Page 2 of Mason

“Fuck.”

“That’s about right.” Ben smiled humorously.

“Get dressed and get your ass to my room.”

Ben nodded, and Mason cracked the door, making sure there was no one outside before he went back to his own room. Keith had finally put on a pot of coffee. Thank fuck.

“You’re gonna be late.”

“I hate that job, anyway. Getting up this early is getting old. If they fire me, they fire me. I can flip burgers if I have to. This is important.”

The coffee was done by the time Ben made it to Mason’s room. He looked haggard, not a good look on the captain of the football team. He took the mug Keith handed him with a look of gratitude. “Thanks, man. I needed this.”

“Now tell us what’s going on.” Mason sat back down on his bed and gestured to the desk chair for Ben to have a seat.

“First, how did you hear about this? I haven’t told anyone, since I only found out myself yesterday.”

“I came in late last night and heard some of the guys talking about it,” Keith told him. “They sounded pretty pissed.”

“Fuck me.” Ben sighed. “The dean told me yesterday. The bank called him when there was a large funds transfer from the account. He called me and verified it wasn’t authorized. They almost emptied the account. It was late yesterday, and Dean MacIntyre said we’d call the police first thing this morning.”

“Someone at the dean’s office must have blabbed,” Mason said thoughtfully. He knew of one girl who dated Larry, their house secretary. She might have told him.

“We don’t know what happened. Everything was done electronically.”

“Who has access to the account?” Keith checked his watch. Mason knew he should have been gone at least ten minutes ago, but he was right. This was important.

“Me, the dean, and Billy, our treasurer. The guy had no clue when I asked him about it earlier.”

Or he appeared to have no idea. “How well do you know him?”

“We pledged together freshman year, Mase. I know him as well as I do anyone else.”

“Fucking hell.” This was going to stir up all sorts of shit. “Well, there’s no way you can keep this under wraps. Police will interview every brother in the house.”

“But they don’t have access.”

“But we all have access to your room.”

“So?”

“So…we have access to your computer. Where I’m assuming you log into the account when you need to.”

“Sure.”

“Password saved?”

Understanding dawned. “Fuck.”

“Yeah. Best to lock your door starting now, and the police will probably confiscate the laptop to check for fingerprints and shit. Have you loaned it to anyone recently?”

Ben shook his head.

“Better call a house meeting this morning. Get ahead of it before the rumors start flying. That way it doesn’t look like you’re hiding anything.”

“I’d planned on it as soon as I woke up.” He dug his phone out of his pocket and sent a text. Mason’s and Keith’s phones both chirped with the house-wide text.

“I gotta get to work,” Keith said. “I’m already late.”