Deadly Errors (36 page)

Tyler looked into his own cup of coffee. Was Khan telling the truth? He was never a good judge of character when it came to situations like this. Never had been. He took people at their word because that’s how he’d been trained as a physician. You’d never make a diagnosis if you doubted everything a patient told you. Sure, you developed the ability to filter and arrange stories into the proper order, but you always accepted the patient’s word.

“Who do you think made the changes? Day?”

Khan held up both palms. “Your guess is as good as mine. But keep this in mind: unless Day holds an extremely high security level or is aware of ways to navigate the system without leaving footprints, I would think not.”

“If not Day, then who?”

“Without footprints, how can you tell? Could be either someone high up in the information stream or someone who cracked the system’s security.”

“But it has to be someone with sufficient motivation to want to make the changes. Who would that be?”

Khan shot him a wide-eyed, are-you-crazy look. “Anyone with Med-InDx options is a candidate to make those changes.”

“Not everybody’s willing to kill for stock options, Yusef.” He held up a hand. “Okay, that’s beside the point. Point is, we both know the system’s flawed. What
is
the flaw? I mean, how can that happen?”

Khan seemed to choose his words carefully before answering, “That’s a tough one. The easiest answer is that someone is purposely changing the information. And I must say, the thought did cross my mind. But, to what end? That does not make much sense, does it? Especially since it seems to occur at random.”

“I agree.”

Khan said, “The other possibility is something’s inherently wrong in the code … something that corrupts the information either as it’s entered or immediately after it’s entered. I suspect the latter. Otherwise it would be too easily noticed. The other bit of data supporting this theory is, like I just said, the occurrences seem completely random and, for what it’s worth, the errors don’t seem to be exclusive to only the medical record. I’ve seen similar problems with the accounting and scheduling software. To be even more specific, the problem seems limited to only proprietary Med-InDx sections … and not the ones they picked up from dot-com software casualties.”

Tyler nodded. Khan’s explanation paralleled Ferguson’s story. “I still don’t understand how data might spontaneously change, or if Levy knows about it, why he hasn’t fixed it.”

Khan broke off a piece of plain donut. “A bug like that can be extremely problematic. Especially one’s that intermittent and random, like this appears to be. If you can’t reproduce the symptoms it’s almost impossible to trap and troubleshoot it. The best you can do is develop a patch to work around it.” Khan gave a little laugh, “And then, of course, there’s the great Bernie Levy.” He popped the piece of donut into his mouth.

“Meaning?”

Khan flashed a bemused smile, held a finger to his mouth until swallowing. “You met him the other day. What was your impression?”

“Other than the fact he blew me off, I didn’t have time to form one.”

Khan’s eyebrows shot up. “You took no notice of the shrine to Bill Gates? The shrine that doubles as his office?”

Before Tyler could answer, Khan added, “It goes beyond that. His obsession has engulfed his personal life too. His daughter’s name is Willamina, in honor of Gates. Rumor has it his wife wouldn’t let him get away with just plane old William. Oh no, she insisted it be more feminine.” Khan laughed, obviously enjoying the tale. “The point is, he considers the medical record portion of the system his. He refused to delegate any part of the programming. But we’re straying from the point, aren’t we.” Khan’s eyes lost their mirth. “I know you were digging around medical records after I restricted your privileges. Looking for what, other examples?”

“Yes.”

“And did you find anything worthwhile?”

Tyler hesitated a few beats. “Guess that depends on what you’d consider valuable. Besides, from what you’ve told me, you probably recorded every key stroke I punched in that keyboard, so you tell me what I found.”

Khan studied him a moment. “Doctor Mathews, let us, as you Americans like to say, cut to the chase. I believe we hold the same goal dear to our heart … to stop a flawed system from obtaining the JCAHO endorsement. Unless, of course, they—meaning Med-InDx—can demonstrate convincingly that the bug has been dealt with appropriately. In that case, I have no problem with the software. In fact, if it were not for that little,” he cleared his throat to emphasize the next word, “problem, I’d say it is an excellent solution. Is this not a fair statement?” Khan leaned back against the booth like a poker player laying down a straight flush.

With Ferguson’s warning lurking in the back of his mind, Tyler crafted his response so as to get more information with out giving away his own. “Sounds like you’re on a crusade. I’m not. I just want to practice neurosurgery and get on with my life.”

Khan nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, my point exactly. Benson has you very well compromised.” He paused, studying Tyler before flipping a dismissive wave. “Yes, yes, I know all about the drugs planted in your locker. Benson’s work. All of it. And for one reason only … to force your silence. Benson and Levy know you have the power to expose their secret and in the process destroy what they’ve worked so hard for these past four years. They’re deathly afraid of what you might do with that information. That’s what this is all about.”

Tyler felt a wave of relief and hope come over him. “You have proof Benson did it?”

Khan smiled. “Yes, of course. I have it all on tape.” Before Tyler could speak, Khan continued, “You are relieved at this? Does this mean you are ready to cooperate with me?”

“What exactly is it you want from me?” Tyler asked suspiciously.

“Come now, Doctor Mathews … I know you are a smart man. But perhaps I should make my position perfectly clear. I have the evidence of a software bug. You, I believe, have evidence to show its consequences. In fact, it has, to put it bluntly, killed several patients. Am I not correct?”

“Yes.”

“And you have been able to document this? Unambiguously?”

“There’s still something about your story that bothers me … if you’ve been on my side all along, why didn’t you say something earlier? Why didn’t you help me? I mean, why now?”

Khan leaned forward, both forearms planted firmly on the table. “Ahhh, a good question. Simple enough answer. When you first came to me I had no idea if you were one of Benson’s spies. He’s a canny one, Benson. He’s had concerns about me for several months now but hasn’t been able to know for sure.”

