Phil Sawyer

Every year since Phil Sawyer’s death in a so-called hunting accident, Sloat had stolen millions of dollars, many millions, from his late partner’s family.

Both books connect Phil Sawyer to Jack, Lily and partner Morgan Sloat; Black House explicitly describes the consequences of his death.

… honored, deeply and genuinely, and to celebrate this one moment of real professional recognition, Phil Sawyer had wisely taken her for three weeks to the Alhambra Inn and Gardens, on the other side of the continent, where they had watched the Oscars while drinking champagne in bed. (If Jack had been older, and had he had an occasion to care, he might have done the necessary subtraction and discovered that the Alhambra had been the place of his essential beginning.)

Both books connect Phil Sawyer to Jack, Lily and partner Morgan Sloat; Black House explicitly describes the consequences of his death.