Chapter 24 - The Whistleblower
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The panic Mara had induced in Vance yielded results faster than anyone anticipated. At 6:00 a.m. the following morning, the emergency encrypted line at the Open Door Project rang.
Mara, who had slept on the couch in her office, answered it immediately. "Open Door."
"Mrs. Mercer?" a panicked, breathless voice whispered on the other end. "My name is Dr. Aris. I... I work at the Vance Medical pediatric clinic in upstate New York. I was the attending physician for the Jenkins boy."
Mara sat up straight, instantly wide awake. She hit the record button on her console. "Dr. Aris. Are you safe right now?"
"No," he said, his voice trembling violently. "Vance called me at three in the morning. He told me the federal authorities were looking into the Jenkins file. He ordered me to shred the original charts and digitally alter the boy's bloodwork to justify the emergency removal. He said if I didn't do it, my medical license and my family would be destroyed."
"Did you alter the files?" Mara asked, her voice steady and calm, projecting an anchor into his terror.
"I couldn't do it," Dr. Aris sobbed. "The boy is perfectly healthy. He is just crying for his mother. I couldn't send a healthy child into that system. I copied the original, unedited files onto an encrypted flash drive. I fled the clinic an hour ago. I think Vance's security team is tracking my car."
"Where are you?"
"I'm at a gas station off Route 9, near the county line. Please, I don't know who else to call. The local police are heavily funded by Vance's charity."
"Do not go to the police," Mara instructed sharply. "Listen to me carefully, Doctor. Turn off your cell phone immediately after we disconnect. Do not get back in your car. Go into the gas station bathroom, lock the door, and wait. My security team will be there in twenty minutes."
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"Okay," he whispered. "Okay."
Mara hung up the phone and immediately slammed her hand against the intercom button. "Elena! We have a whistleblower. Gear up. We are going for a ride."
