Backblast by Candace Irving (miss read books TXT) 📕

with the other features the boy had inherited from his father. But there was another crucial question burning through her brain regarding the baby and his mother.

Did Mrs. Sadat know her son was a cause of blackmail?

Because if Regan was right, someone had used this boy's true parentage to blackmail the staff sergeant into feeding Tamir Hachemi strychnine.

It was time to draft a second list. On this one? The names of those who might have known that Brandt was a father. Once she cross-referenced that list against the staffers who'd read her BI…she just might have their traitor.

The first of those names? DSS Senior Special Agent in Charge Charles Maddoc. There was simply no way a regional security officer could've missed a clue this huge. Not an RSO tapped to head up the protection of one of the nation's most vital diplomatic missions. Palisade's prudence regarding silence with diplomatic security had paid off.

And there was Warren Jeffers. While Marine guards at an embassy did answer to the DSS agent in charge of regional security, that DSS agent—and everyone beneath him or her—answered the deputy chief of mission. Hence, Jeffers, too, should have known. So why hadn't Jeffers said anything to her in her temporary office earlier? Especially once he'd supposedly come around regarding her true mission and the location of the traitor.

The obvious possibility chilled her to the bone.

Her instincts might've cleared Jeffers earlier, even while he'd been spewing his filth at her…but her instincts were not infallible. And neither was she.

She'd learned that the hard way.

"Holy shit."

Regan glanced up as Scott reached out to tap the photo queued up in the frame.

"That's Brandt's kid. It's gotta be."

"I'd say there's an excellent chance. Were there rumors?"

Scott shook his head. "None that I heard. But I answer to the RSO at the moment. I may be temporarily assigned, but I'd have had to inform Maddoc—and that would've killed Brandt's career. Could also be why she's been avoiding everyone."

"Mrs. Sadat?"

Scott nodded as Regan switched off the electronic frame and bagged it for evidence. "From what I heard, she visited the compound quite a bit while she was pregnant. But once she had the kid—pffft. A couple folks have remarked on it. Guess we now know why the visits dried up. I also heard Brandt had less than a month left on his tour. Could be that she was lying low. Maybe they figured once he left, no one would remember his face well enough to suspect the rest."

The rationale was sound. And Scott was right. If this had gotten out, it would've been a career ender for the staff sergeant, with potential Uniformed Code of Military Justice charges and stockade time on top.

If Charles Maddoc wasn't their traitor, could that have been a factor in the RSO keeping his mouth shut? If Maddoc had said something, he'd also have had to pull Brandt from his position as an active embassy guard, and charge him with adultery and conduct unbecoming, at the very least.

Only the RSO hadn't had direct access to her BI. He'd also remained behind here at the embassy compound to continue overseeing its security due to the potential flammable fallout from those diplomatic ass-covering sessions aboard the Griffith.

Jeffers claimed he'd revealed her true mission to Maddoc, but not the info in her BI. And that revelation regarding her mission had to have occurred today. There would have been no time for Maddoc to pull in favors to get a peek at her BI off the books and still share its contents with Durrani because Durrani was already dead.

Had Maddoc figured out the baby's potential parentage after Brandt had been sent to the Griffith? Was that why Maddoc was maintaining his silence? Because there was already enough crap being flung around the ship's conference room?

Maddoc would've known that Brandt had less than thirty days left on station. Had the RSO also hoped that with Brandt leaving, the potential shitstorm would be leaving with him?

Or was Maddoc simply ignorant of that dimple and its genetic implications?

Possibly. But someone else should have suspected something. Someone who had had access to her BI nearly three weeks ago.

Aamer Sadat.

Surely Mr. Sadat had noticed that cleft in his own son's chin? With how close they all appeared in those photos, he must have suspected a lot more. Had Sadat spotted an attraction between Brandt and his wife early on, even encouraged an affair as a way to get leverage over the Marine? There was only one way to find out.

And, at the moment, only one place.

Regan tucked the evidence bag with the electronic frame inside her kit and secured it. She had a feeling she'd be needing the photos for her coming chat.

"You done here?"

She slung her laptop over her shoulder and hefted her kit. "Yup."

"Great. I found this fantastic place my first week. It overlooks the entire—"

She shook her head. Dinner would have to wait. Along with her drumming need for caffeine. A need that was threatening to morph into pounding any minute now. "But I could use a lift—to whichever hospital admitted Baby Sadat this afternoon."

With his "son" in intensive care, even a traitor would want to keep up appearances.

And with all that stress floating around the room? What better timing for an interrogation disguised as an impromptu sympathy visit?

"That'd be Shifa International." Scott peeled off his latex gloves and tucked them in his trouser pocket, before retrieving his keys. "It's not too far away from the embassy, or the restaurant I've got in mind. I can always drive you back to the compound and your complimentary flop slot for the night when we're done."

"Fantastic. I just need to stop by my temporary office and grab my scarf." She'd promised John she'd wear the dupatta while out and about, and a hospital visit with a follow-on dinner in town definitely qualified.

Nor did it escape her that she might come off as more approachable to both Sadats if her hair was covered when she dropped