Fatal (44 page)

Will laughed.

“Hey, now, I wouldn’t go that far. Listen, we need every body we can get at these meetings. There were over a hundred docs there last time. The papers are really starting to take notice.”

“Will, I’m on two committees in the hospital and a couple at church. The people on the desk at my gym don’t know who I am. I’m afraid my boyfriend may be headed there, too.”

“I understand. Just do your best. I may tell your mom’s story anyway.”

“You have my permission.”

“These companies have ripped the heart out of medicine, Susan. They have to be stopped.”

“You just be careful not to rile them up too much. You wouldn’t be the first doctor they’ve squashed.”

“I’d like to see them try,” Will said.

This is a work of fiction. The names, characters, organizations, and incidents portrayed in this novel are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons or organizations is entirely coincidental.

FATAL

A Bantam Book

PUBLISHING HISTORY

Bantam hardcover edition published May 2002

Bantam mass market edition / October 2003

Published by Bantam Dell

A Division of Random House, Inc.

New York, New York

All rights reserved

Copyright © 2002 by Michael Palmer

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2002018460

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eISBN 0-553-89796-9

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