Chapter 2 - ELEVEN NAMES
Daniel did not sleep.
At two in the morning, he sat alone in his home office with a list of names on the screen in front of him.
Eleven.
Lucas had been right.
Not six.
Eleven caregivers had either worked directly with him or regularly supervised him since his mother died three years earlier.
Daniel remembered some.
Others barely registered.
That made him feel worse.
Madeline.
Three months.
Sarah.
Five weeks.
Joanne.
Four months.
Megan.
Seven months.
Chelsea.
Three weeks.
Anna.
Two months.
Each file ended almost identically.
Resigned voluntarily.
Unable to manage behavioral challenges.
Requested immediate termination.
Daniel stared at the wording.
Too similar.
At 2:17 a.m., someone knocked.
Natalie stood outside.
She had changed into soft gray sweatpants and a loose sweater.
“Sorry.”
Daniel gestured toward her side.
“How bad?”
“Bruised.”
“You should have gone to the hospital.”
“The doctor checked me.”
Daniel nodded.
“Lucas?”
“Asleep.”
“Where?”
Natalie hesitated.
“Outside my room.”
Daniel looked up.
“What?”
“He wouldn’t let me close the door.”
Daniel stood.
“He’s sleeping in the hallway?”
“I moved a mattress near the doorway.”
Daniel closed his eyes briefly.
His son lived in a twenty-two-bedroom mansion.
And felt safest sleeping on the floor outside the room of a woman he had known for nine days.
Daniel hated what that said about the house.
And about him.
Natalie noticed the list.
“Those are the other caregivers?”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t know?”
The question was not accusatory.
That made it worse.
“I knew people came and went.”
Natalie remained quiet.
Daniel looked at her.
“Say it.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You thought it.”
She studied him.
“You work a lot.”
“That’s diplomatic.”
“I’m an employee.”
“You were hit with a bronze statue today. You’ve earned temporary honesty.”
Natalie almost smiled.
Then didn’t.
“Yes.”
She moved closer to the desk.
“I think Lucas expects people to disappear.”
Daniel leaned back.
“Because his mother died?”
“Maybe partly.”
Grace Brooks had died from an aggressive cancer when Lucas was two.
Even saying the name still changed something inside Daniel.
Grace had been warmth in a family built around fear.
She had loved loud music.
Burned toast constantly.
Filled Daniel’s sterile mansion with toys, color, and arguments about whether children should be allowed to draw on expensive walls.
After she died, Daniel had survived the only way he knew.
Work.
Structure.
Delegation.
Evelyn handled the house.
Daniel handled everything else.
Until everything else became easier than being a father to a grieving toddler.
Natalie pointed toward the employment files.
“Did you personally speak to any of them before they left?”
Daniel stopped.
“I signed the separations.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“No.”
Natalie nodded slowly.
Daniel disliked the answer more after hearing it aloud.
He opened Megan Cole’s file.
Seven months.
Longest tenure.
Reason for resignation:
Increasing emotional attachment interfering with professional boundaries.
Daniel frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Natalie leaned closer.
“It means someone thought Lucas liked her too much.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Or she thought that.”
“Maybe.”
He checked the approval.
His signature appeared digitally.
Daniel remembered nothing about it.
He opened the communication archive.
No resignation email from Megan.
Only an internal note written by Evelyn.
Employee requested immediate release.
Daniel searched his personal inbox.
Nothing.
Natalie watched.
“Can emails be filtered before they reach you?”
“My executive system has priority routing.”
“Who controls it?”
Daniel already knew.
Evelyn.
He sat back.
“No conclusions.”
“I didn’t make one.”
“Good.”
Daniel looked at the list again.
“Tomorrow, we contact them.”
“All eleven?”
“Yes.”
Natalie hesitated.
“You might not like what they say.”
Daniel met her eyes.
“I don’t particularly like what I’m hearing now.”
Another knock came.
Soft.
Three taps.
Natalie opened the door.
Lucas stood in pale blue pajamas holding a blanket.
Daniel immediately moved toward him.
“What happened?”
Lucas looked at Natalie.
“I woke up.”
Natalie crouched.
“I’m still here.”
Lucas nodded.
His eyes moved toward Daniel’s computer screen.
Then stopped on Megan’s photograph.
“Megan.”
Daniel knelt.
“You remember her?”
Lucas’s face brightened for a split second.
Then shut down.
“She left.”
“Do you know why?”
Lucas nodded.
Daniel’s heart accelerated.
“Why?”
The boy twisted the blanket around his fingers.
“Because she hugged me when I cried.”
Natalie looked at Daniel.
Daniel kept his voice gentle.
“Who told you that was why?”
Lucas looked toward the office door.
As if he expected someone to appear.
Then whispered:
“Mrs. Hart said Megan forgot the rules.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“What rules?”
Lucas’s eyes filled again.
May you like
He took one small step closer to Natalie.
“Don’t make them love me too much.”
