Chapter 5 - THE PATIENTS WHO NEVER CAME HOME
Maeve Carter had spent six years working in emergency medicine.
She had seen tragedy.
Accidents.
Overdoses.
Violence.
But she had never imagined a hospital charity program could be used to make vulnerable patients disappear.
Roman replayed Julian's recording.
"They're using St. Catherine's charity program to move patients who were never supposed to disappear."
The room went silent.
Maeve looked at Roman.
"What does that mean?"
He shook his head.
"I don't know."
Vincent examined the financial files.
"Roman, these payments are enormous."
"How enormous?"
"Millions."
Roman's jaw tightened.
Maeve picked up a folder.
The label read:
Patient Transfer Assistance Initiative.
She recognized it.
St. Catherine's had promoted the program for years.
It supposedly helped uninsured patients transfer to long-term recovery facilities.
Maeve had never worked directly with the program.
But she remembered patients disappearing from the hospital census without explanation.
At the time, administrators claimed they had been transferred.
She hadn't questioned it.
Now she wondered whether she should have.
She opened the folder.
Names appeared.
Dates.
Transfers.
Destination facilities.
Then she stopped.
One name jumped off the page.
Rachel Mendoza.
Twenty-six.
Emergency admission.
Transferred eight months earlier.
Maeve remembered Rachel.
A young mother who had arrived after a serious workplace injury.
She'd begged Maeve to call her husband.
Then vanished from the hospital before her family arrived.
The administrator said she'd been transferred.
Maeve had believed him.
But the destination facility listed in the folder didn't exist.
Her chest tightened.
"Roman."
He looked up.
"What's wrong?"
"This woman was my patient."
Roman approached.
Maeve pointed toward the name.
"Rachel Mendoza. She was supposed to go to rehabilitation."
"Did she?"
"I don't know."
The words felt terrible.
She turned another page.
Another familiar name.
Then another.
Three patients she'd personally treated.
All listed as transferred to facilities she couldn't identify.
Her hands trembled.
"Something is very wrong."
Roman looked toward Vincent.
"Contact the investigators."
Vincent nodded.
Maeve continued reading.
The records included payments from several shipping companies.
Some connected to Hayes International.
Others controlled by Victor Bellamy.
Roman stared.
"They used my businesses."
Maeve looked at him.
"Did you know?"
His expression changed.
"No."
She studied him.
Then asked:
"Are you certain?"
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he answered honestly.
"I knew Victor handled medical logistics contracts. I didn't know what these records meant."
Maeve nodded.
"Then we need to find out."
Roman looked at her.
"Agreed."
That afternoon, investigators began examining the patient transfer records.
Several former hospital employees were interviewed.
Most claimed they knew nothing.
But one nurse agreed to speak.
Her name was Danielle Brooks.
She had worked in patient coordination before resigning suddenly.
When Maeve met her, Danielle looked terrified.
"I thought nobody would ever ask."
Maeve leaned forward.
"Ask what?"
Danielle's eyes filled with tears.
"Where the patients went."
Roman remained silent.
Danielle continued.
"They told us the patients were being transferred to specialized facilities."
"Did you believe them?" Maeve asked.
"At first."
"What changed?"
Danielle lowered her voice.
"One patient called me."
Maeve froze.
"From where?"
Danielle shook her head.
"I don't know. She was frightened."
"What did she say?"
Danielle began crying.
"She said she wasn't allowed to leave."
Maeve's chest tightened.
"Who was she?"
Danielle looked directly at her.
"Rachel Mendoza."
Maeve stopped breathing.
Danielle continued.
"She said she'd been taken to a private medical facility outside Chicago."
Roman leaned forward.
"Where?"
Danielle hesitated.
Then whispered:
"Lake Geneva."
Roman went still.
His family owned an abandoned medical retreat near Lake Geneva.
A property he'd allowed Victor Bellamy to manage.
Maeve noticed his expression.
"Roman?"
He swallowed.
May you like
Then said something that changed everything.
"I think I know where they've been taking the patients. And the property belongs to me."
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