Chapter 14 - Confrontation at Headquarters
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An hour later, I rolled my wheelchair into the executive suite on the top floor of San Diego Health Network headquarters, flanked by Detective Vance, Agent Torres, and two armed federal marshals.
The administrative assistants gasped as we bypassed the reception desk and pushed open the heavy oak doors to Dr. Richard Hayes's corner office.
Dr. Hayes was sitting behind his mahogany desk, frantically packing stacks of confidential paper files into a leather briefcase.
He froze, looking up in shock as we flooded into his office.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Dr. Hayes demanded, his voice trembling with artificial rage. "I am the Chief Medical Officer! You can't just barge into my office!"
"Dr. Richard Hayes," Agent Torres said, pulling out a federal arrest warrant. "You are under arrest for federal healthcare fraud, grand larceny, wire fraud, and conspiracy."
Dr. Hayes’s face drained of all color. He backed away toward the floor-to-ceiling windows behind his desk.
"This is absurd!" Hayes stammered, pointing a trembling finger at me. "Monica, you're out of your mind! You're suffering from trauma after your brother attacked you!"
"I know about Apex Care Management, Dr. Hayes," I said, my voice cold and calm as I rolled my wheelchair closer to his desk. "I know about user ID A_WELLMAN_FIN99. I know about the ghost hardware orders... and I know about my father."
Dr. Hayes swallowed hard, his eyes darting frantically toward the door.
"Your father was a weak man," Hayes spat, dropping his professional facade completely. "He found an accounting error twenty years ago and wanted to go to the board. He was going to ruin this hospital!"
"So you paid my mother off," I said.
"Amanda was smart!" Hayes sneered. "She knew how the world worked. She took the money, kept her mouth shut, and raised Austin to be my replacement!"
"And what about me?" I asked, my voice breaking slightly. "Why did you hate me so much?"
Hayes let out a bitter, cruel laugh.
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"Because you looked just like your father, Monica," Hayes whispered. "A miserable, self-righteous nuisance who didn't know when to keep her mouth shut."
Agent Torres stepped forward and slapped steel handcuffs onto Dr. Hayes’s wrists.
