Nothing But Trouble (9 page)

The number of kids on the drug wasn't what
bothered her. The dosage was the issue.

But she didn't press further. Questioning him
twice was toeing the line of inappropriate. So, she plastered a
smile on her face and apologized again. "You're right. It's also
been a long week, and I'm really exhausted. I'm going to call it a
day and head out."

"Have a great weekend," he said with a wave
of his hand and a smile. Rebecca noticed, as she turned to leave,
that his smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

She tried to get the look on his face out of
her mind, even ten minutes later as she sat in her car. She knew
the problem wasn't a misdiagnosis. ADHD was very easy to spot,
especially to a trained eye. The more concerning issue was whether
or not Dr. Gross was using the kids as an excuse to give the
medication to the adults. Prescription fraud could strip a doctor
of their medical license and land them in jail. Rebecca would most
likely be guilty by association, and she'd lose everything she'd
worked for. Nine years of her life, she'd spent studying medicine
with the ultimate goal of running her own practice. If Dr. Gross
was committing prescription fraud, he'd ruin everything for
her.

But how could she dig deeper, without
out-right accusing him? Danielle's face flashed across her mind
again. Going on gut instinct, Rebecca pulled out of the parking lot
and headed toward R.J.'s shop. She wasn't sure what she hoped to
find there. If nothing else, she could at least gauge Danielle's
behavior.

Lord, she felt like such a parasite doing
this. But she couldn't shake the feeling that Dr. Gross was up to
something very, very wrong. There were too many coincidences. All
the kids on the same high dosage, none of them displaying signs of
ADHD and none of them having evaluation charts in their folders.
The odd behavior of the parents when they realized that Rebecca
would be examining them instead of Dr. Gross. And, finally, the
fact that almost all of them knew Dr. Gross on some sort of
personal level.

Within minutes, Rebecca reached the shop. She
pulled her car into the almost full lot and walked toward the
building. Her sweaty palms were probably a sign that she should
skedaddle. She didn't want to see R.J. anyway. Lately he'd been
bringing the worst out in her. Instead of thinking how being near
him was so bad for her, she kept fantasizing about him. But that
was nothing new.

Just last night, she'd had another dream
about when he'd snuck into her bedroom window, locked her door and
lifted her nightgown over her head. She'd woken up from the dream,
in the middle of the night, as though she'd lost her virginity all
over again. Her body had been achy, and the extra-long shower
hadn't helped. The hot water had only irritated her already
sensitive skin. She'd arrived at work with R.J. competing with her
thoughts about her patients.

As she walked across the parking lot, she
spotted R.J. inside the shop, standing at the open hood of a car.
One of his employees stood by, and the two of them were conversing
while they worked. And her heartbeat kicked up just at the sight of
him. For a weak moment, she allowed her gaze to travel down to his
drool-worthy rear-end. The faded, worn jeans molded over his hard
cheeks like they'd been specifically designed just for him. In an
instant, the memory of how they'd felt underneath her fingers, how
firm and toned they were, slammed into her. Because she couldn't
face him with the heat flaming her face, Rebecca bypassed the shop
and walked to the reception area. Danielle was in there with the
phone pressed to her ear. Rebecca took a chance and stepped into
the area, to get a good look at the woman.

Judging by the stiff set of her shoulders,
Danielle wasn't happy to see Rebecca. She continued her
conversation while raking her gaze over Rebecca in close scrutiny.
Once again, Rebecca was struck by how stunning the woman was. Her
fair skin and bright blue eyes were an odd combination with her
black hair. She had Rebecca by at least three inches and had full
pouty lips that most men probably fantasized about. Rebecca could
see why R.J. would have been attracted to her. Tall, busty women
had always been his Achilles' heel.

However, her sharp collar bones and bony
fingers sent Rebecca's radar on high alert. Adderall could often
curb an appetite, so a lot of people on the medication could go all
day without eating. People who were on the drug needed to be
careful about not dropping too much weight.

