Chapter 4 - The Paper Trail of Pain
Morning came with a gray,
unforgiving light that made the hospital look even grimmer.
Chloe was awake,
sipping water through a straw,
her eyes still swollen but her mind sharp.
"I can't go back there,
Karina,"
she whispered,
her voice trembling.
"He'll kill me this time."
"You're never going back,"
I told her,
squeezing her hand.
"You're coming with me to the city."
"But first,"
"I need you to tell me everything."
"Not just about last night."
"About the money."
Chloe looked at me,
confused.
"The money?"
"Jonah doesn't work,
Chloe,"
I said.
"How does he pay for the bourbon?"
"How does Mom pay for those silk robes?"
Chloe hesitated,
looking at the door as if Jonah might walk through it.
"He takes my checks,"
she admitted.
"The disability checks."
"The state subsidy for my home care."
"He says it's for rent."
"But he doesn't use it for me."
"I haven't had a new pair of crutches in four years."
"My medication...
sometimes he forgets to buy it."
I felt a sickening jolt of recognition.
This wasn't just assault.
This was Medicaid fraud.
This was the exploitation of a disabled person for financial gain.
And that was exactly what my unit specialized in.
I pulled out my laptop and began to access the state's payment database.
I saw the monthly transfers.
The checks were deposited into a joint account held by my mother and Jonah.
I saw the expenditures.
Liquor stores.
Online gambling sites.
Expensive clothing boutiques.
None of it went to Chloe's physical therapy.
None of it went to her specialized diet.
They were living off her disability while they beat her for the privilege.
"I'm going to need you to sign a document,
Chloe,"
I said,
turning the screen toward her.
"It gives me power of attorney for your medical and financial affairs."
"It means I can freeze those accounts."
"It means I can take your money back."
Chloe didn't hesitate.
She signed with a shaky hand,
the ink smudging slightly on the digital pad.
"Do it,"
she said,
a spark of defiance in her swollen eyes.
"Make them pay."
I called my office in the capital.
"I need a freeze on account ending in 4492,"
I told my assistant.
"And I need a subpoena for the last five years of bank statements for Jonah Vance."
"I'm opening a formal case under the Vulnerable Adults Act."
"And tell the DA I'm coming in hot."
By noon,
I had a temporary restraining order signed by a judge.
It barred Jonah from coming within five hundred feet of Chloe or me.
It gave me legal control of the house in Macon.
And it authorized a search of the premises for evidence of financial crimes.
I walked back to Chloe's bed.
"Rest,"
I told her.
"I have to go back to the house."
"With the police."
She looked at me,
fear flashing in her eyes.
"Be careful,
Karina."
"He’s not going to go quietly."
"I don't want him to go quietly,"
I said,
May you like
checking the magazine of my service weapon.
"I want him to give me a reason."
