Page 68 of The Easy Way
“But he’d disappeared?” Bas guessed. “Yeah, same dead end here. I even, ah, tried to see whether the NTSB had additional information on him as part of theirinvestigation.”
“That’s why you hacked them?” Cam asked, glaring at hisbrother.
Sebastian glanced from Cam to Cort to Drew, a small smile on his lips. “Hacked is an ugly word. I think Drew would prefer I say Irequested information through unofficialchannels.”
Cort rolled his eyes, relaxing his posture slightly. “At this point, I don’t give a shit if you lit the place on fire, Seaver. What did youfind?”
“It’s more what Ididn’tfind,” Bas said sourly. He looked from Drew to Cam. “All the information on the witness was redacted from thefile.”
“Redacted?” Cam echoed. “How?Why?”
Bas nodded. “Exactly the questions I wanted answered. So, I went back into the system and left a trail so clear, the world’s most inept investigator could have followed it, but not a single person contacted me to investigate.” He shook his head in disgust and looked at Cort. “I don’t know what the hell they give you badgesfor.”
Cort snorted, then chuckled, then laughed out loud, pressing a hand to hisstomach.
“What’s funny?” Cam asked, elbowing him. To Bas, he said, “Cortdidinvestigate it. Drew was the one who squelched it.” He pointed a finger in Drew’sdirection.
“Nope. He’s right.” Cort shook his head and looked at Cam. “Theynever had any real intention of pursuing it. It was quashed from above even before Seaver Tech’s legal team got involved.” He gave Cam an apologetic shrug and Cam rolled hiseyes.
In the grand scheme of Cort’s lies, this one hardly registered, but he still said in a warning tone, “I swear to God,Cort…”
Cort drew Cam closer and fitted him tightly to his side. “Never again, I promise,” hevowed.
Sebastian looked back and forth between them and scowled. “Whatever touching thing you two are discussing, table it. The point is, the witness disappeared off the face of the earth, but the only reason I was looking into him in the first place, was because he reminded me of someone else, someone whose picture I saw in the footage from mom and dad’sfuneral.”
Cam blinked. “John P. was at thefuneral?”
Sebastian shook his head and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. “Not exactly.” He tapped a few keys and then stepped forward, showing Cam and Cort hisscreen.
On the right, was a still-shot from a TV interview showing a tall, redheaded, bearded man with a distinctive mole beside his blue eyes. On the left, was a shot of Jack Peabody, standing at Emmett Shaw’s shoulder as they exited Cam’s parents’ funeral. His hair was black in the picture, just as it had been yesterday, but beside his eye was an identicalmole.
Jesus Christ. The witness was Uncle Shaw’sassistant!
Cort grabbed the phone, bringing it closer to his face. “Oh my God,” he breathed. He turned to Cam excitedly. “Do you recognize this guy? This is why Damon wanted me here. He must have recognized him and figured out the samething.”
“Damon?” Drew stepped forward and grabbed Sebastian’s phone back. “Fitzpatrick? The pilot?” He looked from Cam to Cort and back again. “He’sdead.”
Cort shook his head. He hesitated, then explained. “He’s alive, and here on the island,” he told them. “He’s probably trying to accomplish the same thing youare.”
Sebastian’s eyes widened. “Tell us what youknow.”
Cam felt Cort bristle at Bas’s imperious tone. He folded his arms over his chest again. “It’s not my information totell.”
Cam sighed and dug his finger into Cort’s side. “Cort.”
Cort gave him a sidelong glance.Can I trusthim?
Camnodded.
Cort blew out a breath letting his arms fall to his sides. “Damon contacted me for the first time about six months ago. Nothing concrete or direct - I don’t know why - but he began sending me little clues. Things from our childhood only he would know. Along with information about you.” He nodded atSebastian.
Sebastian frowned. “Me?”
“And Cam,” Cort confirmed. “I knew from the beginning Damon couldn’t have been responsible for the crash. He would never have flown drunk, he would never have skipped his pre-check. If there was an engine problem, he would have foundit.”
Sebastian nodded slowly. “I checked out his record. It’sspotless.”
Cort shrugged. “So, if Damon didn’t do it, obviously the plane must have been sabotaged.” He glanced at Cam. “And the next logical step would be to ask who would have done that, and why. The obvious answer ismoney.”
