Chapter 2 - Numbers in the Dark
The fluorescent lights of the Attorney General’s division hummed above my desk at 7:00 AM on Monday morning. On my monitor sat the public filing records for Vance Healthcare Enterprises—the private rehabilitation chain owned by Grant’s family.
I hadn't intended to look. But Grant’s sudden panic at the party, combined with a offhand remark my father made about Grant "expanding their clinical footprint," had sparked a thread I couldn't resist pulling.
What I found in the state public registries made my blood run cold.
Vance Healthcare operated twelve luxury addiction treatment facilities across the state. On paper, they were gold-standard facilities. But their billing cycles told a completely different narrative. Over the past twenty-four months, three shell companies registered in Delaware—all listing Grant Vance as sole managing director—had billed Vance Healthcare over fourteen million dollars for "specialized medical equipment."
None of those shell companies had state medical licenses. None had physical addresses beyond P.O. boxes.
"You’re staring at that screen like it owes you money," a voice said behind me.
I looked up to see Marcus Reed, the senior prosecutor in our white-collar crime division. He dropped a manila folder onto my desk.
"Worse," I said, tilting my monitor toward him. "It looks like systematic shell-company routing and Medicare fraud. And the managing director is about to become my brother-in-law."
Marcus leaned over, his eyes scanning the corporate trees and cross-referenced tax identification numbers I had mapped out over the weekend. His expression transformed from casual interest to razor-sharp focus.
"Grant Vance?" Marcus asked softly. "Clara... if these numbers are real, this isn't just double-billing. This is systematic money laundering through vulnerable patients."
"I need access to their inner state filings," I said, my heart pounding against my ribs. "If I pull those records officially, Grant’s legal team will get an automated notice. They'll know someone in this office is digging."
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Marcus looked at me for a long moment, weighing the personal cost written across my face. "If you do this, Clara, you can't protect him. And you won't be able to protect your family when the blowback hits."
"I don't want to protect him," I said quietly, thinking of Vanessa's triumph and my parents' blind devotion. "I just want the truth."
