Chapter 15: Following the Money
290 words
Julian spread the spreadsheets across the dashboard, illuminating them with his phone’s flashlight.
“Look here,” he pointed to column C. “He’s billing Medicare for ‘cognitive therapy’ sessions three times a week for every resident on the second floor.”
Elena squinted at the numbers. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Arthur is on the second floor,” Julian said. “Did he ever have cognitive therapy?”
“No,” Elena whispered. “He can barely speak. He just watches TV.”
“Exactly. Thorne is billing for phantom services. Millions of dollars in federal subsidies for therapy that never happened. That’s not just malpractice; that’s Medicare fraud penalties territory.”
The car suddenly felt very small. This wasn’t just a personal injury case anymore. It was a qui tam lawsuit—a federal whistleblower case. If they pulled this thread, the entire tapestry of Thorne’s empire would unravel.
“If we file this,” Julian said, “the DOJ gets involved. The FBI gets involved.”
Elena’s phone buzzed. A notification from her banking app: Insufficient Funds. She ignored it. “Do it.”
Across town, in a penthouse office overlooking the city, Marcus Thorne was enjoying a scotch. His phone rang. It was his CFO.
“Sir,” the voice trembled. “Someone is pulling the archived billing logs. External IP.”
Thorne’s grip tightened on the crystal glass until his knuckles turned white. He knew exactly who it was. The librarian and her ambulance chaser.
“Freeze the shell company assets,” Thorne snarled, pacing toward the window. “Move the funds to the Cayman accounts. Now! Before they find the federal loophole.”
He hung up and stared at his reflection in the glass. He looked impeccable, but for the first time in years, he felt a bead of sweat trickle down his spine.
End of Chapter 15
