CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Sean Quinn, Thomas Quinn, and Michael Quinn were the CEO, CFO, and CIO of Kartage. Sean and Thomas are brothers, sixty-six and sixty-nine, respectively. Michael is forty-four, Thomas’ son.”
“But that’s too old to be related to Alice,” frowned Everest. “She’s very young. I think she just turned twenty-five.”
“That’s not too young,” said Hiro. “She married Michael Quinn right out of college. Twenty-year age gap means nothing. She’s obviously very smart and knows how to manipulate the system.”
“I can’t believe it,” frowned Everest. “She worked side-by-side with me for four years. I trusted her, I told her things in confidence.”
“Maybe that’s why Abigail had it out for you. She told her things you said about her,” shrugged Mike.
“I’m sure she did. God, I’ve been so stupid!” she said shaking her head. “Wait. This doesn’t prove that the Quinns are heading TMCheed. How can we prove that?”
“They’ve done a damn fine job of hiding everything,” said AJ.
“The Quinn’s were banned from working for any pharmaceutical company, hospital, drug related business, or any business that was related to Medicare.
I’m going to bet their way around this was to have Alice on the inside.
They’re probably telling her what to do from their prison cells, still collecting millions because of the deaths they’re causing. ”
“Oh, no,” whispered Everest.
“Oh, no? Oh, no what?” asked Mike.
“They can see their life insurance policies, their life orders – the do not resuscitate orders, living wills all of it. They see it all. Anything and everything that’s in a medical record they can see. Next of kin, spouses, all of it.”
“Shit,” muttered Cam. “They’re stealing from all sides with these people and no one knows who is really at fault.
The patients blame the hospitals and the doctors, the doctors blame the hospitals, the hospitals blame the doctors.
It’s a vicious circle and the Quinns walk away looking completely innocent because they’re behind bars. ”
“Not Alice,” said Mike. “She’s still out there and she doesn’t know anything about Everest being with us. We could set up a meeting. Have Everest call her to meet for coffee.”
“Mike, this might not end well,” frowned Rory.
“I trust all of you completely. I know that nothing will happen to her. It’s the only way to get her out in the open.”
“It’s a good plan,” said Hex. “We’ll need to make sure every exit, every alternate plan is carefully thought out. And we need to put some pressure on Alice. Give her some things to think about.”
“I’ll speak to her,” said Mike standing from his seat.
“I’m right here, Mike. I’m listening to everything. I’ll do it,” said Everest. “I know that it could be dangerous but Alice doesn’t suspect that I know anything as far as I know.”
“Do you have her cell phone number?” asked Hex.
“Of course. She was on my team and we often spoke in the evenings.”
“Call her. See if she can meet you for lunch in the city. Somewhere public but not dinner. Breakfast or lunch, maybe even the office,” said Luke. She nodded at him, dialing her number.
“Hello?” said the voice.
“Alice. It’s Everest.”
“Everest! I’ve been wanting to call you. So much has happened here you’re not going to believe it.”
“Oh, really?” said Everest. “I mean, I’d love to catch up but we both know it doesn’t matter for me any longer.”
“Are you okay? Do you need anything?” she asked.
“I’m fine,” she said calmly. “I’ve got enough to be okay for a while.”
“Well, maybe you’d be interested in doing some off-the-books work for us.”
“Off-the-books? I don’t know. What about Samantha and Abigail?”
“They don’t matter anymore. I’ll explain later but for now, no one is really in charge.”
“Wow. No one in charge? That’s crazy,” said Everest. “You guys must be frantic over there.”
“Oh, we are, we are. It’s why I need you to do some work off the books. There’s no one like you.”
“I’m happy to talk to you more. When can we meet?” she asked.
“I’m, uh, I’m out of town right now. Visiting family. I’ll be back in a few days and I’ll call you.”
“Sounds great. I’ll talk to you then.” Everest hung up and smiled at the men. “We have a few days to plan. Do me a favor?”
“Anything, Everest,” said Cam.
“Keep me alive long enough to get married,” she grinned.