Chapter 9 - The Doctor Who Lied
Dr. Malcolm Reed denied everything.
Until Gabriel placed Madison's MRI beside Reed's original medical report.
Then the doctor's hands began shaking.
“You diagnosed bruising,” Gabriel said.
“That was consistent with—”
“You didn't order an MRI.”
“It wasn't indicated.”
“She couldn't sit.”
“I wasn't informed.”
Madison stepped forward.
“I told you.”
Reed looked at her.
“I don't recall.”
“I told you three times.”
Gabriel placed another document down.
Bank transfer.
Twenty-five thousand dollars.
Richard Voss to a consulting company owned by Reed's brother.
Two days after Madison's examination.
Reed went pale.
Gabriel said nothing.
He didn't need to.
Finally Reed whispered, “Voss said it was liability management.”
Madison felt sick.
“What does that mean?”
“He told me you were exaggerating.”
“So you lied?”
“I softened the report.”
“You sent me back to work with a fracture.”
“I didn't know.”
“You didn't want to know.”
Reed looked down.
That was answer enough.
Outside, Madison leaned against the wall.
Gabriel joined her.
“You okay?”
“No.”
He waited.
“Twenty-one days,” she said. “Every time it hurt, I wondered if maybe they were right. Maybe I was weak. Maybe I was exaggerating.”
Gabriel's expression hardened.
“They made you doubt yourself.”
“Yes.”
“That was deliberate.”
Madison looked at him.
“Why does that make you angrier than everything else?”
Gabriel took a moment.
“Because physical injuries heal.”
“And?”
“Making someone distrust their own mind lasts longer.”
For the first time, Madison wondered what had happened in Gabriel's past.
Before she could ask, his phone rang.
Mercer was awake.
And ready to talk.
At the hospital, Mercer looked twenty years older.
Gabriel showed him the recovered video.
Mercer closed his eyes.
“I was there.”
Madison's stomach sank.
“Why?”
Mercer looked at her.
“I tried to stop him.”
“You watched.”
“Voss had my son.”
Silence.
Mercer explained.
His son owed money.
Not gambling.
Medical debt.
Voss had paid it.
Then owned Mercer.
The theft ring used Center Seven to divert pharmaceuticals.
Trevor handled physical sabotage.
Mercer manipulated schedules.
Reed controlled medical consequences.
But Madison had discovered the weight discrepancies.
Voss panicked.
“He told Trevor to scare you,” Mercer said.
“By loosening a railing sixteen feet above concrete?”
“Trevor wasn't supposed to remove both anchors.”
Madison stared at him.
“Does that make it better?”
“No.”
Mercer began crying.
“No.”
Gabriel asked the question that mattered.
“Where is Voss?”
Mercer looked at him.
“He's not running.”
“What?”
“He's waiting.”
“For what?”
Mercer's eyes moved to Madison.
“For her to lead him to the one thing he never found.”
Madison frowned.
“What thing?”
May you like
Mercer whispered:
“The original black ledger.”
