago that have an organized crime problem already.” She threw the stack on the desk and scrubbed her hands over her face. “So what do we know different than we knew before?”

  Jake was disgusted. He took off his glasses and tossed them on the desk. “Not a damn thing. We know that DeLeon Labs manufactures its existing opioid drug in Tobago and the money goes to a holding company named Pandora Unlimited, and then the money goes to the Caymans. They paid taxes on the funds that went into the accounts, and there haven’t been any manufacturing problems at the factory.” He rubbed his eyes. “So everything looks above board, and we still don’t know shit, basically.”

  “Basically.”

  They stared at each other, trying to think of any other approaches that might help them get some answers. Jake’s cell phone rang, and when he looked at the screen he showed it to her and nodded with a satisfied look on his face. “Finally.” He answered the phone. “Hey Steve. I’m putting you on speaker so Lola can hear you, too. What’ve you got, brother?”

  “Well, I’ve actually got some answers. I talked to a couple of our lab guys and they checked out the patent info and the FDA application and they agree with your professor buddy. It’s possible that they might be trying to sneak that experimental drug into their opioid, and that it’s not the simple, old-school serotonin reuptake inhibitor they’re advertising it as. As we speak, they’re looking to get actual samples of the drug so they can do some testing to confirm it.”

  “Dr. Littman is still at Quantico now, at the Academy, so y’all might want to get in touch with him since he was involved in the original testing.”

  “Will do.” Steve continued. “So for now, until we can get the confirmation testing done, I’m forwarding this information to one of our agents here in New Orleans who’s done several investigations with the local FDA inspector with their OCI office…”

  “OCI?” Lola interrupted.

  “Office of Criminal Investigations. They can get started on the investigation and we’ll also get the local FDA Office to go to the site and get actual samples of the drug from the clinical trial site for testing.”

  Lola was concerned. “That won’t raise any red flags?”

  “It shouldn’t, Lola. Inspections from the FDA are pretty common with this types of large clinical trials, so there shouldn’t be any issues. They’ll check their paperwork and do all the stuff they normally do, so they won’t think anything of it.”

  “Are you planning on moving pretty quickly?” Jake was concerned that if they moved too quickly that everything could fall apart before they determined who exactly was after Lola. Once this was over, he wanted to make sure that she would be safe.

  Steve snorted. “You’ve been in the private sector too long, Jake. You’ve forgotten that nothing moves that quickly in government.”

  Jake laughed. “That’s true.” He scratched his chin as he thought. “What all are you investigating? The murder’s not under your jurisdiction. At least not at this point?”

  “Nope. At this point, we need to see if they falsified the FDA application first, and that will determine how to proceed.”

  Lola and Jake nodded, understanding how prosecuting a case like this actually worked. If it was simply an FDA regulation violation, then the FDA investigators would handle it. If the drug was misrepresented and then sold across state lines, the FBI might get involved, and
the U.S. Department of Justice would most likely prosecute it. Everything was up in the air at this point.

  Steve pointed out, “Y’all both know that in a case like this, you can be looking at charges of racketeering, mail fraud, tax fraud, selling misbranded drugs, charges related to interstate commerce, and about a million other ones.”

  “Don’t forget about that pesky murder charge, Steve.” Lola reminded him.

  She could hear the smile in his voice. “And then there’s that. Depending on what they decide to charge him with will decide where he’s tried, and which agency does the actual prosecution.”

  Jake was frustrated. “So basically, we’ve got to wait for the government to make a move.”

  “Yeah, pretty much. I’m really sorry we can’t move any faster. But there’s some good news. I’ve got buddies who are FDA investigators, and I’ve got buddies in our lab, so as soon as we get samples, I can get results very quickly. If it turns out the drug contains the experimental one, we will have a better idea of how to proceed. ”

  Jake nodded as he locked eyes with Lola. “You’re right, Steve. And we really appreciate what you’re doing to try to get us some answers.”

