Page 39 of Ex-SEAL Bad Boy

Reluctantly, I dash over to the passenger side and get in.

We roar off before Ethan says a word.

“You’re scaring me,” I say, genuinely terrified by this turn of events.

“I have some unsettling information, but you have to promise me you won’t freak out.”

“No!” I practically yell at him. “I’m not going to promise any such thing. This is going sideways and I don’t know why. You’re going to tell me everything you know and think, even if it doesn’t mean anything right now.”

“I’m your partner now, dammit, like it or not. I refuse to walk around in the dark anymore. Then I’ll decide whether to freak out or not!”

I sit there steaming, waiting for him to explain.

“Alright.”

“You know who Whitmore is, a big, powerful guy. He is very rich, but not a lot about him is public. The rumor is that he has a fondness for young women, which we now know is true.”

“So, I asked my friend, Graham, to look into this guy. He does this for a living. He’s sort of a combo private eye/security expert. Top notch.”

He looks over to ensure that I’m following. I know I must appear to be in shock, but I’m at least capable of processing what he’s saying.

“Well, it appears that not only does he have a thing for, uh, girls really, some of them that he has taken interest in have disappeared.”

“Wait,” I stop him. “How is that even possible? Why hasn’t this been investigated?”

“Does the name Jeffrey Epstein mean anything to you?”

He does have a point: how long did that predator get away with his behavior, and no one seemed to care? Is he saying that Epstein wasn’t a one-off?

“You remember I told you that some of the things I know about the rich and horrible would shock you? Well, that’s one of them.”

“These guys—and quite a few—operate in a world without rules. They abuse little girls and boys, and they get away with it. That’s what I suspected when I was first pulled into this: Whitmore had knocked this girl up and was planning something; to not takecare of her baby but to keep it quiet. I just didn’t know it for sure.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’d guess he’s planning to wait until the baby is born, take custody of him or her without any record of it ever taking place, and then get rid of both Lena and the baby.”

“You can’t be serious?”

“Think about it. You already know that questions are beginning to be raised about what happened to these other girls, so you don’t want to have another girl go missing, especially one who’s pregnant. So, you let her be, while keeping an eye on her to ensure she doesn’t blab.”

“Then, when things cool down and no one has seen her for a while, you quietly get rid of her. Then it’s a matter of doing the same with the kid. He’s got people working for him who would be happy to do those jobs for him.”

“Jesus,” was all I could squeak out.

“And, of course, that leaves two loose ends to tie up. The only other people who might know what happened.”

I can almost feel myself turn white.

“But your parents ...,” I begin.

“They probably don’t know. They think this is all going to work out fine. They get paid, and their son is now a ‘made’ man. They don’t know what Whitmore is planning.”

“If something happens to me, it may mean war between Whitmore and the Blackwoods, but it’s too late for us at that point.”

“So, what’s the plan?”

“The plan is to contact Yiva Sarkisian and tell her I have a story for her.”

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