Chapter 6 - THE THIRTY-SEVEN MILLION DOLLAR LIE
The missing executive was Patrick Voss.
Forty-eight.
Married.
Two children.
Chief financial officer of Calder Medical Services.
He had failed to attend a scheduled audit interview.
His phone was disconnected.
His office had been cleared out.
And according to Evelyn, several company records were suddenly inaccessible.
The financial review had uncovered discrepancies totaling approximately thirty-seven million dollars across multiple years.
Not all of it was confirmed fraud.
Some figures represented disputed invoices.
Others involved questionable vendor payments and transfers.
But the pattern was serious enough that authorities had become involved.
Mateo met me at a quiet café near the hospital.
He looked exhausted.
“Calder's freight division has been using Rossi Logistics as a subcontractor,” he explained.
I frowned.
“So?”
“So some of the questionable payments moved through accounts associated with shipments that may never have occurred.”
I stared.
“Your company?”
“Some of our subsidiaries.”
“Did you know?”
His expression changed.
“No.”
I believed him.
But I also knew belief wasn't evidence.
“Then prove it,” I said.
He nodded.
“I intend to.”
Mateo told me his chief operating officer, Leonard Price, had recommended the Calder acquisition.
Leonard had worked for Rossi Logistics for eleven years.
He was respected.
Trusted.
And had access to internal transportation records.
“Do you think he's involved?” I asked.
Mateo looked down.
“I don't know.”
That answer frightened me.
Later, Evelyn showed me a list of patient accounts connected to suspicious charges.
Lily's was one of them.
So were dozens of others.
Some belonged to elderly patients.
Some to children.
Some to people who had died.
I stared at the names.
“These are real people.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Yes.”
“Families like mine.”
“Yes.”
My anger rose.
For years, I'd thought I was failing because I couldn't earn enough money.
Now I was looking at records suggesting some of the bills might never have been legitimate.
I stood.
“Then we make them answer for it.”
Evelyn looked at me.
“We do it carefully.”
I nodded.
“Fine.”
May you like
I picked up the folder.
“But we do it.”
