Chapter 5: Carol Voss Picks Up on the Second Ring
I called from the hallway outside the private room, my back against the wall, the photograph still in my hand.
It rang once.
Twice.
"Hello?" The voice was older, careful, alert for three in the morning.
"My name is Ellen.
I was a patient of Patricia Ellison's in 2002.
A young woman named Nora gave me your number."
A pause.
Not surprise — more like the sound of someone setting something down and giving their full attention.
"I've been waiting for this call for a long time," Carol said.
"Are you at St.
Jude's?"
I pulled the phone slightly away from my ear.
"How did you know that?"
"Because Nora went into labor two days ago and I've been watching my phone ever since.
Is the baby all right?"
"She's sleeping."
"Good." A breath.
"And Nora?"
"She's scared.
But she's holding together."
"She's stronger than she looks." A pause.
"How much do you know?"
"I know about the forged consent form.
I know about Ellison's license being revoked.
I know there are at least seven of us."
"Nine," Carol said.
"I confirmed two more last month.
And Ellen — Ellison didn't just retire.
She was forced out by the board of the clinic after an internal complaint in 2006.
The complaint was filed by Marcus Hale."
I frowned.
"He reported her?"
"He reported her after she tried to cut him out of the arrangement.
They had a falling out over money.
He wanted a larger share of what they were charging the recipient families.
She refused.
He went to the board.
But the board buried it — two of the members had used the same clinic for their own families.
So they revoked her license quietly and let her disappear."
"And Hale?"
"Walked away clean.
He had documentation that made it look like Ellison was solely responsible.
He'd been protecting himself from the beginning."
I looked through the small window in the door.
Christopher was sitting with his elbows on the table.
Nora was looking at Daisy.
"Carol, do you have proof?
Actual documentation?"
"I have Ellison's internal patient files.
A former clinic administrator gave them to me eighteen months ago.
She felt guilty.
She knew what was happening and she didn't stop it." A pause.
"I also have emails between Hale and Ellison from 2001 through 2004.
They discussed the women by patient number.
They discussed pricing.
They discussed how to keep the consent forms from being traced."
My stomach turned.
"Why haven't you gone to the police?"
"I did.
Twice.
The first detective told me it was a civil matter.
The second one opened a file and then went quiet for eight months.
Last week I hired a private attorney.
She thinks we have enough for a criminal referral if we can get two or three of the women to come forward together.
One voice is easy to dismiss.
Three is harder."
"I'll come forward," I said.
It came out before I had fully decided it, but once it was out I knew it was true.
"I was hoping you'd say that." Carol's voice shifted — not softer exactly, but less guarded.
"There's something else you should know.
Hale is aware that Nora has been searching.
He has people — I don't know who — but someone has been monitoring the forum where the women connected.
Two months ago, one of the women in the group received a legal letter telling her to cease contact with the others or face a defamation suit."
"He's trying to silence them."
"He's trying to buy time.
His attorney is good and he knows it.
But he doesn't know about the administrator's files yet.
As far as he knows, everything that exists is circumstantial."
I looked at the photograph again.
Hale's hand on Ellison's shoulder.
Both of them smiling.
"How soon can we meet?" I asked.
"I'm three hours away by car.
I can be there by morning."
"Come," I said.
"Bring everything."
I ended the call and stood in the hallway for a moment.
The hospital was quiet.
A nurse passed at the far end of the corridor without looking up.
I went back into the room.
Christopher looked up when I entered.
Nora looked up.
"Someone is coming in the morning," I said.
"Her name is Carol Voss.
She has documentation.
We're going to do this properly."
Christopher was quiet for a moment.
Then: "Ellen.
I'm sorry.
I should have told you the moment Nora first contacted me."
"Yes," I said.
"You should have."
I sat down across from him.
I didn't say anything else.
Neither did he.
But Nora was watching us, and after a moment she said, quietly, "He tried to protect me too.
He was afraid that if you found out suddenly, you'd want nothing to do with me."
I looked at her.
"I'm not angry at you," I said.
She nodded.
Her eyes were bright.
"I just wanted to know where I came from," she said.
"That's all I ever wanted."
I reached across the table and covered her hand with mine.
She didn't pull away.
Outside in the bassinet, Daisy made a small sound in her sleep — not distress, just the ordinary noise of a new person existing in the world — and then went quiet again.
May you like
What I didn't know yet was that Marcus Hale already knew Carol Voss was moving.
And he had decided to move first.
