Page 62 of Clear Blue Sky

“There was a committee looking into Ethan and every aspect of his life. It included you,” Dina said. “Of course, that had no bearing on our decision. But what did was the source that came from inside the Navy, and I was not given the full information at the time.”

Brandi rubbed her temples. Her brain filled with more questions than answers.

“Who was it and what did they say, exactly?” Nelson asked.

“That’s complicated. At the time it was simple. Ethan had business practices that in the security world we saw as less than average,” Dina said. “But now that I’ve done a deep dive, I’ve learned that Seth Baxter was whispering in everyone’s ear that Marcus was working with a homegrown group to buy and sell government secrets.”

“Holy shit.” Nelson grabbed the tablet with both hands.

“It’s believed that Seth and his team were intercepted and murdered by whoever he ratted out and that investigation is still ongoing.” Louis leaned against the side wall and sipped his coffee. “Your mother has learned that Marcus, Chuck, Josh, and Tyler are all on the short list. What’s even more interesting is that Tyler works for a company similar to Ethan’s and Marcus is a major investor.”

“And Ethan is on that company's board,” Dina said.

“This is too much.” Brandi flattened her hands on the table and rose on shaky legs. “Are you suggesting that Marcus and his friends killed Seth’s SEAL team and that my ex-boyfriend might have had something to do with it?” She wrapped her arms around her middle.

“All the reports I’ve read don’t indicate Ethan had anything to do with the actual deaths, but he’s definitely in bed with Marcus.” Dina nodded toward the table. “There are surveillance pictures taken of them together this past winter.”

Brandi gasped.

Nelson rushed to her side.

She took a step back. “You’re suggesting that Ethan used me to get to Nelson.”

“We are,” Louis said.

“I feel sick.” She flattened her hand over her stomach. “Do you have any idea how insane this all sounds to me?”

“We do.” Dina nodded.

“If it’s true, he could have put a backdoor into our system,” Brandi said. “That means he could have access to all our communications, which means he would know we’ve been onto him.”

“You’ve discussed the manuscript in email?” Louis said.

“No.” Brandi shook her head. “But we can share the document and notes inside our editorial system. That way my father, brother, and I can see what all our editors are doing. It’s not to check up on them or anything, but a way to ensure privacy since we had a breach that caused a scandal with Lake a while back. We used it to discuss the changes we wanted made so that we could see if Marcus was willing to make major changes to the story. It was our way to see if he was serious about being published, or if this was all a game.”

“Sounds like Marcus knew you’d do that,” Dina said. “I take it you discussed with Ethan how you’d use the system.”

“We did.” Brandi blew out a puff of air. “This entire thing was a setup from the very beginning, including Ethan wanting to get back together.”

“You can’t let that upset you,” Dina said. “Marcus and his team have been working on this for a long time.”

“I’ve always believed something else happened on that mission that I wasn’t aware of.” Nelson pulled her close to his body, holding her in his strong arms. “Marcus wanted me to take the fall for Seth’s death.”

“We believe that was always the plan,” Dina said. “He gets rid of Seth and you at the same time.”

“It makes a little more sense on why Roxy came to me that night,” Nelson said. “If they had been able to prove I was at fault, I could possibly have motive to get rid of Seth.”

“Another possibility is that once both teams were dead, they could find fault in the current system, pushing Ethan’s,” Louis said.

“This is worse than a bad movie script.” Brandi rested her head against Nelson’s shoulder. “I’ve rejected books that sound less convoluted.”

“At least now we know what we’re dealing with.” Nelson kissed her temple.

“So, what do we do now?” Brandi asked.

“We put the pressure on Marcus,” Dina said. “Once he sees Louis and I are here and we make it clear it’s not just for the movie premiere, he’ll get really nervous. I mean a five-star general and someone from the Department of Defense? He’ll start shifting his plan and we’ll be ready.”

“I don’t want Brandi or anyone in her family to be collateral damage,” Nelson said.

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