“I’ll definitely take care of it. What’s the lawyer’s name?”
“Patrick McCarthy.”
At that moment, he saw Aimée turn into the walkway, carrying a white bag from CHOCnyc, an Inwood French bakery. Both Brian and Grady immediately got to their feet. She stopped when she saw Grady, and like Brian had done earlier, she tilted her head and wrinkled her forehead, obviously recognizing him on some level but struggling to place him.
“Hello, Mrs. Murphy,” Grady said to help her. “It’s Grady Quillen.”
“Oui, Grady Quillen,” Aimée repeated. “So nice to see you again.”
“I’m sorry about Deputy Inspector Murphy’s passing,” Grady said, bowing his head.
“Thank you,” Aimée responded kindly. “It was a shock to us all.” Brian’s father had died of a heart attack a year and a half earlier while on the job as commanding officer of the local precinct.
After a few minutes of small talk, Grady went on his way, saying he had more work he needed to do. After he was out of sight, Aimée turned to Brian. “What was he here for so early?”
He waved the envelope. “He’s a process server, and he served me. I’m afraid MMH Inwood is already suing me for Emma’s care.”
“C’est terrible,” Aimée said, worry creasing her face. “Why so soon?”
“It is terrible,” Brian said, mimicking his mom’s French accent. “I feel like my life is coming apart at the seams, and I don’t even know where to begin to try to fix it.”
Chapter 11
August 31
It was just after eleven o’clock in the morning when Brian slowed his running pace as he neared MMH Inwood and then jogged up the driveway. As religious as he’d been about keeping himself in superb physical shape with weight training and cardiovascular exercise since high school, he seriously missed his daily workouts and hoped that with Emma at home and Aimée and Hannah offering to help, he could get back to some semblance of a routine. His mother and Emma’s mother certainly had helped that morning and had allowed him and Camila to spend a few hours in the home office brainstorming potential ways to drum up business for Personal Protection LLC. While they were strategizing, several more harassing calls came in from Premier Collections, confirming Grady’s assessment of their persistence.
After having been duly served with a complaint and summons, Brian had been eager to see Roger Dalton in the hopes of stopping the collection process, so as soon as he could, with Aimée’s and Hannah’s blessings, he’d set out. Now as he entered, he wondered if his visit would turn out to be worthwhile. After Grady’s estimate that the chances of reversing anything were “piss poor,” he wasn’t optimistic, but he couldn’t see any harm in trying.
As he entered the hospital’s swank admin area, he was reminded that he’d always thought of MMH Inwood as a positive asset to the community. Now he was thinking the opposite, especially knowing how many other Inwood residents were being pursued for collection of most likely seriously inflated hospital bills.
Brian had not called ahead, preferring just to show up and plead his case. But he soon began to think he’d made a mistake, as he was subjected to a considerable wait. When he was finally ushered into the office, Roger added to his pessimism by announcing that Brian had better make it quick, as he didn’t have much time.
“I’ll try to be fast,” he said, struggling to control his emotions. He was beginning to hate this thin wasp of a man. “I’m shocked and disappointed that my case has already been turned over to Premier Collections and they are already hounding me. From my memory, that’s legally questionable. Besides, you and I have been in continuous contact, and you know that I am taking this situation seriously enough to have made a personal visit to Peerless Health Insurance late last week.”
Sighing with boredom and annoyance, Roger tented his skinny, gnarled fingers. “To be honest, I didn’t have any choice, not under these trying times. Turning a case over to collections immediately has become standard policy dictated from above when it’s obvious the situation is futile, which is what you have led me to believe. You refused to set up an agreeable payment plan. Case closed.”
“I can’t set up a payment plan in this financial environment with the pandemic going on,” Brian said irritably. “My company’s income these days is zero.”
“That’s my point precisely,” Roger said. “You are not going to agree to a reasonable payment plan. So we agree.”
“What exactly do you mean, ‘dictated from above’?”
“Exactly as it sounds,” Roger answered.
“How far above?”
“The top.”
“Let me ask you this,” Brian said. “Does MMH Inwood own Premier Collections?”
“Why do you ask? What difference does that make? You owe what you owe.”
“I think it makes a lot of difference,” Brian argued. “And your response certainly confirms my suspicion. When you say policy is dictated from the top, I assume you mean the CEO, Mr. Charles Kelley?”
“Obviously,” Roger said as if progressively bored by the conversation. “He is the chief executive officer, after all.”
“So he must be really hands-on if he’s concerned about the nitty-gritty goings-on in the hospital, like collections and speeding up the process.”
“Oh, yes,” Roger said with emphasis. “Mr. Kelley is the man behind MMH’s financial success and massive building campaign. Both this campus and MMH Midtown have been totally renovated, bringing everything up to twenty-first-century standards. All that takes money, so Mr. Kelley has made us, the Business Department, feel as essential to the hospital mission as any other department. Charles Kelley is a superb businessman. Mark my words!”
“I’m beginning to think ‘ruthless’ might be closer to the truth than ‘superb,’ ” Brian said. “Did you know that I have already been served?”
“I did not,” Roger said. “But I’m not surprised. Once an account is moved to collections, I’m no longer involved.”
“I’d like to get you reinvolved and hold up the legal maneuvering. Why don’t you and I go back to talking about some kind of goodwill payment to carry us through this pandemic?”
“That’s not possible.” Roger shook his head firmly.
“Why not?”
“Mr. Kelley, the superb businessman he is, has insisted that Premier Collections operate as a separate entity even though owned by MMH Inwood. For accounting and tax reasons, Premier has bought your debt. I’m no longer involved, so you have to deal with them from now on.”
“But if Charles Kelley were to give you license to get reinvolved, would that work?”
“Obviously,” Roger said with a dismissive laugh, as if that was the most ridiculous idea he’d heard all day. “But that’s not going to happen.”
“How often does he come here?” Brian asked. He’d noticed that on all his recent visits to the MMH Inwood admin area, Charles Kelley’s office and its neighboring fancy conference room were empty.
“Not that often. Maybe once or twice a week. He’s mostly at his MMH Midtown office, which is a facility four times the size of this one.”
“Is he approachable?” Brian asked. “I mean, could I set up a meeting with him? As good a businessman as you think he is, maybe he should hear from someone in the community being adversely affected by his policies. Ultimately, he must be concerned about the hospital’s image in the community, which I think is suffering. I’ve learned I’m not the only one being sued.”
Roger laughed even harder than he had a moment earlier. “You would not be able to arrange a meeting with Charles Kelley,” he scoffed. “No way. His time is inordinately valuable. Besides, he doesn’t have the time to get involved with individual patient accounts.”