Asset Management

by Annette Mori

  When Kim looked away, Sophie gave Toni a subtle shake of her head in warning.

  “Do you think we should have retreated back to our home base in San Francisco?” Kim asked, wringing her hands.

  “No. For once, I agree with Toni. The best place to hide is right in front of their noses,” Sophie said.

  “Besides, what’s the fun in taking all that money if you can’t watch the fallout unfold?” Toni leaned back into the booth seat and crossed her long, shapely legs.

  The smile on Toni’s face reminded Sophie of the Cheshire cat.

  “Did you see the paper this morning?” Toni asked. “These poor families have more ethics in their pinky than the whole stinking banking industry. They keep reporting to their banks about odd deposits to their accounts insisting that it wasn’t their money. At least the banks are ethical enough to assure them the money is from an anonymous donor and quite legitimate. Nice work on setting the foundation up, Sophie.” Toni winked at her friend. “Did you see that douchebag, Harrison, huddled with his attorneys and fellow cronies all trying to figure out how someone managed to dupe him? I bet they’re still scratching their asses wondering what happened. Harrison looked like my grandpa did when his hemorrhoid was acting up.”

  They all laughed.

  “I wanted to get some popcorn to enjoy with the entertainment, but I suppose that might shed too much light our way. Right now, no one would ever suspect that a trio of dykes from the wrong side of town could pull this kind of thing off.” Toni wiggled her eyebrows.

  “Stop gloating, Toni. It doesn’t look good on you. Besides, we barely went undetected this time and I suspect your gal pal hottie might be leading the witch hunt. This isn’t our first rodeo you know. I knew about Byron’s reputation. I should never have let him get his grimy claws into her.” Sophie looked at Kim and grimaced.

  “It’s okay, Soph, you were there and it all worked out.” Kim smiled.

  “Something seems off about your mystery woman. Please tell me that your final trip to the bathroom at the Republican fund-raiser last week did not result in an intimate encounter with her?” Sophie already knew the answer.

  “Define intimate encounter.” Toni grinned.

  “Shit, Toni, how is it possible that one hundred and fifty plus IQ of yours has absolutely no effect on your decision-making ability whenever you are around a beautiful woman.” Sophie shook her head.

  “Ha, so you admit she is a beautiful woman. Relax, Sophie. Remember, I was a blonde, brown-eyed, voluptuous woman and not my naturally irresistible androgynous self. You can’t get any more opposite of dark hair and blue eyes than the disguise Kim gave me for the fund-raiser.”

  “I saw a flicker of recognition, even after she denied meeting you. I’d bet my house she knows far more about us than is healthy. What I can’t seem to figure out is who she’s working for and why she hasn’t made her move yet. Did you happen to notice anything unusual about her when the two of you got up close and personal?” Sophie asked.

  Toni paused. “Hmm. I don’t think so. I briefly met her in the bathroom while I was sporting my college student persona. After I changed, she kept looking in my direction before we hooked up in the bathroom. At the time, I remember thinking that she was admiring Kim’s exquisite dress selection for the evening. We had an initial moment of intense eye contact from across the room. Afterward, we kinda shared the same bathroom stall, but I know I didn’t let her get a good look at my eyes. I’m always careful about that when I’m wearing colored contacts. She definitely was not carrying any weapons. She’s either an athlete or maybe even a martial arts expert because her body…”

  “Please spare me the details,” Sophie snarled.

  “Um, I hate to bring this up—because you’re such an insufferable know-it-all, Soph, but I believe her stumbling into me might not have been an accident. We better check my jacket for bugs or tracking devices,” Toni admitted.

  “All right, time to head back to the hub and try to find out who she is. Before we get there, we ought to find a way to deactivate whatever present she left behind. I don’t want anyone knowing the whereabouts of our base of operations. Maybe we should find a way to send her in a new direction until we’re ready to have her find you again, Toni,” Sophie proposed.

  “Sounds like a plan to me. Let me open my bag of tricks and I will identify where it is and how to deactivate it.”

  Chapter 4

  The smoke-filled back room reeked of tension and anxiety. Byron Harrison started to perspire under his three thousand dollar, specially tailored Armani suit. It was never a good thing when Antonio Santori called anyone to a meeting. Antonio had every right to know what was going on, but Byron didn’t have good answers for him.

  He figured out a little too late that the two attractive women who broke into his room at the fund-raiser to rescue his date were somehow responsible for their losses. He and his bodyguards were knocked out making it impossible to apprehend the women—his men did an exhaustive search but the women seemed to vanish in thin air leaving him holding the proverbial bag.

  Things were getting out of hand. Byron wasn’t the first to lose millions, but his losses were to date the largest blow. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the connection between the losses and the mysterious foundation that kept redistributing their hard-earned dollars. Unfortunately, one of the offshore accounts that he managed was Antonio’s and along with Byron’s personal fortune, they had wiped out all of Antonio’s money too.

  Rumors were flying around that there was a secret powerful society of highly intelligent people, who were succeeding in changing the distribution of power in the banking industry. Some unknown person or group was responsible for thwarting all efforts to reveal who ran the society.

