on her brow as she typed in the numbers. She stared at the amount and then repeated the numbers aloud to make sure they were correct. Then she hit the SUBMIT button.
The web page disappeared. Ava’s cold sweat turned hot. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, expecting the worst, she saw a line that read: Your transfer has been completed. We will send confirmation to your email address. You can print a copy from our website .
She pressed the PRINT button, closed the account, and switched over to Meridian’s.
Five minutes later she had dispatched HK$5 million from Meridian to her Canadian bank account. She tried to imagine what her branch manager would think when he saw the overnight deposit reports. Since she’d opened the account, the largest amount she’d ever had in it was $8,000. When the Hong Kong dollars were converted to Canadian, her account would contain more than $1.2 million.
She pushed the chair back from the desk and took a deep breath. She had just stolen more than a million dollars. But any guilt or anxiety she had was quickly swamped by a rush of almost sheer joy as she contemplated Mr. Lo’s reaction. He wouldn’t care how she’d got the money. Why should he? And why should she? But there was still one more loop to close.
She headed out the door and was at the top of the stairs when she saw Andy at the bottom. “I need you,” she said.
“You sound excited,” he said, and began to run up.
“You have to call Carlo and get me Kung’s email address. If he has more than one, I want them all. And obviously I’ll need his passwords.”
“Let me see what I can do.”
“There is no ‘let me see.’ I have to have them. I don’t care what Carlo has to do. Tell him to cut off Kung’s balls if he has to.”
“You are excited,” Andy said.
“Sorry.”
“ Momentai ,” he said, taking his phone from his pocket as he walked into the office.
Ava went back behind the desk. “I’m waiting,” she said.
Andy smiled as he called Carlo. “Hey, our new boss lady needs some information from Kung. Get us all of his email addresses, with passwords . . . Yeah, right now.” He covered the mouthpiece with his hand. “Carlo’s talking to him.”
“What a ride this has been,” Ava murmured, and then realized she had landed in Hong Kong less than thirty-six hours before. “What a day.”
“[email protected],” Andy said to her.
“Capital letters?”
“All small.”
“And is that the only email address he has?”
“According to Carlo it is.”
“Kung has almost no imagination, and thank God for that,” she said as she logged in to Kung’s email. Again she felt a flicker of anticipation mixed with fear as she waited for the inbox to load. When it did, she saw two emails from the Kowloon Light and Power Bank at the top of the list. Ava opened them, read the confirmations, sent them to the printer, and then deleted them.
She took several deep breaths. “We’re done here,” she said. “I think we should go back to your apartment and chat with Johnny Kung.”
As they walked down the stairs, it suddenly occurred to her that $400,000 was still sitting in the Guangzhou and China Agricultural bank accounts that Kung had acknowledged were his. In all the excitement of raiding the Kowloon accounts, she had forgotten about them. For just a second she thought about going back to the office, but then dismissed the idea. She didn’t want to press her luck. Besides, Carlo and Andy had already negotiated that amount to be paid. As long as they held Kung and he didn’t find out about the Kowloon withdrawals, he’d pay that too. Let the guys have that victory, she thought.
It was midafternoon when they left the office building. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the sun should have been visible. It was there, Ava could see, but looked like it was behind a veil of dust and floating debris.
Andy went to a vacant taxi stand and looked up and down the street as he tried
The web page disappeared. Ava’s cold sweat turned hot. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, expecting the worst, she saw a line that read: Your transfer has been completed. We will send confirmation to your email address. You can print a copy from our website .
She pressed the PRINT button, closed the account, and switched over to Meridian’s.
Five minutes later she had dispatched HK$5 million from Meridian to her Canadian bank account. She tried to imagine what her branch manager would think when he saw the overnight deposit reports. Since she’d opened the account, the largest amount she’d ever had in it was $8,000. When the Hong Kong dollars were converted to Canadian, her account would contain more than $1.2 million.
She pushed the chair back from the desk and took a deep breath. She had just stolen more than a million dollars. But any guilt or anxiety she had was quickly swamped by a rush of almost sheer joy as she contemplated Mr. Lo’s reaction. He wouldn’t care how she’d got the money. Why should he? And why should she? But there was still one more loop to close.
She headed out the door and was at the top of the stairs when she saw Andy at the bottom. “I need you,” she said.
“You sound excited,” he said, and began to run up.
“You have to call Carlo and get me Kung’s email address. If he has more than one, I want them all. And obviously I’ll need his passwords.”
“Let me see what I can do.”
“There is no ‘let me see.’ I have to have them. I don’t care what Carlo has to do. Tell him to cut off Kung’s balls if he has to.”
“You are excited,” Andy said.
“Sorry.”
“ Momentai ,” he said, taking his phone from his pocket as he walked into the office.
Ava went back behind the desk. “I’m waiting,” she said.
Andy smiled as he called Carlo. “Hey, our new boss lady needs some information from Kung. Get us all of his email addresses, with passwords . . . Yeah, right now.” He covered the mouthpiece with his hand. “Carlo’s talking to him.”
“What a ride this has been,” Ava murmured, and then realized she had landed in Hong Kong less than thirty-six hours before. “What a day.”
“[email protected],” Andy said to her.
“Capital letters?”
“All small.”
“And is that the only email address he has?”
“According to Carlo it is.”
“Kung has almost no imagination, and thank God for that,” she said as she logged in to Kung’s email. Again she felt a flicker of anticipation mixed with fear as she waited for the inbox to load. When it did, she saw two emails from the Kowloon Light and Power Bank at the top of the list. Ava opened them, read the confirmations, sent them to the printer, and then deleted them.
She took several deep breaths. “We’re done here,” she said. “I think we should go back to your apartment and chat with Johnny Kung.”
As they walked down the stairs, it suddenly occurred to her that $400,000 was still sitting in the Guangzhou and China Agricultural bank accounts that Kung had acknowledged were his. In all the excitement of raiding the Kowloon accounts, she had forgotten about them. For just a second she thought about going back to the office, but then dismissed the idea. She didn’t want to press her luck. Besides, Carlo and Andy had already negotiated that amount to be paid. As long as they held Kung and he didn’t find out about the Kowloon withdrawals, he’d pay that too. Let the guys have that victory, she thought.
It was midafternoon when they left the office building. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the sun should have been visible. It was there, Ava could see, but looked like it was behind a veil of dust and floating debris.
Andy went to a vacant taxi stand and looked up and down the street as he tried
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