Rebecca stopped in front of the desk and
tried to think of a good reason for stopping by. Danielle hadn't
acknowledged her past a casual glance. She continued her
conversation while typing on the computer. Her soft laughter led
Rebecca to believe it was not a business-related phone call.
Rebecca was a paying client, so being ignored did not set well with
her. She cleared her throat in a subtle attempt to get the woman's
attention. Danielle slanted Rebecca a look and said, "I'll call you
later," into the receiver.

She turned in her chair and pasted just about
the fakest smile Rebecca had ever seen. "What can I do for
you?"

"I just came to check on my car," Rebecca
fibbed.

Danielle just stared at Rebecca as though she
wanted to call Rebecca out for the liar that she was. Just as
Danielle stood from her chair, the phone rang, which she answered.
After reciting a crisp greeting, the woman placed the call on hold
and walked out of the office.

O-kay. Was she supposed to stand there and
wait for Danielle to come back? Was she supposed to go into the
shop? She already figured that R.J.'s manager had lukewarm feelings
for her, to say the least. But to treat a paying client like this?
Very strange.

Danielle came back in the room a moment
later. She picked up the phone, told the caller that R.J. would
call them back, then hung up.

"They're making good progress on your car,"
she finally answered. "Looks like they'll finish on time."

"Good," Rebecca nodded, unsure of what else
to say. "How's your daughter?" she blurted out.

"Fine," Danielle answered immediately.

"And the Adderall is still working for
her?"

Danielle picked up a pen and twirled it
around. "Yes."

Okay, then. It was clear the two of them
would never brush each other's hair and gab about their first kiss.
Fine. Rebecca could take a hint. But she wasn't finished.

"Have you ever thought about dropping her
dosage down a bit? 30 mg is an awful lot for a girl her age. And
she seemed good enough to me that maybe she could get away with
taking a smaller dose."

A tight-lipped smile didn't make Danielle
look any friendlier. "Dr. Gross has been Lindsey's pediatrician for
a long time. I trust he knows what he's doing." She crossed her
arms over her chest as though ready to battle. "How do you think
he'd feel if he knew you were down here questioning him?"

"I'm not questioning anything," Rebecca said
hastily. "I'm just offering my professional opinion. I think
Lindsey would do just as well on regular Adderall. It's a less
severe drug than its counterpart."

"Well, until Dr. Gross tells us otherwise,
I'll keep her on what he's been giving her."

That's because you're taking the
medication instead of your daughter
.

Rebecca immediately pushed the thought from
her mind and decided to change the subject.

"You sure have your hands full with this
place. Is there another manager here to help you out?"

"No, it's just me," Danielle answered.

"So, you basically run everything on your
own? You must have endless amounts of energy." Which was something
Adderall XR helped with. Danielle no doubt worked long hours in
order to cover all the business that needed taking care of. Maybe
she had started to feel stretched thin and needed a little
pick-me-up. Adderall could definitely gear a person's thoughts
toward focus and give them steam they didn't even know they had.
The idea of Danielle going that route in order to keep up with
things wasn't inconceivable. Thousands of people across the country
resorted to such measures all the time. They felt they were immune
to the dangerous side-effects. Or the boost in progress outweighed
the risks.

"I do just fine," Danielle responded with
another tight-lipped smile. The phone rang again, and she used the
opportunity to dismiss Rebecca. "Excuse me please."

Rebecca took the distraction to her advantage
and slipped out of the office. When she entered the shop, she
spotted R.J. rooting around in the guts of the same car he'd been
working on before. He straightened from the car and his hands were
covered with grease. Strangely enough, the sight of his big,
callused hands blackened from a hard day's work sent tingles down
to her stomach.

"We're going to have to order another one,"
he was saying as Rebecca approached him. The dark scowl on his face
would scare anyone away, but not her. R.J's bark had always been
worse than his bite. He'd clearly had a rough day, and now Rebecca
was thinking twice before voicing her concerns to him.

