Chapter 18 - BASELINE
Dustin had been fourteen.
That fact changed the room.
Daniel read the page again.
Then again.
Marcus arrived twenty minutes later after Leah called him.
He stopped at the doorway.
“What happened?”
Leah handed him the copy.
Marcus read silently.
Then looked at Daniel.
“They studied Dustin?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not necessarily.”
“It has his name.”
“It says observational.”
Marcus pointed at the page.
“That sounds like studying.”
Daniel didn't answer.
Because Marcus was right.
The investigator opened another binder.
David Hale had completed six formal evaluations for Site Five.
Restraint under pressure.
Compliance after command.
Threat discrimination.
Aggression recovery.
The language was familiar.
Too familiar.
Pieces of Daniel's discontinued 2009 framework were everywhere.
Modified.
Renamed.
Commercialized.
Then something changed in David's records.
Early reports were clean.
Professional.
Detached.
Later reports contained handwritten objections.
UNAUTHORIZED EXPANSION.
SUBJECTS NOT INFORMED.
FAMILY DATA NOT APPROVED.
STOP THIS.
The final report was dated March 2013.
At the bottom:
Evaluator refusal.
Termination recommended.
Daniel looked up.
“When did David disappear?”
The investigator checked.
“April.”
One month later.
Leah crossed her arms carefully.
“So he fought them.”
“Looks that way.”
Marcus looked at Daniel.
“And Carver?”
The investigator opened a payment ledger.
Every fighter Carver referred to Site Five generated a fee.
Every successful placement generated another.
Behavioral data generated another.
Then Daniel saw something worse.
A payment code beside several names.
M-RIGHTS.
He knew before anyone explained it.
Marcus didn't.
“What is that?”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“Miller rights.”
Leah stared at him.
“But you never gave them rights.”
“No.”
The investigator turned the page.
Payments continued for years.
Somebody had been charging companies for authorization that did not exist.
Then Marcus noticed one signature.
He pointed.
“Who's T.P.?”
Daniel went still.
Leah saw it.
“Dad?”
Daniel stepped closer.
T.P.
Approving witness.
2009 archive transfer.
There was only one person Daniel knew who fit those initials.
The junior instructor he had protected all those years ago.
Thomas Pritchard.
Daniel picked up his coat.
Leah stood.
May you like
“Where are you going?”
“To find out what my mistake bought him.”
