Chapter 10 - THE DOCTOR WHO NEVER TREATED ME

I had never met Dr. Vincent Rainer.
At least I did not remember meeting him.
That frightened me more than almost anything else that night.
Detective Cole opened the payment records.
Rainer had received monthly transfers from one of Nathan’s shell companies.
Each payment was labeled CONSULTING.
Adrian searched the name.
“Psychiatrist.”
Nathan looked toward the floor.
My father stared at him.
“You hired a psychiatrist to create records about my daughter?”
Nathan said nothing.
Cole answered.
“It appears that way.”
The documents showed evaluations carrying my name.
Emotional instability.
Impulsive behavior.
Paranoid episodes.
Potential danger to herself or others.
I had never attended a single evaluation.
My signature appeared on every page.
Forged.
Dad looked sick.
Nathan had prepared his story years before tonight.
If I ever exposed him, he planned to claim I was unreliable.
If I challenged him publicly, he could produce medical records.
If I disappeared from the company, people would believe I had been hospitalized.
I looked at Nathan.
“How long?”
He remained silent.
“How long were you planning this?”
He finally answered.
“Since you started asking questions.”
“That was six years ago.”
“Yes.”
Celeste stared at him.
“You told me she really was sick.”
Nathan looked at her.
“That was easier.”
Celeste stepped backward.
I saw the moment she understood something else.
“If you could manufacture records for Evelyn…”
Nathan’s expression told her everything.
She grabbed her handbag.
“What did you do to me?”
Nathan said nothing.
Celeste turned toward Cole.
“I want every medical document connected to my name checked.”
Cole nodded.
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“You are all turning this into something bigger than it is.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“You spent years making it bigger.”
My father’s phone rang.
It was Adrian’s cyber team.
They had traced Dr. Rainer’s most recent login.
He had accessed Ashford International records forty-three minutes earlier.
From an airport.
Dad asked, “Which airport?”
Adrian listened.
Then looked at us.
“JFK.”
Cole was already calling federal agents.
“Destination?”
“Zurich.”
Nathan suddenly stood.
That was the first time genuine panic appeared.
“Stop that plane.”
I stared at him.
Nathan realized he had revealed too much.
My father leaned closer.
“Why does Rainer matter that much?”
Nathan said nothing.
Malcolm answered.
“Because Rainer was not just creating records.”
Nathan shouted, “Malcolm.”
Malcolm looked directly at my father.
“He was the witness on Evelyn’s mother’s final legal amendment.”
Dad froze.
“What amendment?”
Malcolm looked toward the corrupted audio file.
May you like
“The part your wife was trying to tell you about.”
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