Chapter 3 - Forty-Eight Thousand DollarsTom Keller arrived wearing jeans, work boots, and an old county jacket.
Daniel told him only enough to explain why he was worried.
Tom’s expression grew serious.
“You need to document everything.”
“I know.”
“And don’t confront her physically.”
“I won’t.”
“Where’s Ethan?”
“Locked in his room.”
“Good.”
Daniel hated hearing the word locked associated with his son.
But tonight it meant safe.
Tom accompanied him downstairs.
Claire was waiting in the kitchen.
She had dressed.
A suitcase stood beside the island.
“So now you brought an audience.”
Tom said, “Evening, Claire.”
She ignored him.
Daniel asked, “Where are you going?”
“To a hotel.”
“Fine.”
Claire picked up her purse.
“Your paranoia is becoming unbearable.”
Daniel looked at Tom.
“Before she leaves, I want the keys to the farm office.”
Claire laughed.
“They’re your keys.”
“You’ve been doing payroll while I’ve been traveling.”
“I was helping you.”
“Then give them back.”
She removed a ring of keys and dropped it onto the counter.
“You’re making a huge mistake.”
Daniel said nothing.
Claire walked out.
Tom watched the headlights disappear down the lane.
“Do you believe her?”
“No.”
“Then don’t act like you do.”
Daniel went upstairs and brought Ethan down.
Tom spoke gently with him.
He asked simple questions.
Had Claire taken him into the barn?
Ethan nodded.
Had she punished him there?
Another nod.
When Tom asked how, Ethan went silent.
Tom stopped immediately.
“That’s enough tonight.”
Daniel understood.
Tomorrow he would contact the county sheriff and Ethan’s pediatrician.
He wasn’t going to make his son repeat everything to five different adults.
At midnight, after Ethan finally fell asleep beside him, Daniel entered the farm office.
Claire had handled the books during Daniel’s frequent trips.
He trusted her.
That fact now felt absurd.
Daniel opened the accounting software.
Feed.
Veterinary expenses.
Equipment repair.
Fuel.
Everything looked ordinary.
Then he noticed payments to a company called Prairie Shield Agricultural Consulting.
$8,000.
$12,500.
$7,900.
Five transfers in four months.
Total—
$48,300.
Daniel searched his memory.
He had never hired Prairie Shield.
He opened the invoices.
“Strategic herd efficiency consultation.”
“Land-use compliance review.”
“Environmental risk advisory.”
Meaningless language.
No reports were attached.
Daniel checked the bank routing information.
Same regional bank they used.
He called their bookkeeper, June Ellis.
She answered sleepily.
“Daniel?”
“Sorry.”
“What happened?”
“Have you heard of Prairie Shield?”
Silence.
Then June said, “Where did you see that?”
Daniel sat straighter.
“You know it?”
“I asked Claire about it last month.”
“What did she say?”
“She said you hired them.”
“I didn’t.”
June became fully awake.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“There are more.”
“How many?”
“I only saw the first three.”
Daniel searched.
Older invoices had been coded differently.
“Facility sanitation.”
“Livestock analytics.”
“Seasonal labor.”
All routed to Prairie Shield.
The total climbed.
Sixty-two thousand.
Eighty-five.
One hundred twelve.
Daniel stopped breathing normally when the number reached $176,400.
“June.”
“I’m here.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago. I called you.”
Daniel remembered.
Claire had answered his phone while he showered.
She said June wanted clarification about fertilizer receipts.
“Claire told me it was handled.”
June sounded shaken.
“There’s something else.”
Daniel waited.
“She asked me for copies of the farm deed.”
“When?”
“February.”
“Why?”
“She claimed you wanted refinancing options.”
Daniel looked toward the dark window.
“Did you give them to her?”
“No. I told her I didn’t keep originals.”
“Did she ask where they were?”
“Yes.”
Daniel’s unease deepened.
“What did you tell her?”
“That your father’s lawyer might still have the estate file.”
Daniel thought of Thomas Keene.
The attorney had handled Walter’s estate seven years earlier.
Daniel had assumed the farm passed directly to him.
He had never questioned it.
“June, don’t tell Claire we spoke.”
“I won’t.”
After ending the call, Daniel searched the desk.
Claire’s drawers were nearly empty.
Too empty.
In the bottom cabinet he found a folder containing household receipts.
One receipt stood out.
Riverside Office Storage.
Unit 214.
Paid six months in advance.
Daniel stared at it.
Claire had never mentioned renting storage space.
Something scraped outside the window.
Daniel looked up.
A figure stood near the machine shed.
Watching the house.
Daniel grabbed his coat and ran outside.
The figure moved.
“Hey!”
Daniel sprinted across the yard.
The stranger disappeared behind the old silo.
Daniel followed.
By the time he reached it, no one was there.
Only tire tracks crossed the frozen edge of the pasture.
Then Daniel saw something tucked beneath a rusted bolt.
A white envelope.
His name was written across the front.
DANIEL.
Inside was a single photograph.
It showed Claire entering Riverside Office Storage.
Beside her was another person.
Daniel stared at the photograph for several seconds.
Because he knew the second person.
It was his older sister.
Rebecca.
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On the back of the photograph, someone had written five words.
ASK REBECCA ABOUT STALL NINE.
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