Chapter 3 #2
“As I said, yesterday was a day from hell, first the car was dead. I had a patient that was so nervous about seeing a surgeon, they tossed their lunch all down the front of me. Then that six-year-old boy freaked out about the cast saw,” she said as she reached up to touch the bruise on her cheek.
“After my last patient of the day, I was working in my office. I needed to make copies of something. I was in the copier room, the paper ran out, and of course, there wasn’t any there to replace it.
I needed to go to the supply room, it was a mess, and I actually took pictures of the condition the room was in.
I was going to address the issue Monday morning.
Anyway, for some reason, I was behind the door when I overheard voices in the hall.
I peeked out of the crack, and filmed it.
Do you want me to tell you, or show you. ”
“Show us,” Raymond said, but held up his hand and went to get his laptop. Amelia handed him one of the flash drives. “Here is one drive. I have two others, and this is on my phone and backed up on the cloud.” She looked at him with a shrug. “You can’t be too careful.”
Raymond put the drive into the computer, and pressed play. Everyone crowded around him, and when someone slapped Betty, all the men swore. Raymond paused the tape and looked at her. “Do you want to press charges?”
“Eventually, but finish watching it. It gets worse.” Betty pointed to the computer.
Raymond did, and they all stared in shock when they heard what the doctors had discussed, and ended up watching it two more times.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Shay demanded. “Sorry for swearing, but these guys are doing unnecessary surgeries?”
“Yes, and they’re going to come after you. You all saw and heard that there are fake x-rays, and Dr. Perkins wants your file on his desk this coming Monday. If it’s not there, Dr. Ervin will blacklist Betty.”
“Wait.” Raymond held up his hand, jumped to his feet, and looked for some paper and a pen. He settled back down and looked at Amelia. “Tell me who the players are, and their positions.”
“Dr. Alexander Ervin. He is the director of the clinic that is affiliated with the hospital.” She looked at Shay.
“The building you came to see me in.” Then, she turned back to Raymond.
“Most of the surgeons, regardless of their specialties, have offices in what everyone calls the clinic building. We then go over to the hospital for any surgeries we need to perform. Dr. Ervin is the head of the clinic.”
“And this Dr. Perkins?”
“Dr. Reuben Perkins, he’s new to the clinic.
He only started earlier this week. He was hired to replace me as an orthopedic surgeon.
I’m not saying I’m special, but I’m good at my job, as soon as I gave my notice there, because I knew I was opening my own practice here, Ervin started looking for my replacement. I met Perkins on Wednesday.”
“What position do you hold at the clinic?” Raymond asked Betty, and waited for her to answer.
“I’m the head nurse in the orthopedic department three days a week. The other two days, I’m in the surgery room, or the OR, with the surgeons. If there aren’t any surgeries scheduled, then I’m in the clinic.”
The room remained silent, and Amelia drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “This next part might be severely wrong, or morally gray, but I did something. If it comes to it, I’m willing to serve time.”
“Whoa, wait, what are you talking about?”
“Did you hear the part of the video where Perkins wants Shay’s file, because he’s going to call him in and show him the fake x-rays to him and recommend surgery?”
“Yes, but why would you be talking about jail because of that?”
“Because I worked until three o’clock this morning making a copy of every one of my patients’ files, and everyone else’s in the clinic. Just orthopedic patients, but I have their files, and copies of their x-rays, MRI’s, and CAT Scans. I didn’t have the patients’ permission to make them.”
“You have mine,” Shay said.
“We’ll get to that,” Raymond pinched the bridge of his nose and looked at Erin.
“Since I’m new here, I need to know if you have anyone that can go over the files Dr. Johnson brought.
I’m also going to need a background check done on these two doctors.
There were other locations mentioned, and I want a full report of what was found in those places.
” He shook his head, and glanced back at the paused video before he looked back up at Erin.
“Pardon my language, but both of these assholes are cocky enough to brag about what they’ve done, that I’d bet you money they left a trail.
Something they couldn’t cover up. I want it found. ”
“You’ll take the case?” Erin asked.