Khan’s explanation sounded too easy, too rehearsed. “Why not fire you? That’d take care of things.”

“Because I am upper level management. He would have to go through the board to fire me.”

“So what? Why not frame you like he’s done with me?”

“You
are
a suspicious one, aren’t you. Fair enough. The answer again is simple. You were easy. You have a past … one that made the drug angle very believable. Me? It is not so easy. And unlike you, I would have an exit interview with the board and that’s something Benson fears since he doesn’t know exactly what I know.”

Had to admit, Khan’s proposition made some sense. By working together, Tyler would have the enough information to get Ferguson off his back and refute the bogus drug charges.

Khan asked, “Are you willing to join forces?”

“Okay—yes, I made copies of the records. In fact, in Torres’s case, I made the copy before I let you know about it, so yeah, I have date stamped evidence the reports were changed after the report was filed.”

Khan beamed. “Excellent.”

Tyler remembered something else he wanted cleared up. “But let me ask you one more thing.”

“Certainly.”

“If you knew the drug thing wasn’t true, why did you restrict my network access?”

Tyler’s cell phone rang. He pulled it from the rucksack and glanced at the face. The number was unfamiliar. A premonitory bolt of panic gripped his heart.

N
ANCY TUGGED, FELT the cord give a little. Another tug and it started to pull free. A moment later it fell away from her wrists into her lap. Now, with both hands free, she reached down and slid the cord around her waist so the knots at the back of the chair came around to the front. Another few seconds and these knots were untied too. Quickly, she stood up, rubbing the rawness from her wrists where the cord friction abraded them. She moved to the sliding glass door, flipped the latch and slid it open only enough to step outside onto the deck.

For a moment she stood in the heavy night air allowing her eyes to adjust to the dark. Off across a void she recognized the three television towers atop Queen Anne Hill. Then it struck her. This must be a Lake Union houseboat.

She was surrounded by water.

A wave of nausea hit followed by vertigo. Arms blindly searching for something to grab onto, she stumbled back to the safety of the room, tripped over the door track and fell to the floor.

A
VAGUELY FAMILIAR voice asked, “You want your wife again alive?”

The words didn’t make sense. Tyler glanced at the phone in his hand, returned it to his ear. “What?”

“Do you want to get your wife back alive?”

A bolt of anxiety slammed Tyler’s gut. His mind started racing, running through possibilities, praying for a wrong number or someone playing a sick joke.

The voice continued, “Because, unless you do exactly as I tell you, you’ll never see her again.”

The voice … he’d heard it before. Where? Who?

“You still there, Mathews?”

“Who is this?” Tyler’s heart was hammering his temples, his hands tingled. Khan watched with a questioning expression, as if suspecting something.

“Do I have to tell you? You haven’t figured it out yet? And here I’ve been deluded into believing you were such a smart little fucker. Well, guess what! I was wrong about that, wasn’t I?” A pause. “You know who I am and I believe by now I have your complete and undivided attention, so it’s time to play let’s make a deal. Only in this game there is only one door and only one deal. To put it bluntly, you have no choice or negotiating power. Are you following any of this, or are you still trying to figure a way to sneak into Bernie Levy’s office?”

Khan mouthed, “What is it?”

Tyler waved off the question, his total attention on Benson. “I’m listening. What do you want?”

“What I want, my young, stupid friend, are three things. One, I want you to sign a statement retracting your egregious allegation that our medical record system has a problem and admitting that your outrageous accusations against me and my administration represent nothing more than an unfortunate side effect of your ongoing battle against substance abuse.”

Benson paused. The constriction in Tyler’s throat tightened, “And?”

“Yes, well, the next item on the agenda—to be included in the aforementioned statement—is for you to agree to enter a drug rehab program … which I might add, will be paid for by your benevolent employer, Maynard Medical Center. Let it not be said that we are unwilling to work with an impaired staff physician, no matter how serious the problem may be.”

Another pause.

“Get on with it. What else do you want?!”

“My my, a tad bit testy, are we?” Benson laughed. “Well, dear boy, it’s quite simple … I want that CD you burned.”

“What CD?” Tyler’s eyes drilled Khan, who was hanging on every word.

“Don’t irritate me any more than you already have or you’ll really piss me off. And that I you can’t afford to do.”

It hit Tyler: the only reason Benson could know about the CD was if Jill told him. He hadn’t told any one else, not even Nancy. Or had he? Suddenly he wasn’t certain anymore. Did that mean Benson was bluffing about Nancy? Did he have Nancy with him? Unable to think clearly, Tyler tried to come up with a bluff of his own. If only he could get hold of Ferguson. Could Khan help?

“You know, I don’t really give a rat’s ass if you get pissed off or not.”

“Tyler, Tyler, Tyler … that is not the right attitude. Let me see if I can help provoke an appropriate adjustment. Hold on, will you?”

Tyler heard movement, then a bell in the background, the kind of bell you might hear from a boat. A moment later came the clatter of the phone being picked up. He recognized Nancy’s sobbing, but she couldn’t seem to get a word out. Finally she was able to gasp, “Tyler, there’s water all around me. I’m terrified.”

“Nancy?” Tyler’s legs weakened, almost sending him to the floor. The room started to spin. He reached out to keep from falling.

Far off, in the background roar of his brain he heard Benson’s voice say, “Take her back to the room,” then directly into the phone, “Still so cocky, you little prick?” Another laugh. “Oh dear, maybe you don’t really care about her and I’ve made a huge mistake. Oh my, now wouldn’t that be something!”

A white-hot ember engulfed Tyler’s brain. “You hurt her, Benson, so help me I’ll kill you.”

“Oh my, so you
do
care. How auspicious for me. Does this mean you’re ready to deal?”