I scanned the space and stared at a small man with gray hair sitting in the back by himself at a round table. He had sharp, dark eyes, and the tan skin of someone that spends a lot of time outdoors. He leaned toward me and nodded once, and I drifted toward him, head tilted.
“Dr. Chen?”
“You must be Dean Coarse.” He gestured. “Take a seat.”
I lingered, looking at him for a moment. He wore a rumpled white button-down shirt tucked into khakis, and as far as I could tell, he seemed all-around average, but I supposed a mafia doctor wouldn’t draw attention to himself.
I pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down. “Thanks for meeting with me.”
“I have to admit, I was a little curious. I don’t get called very often to deal with civilians, but when I do, they always seem to come from your hospital.”
I hesitated and let a smile play across my face. “I guess you’re referencing Gavin.”
“That’s the one.” Dr. Chen gave me the barest of smiles in return. “I assume that’s where you got my contact information.”
“That’s right.”
“How’s he doing?”
“Alive and well, from what I know.”
“That’s good to hear. There was a time when that wasn’t so certain.” He tilted his head, the smile disappearing. “What can I do for you, Dr. Coarse?”
“I have a problem.”
His eyes flicked up to the bandage on my head then back down. “Seems as though that’s true.”
“It’s our hospital administrator. I believe she’s involved with—” I hesitated, not sure how to phrase it. “—your employers.”
“That could be true. My employers have their fingers in many pots.”
“I think she’s been laundering money for them. I can’t prove it yet, but I want to.”
“And you think I’d help you with that?” He seemed surprised and leaned forward. “Tell me why the hell I would?”
“Because you helped Gavin, which means you’re not a bad person.”
“Good and bad don’t have anything to do with it.” Dr. Chen’s eyes were cold and calm. “I’m more pragmatic than anything else.”
As I sat there looking back into his neutral expression, I realized that I’d made a huge error in judgment. I assumed Chen helped Gavin back then because Chen was a halfway decent guy and was willing to help a doctor in need—but maybe I had completely miscalculated. There could’ve been mitigating circumstances that I wasn’t aware of, and any one of those circumstances could be the reason why Chen got involved, none of which would exist now. He was right that he had no real reason to help me.
“Two men assaulted me the other day. You’re a doctor, you can’t condone that sort of thing.”
“If I didn’t condone violence, then I’d be out of the job fairly quickly.”
I grimaced. “Perhaps condone isn’t the right word.”
“Listen to me carefully, Dr. Coarse. I have no reason to help you right now, and I don’t expect I ever will—unless you give me one.”
I tilted my head and let that sink in. “I can pay.”
“Now I’m listening.”
“I need to know what they have on my hospital admin, and what they’ve been doing. I need proof, Dr. Chen, or else Maria is going to keep trying to roll over me.”
He leaned back. “She knows you’re looking into her?”
I nodded. “I believe she’s the one that sent the goons after me to begin with.”
“You might be right. I’ve never met a hospital administrator that wasn’t also a killer at heart.”
“You’d like Maria then.”
He watched me thoughtfully for a moment. “I’m not sure I can give you what you want,” he admitted. “I have access, but not that much access.”
“Then I’m not sure what I’d pay you for.”
“I’ll make a suggestion then. You need proof that the hospital administrator is laundering money, correct?”
“We stole documents from Maria’s office, but found nothing conclusive.”
“Then you need to go after the accountants.” He tapped a finger on the table. “It’s always the accountants.”
I laughed softly, shaking my head. I didn’t know why I hadn’t thought of that yet—but of course the hospital kept meticulous records of every dollar in and every dollar out, and whatever accounting firm did the hospital’s taxes would have records of it all.
“Seems like you helped me more than you planned, Dr. Chen.”
He smiled, cold and vicious. “Perhaps, but perhaps not. I’ll let you have this one for free, but I’m going to want a favor in return.”
“What favor?”
“Any favor I desire.” He crossed his arms. “Think of it like The Godfather. You’ve seen that movie?”
“Of course. I didn’t think the mafia actually worked that way.”
“It most certainly does. There’s nothing better than being able to demand any sort of payment you desire at any given date.” His smile got larger. “One day, I’ll demand payment from you, and you’ll give it to me.”
“I’m not so sure about that.” I pushed back from the table.