Chapter 4 - hawthorne
The wedding guests were told there had been a family emergency.
No other explanation was given.
Jonathan left through the private underground garage with Leo, Daniel, and two trusted security officers.
Florence remained at the estate under guard.
Jonathan did not call police yet.
Every instinct told him he should.
But he also knew Samuel.
If Samuel had corrupted medical facilities, financial records, private investigators, and perhaps even members of Jonathan’s own staff, one careless call could warn him.
Jonathan’s priority was Christina.
Nothing else mattered.
The drive to Hawthorne took thirty-eight minutes.
Leo fell asleep against Jonathan’s side after ten.
The child’s hand remained clenched around Jonathan’s tuxedo jacket even while sleeping.
Jonathan watched him.
He wondered how long Leo had been carrying the USB.
How many nights the boy had gone to sleep knowing his mother had given him a secret.
Three years old.
Too young to understand conspiracy.
Old enough to understand fear.
Jonathan gently tied the loose shoelace Leo had been dragging since the wedding hallway.
Daniel sat opposite them in the armored SUV.
“I found something.”
Jonathan looked up.
“Hawthorne Recovery Center was acquired eighteen months ago by Lark Medical Holdings.”
“Who owns Lark?”
“Several entities.”
“Keep going.”
Daniel turned the tablet.
“Final beneficial owner appears to be Creed Family Capital.”
Jonathan looked out the window.
Samuel.
There it was.
Not suspicion now.
Paper.
Ownership.
Proof that Samuel had concealed a medical facility from him.
“Anything on Christina?”
“Nothing under her name.”
“Search aliases.”
“I’m trying.”
Jonathan reached into his pocket and touched the USB.
Christina had known.
Somehow she had discovered that a man she had called Uncle Samuel for most of her life had built a structure around the Prescott family.
Not in weeks.
Not in months.
Years.
Hawthorne sat behind black iron gates surrounded by pine forest.
The building looked less like a hospital than a country hotel.
Stone walls.
Tall windows.
Perfect landscaping.
Daniel instructed the driver to stop before the gate.
A guard approached.
“Appointment?”
Daniel showed a private investigator credential.
“We’re looking for Catherine Price.”
The guard’s reaction was tiny.
But Jonathan saw it.
His eyes moved toward the building before he answered.
“No patient by that name.”
Daniel smiled.
“Interesting.”
“What is?”
“I didn’t say she was a patient.”
The guard stiffened.
Daniel stepped out.
Two other security officers exited the rear vehicle.
The guard reached toward his radio.
Daniel stopped him.
“Don’t.”
The man looked at Jonathan through the windshield.
Recognition appeared.
Everyone in local business knew Jonathan Prescott.
Jonathan stepped out.
“My daughter was brought here against her will.”
The guard said nothing.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Jonathan took out his phone.
“Then we call state police.”
The guard’s face changed.
He looked toward the surveillance camera above the gate.
Then toward the forest.
“Mr. Prescott.”
Jonathan waited.
“I never saw your daughter.”
“But?”
The guard lowered his voice.
“Three weeks ago, they closed the third floor. Private transfer.”
“Who?”
“Dr. Malcolm Vale.”
“Who was transferred?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where?”
The guard hesitated.
“Ambulance came after midnight.”
“Destination?”
“I wasn’t told.”
Daniel showed him a photograph of Christina.
The guard stared at it.
Then nodded once.
“She was here.”
Jonathan felt the world narrow.
“You’re sure?”
“I saw her when they moved her.”
“Was she alive?”
“Yes.”
“Conscious?”
The guard swallowed.
“Yes.”
Jonathan stepped closer.
“What did she say?”
The man looked shaken.
“She kept saying one sentence.”
“What sentence?”
“Tell my father not to sign anything.”
Jonathan froze.
Daniel looked at him.
“Sign what?”
Jonathan already knew.
Tomorrow morning, eight hours after the wedding, Jonathan was scheduled to sign revised Prescott Family Trust documents.
Samuel had prepared them.
Jonathan had not read the final version.
Samuel had told him the revisions were administrative.
Jonathan’s blood went cold.
“Where did the ambulance go?”
The guard shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Think.”
The guard looked toward the main building.
“There was a driver. Young guy. New.”
“Name?”
“Evan.”
“Last name?”
“Mercer.”
Daniel immediately began searching.
Jonathan stared through the gates at Hawthorne.
A woman appeared at a third-floor window.
For one heartbeat, Jonathan thought it was Christina.
He moved forward.
The woman disappeared.
“Open the gate.”
The guard stepped back.
“I can’t.”
Jonathan looked at him.
“My daughter was held inside that building.”
“I know.”
“Open it.”
The man reached for the control panel.
Then the Hawthorne lights went out.
Every window.
Every exterior lamp.
The entire complex dropped into darkness.
Daniel grabbed Jonathan’s arm.
May you like
“Back to the vehicle.”
A second later, flames erupted behind one of the upper windows.
