Chapter 47 - Emma

It’s 4pm and I’m staring at my spreadsheet in dismay.  Dr. Yates was right, there’s a pattern.  It’s not the pattern I wanted to see.  Every single patient who has had the Aesthetics Management Fee applied to their account was a patient of the same doctor.

Doctor Elliot Davis.

My heart is beating out of my chest as I stare at the screen.  It can’t be true.  I shuffle through the files one more time.  I check and re-check them.  Every single one.  I sit back in my chair and put my hands to my temples.  There’s something going on here.

I don’t know what to think.  Is Elliot a crooked, money laundering, tax evading quack?!

The file room that Dr. Yates told me about this morning is full of boxes.  I’ve gone through maybe a quarter of them but the pattern is crystal clear.  I drop a box off and go to pick up another one when the weight of my discovery hits me.  I close the door to the storage room and sit on one of the boxes.

The tears erupt out of my eyes and I struggle to keep my sobs quiet.  What does this mean?!  How can I trust Elliot now?  

The fight that Elliot and Dr. Yates were having had to have been about this.  I’m sure Dr. Yates has discovered what Elliot is up to and confronted him about it, and how he’s just looking for more evidence.  That is the most logical explanation.  He couldn’t outright tell me, he wanted me to discover it on my own.

But somehow I just can’t believe it.  I think of the last week, of the last month!  I think of how happy I’ve been, how caring and loving Elliot has been towards me and how he is with Gracie.  It just doesn’t add up.

One thing keeps niggling at the back of my mind.  One missing file that should have been where I filed it originally last week, in the box labeled ‘S.’  Melodie Sanders.  Her file is nowhere to be found.  Fair enough, I have dozens of boxes to go through still, but why wouldn’t her file be where I put it?  Someone has moved it, or hidden it, or gotten rid of it.

Did Elliot move it?  I wonder if he’s had access to these files since last week.  

I doubt it.  The files were gone when we got back.  Dr. Yates gave me the key to the file room and told me to give it back to him every time I grab a new box.  If he’s this worried about his key, surely he wouldn’t let anyone else in the room?

The doubt I feel towards Elliot is killing me.  I just can’t reconcile him being dishonest, a fraud, a thief, with him being a doting father and a generous, caring lover.  It just isn’t making sense.  Something is not what it seems here, but I can’t put my finger on it.  

I sit on the box of files and let my tears dry up.

Think, Emma, think!

What is going on?!

I’ve stumbled into something bigger than me.  It goes deeper than just me sorting through files, and now Dr. Yates is using me for something.  He wants me to uncover something.  He knows about this.

He knows about this.

Did Dr. Yates plant these files?  Is this a set up?  

He’s setting me up to find it.  He’s setting Elliot up.

The thought hits me like a lightening bolt.  I sit up straighter, panic shooting through my heart like a dagger.  I need to warn Elliot!  I need to tell him about this!  

I jump up and rip open the door to the file room, intending to rush down the hall to Elliot’s office.  I need to see him now and tell him everything!

But as the door swings open I almost run into a body, standing in the doorway blocking my way.  Startled, I take a step back and look up.

“Dr. Yates!  Hi!  Sorry I wasn’t expecting you there.”

His eyes narrow and I can’t help but shiver under his gaze.

“Have you found anything?”

“No!  I mean, no.  Not yet.”

“No?  That’s too bad.”  He pauses, staring at my face curiously.  “I haven’t gotten around to that letter yet for you either.  Where were you going so fast anyways?”

“I just… have to pee.”

I cringe.  I have to pee?! That’s the best I can come up with?  His eyebrow raises slowly but he doesn’t make a move.

He knows I know.  He’s dangling my loan letter in front of my face.  He wants me to say the words and to point the finger at Elliot.  I can’t betray Elliot like this!  Not without knowing exactly what’s going on.  I just need to talk to him.  One conversation and then I’ll decide what to do.

Without taking his eyes off my face he takes a step to the side, letting me pass.  I put my head down and take a step to pass him when he clears his throat.

“Emma,” he says, extending his hand.  I look at him, confused, and then realise he wants the keys back.  I drop them in his hand, making sure that my fingers don’t touch his flesh.  I hurry down the hallway towards the bathroom and the hair on the back of my neck stands up as I feel Dr. Yates’ gaze following me.

When I pass Elliot’s office I will myself not to look inside.  I know Dr. Yates is watching so I just let my feet carry me past the doorway towards the bathroom.  I need to talk to Elliot.  I need to warn him.