Chương 6
Then he told her what had happened after she fell asleep.
Vanessa had been arrested on suspicion of fraudulent use of personal identification information and unauthorized access to medical records. Additional charges were possible.
Police had obtained a warrant for the records room and several company-admin devices.
Ethan had not been located.
The most troubling discovery involved the altered consent form.
The clinic’s audit log showed that Madison’s account had been accessed at 11:31 p.m. the night before surgery from an IP address associated with Carter House’s penthouse network.
Someone had uploaded the expanded consent.
At 11:36, the electronic signature was applied.
At 11:42, the form was transmitted into the surgical center’s system.
Security footage showed Ethan and Vanessa entering the records-room corridor at 11:48.
Madison frowned.
“After the form was already uploaded.”
“Yes.”
“So the footage doesn’t show them doing it.”
“No.”
“Then somebody else could have.”
“Yes.”
Rachel looked at Simon.
Madison noticed.
“What aren’t you saying?”
Simon folded his hands over the legal pad.
“The login credentials used were yours.”
“I know.”
“There was also a verification code.”
Madison’s stomach turned.
Her medical portal used two-factor authentication.
She always complained about it.
“How?”
“That’s one of the questions police are asking.”
“My phone was with me.”
“Was it?”
Madison thought back.
She had arrived at the penthouse at six in the evening, the night before surgery. Rachel had completed intake. Elena had brought paperwork. Ethan was supposed to come by after dinner.
He did.
Around nine.
He had complained about her being nervous.
No, that was unfair.
He had teased her because teasing was how he handled fear.
He had ordered soup neither of them ate. He had plugged her phone into the charger beside the sofa because the battery was low.
Madison looked at Simon.
“He had my phone.”
Rachel went still.
“For how long?”
“I don’t know. Ten minutes. Maybe twenty.”
“Did he know your passcode?”
“Yes.”
Simon made a note.
Madison hated the scratching sound of his pen.
“Stop writing like that.”
He stopped.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. Keep going.”
He continued.
She asked about the insurance amendment.
Simon’s expression became careful.
“That is potentially more serious.”
“Why?”
“The insurer’s online records indicate a beneficiary amendment was submitted twelve days ago. The digital signature appears to be yours.”
“It isn’t.”
“The verification email went to your personal account.”
“I never saw it.”
“Police will look at login history. The insurer has frozen processing related to the policy.”
Madison swallowed.
“Could Ethan actually collect if I died?”
“If the amendment were accepted and there were no successful challenge, he would have a claim through his company.”
“You’re doing the lawyer thing.”
“I am a lawyer.”
“Could he collect?”
“Yes.”
The word sat between them.
Rachel walked to the window and folded her arms.
Simon continued more softly.
“There is something else.”
Madison almost laughed.
“Of course there is.”
“The continuity document found in the records room wasn’t merely printed there. Metadata indicates an editable version was accessed from Vanessa’s company account several weeks ago.”
“That proves she worked on it.”
“Correct. Not that she forged your signature.”
“And the surgery form?”
“We don’t know who physically uploaded it.”
“So right now we have suspicious documents, my fiancé carrying an envelope, and Vanessa being Vanessa.”
Simon looked at her.
“We have more than that.”
“What?”
He hesitated.
“You should hear this from the police.”
“Simon.”
“Madison.”
“I was unconscious while somebody used my name to authorize cutting my face. I am done waiting for people to decide what I should hear.”
Rachel closed her eyes briefly.
Simon put down his pen.
“Police found a financial transfer from Carter House’s reserve account.”
Madison’s body went cold.
“How much?”
“One point four million.”
“To where?”
“A consulting entity connected to Ethan.”
“When?”
“Over nine months. Multiple transfers.”
“I would have seen that.”
“Not necessarily.”
“I review reserves every month.”
“The transactions were coded across vendor categories.”
“Vanessa signs off on vendors.”
“Yes.”
Madison stared at him.
Simon said nothing.
That silence was worse than explanation.
She had spent seven years building Carter House from a two-bedroom rental apartment into a company valued at nearly ninety million dollars during its last financing round.
People loved the clean version of the story.
Young woman sees a gap in the market.
Creates premium recovery service.
Builds national brand.
What nobody put in profiles was that Madison had been sleeping on a folding mattress in the first apartment because she could not afford both a night nurse and a second lease. Or that she learned payroll taxes after receiving a notice she thought might mean she was going to prison. Or that her father loaned her two hundred thousand dollars and reminded her of it every time they disagreed.
One point four million dollars was not enough to destroy Carter House.
That almost made it worse.
It was small enough to hide inside a growing company.
Large enough to change someone’s life.
“Why didn’t finance catch it?”
“They may have concerns we don’t know about yet.”
“That’s a polite way of saying maybe somebody did.”
Simon nodded.
Madison reached for her water.
Her hand shook.
Rachel moved toward her, then stopped when Madison managed the cup herself.
“What did Ethan need one point four million dollars for?”
“We don’t know.”
Madison remembered a dinner in New York two months earlier. Ethan had spent half the evening talking about a real-estate fund he was launching. He had said commitments were strong.
She had asked whether he wanted her to invest.
He had kissed her forehead and said he did not mix romance with capital.
She had thought it was charming.
“Find out about his fund.”
“Police will.”
“I mean us.”
Simon considered her.
“All right.”
“Tonight.”
“No.”
“Simon.”
“No. You are not running an internal investigation from a recovery bed at midnight.”
May you like
“I’m not asking permission.”
“Then I’m not giving you a legal answer. I’m giving you the answer of someone who has watched you make terrible decisions when you haven’t slept.”
