Page 49 of Mason

“I would have noticed that.”

Nik nodded. “Yeah, this program isn’t available on the open market. Whoever did this coded it himself.”

“Well, shit.”

“They’re good,” Nik agreed, “but I’m better.”

Which was why he brought it to Nik to begin with. Mason was really good, but his brother was going to have sit down and teach him a few things. He wasn’t going to get caught with his pants down again. “Did you back hack him?”

“Not yet. Kade thought it best to involve the police first.”

Of course, Mr. Ex-FBI-Agent would think so.

As if on cue, the doorbell rang, which set Rose off to crying. She hated the doorbell. Another reason all the brothers knocked.

Lily sighed and went to get her while Nik grabbed the door. Kade cringed when he spotted his niece crying. He took her from Lily, pausing to apologize for the detectives.

Yes,detectives. Plural. Kade had brought two of them along with him. One, he recognized from the frat house. It was the guy who’d questioned him originally about what he knew about the missing money. Detective Harper.

Kade rocked his niece, swaying back and forth like Angel had taught them all to do. The girl loved her uncle, because she quieted down almost instantly. Or it could just be the daddy gene. Kade did have his own daughter.

“Mason, this is Detective Harper and Detective Archer.” Kade nodded toward the two men. “Archer is the one who set Rosie off.”

The man had the decency to blush. “I didn’t know she was afraid of the doorbell.”

“I did tell you not to ring it,” Kade pointed out.

“He did,” Harper agreed.

“Why don’t I take Rose into her nursery while you gentlemen use the living room?” Lily stole her daughter back from Kade. The baby promptly puckered up her lips, and Lily laughed. “Not today, Rose. Uncle Kade will play with you later.”

Nikoli followed them down the hall, and Kade turned his attention to Mason. “How’s Jo?”

“Better. She’s still having nightmares, though. You guys want some coffee?” Mason poured them coffee when they all agreed and brought the tray over to the living room coffee table.

It wasn’t long before Nikoli returned with Mason’s laptop and a video camera. He put the items down and scowled at the now empty coffee pot. “You couldn’t put on a fresh pot?”

Mason shrugged. “I figured you’d already had a cup or three.”

“That’s beside the point.” Nik shook his head and muttered obscenities while he started a new pot of coffee.

“Mason, I’ve had our techs at the department go over the money trail, and it looks like the frat money is the money that was originally in your bank account.” Detective Harper ignored Nikoli’s outburst and got right to the point. “We were able to determine that it didn’t originally empty out of the frat’s accounts into yours. There was a third party involved, one we haven’t been able to trace yet.”

“Would you have looked for a third party if Kade hadn’t called?” Mason was curious to see if the hacker was good enough to cover his tracks that far.

“Yes. Our computer techs are some of the best in the state. They had already determined this, and when we saw the money transfer to your account, our original thought was that you were part of the crime.”

“You’re lucky your brother and I are friends,” Archer said. “I called Harper, and he was on the verge of obtaining an arrest warrant for you.”

Well, wasn’t that just fucking great?

“I didn’t do it.”

“That’s what your brother says.”

Mason did not like the doubt in Harper’s voice. “Do you honestly think I’d be stupid enough to dump money into my own account?”

“Well, it ended up in your girlfriend’s account,” Harper pointed out. “Your girlfriend who is paying off hospital bills.”

---