Page 11 of Sadie's Guarded Harbor

“He had a bank statement sitting on the table. I called for a subpoena as soon as I left his trailer, and some strings were pulled to get it quick. Did you know the guy was loaded?” Returning her focus to the screen, she clicked the mouse to take the page back to the home screen. “Multiple accounts, and all have considerable cash. But the trust he inherited from his mother has the most. Looks like an allowance was given to him monthly until he turned twenty-five. Then it all transferred over.”

Tommy studied the screen, and his jaw dropped. “He was worth millions.” He worked the math and timeline over in his head. “He’s a few years older than Katherine, so he’d have gotten his hands on all that money about four years ago.”

“And still lived in squalor.”

“Alcoholics tend not to care much about anything except getting their hands on more booze.”

Sadie ran her finger down the rows on the screen. “I don’t see a steady income in here. Only the monthly deposits from the trust.”

He shrugged. “Probably got paid under the table at the bar. I always wondered why Curtis kept Shawn around. Figured it was because they’d been friends since high school. Maybe it was because Shawn didn’t ask for much since he didn’t need it.”

“Most people always want more,” Sadie said. “But Shawn doesn’t fit that mold. We should talk to Curtis. He might have some insight, especially since they were friends from way back.”

“Want to go now? I could use a good meal before diving into whatever you found at the trailer. Curtis should be at the bar by now. We could ask him some questions while we get some grub.” Nerves tightened his stomach muscles. Apologizing for being a jackass wasn’t fun for him. He needed to just jump in and do it.

Raising her arms above her head, Sadie stretched and rotated her neck in a wide circle. “Sounds good. My eyes need a break. I’ve been looking over these accounts for a while. Besides the staggering amounts, there’s not much else of interest. Lots of withdrawals, some that could be worth tracing, but I’ll look at those later.”

Tommy stood and put the chair back where it belonged. “Do you like looking at numbers?” He’d rather shove his head through a wall than chase a money trail by studying a computer screen. But some people lived for that shit. If Sadie was one ofthem, he’d let her have her fun. If not, he knew just who to ask for help.

She winced as she hopped to her feet. “Nothing worse than being stuck behind a desk, but my skills are good enough to get the job done.”

He scratched the light stubble he hadn’t bothered to shave. “My dad said we needed resources on this case. Mind if I pass this off to someone else so we can be in the field?”

Gratitude sparked in her eyes, and a smile twitched on her lips. “Perfect.”

Tommy nodded and turned away before the stupid stirring in his gut got out of control. He was used to the shitty scowl and pissed off eyes. That combination didn’t heat his blood the way this one did, and he didn’t like it one bit.

Leading the way, he wove through the crowded desks and stopped at the back of the room next to Deputy Taylor Lawson. Her desk was tucked away beside the coffee station and the strong scent of burnt coffee stung his nostrils.

She didn’t bother to look up from her computer, her fingers continuing to fly across the keyboard. “What do you need, Wells?”

“Got a minute to help with a murder investigation?”

She whipped up her head and excitement took over the glazed quality of her large, brown eyes. “Seriously? Whatever you want me to do has to be way more entertaining than what I’ve been stuck doing today. Hell, what I’ve done since starting here.”

Tommy grinned. Taylor was his sister’s best friend, and before she started working for the Miller County Sheriff’s Department, she’d worked as a cybercrimes officer in Cleveland. In between that gig and this one, her list of accomplishments in the cyber world were extensive if not questionable. Working within the limits of the law put a damper on her overzealousspirit, but Taylor’s need to move back to Water’s Edge to take care of her mom put her on the straight and narrow. At least for the time being.

“Did you hear about Shawn Downs?”

Taylor frowned. “Yeah. Too damn bad. I always liked him in school. He was never the same after he dropped out of college.”

“Were you two friends?” Sadie asked.

Taylor shook her head. “Not really. He was older. Popular. Didn’t care to show attention to an underclassman. And when I bounced into town after graduation, I stayed clear. I have enough alcoholics in my life I can’t avoid. I didn’t need to make conversation with another one.”

Resting a hand on Taylor’s shoulder, he squeezed gently before dropping his arm back to his side. Taylor’s mom had been an alcoholic for as long as he could remember.

Sadie shuffled behind him. “Sorry to hear that.”

Taylor tucked in her lips and shrugged. “Life throws us some curveballs. Anyway, you guys need help with Shawn’s case?”

“Yeah,” Tommy confirmed. “If we send you his bank information, can you dig around a little? Nothing much stands out, besides the amount of dough he has in his accounts, but there could be more than meets the eye. You’ll figure out if something suspicious was happening with his withdrawals and deposits quicker than either of us, and we’re itching to get in the field.”

Taylor scooted forward on her chair. “Absolutely. Send everything over, and I’ll get on it right away.”

Sadie led the way back to her desk. She put in her passcode and brought up the account information. “Go ahead and send it over to Taylor. I don’t know her email address.”

Tommy leaned forward and typed in the information.

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