  If Antonio Santori was unable to find the underlying cause, what hope did Byron have of getting back his millions? Byron didn’t think that it was possible for the three women to be solely behind the losses. Surely, they were just pawns in the game. If only he could have gotten to them in time, he would have been able to trace them to the power source.

  Antonio entered the smoky room and Byron could feel the quiet fury hiding just beneath the man’s calm exterior. His fury nearly filled the room with anticipatory doom. Byron noted how Antonio’s classic Italian good looks were marred by cold black eyes. Eyes that now telegraphed his raging anger.

  “Byron, it is so good you were able to join us this evening. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to meet your lovely companion at the fund-raiser.”

  Byron was surprised that Antonio had waited a whole week to summon him and wondered if Antonio had discovered more information about the trio of women.

  “I’m afraid she turned out to be a huge disappointment. She won’t be accompanying me to any future events.”

  A flash of rage appeared in Antonio’s eyes.

  Byron knew that his tendency to add chemicals to a romantic conquest was repugnant to Antonio, but business is business and Antonio had never interfered before.

  “Byron, you are an imbecilic man who has now managed to impact my business. Perhaps you deserve losing millions because of the distasteful manner in which you treat your dates—I do not. These women are like ghosts and I would like to know what you know about them,” Antonio stated calmly.

  Byron knew it would do no good to react to Antonio’s assessment of him, so he restrained an angry retort and simply shared his knowledge. “At least one of them has advanced martial arts skills.” He frowned as he unconsciously rubbed the bruise where she cut off his air supply. “I suspect all of them were in expertly designed disguises. Before they escaped, I got close enough to realize my date was wearing contacts, but I don’t know her true eye color. I suspect that at least one of them is an expert with computers because somehow they were able to access our accounts through a highly sophisticated breach in our security. I can only surmise the breach was contingent on getting close to me, but I still haven’t figured out how they did it. Our sec
urity has both traditional passwords and biometric access. I can understand how a talented hacker might be able to obtain the password, but the biometric access requires both my fingerprint and a retina scan.”

  “Is it possible that one of them is former CIA?”

  “I suppose anything is possible.”

  “How did they slip through your physical security?”

  “They must have been wearing some type of communication device, because shortly after I provided my date with a drink the other two came bursting into the suite. I dispatched my private security immediately, but there was only a trail of unconscious bodies left in their wake. The security cameras only show them entering the fund-raiser. There is no record of their exit. I suspect they utilized another disguise. There were a lot of people at the fund-raiser, so it’s almost impossible to determine what disguise was used. One of the women had an interesting interaction with a fourth woman, but we weren’t able to determine if she is just an innocent bystander or an integral part of their operation.”

  “The redhead and the blonde?” Antonio asked.

  “Yes.”

  “They were both very striking, even with disguises it cannot be that difficult to find out who they are. Have you studied the security footage to get a clear picture?”

  “Yes, of course we have, but it’s like they seemed to know exactly where each camera was and we have zero clear pictures of their faces. Even the redhead managed to keep her face from the camera. We don’t know if this was coincidence or specifically engineered. We could use your help and your resources with this. I don’t think I need to tell you that it’s starting to affect more people than just those in the banking industry.”

  “My connections are working on the mystery foundation angle, but the computer expert they are using has been able to move the money so quickly and so randomly we’ve made no headway. We cannot stop the transfer of funds without jeopardizing our own assets. By involving the masses and the media there will be too many people involved to stop the flow of funds. It seems like the meek will inherit the earth if these women have anything to say about it.”

  Antonio’s tone lost its hard edge.

  Byron suspected that he couldn’t help but admire the cunning of the women. He was aware that some of the recipients of the redistributed assets were in poor working-class Italian families and suspected that they were probably reminiscent of Antonio’s grandparents.

  He didn’t really care if the Russian mob found them first, but he wondered if Antonio would prefer to track these women down instead. He’d worked with Antonio enough to know that harming women was distasteful to him, but not to Viktor Borsky, the Russian mob boss.

  “So far the redistribution of wealth is just a drop in the bucket to the whole banking industry, but to me personally, the blow was devastating,” Byron lamented.

  “Your personal loss is of no concern to me. Consider it payment for your stupidity and abhorrent behavior to your dates. I will expect reimbursement for my losses. Frankly, I don’t care where you retrieve the money, but I do expect to see those funds back in my account by close of business two weeks from today.”

  Byron could almost feel his face losing all color as he realized his dire predicament. He knew there was no other way than to liquidate all his remaining personal assets. Even then, he may not quite make up for Antonio’s personal losses.

  Byron gritted his teeth. He was not prone to violence, but if he ever came across these women again, he’d make sure they paid. Antonio was not the only business associate he worked with. Viktor, the head of the Russian mafia, didn’t have the same philosophy as Antonio regarding how to deal with the troubling women.

  “I understand and I appreciate the time frame you have given me to take care of the situation,” Byron acceded.

  †

  Antonio smiled. He had a good idea where to get information on who the women were, but he wasn’t about to go out of his way to help Byron with his problem. The guy was a sleaze and the way he treated women was appalling. As long as Byron returned his funds, he was satisfied. He secretly applauded the women and thought Byron got exactly what he deserved.

