CHAPTER TWELVE
“Mike? I want you to go with Parker, Hiro, and Joseph to Med-Tech, Everest’s old company. Tell them you’re investigating the elevator incident for the fire department and the boys are part of a risk management investigation.”
“Sure thing,” nodded Mike. He turned and looked at Everest. “Will you be okay here with everyone?”
“What the fuck, dude? We’re not derelicts. We’ll watch over your woman,” laughed Duncan.
“I know, I know,” he laughed.
“I’ll be fine,” she said holding his hand. “Go. See what you can find. I’ll stay here and see if I can help answer questions about the system.”
Mike gave her a soft kiss and left with the three men. Everest turned to AJ and Tanner and smiled.
“What do you need from me?” she smiled.
“I’m in the system now,” said AJ.
“How did you get in?” she frowned.
“Well, we’re pretty good at this sort of thing. Why don’t you take a seat next to me and we’ll walk through this.”
Everest took a seat and stared at the screen, tilting her head sideways.
“That’s not our system,” she frowned.
“Everest, this is the system I see when I go in the backdoor, so to speak. It might look different than what you would see but I can assure you, it’s your system,” said AJ with confidence.
“No, no,” she said shaking her head. “Look, right here. This button allows drug substitutions without physician approval. All someone has to do is click on it and an alternate drug is sent instead of the drug ordered.”
“Fuck.”
“And here,” she said pointing to something else on the screen. “Dear God. This, this would allow surgeries and tests to be scheduled for patients.”
“Wait, what are you talking about?” frowned Tanner.
“Pull up, oh shit, what was his name?” she said pacing the floor, scratching her head.
“Pull up Sebastian Myers of Pittsburgh, PA. He would be in his seventies. He complained to his doctor that his medications weren’t working and the doctor ordered blood panels for him.
The blood panels showed that he most likely had a cancerous mass in his abdomen and immediate surgery was recommended.
The problem is nothing was found during the surgery.
The doctor jumped the gun without doing additional tests and when they opened him up there was nothing wrong. ”
“Jesus,” muttered AJ.
“Yes. Exactly. This poor old man has been fighting his insurance provider for almost a year now, suing the doctor for malpractice, all of it!”
“I’ve got him. Sebastian E. Myers, seventy-three years old, widowed. He lives in Crafton, outside of Pittsburgh. Looks like he had to sell his home and move into a tiny studio apartment. Poor old guy,” frowned AJ.
“They did this to him. They put him on alternate medications, then made it look as though he had something he didn’t. See! Look there,” she said excitedly, “they uploaded to the system x-rays and bloodwork that weren’t real.”
“How do you know they aren’t real?” frowned Tanner.
“Every patient test, no matter where or when, is identified by date of birth, patient identification numbers, and a mix of their last four digits of their social security and hospital identification numbers. Those numbers on those tests are only his date of birth.”
“Wouldn’t they have known about the additional identification features?” asked Tanner.
“They should have but remember, Abigail doesn’t understand the system at all, only what it can do. She never actually worked in the system, she’s marketing and markets the software to doctors and hospitals.”
“You mentioned that she was often dressed inappropriately. Would she be the kind of woman that would use that to convince hospital administrators and doctors to use the products?”
“One-hundred percent,” nodded Everest. “She doesn’t hesitate to use her body to get what she wants.”
“I think we need to visit Mr. Myers,” said Tanner.
“I’ll come with you,” said Everest standing with the men.
They both looked at one another, then back at Everest. “Listen, I’ll let Mike know that I’m going with you guys.
He said I’d be safe with you, I trust him, and I trust both of you.
Mr. Myers is an old man and may feel more comfortable speaking to a woman. ”
“Okay,” nodded Tanner, “but you stay between us at all times. The Osprey can get us there in an hour and we’ll be back by dinner.” She nodded as she sent the text to Mike. He simply responded, ‘thank you for telling me’. But in the next second the phones of Tanner and AJ were pinging like crazy.
“Well,” smirked AJ, “he got your message.”
“He told you?” she frowned.
“Yep. And if I’m reading this right if we don’t bring you back without a scratch he’s going to show us an interesting way to use a firehose,” laughed AJ. “Come on, Everest. Let’s do this and get home.”