Sarah’s head lifted in surprise. That wasn’t a sentiment she’d ever expected to hear coming from his mouth.
She tossed the paperback romance she’d been reading onto the coffee table in favor of watching Brett head towards her with that loose-hipped, easy stride so innate to him. Even now, after three weeks of living together, the way he moved accelerated her pulse and respiration. The sexual sizzle he invariably sparked was already skating across her scalp and down her spine. Her belly tightened as butterfly wings unfurled in the pit of her stomach.
Maybe the book wasn’t holding her interest because she was living with a real-life sexy hero. Even if it was in the most annoyingly platonic of ways.
“Earth to Sarah?” His voice was amused. A perceptive gleam brightened his vivid blue eyes. He knew exactly what he was doing to her and was enjoying every second of it.
“What?” she asked, ignoring the gleam, along with the chain reaction of shivers and tingles sweeping through her.
“Your brother,” he reminded her, the amusement stronger than ever. “He was a rocket scientist. At least when it comes to computers.”
She shook her head to clear the sexual buzz from her brain and fought to concentrate on his claim. Something about Sean, and rocket scientists, and geniuses.
“A genius?” she repeated. “Why?”
Brett looked good. Back to normal. His face had lost that drawn, pallid glaze that had been so prevalent upon his discharge from the hospital three weeks ago. Her gaze dropped to his long, lean frame. He was moving better too. Easier. More fluid. Without that careful, pulled up stride of before, as though he’d been braced for pain.
“Dev’s hacker buddy finally got back to him. He says those numbers your brother filmed are bank accounts. Online ones out of the Caymans.” He paused to shake his head, disbelief heavy on his face. “One of the bank accounts belonged to Mitch. But someone set up a second account under an alias and transferred all of Mitch’s money into it.”
“What?” Startled, Sarah’s eyes shot back up to his face.
While Sean had always been good with tech stuff and had worked as a computer programmer when he wasn’t flying high on meth and losing his various jobs, setting up dummy accounts in foreign countries seemed out of his league.
“Yeah. Dev said there are numerous records of sizable deposits into that first account—Mitch’s—going back about five years. The initial deposits were always followed by smaller withdrawals, with the balance accumulating. Five weeks ago there was another big deposit, bringing the balance to just over seven million. A few minutes after that deposit hit, the balance dropped to zero. Someone transferred every penny out and before the customary, smaller withdrawals were made.”
She worked that over in her mind. “Could Mitch have been the one to transfer the money out?”
“Nope.” Brett grinned, but the enjoyment on his face swiftly turned to satisfaction. “Dev’s friend tracked the transfer down. After it went into the secondary account, it was dispersed to several charities in the form of anonymous electronic donations. Among the charities the money was dispersed to was DAV—Disabled Veterans of America—and K9s for Warriors, which trains service dogs for veterans with PTSD. No way in hell would Mitch have done that. You gotta admit—that’s some five-star irony there.”
Sarah frowned, thinking that over. A sliver of sorrow pierced her. “You said the transfer happened five weeks ago? It couldn’t have been Sean, then. He was already dead when that transfer went through.”
The satisfaction on Brett’s face gave way to sympathy. “I know. But he must have had something to do with it. Otherwise he wouldn’t have filmed those numbers.”
Sarah nodded. The timing of the transfer made sense too. In fact, it explained everything.
“Five weeks ago,” she murmured. “That was just before Porter Hayes kidnapped me. Hayes must have gotten tired of waiting for his cut of the money. The transfer…so that’s why Mitch didn’t have the money to pay Hayes.”
Brett skirted the coffee table and settled on the couch beside her. “It also explains why Mitch didn’t go after Sean’s personal effects earlier,” he added thoughtfully, sliding an arm around Sarah’s waist and pulling her closer. “Since the money didn’t disappear until well after your brother's death, Mitch didn’t know he’d been stiffed, so he didn’t care about Sean’s stuff. At least not until his account was drained. Afterwards, though…. he must have suspected Sean had been in on the transfer and was hoping to find something in