Page 67 of The Easy Way
Man, he was a sucker for thoseeyes.
Cam stepped forward and put his arm around Cort’s waist. “This is Cort,” Cam told his brother. He glanced pointedly at Drew. “He’sstaying.”
Both men looked like they would balk, but Cam held firm and Sebastian finally blew out a breath and ran a hand through his short brownhair.
“Alright,” he allowed, still giving Cort side-eye. “Listen, I know we have a lot to talk about, Cam, and I have a lot to explain, but first weneedto get in touch with Uncle Shaw. We haven’t been able to find him, and he’s not answering my calls or texts. The service here is abysmal, so I don’t know if he’s even received them. Lucy hasn’t seen him or JackorCain for hours.” Bas gripped the back of his neck as he always did when he wasfrustrated.
“I don’t know how we can help. We haven’t seen any of them since yesterday,” Cam said, shaking his head. “We haven’t been downstairs at all yettoday.”
Sebastian raised an eyebrow at the rumpled bed, and then back at Cort and Cam. Drew made a sound ofdisgust.
Cam met Bas’s glance with a raised eyebrow of his own, daring either of them to comment. “What’s this about,Bas?”
“I need to talk to you about some…thingspertaining to the crash,” Bas said cryptically. “Things I couldn’t discuss over thephone.”
He glanced at Cort again, as though once again hoping Cam would ask him to leave. Beneath Cam’s hand, the muscles of Cort’s spine tensed immediately as though he was worried about the samething.
Cam shook his head. He was committed to this now, and he wanted Cort to heareverything.
Bas huffed out a breath, clearly annoyed that Cam wouldn’t yield. “It wasn’t an accident, Cam,” he said baldly. “And I think I know how to proveit.”
For one second, Cam wondered if Cort could be right - if Sebastian could have had anything to do with the crash, as ridiculous as that would have been. A quick glance at Bas’s face proved otherwise. He was tense, grief-stricken, andangry.
“Sebastian,” Cam began, wanting to be sure Bas knew Cort’s identity before he revealed anything incriminating, but Cort spoke upinstead.
“Cam didn’t introduce me fully,” he said. “I’m Agent Kendrick Cortland. I work for the FBI, for now anyway. And my brother is DamonFitzpatrick.”
Cam waited for Sebastian to explode, recalling his angry tirades about Damon Fitzgerald in the past, but Sebastian did nothing more than nod, though his face was still pinched with displeasure. “Drew told me who you are. And I would have recognized you anyway from my investigation of Damon.” His eyes narrowed. “What the hell are you doing with mybrother?”
Cort ignored the second half of the question. “I doubt that’s how you recognize me. Not many people know there’s a connection between Damon and me. We’re not blood relatives, and the records of my time in foster care aresealed.”
Bas waved a dismissive hand and paced toward the wall. “Likely not many people studied Damon Fitzpatrick’s life as carefully as Idid.”
Drew snorted. “Or investigatedyouas carefully asIdid after you came to Seaver Tech lastMonday.”
Cort grew even tenser, so Cam lifted his shirt slightly, sliding his thumb against Cort’s skin in a soothingmotion.
“You had a lot to say about Damon a year ago,” Cort accused Sebastian. “Encouraging rabid reporters to dig up information on his little sister, for Christ’ssake.”
Bas turned to lean against the wall, folding his arms over his chest and mimicking Cort’s posture. “It was an unfortunateconsequence.”
Anger rolled off Cort in waves, and Cam stepped forward protectively. “Could you sound a little less like a pompous prick?” he asked hisbrother.
Bas ran his tongue over his teeth, contemplating Cam and Cort with narrowed eyes. “No,” he said finally. “I can’t. Can you explain what you’re doing here with Damon Fitzpatrick’s brother?” He glanced pointedly at the bedagain.
Drew piped up. “We, uh, don’t needspecifics.”
Cam’s cheeks heated. “None of your business.Eitherof you. Now, explain what finally got you to abandon your living room couch and your obsessive home-movieviewing.”
Bas looked from Cam to Drew, then rubbed his palm over his forehead. “I think Damon Fitzpatrick might have been framed for thecrash.”
Cam and Cort exchanged wide-eyedlooks.
“Explain,” Cortsaid.
“As you said, I’ve spent a long time recently looking at old movies and TV show clips about the crash.Wallowing in grief, which Cam and Drew both took me to task for.” He threw Drew a small smile, before turning serious again. “I actually found something rather strange. Right after the investigation, a man did a TV interview, saying he was the witness who was drinking with Damon before thecrash.”
“John P.,” Cort said, nodding. “I remember. I tried to follow up withhim.”