  Steve sounded serious. “Y’all just watch each others’ backs. This could be nothing about you, or y’all could both be in some serious shit. Be careful.” He laughed. “Jake, Mom will kick my ass if I manage to get you killed now, when you managed to get all the way through ten years in the FBI without getting dead.”

  Jake grinned at the phone and winked at Lola. “That doesn’t sound like my problem, jackass.”

  “Whatever. I’ll keep you posted. Lola, keep him out of trouble.”

  Lola sighed. “I’ll try.”

  Jake rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Steve, and keep us posted.”

  “I’m out.” Steve hung up.

  Lola shrugged. “So we just lay low? Shit. For how long?”

  “Until we hear something, I guess.”

  Lola looked at Jake, her eyebrows pulled together. “This sucks. I hate sitting around just waiting for something to happen. Are you good spending this much time away from work?” She knew how much attention a business could take and she didn’t want to put him in a bad spot.

  “Not a problem, Lola. You know Matt handles the office’s planning and logistics, Jerry Jeff runs the nerd herd, and there are plenty of times I’m out of the office for a couple of weeks at the time either doing an active investigation or drumming up new business. Plus, Kent’s around if someone needs something immediately. Everyone here can handle whatever comes up, and if they really need me, I’m available by computer any time, plus I can get back within an hour if they’re really stuck. I promise you we’re good.” He reached over and squeezed her hand. “As long as it takes, we’ll get this figured out.”

  He stood up and pulled Lola to her feet. “Look, there’s nothing else the two of us can do at the moment. Come with me. I’ve got an idea.”

  She followed behind him, intrigued. They walked down to the underground garage and got in the car. They both pulled on their hats and glasses and Jake started the car, checked with Logan and B-Ray to make sure they were ready to go, and they pulled out of the parking lot.

  Lola was excited to be doing anything not related to her current situation. “So where are we heading, Jake?”

  He smiled and waved his hand at the clear, sunny sky. “It’s a beautiful day, so I thought we’d head home and maybe take the boat out. If it’s too cold to get out on the water, I have a gun and archery range set up in the woods and we could do a little target practice, or we could go fishing. Worst case, if we get too cold I figured we could light up the fire pit, cuddle under a blanket, drink some wine and eat some s’mores.”

  Lola thought all of that sounded great. “That all sounds fun, Jake.” She put her hand on his thigh and squeezed. “I’m up for anything that doesn’t have to do with cartels, corporate secrets, the FDA, dead ex-clients, or ex-military assholes breaking into my house.” She scooted over closer and licked below his ear and she felt his thigh tighten under her hand. As she felt him suck in a breath, she smiled and slid her hand up his thigh. “You up for anything, Jake?”

  He stopped her hand, trapping it under his. “You know I am. Let me get us home and I’m up for anything you have in mind.” He smiled, and slid his hand under hers, twining their fingers together, and then squeezing. She smiled back, straightened up, and slid back over to her seat, still holding his hand. They stayed that way, sitting in comfortable silence, both lost in their own thoughts until they got back to his house.

  They had just opened their car doors, and Lola was yawning and stretching when her phone rang. She grabbed it and saw it was Vicki from the Medical Examiner’s office and answered immediately. “Hey Vicki, how’s it going?”

  Jake came around the car to stand beside her while she spoke. He could only hear Lola’s side of the conversation, and her comments of “Really?,” and “That’s interesting,” and “Are you shitting me?,” didn’t give him a clue about what was going on. Finally, Lola said, “Vicki, thanks so much for letting me know. And if you’ll send that bill over to my office, I’ll make sure you get a check this week. Thanks again for your help, and I really appreciate you getting that done so quickly for me.”

  She hung up and turned to Jake. “Holy shit.”

  He was almost yelling. “What? What did she say?”

  Lola shrugged. “Not much. It turns out Mitch wasn’t murdered. He died of natural causes.” She shook her head. “Holy shit.”

  Jake’s mind was racing. “Natural causes? So he wasn’t murdered? Are they sure?”

  “Yeah, they’re totally sure.” Lola snorted. “Vickie said when they did the autopsy, his arteries were almost completely blocked, and one of the arteries had a huge clot in it that caused a massive heart attack. Vicki said he probably dropped like a rock and he would have been dead before he hit the floor.”

