Chapter 9 - THE HOSPITAL LIE
Marcus’s discovery opened another door.
Bennett Meridian had received transfers from a charitable consulting company.
That company had done business with Richard’s hospital foundation.
Claire immediately brought in outside counsel.
I wanted no part of anything that wasn’t directly connected to me.
But once investigators began examining the transfers, Daniel’s problems multiplied.
The hospital placed him on administrative leave.
Not because he had cheated.
Hospitals don’t suspend surgeons for being terrible husbands.
They suspended him because several “emergency procedure” dates on expense and scheduling records didn’t match hospital records.
Daniel had used his professional schedule to create alibis.
Sometimes for Vanessa.
Sometimes for financial meetings.
And once, apparently, for a trip connected to Bennett Meridian.
The lie he told me at O’Hare was not unusual.
It was his system.
Then I received an email from a nurse named Megan Ellis.
She had worked with Daniel for six years.
Rachel,
I don’t know if this matters, but Daniel asked staff several times to confirm he was in procedures when he wasn’t.
I refused.
I think you should know.
I forwarded it to Claire.
Then another message arrived.
Then another.
People had noticed.
They simply hadn’t known what the pieces meant.
Daniel called that evening.
I answered.
“What did you do?”
he demanded.
There was no “hello.”
“What happened?”
“The hospital suspended me.”
“I didn’t suspend you.”
“You gave them information.”
“No.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
That sentence was so absurd I actually smiled.
“You want to discuss lying?”
“This is my career.”
“And this was my marriage.”
“You’re trying to punish me.”
“No, Daniel.”
I walked toward the window.
“I filed for divorce.”
“What?”
“You’ll be served tomorrow.”
Silence.
For several seconds, I heard nothing.
Then his voice softened.
“Rachel, don’t.”
“Why?”
“Because once we do that, there’s no going back.”
I looked around the apartment.
No wedding photographs.
No anniversary gifts.
No reminders.
“There was no going back when you kissed Vanessa at Gate 42.”
“I ended it with her.”
“She ended it with you.”
Silence.
That landed.
“You spoke to her?”
“Yes.”
“What did she give you?”
There was the fear again.
“What are you worried she gave me?”
“Rachel.”
“The notebook?”
Silence.
“The flash drive?”
His breathing changed.
I knew.
“Listen to me.”
“No.”
“Some of those documents are not what they look like.”
“You’ve said that before.”
“My father handled most of it.”
And there it was.
Daniel was turning on Richard.
“Interesting.”
“What?”
“Lauren said Richard handled it too.”
“Lauren talked to you?”
Daniel sounded furious.
“Your family is very communicative now.”
“You don’t understand my father.”
“I understand enough.”
“He controlled the investments.”
“Using your handwriting?”
Daniel went silent.
“Using your accounts?”
Nothing.
“Using copies of my signature stored on your flash drive?”
Still nothing.
Then Daniel whispered,
“I never forged your signature.”
I hadn’t accused him of forging anything.
Not in that conversation.
He had introduced the word himself.
I closed my eyes.
Claire had told me guilty people often rush to deny the specific thing they fear most.
“Good night, Daniel.”
“Rachel, wait.”
I hung up.
The next morning, he was served divorce papers at his attorney’s office.
That afternoon, Richard retained separate counsel.
By evening, Lauren had hired her own lawyer.
May you like
The Bennett family that had stood together at Gate 42 was beginning to fracture.
And we hadn’t even reached the worst secret yet.
