Chapter 9 - THOMAS KEENE’S FILES
Thomas never reached the meeting.
His car was found abandoned beneath an expressway overpass.
Driver’s door open.
Phone on the seat.
No blood.
No signs of struggle.
Daniel did not know whether Thomas had run—
or whether someone had helped him disappear.
Police became involved formally.
Daniel had avoided that for years whenever family affairs crossed into gray territory.
Not this time.
Grace’s journal had changed something.
So had Lucas.
Daniel wanted facts that would survive outside his own authority.
Detective Laura Mason arrived shortly after midnight.
She had investigated financial crimes involving several Chicago family offices.
She was unimpressed by Daniel’s reputation.
He liked her immediately.
“You understand that if your own companies appear in these transactions, I follow them too.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t get to decide where this stops.”
“Yes.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“You’re agreeing too easily.”
“I’ve had a difficult week.”
Thomas’s copies arrived the following morning.
Not by courier.
By scheduled email.
Apparently he had arranged automatic delivery if he failed to cancel it.
Thousands of pages.
Invoices.
Internal messages.
Bank records.
Audio files.
One spreadsheet listed every caregiver Lucas had ever had.
Next to each:
Hire fee.
Dismissal fee.
Emergency placement fee.
Behavioral assessment.
Security review.
Evelyn had approved most.
Thomas had processed all.
But the third account appeared repeatedly.
BRIAR HOUSE CONSULTING.
Natalie sat beside Daniel.
“What is Briar House?”
“No idea.”
Detective Mason searched public records.
“Registered in Nevada.”
Owner shielded.
Daniel’s investigators dug deeper.
Eventually they found a mailing contact.
Dr. Malcolm Reeve.
Daniel frowned.
“Psychologist?”
Natalie looked up.
“You know him?”
“He evaluated Lucas after Grace died.”
Daniel remembered vaguely.
One session.
Maybe two.
Evelyn arranged everything.
The reports afterward claimed Lucas showed attachment instability and oppositional behaviors requiring consistent caregiver boundaries.
Daniel had skimmed them.
Approved recommendations.
Natalie looked disturbed.
“What recommendations?”
Daniel opened the file.
Minimal reinforcement during emotional escalation.
Avoid dependency relationships with individual staff.
Rotate caregiving responsibility.
Daniel stared.
The clinical language suddenly looked different.
A five-year-old’s nightmare translated into administrative justification for never letting him trust anyone.
Detective Mason contacted Dr. Reeve’s former office.
Closed two years ago.
License voluntarily surrendered after unrelated ethics complaints.
Daniel’s anger rose.
“How much money?”
“Briar House received $780,000.”
Natalie whispered, “For what?”
“Consulting.”
Detective Mason looked at him.
“No.”
She turned the screen.
“For writing whatever someone needed written.”
They found emails.
Thomas to Evelyn:
Need updated Lucas recommendation before Cole termination.
Evelyn to Thomas:
Reeve will send tonight.
Then:
Brooks approved?
Thomas:
Signature handled.
Daniel read the exchange twice.
His signature had become a rubber stamp.
His grief had become an administrative opportunity.
His son’s emotions had become a revenue stream.
Natalie stood.
“I need air.”
Daniel nodded.
Before she reached the door, another file opened.
Audio.
Thomas and Evelyn.
Evelyn’s voice:
Stable staff means fewer replacement fees.
Thomas:
Then create instability.
A long pause.
Evelyn:
He’s a child.
Thomas:
He’s a Brooks.
He’ll survive.
Daniel’s face became cold.
Evelyn:
Grace would destroy us.
Thomas:
Grace is dying.
The recording ended.
No one moved.
Natalie looked physically sick.
Daniel closed the laptop.
Detective Mason said quietly:
“This changes the case.”
“Yes.”
“Fraud. Forgery. Potential child endangerment.”
“Yes.”
Daniel stood.
“Where is Evelyn?”
Security checked.
Her room.
Empty.
The mansion went into lockdown.
Cameras showed Evelyn entering the east service staircase fourteen minutes earlier.
No footage showed her leaving.
Daniel headed toward Lucas’s wing.
Natalie ran beside him.
They reached the bedroom.
Empty.
Daniel’s heart stopped.
“Lucas?”
No answer.
Natalie opened the closet.
Nothing.
Daniel turned toward security.
“Find my son.”
Then a faint sound came through the wall.
Crying.
Natalie followed it.
Behind a paneled linen cabinet was a narrow maintenance passage.
They opened it.
Lucas sat inside.
Alone.
Knees pulled to his chest.
Daniel dropped beside him.
“What happened?”
Lucas looked terrified.
“Mrs. Hart told me Natalie was gone.”
Natalie knelt.
“I’m here.”
Lucas lunged into her.
Daniel’s voice became quiet.
“Where is Evelyn?”
Lucas pointed deeper into the passage.
“She said she had to get Mommy’s papers.”
Daniel turned.
The passage connected directly to Grace’s old dressing room.
May you like
By the time security reached it, Evelyn was gone.
So was the blue journal.
