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“Good morning to you too,” X said in a mocking tone.
“I’m not playing games today. I need to know if Landon or my father set me up.”
X nodded. “They did.”
“Both of them?”
“Your brother took the lead.”
I could see the pain on Carter’s face. He’d known what his family had likely done, but the confirmation had to hurt. I reached out and took his hand. I was prepared for him to pull away, but he didn’t. He squeezed his fingers around mine, and I held on.
“What proof did you find?” he asked X.
Miles and Ford were watching Carter. They seemed as worried about him as I was, but X continued on like we were having the most mundane conversation.
X’s image shrank and a video played on the screen. I recognized Landon from the research I’d done. He was in a dark suit, looking every bit the typical businessman. He was speaking to two older men, one of them was wearing an admiral’s uniform.
“This is Scott Hardinson and Admiral Jacoby from the Pentagon,” X said. “Do you know of any reason your brother would be meeting with them, other than getting their blessing on the cartel’s movements and setting up the attack on you?”
“No,” Carter let go of my hand as he stood and began pacing the room.
X flashed up more shots of Landon meeting with the men in a variety of venues.
“From what we’ve learned,” X said. “Landon has been meeting with these men or their representatives regularly for over a year. Their alliance would certainly give him the opportunity to put his plan to eliminate you in place. We’ve also connected him to funds sent to the cartel, and I think you’ll find this recording interesting.”
X played an audio where a scared man promised to relieve the military pressure placed on “the organization,” and a man with a Colombian accent told him his life depended on it.
“So my fucking brother promised he’d get our SEAL team off the cartel’s back?”
“Essentially,” X said. “Bold of him, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, but it fucking worked.”
“Not in the way he intended,” I said.
“As far as Landon was concerned, it did. He didn’t know Matteo was a plant.”
I snorted. “No one expects the twisted minds of the CIA.”
Carter rolled his eyes.
“There’s more,” X said. An image appeared on the screen. “This is a transcript from a phone call that took place between Landon, your father, and Admiral Jacoby.”
Carter reached for me as we read the transcript. The words were meant to be cryptic, but knowing what we did, it was easy to ascertain that they were planning to have Carter arrested for sharing military secrets with the cartel. Landon lined out the plan, but Carter’s dad had not protested any of it.
Carter sighed. “They really fucking did it.”
“They did,” X concluded. “I could keep going, but I think this is enough.”
Damn right it was enough. Carter looked like he might be sick. As he sank back into his chair, I reached for him, using a hand on his face to encourage him to meet my eyes. He shifted toward me, but he kept his eyes down.
He was so pale he looked like he might pass out at any second. I hated seeing him like this. How could his fucking family do this to him?
“Look at me.” After a few seconds, he did. When his eyes locked on mine, it was all I could do not to kiss him. “We’re going to get through this.”
Carter nodded. “I know. We’re going to take them all down. We have to.”
“That’s right,” X said, “and I’m going to help you.”
