Chapter 10 - The Secret Bank Account
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Following the bail hearing, Detective Vance and a federal agent named Special Agent Torres met me in a private conference room at the courthouse.
"Ms. Wellman," Agent Torres said, placing a laptop on the table. "Your forensic audit work saved us months of digging. Federal agents executed a search warrant on the bank accounts associated with Apex Care Management an hour ago."
"What did you find?" I asked, adjusting my leg brace.
"We recovered two point one million dollars sitting in an offshore account in the Cayman Islands," Torres revealed. "The rest of the money—nearly two million—was laundered through local real estate purchases and high-end luxury retail stores over the past three years."
"And my mother?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Agent Torres pulled up a bank signature card on his screen.
"Amanda Wellman's signature is on every wire transfer over fifty thousand dollars," Torres confirmed. "She was actively signing off on the distribution of funds stolen from deceased hospice patients."
I closed my eyes, a wave of profound sorrow washing over me.
All my life, I had tried so hard to earn my mother's love. I worked double shifts, excelled in school, became a certified forensic auditor, and paid off my own college debt without a single cent of help from her.
And all the while, she was sitting on millions of dollars stolen from dead people, showering Austin with luxury cars and designer clothes, treating me like garbage because I stood for everything she hated: the truth.
"There's still one major piece of the puzzle missing, Monica," Vance interjected softly.
I opened my eyes. "What's that?"
"Austin didn't have the technical expertise to create a ghost Level Four user ID in your hospital's mainframe," Vance pointed out. "Someone with master system administrative access had to physically create the account A_WELLMAN_FIN99 from inside the hospital headquarters."
"Who is the Chief Technology Officer for your network?" Agent Torres asked.
I froze as a realization struck me like a lightning bolt.
"It's not the CTO," I whispered. "The master overrides for billing approvals are controlled directly by the Chief Medical Officer."
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"Who is the Chief Medical Officer?"
"Dr. Richard Hayes," I answered, my heart hammering against my ribs. "The brother of Leonard Hayes—the very first patient Austin stole from."
