Untangling the Black Web

by T. F. Jacobs

  This time it’s Davies who replies. “Trust me, David. Maybe you don’t see it from our perspective yet, but you will. Kevin wasn’t one of the lucky ones like you.”

  He looks at me with sympathetic eyes in his $10,000 suit.

  Several of the others are smiling wide. They find this extremely entertaining.

  They find humor in the fact that they’ve killed people in order to silence the corruption that gives them their multi-million-dollar salaries. They find humor in the fact that they are going to put me, their challenger, in prison, because I chose to take them on. They find humor in the fact that people die every day because of the shady loopholes and contracts they put out that keep people from getting the coverage they deserve.

  Davies waves to the security guy standing outside the door.

  He opens it.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Send up the police. We are done here.”

  Davies stands, and on cue, all eleven of the others do as well.

  My heart starts to beat with the realization that this is it.

  I look up. “I have one last thing to say before you have me arrested.”

  Several of the men turn to face me as they iron out their suits and push in their chairs.

  “Would you mind turning off the window shades? I want to get one more good look outside while I’m up this high.”

  Davies tilts his head.

  Then he reaches for a remote control on the table and presses it.

  “There you go,” he says.

  The windows go from a hazy gray to clear.

  I turn around to face the window, taking in the majestic view of the golf course far below.

  A bird sits on the window ledge, just outside the glass. And I smile.

  I turn as some of the men start talking among themselves. Outside the boardroom the elevator doors open. Several men in blue jackets stride toward us.

  “Don’t drop the soap,” someone calls to me. Several men laugh in return.

  The men in blue jackets reach the door, and the security guy opens it for them.

  They march in, and the executives stop to watch.

  There are FBI insignias on their blue windbreakers.

  “He’s all yours, boys,” Davies says.

  I turn back around and face the window. Ready for it to all be over.

  Footsteps fill the room.

  “What the hell?” someone says.

  I turn back around.

  “What is this?” Rebecca asks.

  Twelve FBI officers stand behind all twelve of the executives.

  “You’re under arrest, Einstein,” one of the FBI officers says coyly.

  Suddenly, a dozen clicks fill the room as each officer handcuffs an executive.

  “What the hell is going on?” Davies asks in a frantic voice. “He’s the one you are supposed to arrest.” He nods his head in my direction as the burly FBI officer behind him struggles to grab his right arm. When the officer finally does, he slams Davies’ head into the table.

  “Turns out this room wasn’t so secure after all. Looks like a little birdie told the FBI everything you just told me.”

  I step out of the way to reveal the bird outside the window.

  At first glance it may be able to pass as a bird, but anyone who looks at it closely would notice that it isn’t a bird at all. The blue wings don’t move, and the beak has a metallic glint. It’s a drone in disguise.

  “Some friends at the NSA lent us the bird. It can listen in to any building through any wall up to one hundred feet away. We caught every word.”

  The FBI agent who appears to be in charge dons a smirk and then exits the boardroom.

  “Looks like I did have something all along,” I say.

  For the first time in a long time the tides have turned. Justice is finally here.

  A massive weight feels lifted from my shoulders. People will pay for what they did to Lexi.

  Several other executives struggle as the officers try to apprehend them. One is shoved to the floor.

  Rebecca breaks free and runs for the door, but a second later an officer tackles her into the glass wall, causing the entire wall to shake.

  “You fucker!” she screams. She slams her shoulder straight into the glass.

  “Don’t say anything!” Robert shouts.

  Great legal advice, but it doesn’t matter. The FBI already have what they need.

  “Actually this arrest isn’t legal, because there were no Miranda rights. We’ll be back in the office within the hour,” Davies says. His demeanor is calm and collected as the FBI agent leads him out the door.

  “We’re FBI, dumbass. Don’t need to read you Miranda rights. But if you want it, here you go. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used . . .” The agent trails off as he exits the boardroom.

  All twelve executives are led back across the floor toward the elevator.

  Rebecca continues to scream at the top of her lungs as she squirms to break free. A couple of the others try to fight it too, but most just let it happen.

  The elevator doors open, and they file in and then turn to face me across the way. Rebecca is too hysterical to even notice me. Robert is speaking to some of his colleagues, probably instructing them to stay quiet. Davies glares at me. He shakes his head slowly from side to side, and the elevator doors close in front of him.

  Finally, I’m alone.

  Finally, I’m free.

  “I quit!” I yell, but there’s no one left to hear me. Still, the words are even more satisfying than I ever could have expected.

  And with that, I head for the elevator.

  Chapter 18

  This is the biggest scandal in modern American history.

  We’re talking bigger than Watergate, Bill and Monica, and Enron combined.

  Okay, I know. I am probably biased, but come on.

  Let me rewind for a moment. Before my meeting with Rebecca and folks, I had a very busy night. With the leverage I had over Connelly and Jones, let’s just say they were more than happy to oblige.