  Jake was confused. “Wait. So what about the injection site on his chest?”

  She snorted. “Paperwork snafu. When the EMTs found him, they were pretty sure he was definitely gone, but they shocked him and tried a last ditch injection of epinephrine directly into the heart to see if they could get it started. No luck, but that was how the injection came about. Somehow, that report didn’t get to the ME’s office until a couple of days later, so the ME didn’t know about the injection when he first examined the body.”

  They were staring at each other, trying to sort out what this new information actually meant to Lola and her situation. Finally, they both started to smile. Jake grabbed her hands and squeezed them. “So he wasn’t murdered.”

  Lola slowly shook her head and grinned. “Nope. He was out of shape and had heart disease and he had a heart attack. I know he was a Bulldog fan, so I’ll bet the stress of losing in the last play of the game is what killed him. Technically, I’m pretty sure the cause of death was too many french fries and the Crimson Tide.”

  Jake rolled his eyes at her theory. “I’m pretty sure that’s not what Vicki said. But bottom line is that no one killed him because he had stolen information.”

  “Nope.”

  Jake pulled her close and hugged her tightly. “So, odds are, they’re probably not trying to kill you because of the information he gave you.”

  She felt like dancing and she hugged him back. “Nope. Probably not.”

  He pulled back, bent her over his arm, and kissed her exuberantly. He popped her back up and smiled against her lips as he dropped his hands to her butt and squeezed it, then pulled her closer. “That’s one good piece of news. You up for a little celebration?”

  She wiggled her hips against him and she could already feel him getting harder against her stomach. “It feels like you’re already up for something, Jake. Where would you like to start?”

  He hoisted her up higher against him, and she wrapped her long legs around his hips. He locked his arms under her butt and headed towards the house as she writhed ag
ainst him and leaned forward to take his earlobe in her mouth. She sucked it lightly, and then stuck the hot tip of her tongue in his ear and licked it gently. He groaned and she smiled at the sound. “How about we start in the shower?”

  He nodded as he stepped up to the front door, gave a command, and the door unlocked. He turned her so she could open the door, and then carried her through it, pushing it closed with his hip. As they walked down the hall toward the bedroom, she pulled his shirt up and over his head so that his torso was bare and his shirt was around his arms and bunched against her chest. She raked her nails lightly down his back and into the waistband of his pants, trying to reach down so she could squeeze his firm butt, but his gun was in the way. She whispered in his ear. “Hurry up, big guy. I can’t reach anything good in this position.”

  She gasped as she felt herself falling backwards, only to land on her back on the bed with him on top of her. He pulled back enough to jerk his shirt down his arms and throw it across the room, yanked her top off and then dropped down to rub his bare chest against hers like a huge cat. She let out a satisfied, “Hmmm,” at the feel of his chest hair rasping against her nipples. He propped up on one elbow and reached behind him to unclip his holster from his belt and then placed his gun on the table. She immediately slid her hands down his back and into his pants, grabbing his ass with both hands and squeezing. “Better.” She took his earlobe in her mouth and gently bit it then sucked on it, gratified to see goosebumps immediately race down his neck. “But what’s with the pants?”

  He raised back up on his elbow and reached between them to unbutton his pants. Lola slid her hands to his hips and pushed them down until she could reach them with her feet and push them down to his ankles, where he kicked them off and over the side of the bed.

  He could see her starting to breathe heavier, and her nipples hardened as she stared at his body. He rolled over onto his back, propped himself up among the pillows, and took his hand and lazily scratched his chest and then lowered it teasingly down the front of his body. With her hot eyes following his every move, he felt himself get bigger and harder until finally, he wrapped one hand around himself and started to stroke slowly, up and down, in front of her fascinated gaze. With his other hand, he fondled his balls, rolling and tugging on them until he could hear her breath catch as she watched him, but she still made no move to touch him or join in. He raised his eyebrows. “So, Lola, like what you see?”