Chapter 216
Chapter 216:
She was dressed for work that couldn’t be done in a boardroom — a heavy black waterproof trench coat, a dark baseball cap pulled low, a black surgical mask covering the lower half of her face. She was setting aside the identity of the untouchable Chief Scientist. Today she needed to go into the trenches and find the source of the poison killing her patients.
A large, armored black SUV glided to a stop at the curb.
The tinted window came down. Crawford Love sat behind the wheel in a dark cashmere sweater, jaw set, eyes moving over the street with quiet, methodical precision. He had canceled a billion-dollar merger meeting in London to be here.
June pulled the heavy, reinforced door open and climbed in. The warmth of the cabin closed around her.
𝖣o𝘸n𝗹оа𝖽 рD𝗙s 𝘧𝗿𝖾𝘦 о𝗇
“Where to?” Crawford asked.
“Manhattan Public Hospital. The underground archives,” June said, pulling off her wet mask.
The SUV cut through the flooded streets.
Thirty minutes later they parked at the loading dock of the massive public hospital — the primary site of Apex Bio’s early Phase One clinical trials, which had focused on the city’s most impoverished and vulnerable patients.
June and Crawford moved through the fluorescent-lit basement corridors until they reached the Medical Records Department. June approached the reinforced glass window, set her Apex Bio executive badge on the counter, and slid a stack of legal authorization forms beneath the glass slot.
“I need the unredacted contact list for the Phase One trial cohort from two years ago,” she said.
The department director — a balding man with a thick, unhurried scowl — glanced at the papers without touching them, then crossed his arms.
“No can do, Dr. Erickson. Under HIPAA, I don’t care if you invented the drug. Without a direct subpoena from a federal judge, I cannot release patient addresses to a private corporation p>
June’s hands tightened into fists at her sides. “There is a lethal counterfeit drug flooding the streets right now. These patients are the most vulnerable people in this city. If I don’t reach them today, people will die p>
The director rolled his eyes. “Take it up with the legal department. The law is the law. Please step aside p>
A wave of helpless fury burned through her. A federal subpoena would take two weeks. The patients couldn’t wait two weeks.
Crawford stepped up to the glass.
He didn’t argue. He drew his phone from his pocket, dialed, and set it flat on the metal counter with the speaker open.
It rang twice.
“Marcus,” a deep, authoritative voice answered.
“It’s Crawford. Put me through to the Chief of Staff p>
A brief pause, then another voice on the line.
Crawford leaned toward the counter. His voice was cold and precise. “I am standing in the basement of Manhattan Public Hospital. We are facing an imminent public health crisis involving mass drug poisoning. The records director here is obstructing our investigation using HIPAA as a shield. I need you to contact the Senator’s office immediately and authorize an emergency federal green channel — then instruct this hospital’s board of directors to release the Phase One patient files to Dr. Erickson. If we wait for a standard subpoena, people will die today p>
The response was immediate. “Consider it done, Mr. Love. The board will have the directive in under two minutes p>