  They made some calls on my behalf to strike a few deals. Turns out those connections with the NSA were far more valuable than I ever would have thought. The NSA made quick work collaborating with the FBI. With several open investigations already underway from several different agencies, an emergency court order allowed the use of a listening device for my meeting. The list of possible crimes could go on for days. A minimum of two murders, campaign finance crimes, several cyber-hacking crimes, falsification of financial information, several antitrust laws, and many, many more.

  The issue was that Connelly and Jones only agreed to help us if we got rid of the files once and for all. That meant that, if our assumptions were wrong, everything we had left holding us afloat would be gone. I’ll admit I felt the pressure, but thank God I was right. Not only was I right, it was even better than I expected. We got the executives to say everything we needed and more.

  While Connelly and Jones worked to push these investigations through overnight, Evan picked up where we left off on the media angle of my case.

  Sure, his credentials weren’t nearly what Rob’s were, but the kid can write.

  Exactly eight minutes after my little meeting, the articles and tweets went out into the world. And guess who the only journalist to get pictures of Davies and company on their way out the door was?

  That’s right, Evan.

  Within twenty-six minutes, the articles were picked up and reported on by over eighty-six different media outlets. Three hours later, over a thousand outlets had grabbed hold. By late afternoon, every person in the entire country and a good amount of the world knew about it.

  And why wouldn’t they?

  More than half of all Americans are insured by American True Care or the Inner Medical Association. Shares of each company plummeted to levels the stock market had never seen before.

  Riots broke out at medical facilities across the country, and many hospi
tal and health insurance workers went on strike.

  Doctors’ offices closed. People stocked up on medicines, while others boycotted.

  It was utter chaos.

  And that’s where step two of the plan kicked in.

  I knew that if I was right about American True Care, the ramifications would be colossal. Both Jones and Connelly admitted that the entire medical industry could collapse, and that many could die from lapses in treatments and medicines.

  But we had an idea that would make them look like heroes and also prevent much of that from happening.

  And thus, they started working on an emergency order to keep both American True Care and the Inner Medical Association open, to keep hospitals open, and to keep people alive. Both American True Care and the Inner Medical Association will eventually have their assets seized, as each company begins to dismantle and as customers are given other options.

  The order called for stricter regulations and reform of the health insurance industry. It also called for lower premiums, lower treatment costs, lower prescription costs, and more money in the American taxpayers’ pockets. Bigger than this, it called for full transparency of costs by insurance companies, doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies. Sure, the paperwork will slow the system down, but the money saved will have enormous impact.

  “End the corruption, put more money in your pocket, and be healthy!” That became the slogan for the campaign after Speaker Jones went live in front of the House and the world to push the emergency vote forward.

  It passed 439 votes to zero. One of the highest turnouts of all time.

  Naturally, the videos and images we put out attracted the most attention both from the media and the general public, but the articles have certainly made their way around as well.

  Evan went from two hundred Twitter followers to 1.8 million overnight.

  Out of the articles released by any journalist on the topic, the one with the largest readership, surprisingly, came from an opinion piece that Evan and I collaborated on.

  Untangling the Black Web

  By Evan Higgins

  In Collaboration with Anonymous

  A spider lures its prey in by chasing it until it’s cornered and trapped by a web. Its prey may try to break free, but the spider will spin more webs around it until suddenly, it can’t move. Sometimes the spider injects its victim with venom on the spot, and sometimes the spider waits. When the spider waits, its prey starts to wonder if maybe it can live to escape. But the web is too powerful and too thick. There is no way out, and eventually the prey will die.

  We are the prey. The healthcare industry is the spider, and its web is gigantic.

  Let’s start from the beginning. Humans want to live. We do whatever we are told in order to make sure we can. And thus, we fall into the web.

  The web consists of millions of interconnected pieces. Doctors, pharmacists, pharmaceutical companies, politicians, lobbyists, special interest groups, all working together to take our money and trap us.

  The foundation of the web is insurance. A government-controlled capitalist industry that doesn’t care about you, me, or the next guy. We pay it because we have to. And we don’t think twice about it, because it’s the law, and because we want to live. We want assurance we will be okay if something were to happen to us. But the only thing insurance companies can assure us of is that their profits will stay high. Insurance companies charge us ridiculous monthly rates with ridiculous premiums, because they can. The average American doesn’t come close to having to use an equivalent amount of money on health-related issues, as they have to pay into the system. Most of the ones who get sick get screwed out of coverage one way or another. There are loopholes in contracts, out of network hospitals, unproven procedures. The list goes on and on.

  But insurance companies are only one part of the web.

  Next are the doctors and hospitals. Doctors charge whatever they want to whomever they want, and no one regulates it. One office or hospital could charge $100 for a test while another charges $1,000.

