Free The Omega Team: Keeping Karen (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Heather Long Page A

up fraud. White collar criminals never look like criminals. Sometimes they hire people like me so, if they get caught, they can throw doubt on the work we do. Anyway, I was looking for a pattern of transactions, anything like the tenth of a penny. All the deposits to those different accounts were in the same amount, and they were all payable to banks in isolated areas, local branches without a national affiliation.”
    “So, why did they turn up in the bank you were searching?” Unless…
    “They all originated from those banks accounts. Again, all over the country, no two the same, but all paid through them. Whoever was processing the payments has to use that chain. Maybe as a filter or at least as their money man.”
    Ethan turned the idea over in his head. He’d seen the reports. The accounts the money came from hadn’t had the funds for long. They’d sat there then transferred out like a mistaken deposit. What if the deposit hadn’t been a mistake? What if whomever was paying for the kills deposited the money into a random account then it was transferred to where it needed to go…? “Who has access to those accounts?”
    “All of them?”
    “All of them.”
    Karen shook her head. “A lot of people. Probably anyone who has security clearance at the bank.”
    “But one branch wouldn’t have access to another’s, would they?”
    “They’d need the account numbers but, yeah, that’s the benefit of banking with a national chain. You may have opened your account in New York, but if you visit in a branch in Georgia, you can still access your funds.”
    For fuck’s sake, his suspect pool got wider… “Is there anything about those accounts that you can remember that made them stand out?”
    She bowed her head, seemingly staring at her feet. His eyes had adjusted to the dark, but he couldn’t make out her expression. Still, he’d seen that thoughtful look on her face before. She was reviewing whatever she’d seen in her head. Replaying it. Turning it over. Solving the puzzle. Her ability to visualize was why she’d always done well in games and in computers. Given enough time and motivation, she could solve anything.
    “Only that the transactions transferring the money happened within seconds of the deposits, and not by a program.”
    “How do you know a program didn’t do it?”
    “A program needs specific parameters. Yes, you could write one that says search for this specific amount, remove it and transfer it to x, y or z. It’s just a series of if, then statements. But programs also take time. These transactions were not even two full seconds apart. Even with a Cray supercomputer, it would take longer than two seconds to scan every single bank branch deposit every second of the day. It just wouldn’t work like that. The reason the tenth of a penny skimmer worked is it happened as the payments were processed, which doesn’t happen until midnight at most banks. The transactions appear, but they aren’t actually moved until later.”
    That narrowed his suspects. “Someone would have to be watching for it, know it’s coming then move the money?”
    “Logistically, yes.”
    They needed to go back. Turning he tugged her to him and brushed his lips against hers. The electric contact sizzled through his system. “Woman, I love your brain.”

7
    E than’s excitement thrilled her , though the kiss he gave her thrilled her more. Once they were inside the house, though, instead of pursuing their connection, he got on the phone. He related her supposition about the bank transfers. She wanted to participate in the hunt, yet he refused to give her the network password. All her earlier reasons for not flouting his rules still remained. It wasn’t safe. Someone out there hunted her.
    Dammit. I want my life—our life—back. Circumstances forced them together. If they caught the culprits, it would free them both. Then we can see if we really do want to be together. Not sure who she wanted to test more,