St Kilda Consulting 02 - Innocent as Sin

means and less imagination. She’s probably still somewhere in Phoenix. Call in any markers you may have with the personnel department or whatever it’s called nowadays.”
    “Human Resources,” Foley said. “It’s the weekend, but I can get to her files. I have remote access to the corporate computer.”
    “Find out whatever you can, her extracurricular activities, friends, boyfriends. We will find her.”
    “And then what?”
    “Give her to Gabriel, of course.”
    “She doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Foley said. “At least, none has ever picked her up at work or taken her out to lunch. She has some friends in the private bank division. I can get you a list of names.”
    “Call them yourself,” Bertone said.
    “I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to be too closely—”
    “You’re already in over your head,” Bertone cut in. “Unless you want to take the responsibility for my correspondent account, find Kayla Shaw.”

32
    Royal Palms
Saturday
9:35 P.M. MST
    T hen Steve Foley,” Kayla said to Grace, “told me to open a correspondent account with the transmitting overseas bank and deposit Bertone’s check while Steve went to the CEO for advice on the Bertone account.”
    “Did you?” Grace asked.
    “Yes.”
    “When?”
    “Friday.”
    “What did the bank’s CEO say?” Faroe asked.
    “I haven’t heard from Foley. Not one damn word.” The look on Kayla’s face said she was scared.
    And angry.
    “How long does it usually take for Mr. Foley to reach the CEO?” Grace asked.
    “A phone call. At most, maybe an hour or two of phone tag. Foley is a golden boy at the bank.”
    Grace nodded, sipped lemonade, and said, “Tell me moreabout this correspondent account. How is it different from an ordinary account?”
    Rand chewed a mouthful of cold cuts and listened. Grace had been a federal judge. She knew how to cut to the heart of the matter, but she could do it without pain if she liked the person.
    So far, she’d been kid-gentle with Kayla.
    He didn’t know if that was good or bad. All he knew was that he’d warned Kayla. After that, the choices she made were hers. She was a woman fully grown.
    And his palms itched for the feel of her skin.
    “I’m no expert on correspondent accounts,” Kayla said slowly. “My expertise is domestic rather than international banking.”
    Grace waited.
    “Usually,” Kayla said, “correspondent accounts are arranged on a bank-to-bank basis. Someone on the sixth floor had to walk me through the process.”
    “Why did your boss ask you to do something out of your usual area?” Faroe asked.
    “Steve said that using a correspondent account would subject our bank to slightly different rules. In effect, it would shift responsibility for knowing about the customer’s background from us to the transmitting institution. We could cash Bertone’s check and still…” Kayla’s mouth flattened.
    “Have a defensible position if the feds came calling?” Grace suggested.
    “That’s my take,” Kayla agreed. “But I’m small change in the banking world. What I see might not be what I think I see.”
    “I think you have excellent vision,” Grace said.
    “Whatever. The account worked. Too well, if you ask me.”
    “Meaning?” Faroe said.
    Kayla’s slender hand became a fist around the silver dollar. “When I checked the account yesterday afternoon, it had almost doubled since I deposited the first check.”
    Grace and Faroe looked at each other.
    “How much money are we talking about?” Grace asked.
    Kayla hesitated, then opened her palm. The silver dollar gleamed. “I’m not sure our ‘prenup’ covers information that specific.”
    Grace laughed.
    “How about if we tell you?” Faroe said.
    “Excuse me?” Kayla said.
    Faroe went to the table that held the scrambled fax machine. He flipped through papers until he found what he wanted. “According to our figures, Bertone has transferred two separate sums to your bank. The transmitting bank was the Bank of Aruba on the island of Aruba. Total deposits were slightly less than forty-two million bucks, U.S.”
    Kayla swallowed hard, then nodded. “I guess you wasted your silver dollar. You don’t need me.”
    All Grace said was, “Is that money still on deposit at your bank?”
    “Last time I checked.”
    “Do you expect more deposits in the future?”
    Kayla hesitated, then sighed. “Yes. Bertone said he’d make more, and quickly.”
    “When did that conversation take