  Antonio let his mind wander as he reminisced about his first love. God, how he loved her. But apparently not enough to give up his new life. He grinned. Was it possible that she was behind all this? Well, good for you that you finally found a way to finance your missions in a morally acceptable manner.

  He sent a small prayer up to his God—may the angels watch over you, my dear sweet M.

  Chapter 5

  The DC office was in a quiet neighborhood, completely removed from the normal hustle and bustle of Washington politics. Although the office was not in a questionable part of town, the office easily faded into the background and allowed the three friends to conduct business without the prying eyes of anyone who might discover their true mission.

  “Bingo. We have a match. Heather Stiles, Attorney at Law. On the surface it appears that she is who she says she is.” Sophie shook her head. “I don’t like it. There is something familiar about this woman. Most of the information on her seems to start eighteen months ago. There’s bits and pieces from prior to that time frame, but I still smell a rat here. It’s almost as if someone created an identity for her—classic CIA. If her background is contrived—whoever did this is very good. Toni, can you see if you can dig a bit farther and get something else on her.” Sophie leaned back in the office chair and linked her hands behind her head.

  “Sophie, you are such a conspiracy theorist. If she wanted to harm us, I suspect we would already be toast—especially if she’s CIA, as you suspect. I know she probably isn’t what or who she says she is, but maybe she’s not our enemy. I can attest to the fact that she isn’t a boring corporate attorney. She was intelligent, witty, and incredibly exciting. I, for one, would not mind interacting with her again if the opportunity presents itself. Just because you haven’t been laid in more than two years, doesn’t mean I have to be celibate too.” Toni paced the office.

  “Our downfall will most definitely be related to your oversexed behavior.” Sophie glared at Toni.

  Toni didn’t take the bait, knowing that Sophie was just trying to show her disdain for her cavalier attitude.

  “I wish you two would quit bickering with one another. Have you forgotten we are a team with the same goals in mind? I do agree with Sophie. I think this woman is dangerous and I don’t really know why. It’s just a gut feeling I get, but I also sense that she may somehow be on our side. There does seem to be some kind of connection between Heather and our recent activities. Where that connection exists, I’m not sure. We should be cautious, but I don’t think we ought to close any doors just yet.” Kim touched Sophie on the arm.

  “Sorry. I can’t help being cautious. It’s in my nature. I don’t think I could survive another loss. What we do is dangerous and we are poking the hornet’s nest every time we take their money. They will fight back and it won’t be pretty,” Sophie warned.

  “I’m not saying we’re invincible or anything, but you have to admit we’ve had a pretty good run so far. I’m not willing to hang up our spurs just yet. We’ve only made a small dent. A few more like our recent success and I’ll feel like we have actually accomplished what we all agreed to two years ago.” Toni shot her friends a wide grin.

  “Spurs. What are you some kind of cowgirl now?”

  “Maybe. Do cowgirls get regular action?”

  “I am not even going to respond to that.” Sophie looked at Kim. “See, I can behave, I’m not even going to react to the slutty cowgirl pacing the floor.”

  “Passive aggressive.”

  “Am not.”

  “Are too.”

  “Oh, for God’s sake, what are you guys, five years old? We’ve all been best friends since college—start acting like it. You both are giving me a migraine.” Kim held her head in her hands.

  “Sorry,” Toni and Sophie said in unison.

  “Okay. I admit it—t
he tracking device makes it obvious that she has an unhealthy interest in me. I suppose that’s kind of flattering in a creepy sort of way.” Toni chuckled. “Let me do my computer magic and see if I can find anything. Soph, do you think you might be able to access your old files. You keep saying that she seems familiar to you. Do you think it might have something to do with your previous undercover work?” Toni asked.

  “Maybe. Can you hack into the FBI database and cross-reference all my files with Russian drug and human trafficking. For some reason, I think there might be a link to that. Call it woman’s intuition, but I get the feeling this may have something to do with my last case. If that’s the situation, we are in serious, deep shit.”

  “Done. I’m sorry Soph. I would never jeopardize your safety or Kim’s safety. We walk away if there is even a remote possibility that we will turn the Russian Mafia on our trail. I’m all for reallocating the banking industry assets, but I’m not naïve enough to think they aren’t linked in some fashion to some very nasty characters. We should all agree to stop if we start poking the big bear and the mob starts taking an unusual interest in our extracurricular activities.”

  “Agreed,” Kim and Sophie declared together.

  “I think we ought to put her little tracking device to work for us. I’d like her to run into me again—on our terms.” Toni smiled.

  Chapter 6

  Char looked around the room, assessing the authenticity of the office space. It had taken her eighteen months to establish herself as the brilliant young corporate attorney, Heather Stiles. Her sister, Dani, originally established the cover to gain Viktor’s trust, but now that Toni and her friends were in her sights, her shield served a dual purpose. She was not about to let her recent encounter with Toni rattle her cage. She had a mission and she would not let her mentor down. She owed everything to Maggie. Success with her mark was imminent. She’d make her first move today. Kim may have gotten her picture, but the tracking device she’d planted on Toni would ensure another chance encounter.