Chapter 10 - NATALIE PACKS A BAG
Natalie packed at six the next morning.
One suitcase.
Nothing dramatic.
Daniel found her folding sweaters into it.
“You’re leaving.”
She continued folding.
“For a few days.”
“Why?”
She looked at him.
“Because Evelyn hid Lucas in a wall after telling him I was gone.”
“She’s not in the house.”
“We don’t know where she is.”
“My security—”
“Your security worked here while eleven caregivers disappeared and millions of dollars moved through fake companies.”
Daniel stopped.
Fair.
Natalie zipped a side compartment.
“If she thinks my relationship with Lucas threatens her, staying here makes him a target.”
Daniel leaned against the doorway.
“You leaving makes him believe she was right.”
Natalie’s eyes filled.
“I know.”
“So don’t.”
“That’s easy for you to say.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“It’s the hardest thing I’ve said this week.”
Natalie looked at him.
Daniel continued.
“I spent three years letting other people make decisions because I thought delegation was strength.”
He glanced at the suitcase.
“I’m not making this one for you.”
“Then don’t.”
“I’m asking you to stay.”
Natalie sat on the edge of the bed.
“Not as Lucas’s replacement mother.”
“No.”
“Not because he panics when I leave the room.”
“No.”
“Because that would be unhealthy.”
“I know.”
She studied him.
“Do you?”
Daniel nodded.
“I spoke to a child therapist this morning.”
Natalie seemed surprised.
“I’m arranging regular sessions.”
“For Lucas?”
“And me.”
That stopped her.
Daniel almost smiled.
“Apparently I’m also part of the problem.”
Natalie closed her suitcase.
Not unpacked.
Closed.
A compromise.
Downstairs, Lucas ate cereal with little interest.
When Natalie entered, he saw the suitcase.
His spoon dropped.
“You’re leaving.”
Natalie sat beside him.
“I was thinking about taking a few days.”
Lucas’s face collapsed.
She held up a hand.
“But I haven’t decided.”
“Because I was bad?”
“No.”
“Because I hit you?”
Natalie did not lie.
“That hurt me.”
Lucas began crying.
“And it was not okay.”
He looked down.
“But me taking care of myself is different from me disappearing because you’re bad.”
Lucas listened.
“If I ever leave this job, I will tell you.”
Daniel stood across the kitchen.
The same promise he had made.
Consistency.
That was how trust returned.
Lucas wiped his face.
“Can I say sorry?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
Natalie nodded.
“Thank you.”
“Do you forgive me?”
“I do.”
Lucas looked relieved.
Then she added:
“And if you throw another statue, I’m ducking.”
Lucas gave a tiny laugh.
The first in days.
Detective Mason arrived with news.
Evelyn’s car had been found at O’Hare.
No record of her boarding a flight.
Grace’s journal was not inside.
But security recovered one deleted message from Evelyn’s surrendered tablet.
To Thomas.
If Daniel finds Grace’s book, Briar House becomes your problem.
Thomas replied:
No. It becomes OUR problem.
Then a third message.
From an unknown number.
Stop fighting. I can clean this.
Daniel stared.
“Who sent that?”
“Still tracing.”
Detective Mason continued.
“We also found the original Grace dismissal memorandum.”
Daniel looked up.
“What?”
“Grace officially terminated Evelyn.”
“So?”
“It was never processed.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“Thomas canceled it.”
Mason nodded.
“Using your authorization.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Thomas had kept Evelyn in the house after Grace tried to remove her.
Then used Daniel’s grief to make it look like Grace had changed her mind.
“Why?”
Mason turned the page.
“Because Grace had requested a full audit.”
Of course.
Natalie asked:
“Where was the audit?”
“Canceled two days after Grace entered hospice.”
Daniel stared at the signature.
His.
Again.
Forged.
Then Mason placed one final document on the table.
Grace had attached a handwritten note.
If Daniel doesn’t approve this, contact Margaret Brooks directly.
Daniel froze.
Margaret Brooks.
His older sister.
They had not spoken in nearly four years.
Not since a family dispute after Grace’s funeral.
Natalie noticed.
“Who’s Margaret?”
Daniel looked at the note.
“My sister.”
Mason asked:
“Would Grace have trusted her?”
“Yes.”
“Then maybe Evelyn wasn’t the only person Grace told.”
Daniel stared at the phone.
His sister lived two thousand miles away.
They had spent years not speaking over something Daniel suddenly could not remember caring about.
He called.
Margaret answered after three rings.
“Daniel?”
He heard shock in her voice.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“What happened?”
Daniel looked at Grace’s note.
“Did Grace ever talk to you about Evelyn Hart?”
Margaret stopped breathing.
May you like
Then said:
“I’ve been waiting four years for you to ask me that.”
