He pressed the speakerphone button, his knuckle white against the plastic.

“This is Dr. Sterling,” he said.

“Dr. Sterling, this is Assistant Attorney General Vance,” a sharp, clear voice echoed through the room.

“We have just received a secure digital transfer of internal financial records from Harborview,” she said.

“They indicate systemic diversion of pediatric charity funds to private accounts linked to Apex Consulting.”

James took a sharp breath, his hand dropping from his leather portfolio.

“We are opening a formal investigation immediately,” Vance continued.

“We require all physical ledgers, server access logs, and communications regarding Apex to be preserved.”

“I expect full cooperation from the board, starting today.”

Dr. Sterling stared at the speaker, his jaw set in a hard, tight line.

“You will have our complete cooperation, Ms. Vance,” Dr. Sterling said.

“My office will deliver the requested servers and physical files to your team by tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you, Doctor. We will be in touch.”

The line clicked and went dead.

The dial tone hummed in the quiet room for three long seconds before Dr. Sterling cut it off.