Page 69 of The Easy Way
Cam rolled his eyes. It was Cort’s answer to everything -money.
But Drew nodded. “He’s right, Cam. It usually is. Any good investigator follows the moneytrail.”
“Yes, but in this case Damon led Cort to investigateus,” Cam said, leaning against Cort’sarm.
Sebastianlaughed.
“It’s not funny,” Cort grumbled. “Frankly, I still have my doubts about you.” It was more of a joke than a serious statement, and for the first time Cam allowed himself to believe that maybe, somehow, this was all going to work out alright. “It was a very real possibility. Until I met Cam.” The look he gave Cam was affectionate and exasperated all atonce.
Bas shook his head. “Cam’s sparkling personality aside, the only way you’d think that was if you never bothered to read the terms of our parents’wills.”
Cort frowned. “Wills? Everyone knows you and Cam inheritedeverything.”
He gave Cam a blank look, and Cam bit his lip. “Yeah, I hadn’t fully explained thatpart.”
“The company assets don’t belong to Cam and me,” Sebastian told him. “We have trust funds, and we draw salaries from the company - very decent salaries - but the company itself is in trust, and the beneficiary is the Seaver Charitable Trust. All the money we were ever likely to inherit from our parents was already ours long before theydied.”
“And you didn’t tell me this, why?” Cort demanded, turning toCam.
“Oh, please. Like you didn’t keep secrets. I wanted you to believe me about Bas because you believedme,Cort.”
Cort gave him a look as if to say they would be discussing this later. Cam felt a tingle in his stomach, and cleared his throat. “The better question is why you didn’t share all these suspicions withme!” Cam challengedBas.
Bas pushed his lips together. “Lots of reasons. For one thing, it’s been the only thing keeping me sane for the past few months. And for another... You’ve taken on enough this year, Cam. I know I’ve mostly checked out. I didn’t want this to fall on you too. I wanted to protect you if Icould.”
“Keeping secrets isn’t the way to do that,” Cam said, glaring at Sebastian and Cort in turn. “Jesus. I am a capableadult.”
“I know,” Cort murmured, turning to rest a hand on Cam’s cheek. “I’ve never doubtedit.”
Drew grimaced angrily. “Don’t feel too bad. Bas didn’t trust me either,Cammy.”
Bas rounded on Drew. “And I told youwhy!”
Drew glanced away and didn’trespond.
Cam sighed. “So now what the hell do wedo?”
“We find Uncle Shaw and show him these photos,” Bas said. “I don’t know what Jack’s endgame is, but if he had something to do with the crash, it’s possible Uncle Shaw may be indanger.”
“Have you done any digging into Jack Peabody’s financials?” Cort demanded. “Any idea where the money might have comefrom?”
Bas shook his head. “Not yet. Locked up tighter than adrum.”
“You can’t get into his system?” Cort snorted. “And here I thought you were some computergenius.”
Drew smirked. “He didn’t say hecouldn’t, Kendrick, he saidnotyet.”
Cam winced internally. Trust Drew to have somehow figured out Cort detested his first name, and made sure to useit.
Cort ignored Drew. “Cam and I have a meeting with Damon in…” He checked the time on his phone, then showed it to Cam. “Fifteenminutes.”
Cam nodded as Cort put the phone away. “We’ve gotta go. Meet us at the hangar after you find Uncle Shaw,” he told his brother. “And we can make a plan for dealing withJack.”
Bas frowned. “You should call in backup,” he told Cort. “See if you can get an FBI team outhere.”
For a second, Cort hesitated, but Cam placed a hand on Cort’s back and shook hishead.
“It’s not going to happen,” Cam said. “If Cort contacts them without proof, they’ll likely end up investigating Damon. After all, he was the official cause of the crash. And don’t you dare give me that face,” he said when Bas scowled. “Keeping secrets to protect a brother is something you shouldunderstand.”
