Page 130 of Fatal Intent

Set him up? Why would anyone do that? From what she’d observed of Seth, he did everything in his power to get his men home alive from missions, putting himself in more danger than he should to make sure the men in his unit survived. “Why would they do that?”

“Hal was better than all the others. He was a top-notch soldier and refused to taint his honor.”

“Go on.”

“He saw something in the Sand Box he wasn’t meant to see, and the men involved set things in motion so Hal would die on the Red Dawn mission.”

Rayne pondered what he’d said and what he hadn’t. “He saw the other men do something illegal? Is that what you mean?”

A slight nod.

“How do you know this is true? How did you find out?” If Hal died in the mission, who told the grieving stepbrother what happened and why?

“Hal told me.”

She blinked. “How?” If he died on the battlefield, how could he inform Donovan about the details? The possibility that the sniper was delusional crossed her mind.

“He wrote me a letter before the Red Dawn mission and told me he was in trouble. He and Beau Reed had seen a group of men stealing artifacts from one of the Sand Box countries. The guys were stuffing valuables in their bags, taking them back to the US and selling them for a hefty profit. They’d been doing this for months. It was their bad luck that Hal and Beau saw them.”

“But Hal and Beau didn’t report them?”

“The men threatened Hal and Beau’s families if they talked. So they kept quiet. They made sure Hal died during Red Dawn. Beau was injured badly, but he survived. For a long time, they left him alone.” He shrugged. “I guess they felt he wasn’t a threat.”

“But he’s dead.”

Donovan’s eyes narrowed. “I didn’t kill him. His traitorous wife took him out with Lawson’s help. You can’t lay the blame for his death on me.”

Rayne had a feeling she already knew the answer to her next question, but she wanted her questions and his answers, wrong or not, on record. By sending a distress signal to Fortress, the communications tech had automatically started recordingeverything that came through her watch’s comm system. “So, who were the men Hal and Beau saw?”

Donovan scowled. “I don’t know. Hal was afraid to identify them.”

Just like she’d thought. It was the only answer that made sense. Because he didn’t know who was to blame for his brother’s death, Donovan was systematically killing all the survivors.

But why were Gino and his merry band of thugs still alive and working with Donovan? Dread curled in her gut. She had a feeling she wouldn’t like the answer. “You’ve been killing survivors of Red Dawn to make sure you take out the people responsible for Hal’s death?”

He inclined his head.

Gino and his buddies exchanged grim glances but said nothing.

Rayne’s suspicions grew. “Really?” She tilted her head slightly. “What about Gino and his team?”

Donovan stiffened. “They have nothing to do with my brother’s death.”

“How do you know?”

“They’re my friends. They would never hurt me.”

She studied him for a moment, weighing whether it was safe to say what she suspected. Probably not. She settled for saying, “You’d be surprised what people will do to score a windfall.”

“Not these guys. Wouldn’t happen.”

“Does that mean you believe Echo unit stole antiquities and set up Hal and Beau to die?”

He shrugged.

“Have you ever known them to do something dishonorable?”

“Like you said, people will do almost anything for money.”