Page 36 of Too Old for Love

“Finished already?” smiled Mike.

“No. I mean, maybe. Alice Quinn. This report can’t be right. She was on my team and was a junior developer. Her salary should have been around ninety or ninety-five thousand a year. This says she was making more than three-hundred thousand a year. That’s just not possible.”

“Let me see,” frowned Hiro. He typed the information in once again and nodded to her. “That’s what the payroll and human resources system pulls up. Why would that be? Why would she be working a low-level role but be making more than you?”

“I-I don’t know,” said Everest shaking her head. “She was sitting beside me that day when Colt and Jordan were brought in. She even whispered some digs about Abigail to me.”

“Was she there the day you were let go?” asked Mike.

“Yes. She sits right next to me. We work in pods, open air cubicles basically. She sits next to me. She didn’t even look up at me as I was packing my box.”

“That seems odd,” said Cam.

“Not really,” said Everest. “I mean, think about it. Someone you care for get’s relieved of duty but you can’t show emotion or the boss will put you in the same ‘wagon’ as them. I’m sure she was afraid.”

“Did she look afraid?” asked Mike.

“No,” whispered Everest, closing her eyes, thinking back to that morning. “No, she looked determined. She was working on something and when I glanced at it, I thought it was strange.”

“Why?” asked Hex. “This is really important, Everest. What about her screen made you think it was strange.” Everest opened her eyes, staring at the men.

“She was in the backend of the system,” she said opening them. “She was entering information as if she worked for the hospital. That’s what made it strange to me. I was so upset about losing my job I just looked away. She was entering a request for tests and surgery on a patient in Mississippi.”

“How long have you known her?” asked Mike.

“Three years. She transferred to New Orleans the same time I did.”

“Everest? Abigail seemed terrified when we questioned her,” said Rory. “But Samantha acted as if it wasn’t a big deal. I don’t think that woman would have said a word had Abigail not crumbled. What do you know about her?”

“Nothing. I mean, she was already hired when I moved here.”

“Her background says she worked for a pharmaceutical company,” said Hiro. Everest folded her arms and stared at him, staring at his screen. She pursed her lips like a teacher who was about to scold her student. “Oh, uh, sorry. We just needed a bit of privacy.”

“Don’t lie. It only makes it worse,” she frowned. “What’s the name of the pharmaceutical company?”

“Kartage Pharma,” said Hiro.

“They were shut down by the FDA,” said Everest. “We took every drug they had in our system out because it was proven they defrauded Medicare for millions of dollars, sold drugs that hadn’t actually met the trial requirements, and they forged patient outcomes.”

“How did they do that?” asked Mike.

“Easy. They forged the patients.” They all looked at her. “They just made-up names, birthdates, all of it. Some of them were deceased people that they miraculously brought back to life. It was a big mess and they paid dearly for it. Their top five executives, including their compliance and legal head were all sentenced to prison terms.”

AJ’s fingers were tapping away behind them. When they heard him say something that they knew was coming.

“We have a problem.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“Sean Quinn, Thomas Quinn, and Michael Quinn were the CEO, CFO, and CIO of Kartage. Sean and Thomas are brothers, sixty-six and sixty-nine, respectively. Michael is forty-four, Thomas’ son.”

“But that’s too old to be related to Alice,” frowned Everest. “She’s very young. I think she just turned twenty-five.”

“That’s not too young,” said Hiro. “She married Michael Quinn right out of college. Twenty-year age gap means nothing. She’s obviously very smart and knows how to manipulate the system.”

“I can’t believe it,” frowned Everest. “She worked side-by-side with me for four years. I trusted her, I told her things in confidence.”

“Maybe that’s why Abigail had it out for you. She told her things you said about her,” shrugged Mike.