“Yes, we’re talking malpractice, insurance fraud, intimidation, coercion, and a host of other charges. Not to mention physical assault against Ms. Laurel here.”
“Question,” Scott spoke for the first time. Everyone turned to him and he shrugged. “Ms. Laurel, where will you be or go once Dr. Johnson leaves this clinic to come work here?”
“Amelia mentioned that she wanted me to stay on to gather information for her.”
“Are you willing to do that?” Raymond asked. “I don’t want to put you in harm’s way, and from what I’ve seen and heard so far, these two pissants will do everything to keep their secrets safe.”
“I know, but I was thinking that I could get a copy of Perkins’ resumé for you. Overhear any conversations he has with patients like Mr. Hall that he’ll call in for a consultation.”
“Do you really think they’ll call me in?”
“Yes,” Amelia said. “Maybe not while I’m still there, but you can bet you’ll be called in the following week.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“First,” Reid said as he straightened. “You know about military communications. You know we have button cameras, comms, earwigs, everything used on a mission. We can arm you up to get evidence.” He turned to look at Raymond. “That won’t be entrapment, will it?”
“No, as long as you don’t openly direct the conversation to have him answer leading questions from you. Go there, listen, and do everything he suggests. However, I do need to warn you.”
“What’s that?”
“One, looking at you, there’s nothing wrong with you.
You’re going to be our only inside man.” Raymond looked at the others in the room, and nodded.
“Even if we have the medical files of the other patients, I won’t use them to take these doctors down.
However, I can contact these patients later, and ask if they want to be part of a class action lawsuit.
It will all depend on what we find during the course of our investigation.
Shay has military experience, and he knows there’s nothing wrong with his knee.
It makes me wonder if Perkins targeted the elderly in the past.” He turned to look at Erin.
“In that background check, I’m going to need to know how many people died when Perkins was there. Ages, cause of death, the usual.”
Erin pulled her phone, sent a text, and laid it back down. “Someone will be here shortly.” She turned to look at Amelia and Betty. “Betty, are you sure you want to go back to work after what Ervin did to you?”
“Someone has to take these assholes down. Even if it bleeds, I’ll go back to work on Monday, bite my tongue, and be the best nurse they have ever seen. I’ll gather as much intel as I can. I only ask one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Amelia said that if it gets too hot, then I can come here to stay, that I won’t be found?”
“Yes. I do have a suggestion for you though.”
“What’s that?”
“When you leave here, go home, pack a bag, and keep it in your trunk. You never know whether you’re going to have to leave in a hurry.
It’s better to err on the side of caution.
Have everything prepared. Also, make sure your important documents are in the truck with at least a week’s worth of clothing.
If something happens and they come after you, you’re going to want to leave right away, and not go back to your place. ”
“I never thought of that, but I agree. I’ll do that when I get home.” They paused when there was a knock on the door. Scott opened it, and stepped back as three people walked in.
“Come in,” Erin said. “This is Dr. Amelia Johnson, she’s opening her practice at Broken Two in the next couple of weeks. This is Betty Laurel, she’s a nurse at the clinic Dr. Johnson currently works at.”
The three nodded, and Erin continued, “This is Duane Manchester, former FBI agent. He’s my security guard at Erin’s Way, and he does background checks.
You know Yvonne Wilson and Kevin Lassiter.
You might not know that Yvonne is a former FBI agent, and Kevin is a former homicide detective with Seattle PD.
They do background checks on potential people that want to purchase horses.
These three will do the background checks you want.
Their back up is Jake Cogburn, he’s head of Brotherhood Protectors based out of Fool’s Gold.
These people will dig so deep, they will know what these asshat’s daddy ate the day they were conceived.
” At her statement, the three people looked around the cabin with raised brows.
“What are we looking at?” Yvonne asked. They were called over to look at the video, and didn’t say a word until they had watched it twice.
“I’m going to want a copy of that,” Duane said.
“Me too,” Kevin said. “We’ll get you what you need. I just have one question right now.”
“What’s that?”
“Who will be going with Shay to this new consultation?”