"Is this a bad time?" she asked him.

"Depends on what you want," he said to the
car instead of placing his attention on her.

"Just a quick word."
Although I have no
clue what I'm going to say without risking lawsuit.

He straightened from the engine he'd been
tinkering with and glanced at her. His penetrating stare bore down
into hers and she had to force herself not to fidget where she
stood.

"All right," he said.

She followed him to his office, the whole
time trying to keep her eyes on the back of his head and not his
ass. Because it was such an impressive ass.

"Make it quick," he stated after they arrived
in his office. He folded his arms across his thick chest and waited
for her.

Focus on what you want to say and not how
fantastic he looks.

Rebecca's heart thumped harder against her
ribcage. "I was just…" She cleared her throat and steeled her
nerves because she'd never thought she'd find herself in the
situation of talking about a patient like this. Not only wrong on
so many levels, but she could be sued for breaching patient
confidentiality. "I was just wondering if you've noticed anything
odd about Danielle's behavior lately."

R.J.'s brows pinched together, and he took a
moment before answering. "Why?"

Yes, Rebecca why?

"No reason."
Liar!

He stared at her for a moment. "You came all
the way down here to ask about Danielle's behavior just for shits
and giggles?"

Well, when he put it that way it sounded
stupid. It
was
stupid.

A puff of breath left her lungs on along
exhale. "I can't tell you."

He gave her another long, hard stare. "Would
this have anything to do with migraines?"

Huh?

When she didn't respond to that, he added,
"Or a prescription medication?"

His question piqued her interest, but she
didn't say anything. Did he already know what was going on? But why
would he ask about migraines?

"I just need to know if you've noticed a
change in her recently," Rebecca said instead of answering his
question. "I can't say anything beyond that because of patient
confidentiality."

"What kind of changes?"

"Is she having mood swings? Acting tired?
Have you noticed a change in her weight? Is she working extra-long
hours?" Maybe he could fill in the holes without her actually
having to tell him.

R.J. shook his and leaned against his desk.
"All those things could be because she works long hours. She has a
lot to get done on her own."

Rebecca took a step toward him. "You just
mentioned migraines. Does she get those?"

He didn't answer her right away. Could it be
because he didn't want to? Did he not want to admit that Danielle
had a problem?

He shook his head again. "The other night I
caught her taking a prescription and she said it was for
migraines."

Bingo.

But Rebecca had to keep her mouth shut from
telling him it was likely the Adderall she'd prescribed her
daughter. But having to stay quiet about the whole thing was
killing her! R.J. needed to know if his manager was abusing a
dangerous drug, because it would affect the entire work
environment, not to mention put Danielle's health at risk. But her
hands were tied, unless she wanted to get slapped with a
lawsuit.

"What aren't you saying?" R.J. asked when
she'd been quiet.

"Did you get a look at what she was taking?"
she countered.

"No."

She wanted to keep on, to ask if he'd noticed
Danielle taking those pills before. But the whole conversation was
toeing the line as it was. If she were smart, she'd leave and not
say anything else.

Another sigh left her wracked and wired body.
She turned from him. "I have to go."

Before she could depart, and go home to drown
herself in a bottle of wine, R.J. grabbed her arm. Not one of those
gentle touches where his fingers pressed into her soft flesh. His
grip was tough, firm, and impatient.

"I've had a long, shitty day, Rebecca. Did
you come here to accuse Danielle of something?" The look in his
normally playful eyes was hard, and one she was used to seeing.

Something about his words created a shiver of
unease through her. She had to remind herself that R.J. and
Danielle had once been lovers, even though she didn't
want
to remind herself. Because of that he might feel defensive of her.
But he was right; Rebecca really didn't know Danielle. Apparently
not the way R.J. did, which seemed to be really well.

She took a step back from him, suddenly
uncomfortable with the way R.J. was so quick to defend the other
woman. Rebecca knew her medications and the signs of addiction when
she saw it.