Chain Reaction 3.34: Whose Fault Is It Anyway?

     Mom stands on the front porch, yelling at the officer carting Dad off to his squad car. "What are you doing? He's an accountant, not some spy!"
     Dad looks angry until he sees me standing here with my mouth open in shock. "Bella," he gasps, and I run over to him.
     The officer's hand shoots out to block me. "Stand back, please," he growls, acting like he's not happy either.
     "What's going on?" I ask loudly, but no one answers me as I helplessly watch my dad get put into the back seat of the car. Its angry blue and red lights flash all over the place, drawing curious looks from neighbors.
     "No!" Mom yells and runs to the car. It drives away before she can reach it, though.
     I walk over to her and hold her while she sobs into my shoulders. She, as much as she can through her tears, tells me how they say they've linked an espionage scandal to Dad. My mind spins as I help her back into the house. Espionage? Like with Malcolm Landgraab? Sure, it's been a while since he was put away, not to mention dead, but could they be connected?

     After helping Mom to bed, I go to my room. Well, Emily's old room because the Maker hasn't felt like redecorating my childhood bedroom.

     My daddy's a spy? No. This doesn't make any sense. How could this happen?
     There's only one person I can think of to talk to about this. I decide to call my big brother.

    I notice by looking at the screen on my phone how it's almost time for the sun to rise. Wow. I've been up all night? Anyway, I call Ethan and tell him what's happened. He sounds sleepy, but I'm not letting him hang up on me and call me back. I want an explanation. He says he'll come over, especially when I tell him about how Mom is.

     By the time my brother finally arrives, I'm almost in hysterics similar to Mom's. When I look at him through the window in the door, I see he doesn't look happy either. Well, duh. Dad's been arrested.
     I let him in.
    "Tell me what you know," he requests.

     "I got back home a few hours ago only to see them carting Dad off into a squad car. Mom says he was arrested for espionage charges."
     "What?! Who said that?"
     I look at him strangely. "Mom."
     "I mean who turned him in?"
     Now, I'm even more confused. "I don't know. Who would want to accuse Dad of something like that?"
     He sounds like he's thinking aloud. "There's only one person I've known who knew something like this, and I can't imagine him doing something like that, especially now with him wanting to stay on Dad's good side. What could he possibly have to gain from doing that?"
     "Wait. With the way you're talking, you think he's guilty, that Dad is a spy." No. I'm really going to lose it.
     "Bella, you need to sit down."

     "No, I'm not going to 'sit down.' You need to tell me why you could possibly think Dad's guilty!"
     "Because he is," he tells me, knocking the breath out of me like he'd punched me.
     No. "How dare you say that." I take a deep breath, and my shock morphs into a sense that I have to fight against his truth. "You don't know what you're talking about!"
     "I'm afraid I do," he replies, starting to sound angry. "Alex revealed it to me ages ago. I've kept it to myself. Now, I wanna know who would leak the info." He pauses. "SIMS. Oh, plum. They continued the investigation."
     "What are you talking about?"
     "When Malcolm got arrested and charged. There was also a man from SIMS. They must've linked him to Dad."
     My head is swimming with all this new information. Dad really was a spy. Ethan knew. Alex knew. Dad got arrested because the man in SIMS was caught, and they must've followed some kind of trail that led to Dad. Ethan is responsible for that man from SIMS getting arrested. Ethan is responsible for alerting the police to the problem.
     Ethan is responsible for Daddy getting arrested.
     "It's all your fault," I tell him, seething.
     "What?"
     "You and your obsession with Malcolm Landgraab. You couldn't let it go, and now, they've traced something to Dad from a can of worms you opened up!"

     "'Obsession'? He killed my wife! And then he was set free! And you dare talk to me like me being 'obsessed' with getting him caught is something to be ashamed of? I never could've predicted things would take this turn!"
     "No. You didn't. Because you can't see past your own wants. You didn't see how this would affect the future! Did you honestly think they would stop the investigation with that one arrest? I'll say it again: This is all. your. fault."
     He clenches his jaw, probably seeing my point yet not wanting to admit to it. Instead, he changes the direction of the conversation. "Where's Mom?"
     "She's upstairs sleeping." And she's exhausted herself so much that not even our arguing will wake her up.
     He glares at me and goes to have a seat on the couch.

      We continue our argument. I've never been so mad, and Ethan refuses to take the whole blame for what's happened.

      Too upset about everything to even continue arguing, I go upstairs and cry under the covers. After a while, I get worn out, and I hear Ethan in the next room, comforting Mom.
      I'm mad at him. I still think it's his fault, even though I know he didn't do anything on purpose. How could he have known that getting that man at SIMS arrested would lead to an investigation and bring about the consequence of Dad also getting arrested?
      Exhausted, I fall into a deep sleep.

----------

Kade Love

     "Your table is ready. Would you like to be seated now?"

     I look up from my phone after checking my email, and I see the server waiting for my reply. "Hm? Oh. No, thanks. I have a date coming. I'll just wait until she gets here."

     "Very well, sir."

      I'm early. I wanted to make sure I was early so that I would definitely be here when Isabella arrives. In the meantime, I decide to have a glass of red wine--to still my nerves.
      Isabella is hot. No, correction: She's hawt. I've always been a sucker for blue eyes, and I've never seen such a beautiful blue before. Plus, there's something about those eyes, that woman, that I want to figure out. I can't wait for her to get here.
      I finish my glass of wine, and she's still not here. That's fine. It's only right on time for her to be here. This isn't the first time a girl has been late.
      However, after about five more minutes, I start getting concerned.

      I text her, asking if everything is okay. Who knows? Maybe her car broke down.
      I don't get an answer. Well, if she's on her way here, she doesn't need to be checking her phone and texting back. It's fine.

      I get a little hungry, so I order something, a snack, from the bar. It's just an appetizer, and I only nibble at it.
      Checking my phone again, it shows no reply. I text her again, asking her if she's on her way. The bartender gives me another glass of wine, which I sit here and slowly finish.
      Then, I check the time on my phone. Has that much time really gone by?! She should've been here an hour ago. I hope nothing's happened.

     No, Kade. Everything's fine. She's not coming. She stood you up.

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