  They’ll recommend treatment, then medicine, then medical equipment, then more doctors’ visits, and then more medicine while we are slowly strangled by the web.

  Pharmaceutical companies do the same thing. The most powerful pharmaceutical companies are the ones that the doctors will recommend, even though often times they are the ones that are ten, twenty, even one hundred times more expensive than their competition. And they charge whatever they want, because they can. And we don’t even second guess the cost, because our doctors recommend them.

  We think that maybe if we do what we are told and give them what they ask, we can live.

  But we’ve given them everything we’ve got. Our money is gone, our health is gone, our hope is gone, and soon we will be gone too.

  How did we get here?

  How did the web get so big?

  The answer: because we the people have allowed it to.

  We elect people into office who we think are going to protect us. People who are going to keep the spiders away. But these people can’t do that. They are part of the web. They take deals and bribes from one lobbyist or another to better themselves and their families, but they’re not acting for the greater good. Sex, money, vacations, school, you name it. They look the other way while the web gets bigger. While we pay more money into the system.

  The corruption needs to come to an end.

  This is something we can all come together on, left or right. The left wants more coverage, government help, and regulation. The right wants more transparency and lower costs. We can demand better coverage, better regulation, and lower costs by demanding to see true costs. We can work together for the results we want.

  Spiders are very good at catching their prey one by one. What they don’t realize is that prey outnumber the spiders.

  Together we must cut the threads of the web and take down the spider.

  Eventually we can untangle this black web, but only if we work together.

  The article has resonated with people who are fed up. With people who have gone bankrupt trying to keep themselves or their families alive. With people who pay more in medical bills than they do for a place to live. With people who have been turned down for treatments. With people who have been pumped full of false hope. With people tangled in the web.

  With all of us.

  Evan also published an article about Dr. Constance taking advantage of his patients with “mishaps” on their invoices. Dr. Constance refused to comment and is nowhere to be found. Probably hiding in his beach house in Bermuda—a house I helped to finance.

  Congressman Byers is set to be impeached after being charged with several counts of prostitution and embezzlement of funds. Evan’s exposé on Byers has been syndicated across the globe.

  The video of Senator Ford, Rachel, and myself is among the most trending videos on the Internet, for obvious reasons. Everyone I know has seen it, including my mother. Releasing it hurt almost as much as losing Lexi, but it had to be done. People believe I betrayed her, and I did, but I did it for her. And that’s something only the people closest to me will ever understand.

  Senator Ford is headed for a divorce, and his intern is right by his side for support. I’ve also received no less than twenty offers to make a porno, so there’s always that to fall back on.

  After the strings Connelly pulled for us, we let his dealings with American True Care slide.

  Investigations into the disappearance of Lincoln Jimenez and Kevin Alright are ongoing. Both men had been reported missing for months, and both of their cases had lost traction altogether, until now. Ron Davies is just one of the many suspects now under investigation.

  Brit is home in the UK, and unfortunately it doesn’t look like any sort of deal will be struck to get her back. She’s living in a flat in East London working as a cyber security analyst for a bank. If I were to guess, I would say the choice wasn’t random.

  We’ll see.

  Today,
I’m waiting outside a Washington, DC, courtroom.

  The congressional hearing has been going on for a week and shows no signs of ending any time soon.

  Aly ended up breaking her vow to stay out of the public eye. She testified in the hearing against American True Care’s low-income program and admitted to speaking with American True Care representatives who denied claims even though these patients should have had blanket coverage. They tried to discredit her, but she stayed resolute.

  Finally, the massive wood doors swing open to let me in.

  A cacophony of clicks and flashes sends me into a blind daze as hundreds of photographers and cameramen work to capture my every step. Evan is in the mix somewhere, but the chaos prevents me from even beginning to be able to pick out his face.

  I’m ushered through the stuffy, crowded room filled with men and women in power suits.

  Ahead, several men sit facing me behind a stand. Small placards displaying their names sit in front of their microphones. Twenty something sets of eyes fix on me. I notice a familiar face front and center: Connelly.

  Oh the irony.

  I take a seat in a hard wood-backed chair at the long brown table in front of the stands of congressmen. Dozens of cameramen snap photos of me.

  On the table to my left several men and women I recognize glare. Rebecca is wearing an extremely low-cut red dress and looks ready to jump from her seat and strangle me. Ron Davies nods slowly while donning a knowing smirk. One last power move before he’s sent to prison for the rest of his days.

  I turn to face the congressional committee before me. Several distinguished faces from both sides of the aisle stare back.

  Everything I am about to say will be loud and clear, for the entire world to hear.

  My heart hammers through my chest, but I know that this is the moment I have been waiting for. This is the moment to deliver the justice that Lexi so deserves.

  Suddenly the room goes quiet.

  Connelly leans in to his microphone. “Mr. Higgins, would you please rise, and raise your right hand so that I can give you the oath?” he asks.