THE BLIZZARD AT ST. CATHERINE’S

Ray scoffed, brushing a speck of lint off his cashmere coat. “You always had a big mouth, Claire. But you’re nobody here. The medical staff already logged her as a wandering psychiatric patient. Her doctor signed the temporary custody transfer to Daniel two hours ago.”

Daniel took a step forward, his smirk widening. “Yeah, sis. You’re out of the loop. Ray and I are her legal guardians now. We’re moving her to a secure memory-care facility in Pennsylvania this afternoon.”

I didn't answer them. Instead, I reached into my coat pocket, pulled out a satellite tablet, and dialed a direct line to the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Harrison Vance.

“Harrison,” I spoke into the speakerphone. “This is Claire Sterling from Northstar. I am currently standing in your east emergency room with my mother, Evelyn Sterling. She was abandoned outside your locked gates in twenty-degree weather with severe soft-tissue trauma,hypothermia, and a falsified psychiatric hold attached to her file.”

Ray laughed loudly. “Who are you calling, crazy lady? The janitor?”

On the speakerphone, a deep, authoritative voice boomed through the room: “Claire?! My God. I am coming down to the ER immediately.”

The color drained from the attending ER physician’s face. He knew that voice instantly.

Three minutes later, Dr. Harrison Vance—accompanied by the hospital’s chief legal counsel and three armed corporate security officers—rushed through the double doors of the ER.

Ray’s arrogant grin faltered for the first time. “Dr. Vance? What’s going on here? We’re just collecting my wife—”

“Shut your mouth, Mr. Vance,” Dr. Vance commanded sternly, completely ignoring Ray’s outstretched hand. He walked straight over to my mother’s gurney, examining her blue feet and bruised wrists with an expression of profound professional horror.

“Claire,” Dr. Vance said, turning to me with deep respect. “Your firm conducted our hospital system’s federal compliance audit last spring. If any member of my staff participated in falsifying a psychiatric hold or enabling elder abuse, their medical license will be revoked by noon.”

Daniel stared at me, his eyes widening in sudden, panicked confusion. “Wait... what? Compliance audit? Claire, what is he talking about? You work for an insurance company!”

“I don't work for an insurance company, Daniel,” I said softly, stepping closer to my brother until I could smell the stale alcohol on his breath. “I own the forensic risk firm that audits the insurance companies. And as of ten minutes ago, Northstar has initiated a full federal forensic audit of every financial document, notary seal, and medical record you and Ray filed over the last ninety days.”

Ray’s jaw clenched, his hands trembling slightly in his coat pockets. “You can’t do that! We have a signed power of attorney!”

“A power of attorney obtained through physical coercion and illegal sedation,” I replied smoothly, pulling up a digital file on my tablet. “Do you really think I didn't notice the heavy traces of Haldol in my mother’s blood work results from two hours ago, Ray? Haldol she was never prescribed by her primary physician.”