Page 112 of Wicked Brutal

“Montreal?”

“Still being traced.”

Dad doesn’t care about either. “Customs.”

Arthur looks at him. “There’s a current federal customs official whose name appears in communications recovered from Lucian. None of you touches these names independently until we’ve established which inquiries can be made without creating noise.”

Iz gestures between the fathers. “You realize this is the worst group of people you could possibly tell not to investigate something.”

Arthur looks at him. “I’m including you.”

“Oh. Then definitely.”

“Isaac.” Arthur turns another page. “The federal team went back through Daisy’s statement last night.” Danny’s coffee stops against his mouth. Clifford looks at him.

Danny lowers the cup. “I’m fine.” His father doesn’t say anything. Danny looks at Arthur. “What did they find?”

“Not a new name. A pattern.” Danny’s eyebrows draw together. Arthur looks briefly at me before returning to him. “Daisy knew as much as she did because Reece talked in front of her. He underestimated what she understood. He assumed addiction made her unreliable. Dependent. Controllable.”

Arthur continues carefully. “Daisy told investigators things Reece likely never intended her to know because he stopped treating her as someone whose attention mattered.”

Danny is quiet for a moment. Then he looks at me. “Same thing Roman does with Ally.” Danny shakes his head. “That’s exactly what it is.” He leans back, thinking. “Reece would talk around Daisy because he thought she was too fucked up to understand him. Roman talks around Ally because he thinks she’s a woman.”

Dad’s mouth tightens. “More specifically, his daughter.”

“Same result,” Danny says. “They decide the person in the room isn’t important enough to watch what they say.”

Clifford looks at Arthur. “And Daisy’s information led to Lucian.”

Danny stares at the papers. “And Ally’s might lead to Roman.”

“Potentially. There’s another reason the federal prosecutor wanted us to revisit Pennington.”

Kaiden looks up. “What?”

Arthur chooses his words carefully. “The federal team has been reevaluating whether the way Alastair cultivated your family was unique.”

Thomas looks at him. “It wasn’t.”

“That’s one of the questions they’re asking.”

Kaiden’s jaw tightens. “Stop talking like a fucking lawyer for five seconds.”

“I am a lawyer.” Arthur exhales. “Garrett groomed Catherine. He inserted himself into her life when she was young. Made himself safe. Important. Then abused that access for years.” Kaiden’s face is empty now. Arthur continues. “Alastair knew what Garrett had done. And afterward, he still pushed Jonathan toward her.”

“Because of Thomas.” Thomas answers before Arthur can. “Because of me.” His voice is flat. Everyone looks toward him. “Alastair had Fiona under control because of Catherine’s sealed history and what exposure could do to my political career. He used Fiona’s fear to keep Jonathan attached to Catherine.”

Callum’s expression darkens. “The girl wasn’t the only target.”

“No.” Thomas looks sick saying it. “The family was.”

Kaiden sets his coffee down. “Cat was how Jon got into it.”

Arthur looks at him. “At least in part.”

“His father fucking taught him she did.”

Callum’s hand settles against the back of Kaiden’s neck. Kaiden lets it. For a second, I see him younger than eighteen.