Chapter 8 - THE MAN BEHIND THE LOCKED DOOR
By sunrise, Ethan and Savannah were driving south toward New Mexico.
Savannah had barely slept.
Every mile brought another question.
Why had her father disappeared?
Why had her mother allowed her to believe he was dead?
And why was Linda paying to keep him hidden?
Blackstone Behavioral Center sat behind iron gates on a secluded property surrounded by desert hills.
The receptionist smiled politely.
“May I help you?”
Savannah placed her father’s photograph on the desk.
“I’m looking for this man.”
The receptionist’s smile disappeared.
“I’m sorry. We cannot discuss patients.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“We have legal authorization to request information.”
That wasn’t entirely true.
But Daniel was already preparing the paperwork.
The receptionist glanced toward a security camera.
“Please wait here.”
Instead, she disappeared through a side door.
Ten minutes passed.
Then twenty.
Savannah began to panic.
“They’re warning Linda.”
Ethan looked toward the hallway.
“Probably.”
He called Daniel.
“Get the court order moving. Now.”
A few minutes later, a gray-haired maintenance worker approached them.
“You’re looking for Richard Reed?”
Savannah stood so quickly her chair fell backward.
“Yes!”
The man looked terrified.
“Keep your voice down.”
He led them through a service corridor toward a small courtyard.
“There’s a patient here named Robert Hayes. Been here almost eighteen years. Quiet man. Never causes trouble.”
Savannah’s hands trembled.
“Can I see him?”
The worker pointed toward a locked garden door.
“He spends his mornings out there.”
Savannah stepped toward the glass.
An older man sat on a bench beneath a tree.
His hair was silver.
His shoulders were thin.
But she recognized the shape of his face.
The way he folded his hands.
The small scar above his left eyebrow.
“Daddy?”
The man slowly turned.
For several seconds, he stared at her.
Then his eyes filled.
“Savvy?”
Savannah began sobbing.
She rushed toward the locked door.
Ethan pulled out his phone.
“Daniel, we found him.”
But before anyone could open the gate, two security officers entered the courtyard.
One grabbed Richard’s wheelchair.
The other ordered Ethan and Savannah to leave.
Savannah screamed.
“That’s my father!”
Richard fought against the officer holding him.
Then he shouted something that silenced everyone.
“Linda didn't steal the company alone!”
Savannah froze.
May you like
Richard pointed directly at Ethan.
“His father knew who helped her!”
