“I know how. I did it for years, remember?”
“That’s—"
An urgent knock sounded at the door before it cracked open for Sun Yu to stick his head in.
“We have a problem.” The lawyer said, sliding his slight frame into the room, shut the door, and leaned against it like he was holding back a gale.
Both Rylee and Neesa dropped their feet to the floor, put their shoes back on, and shifted into professional postures.
“Murphy, the leader of the team coming in from Colombia, called from the airport. The Secret Service has detained three people from that team.”
“No shit?” Neesa gasped. “Secret Service? But why?”
“They had a counterfeit scent K9 sniffing people as they got off the plane. Three of our team had counterfeit money on their persons.”
“That doesn’t make them counterfeiters,” Rylee said. “That means they were the victims of a counterfeiter.”
“The Secret Service agrees. They aren’t accusing our people of anything.”
“So what’s the problem?” Neesa asked. “Give the special agents the fake money and be done with it.”
“Apparently, it’s more complex than that. The Secret Service is requesting a meeting. I had the CEO and CFO on a conference call with Kumar Singh, one of the Secret Service special agents on this case. We all agreed that their team should come here and meet with you tomorrow morning at nine o’clock.”
“Who is the ‘you’ in that sentence?” Rylee asked. “Both of us?”
“The CEO said Neesa, since she’s the money side of the shared operations directorship.”
“Good, because I’m going to be jumping out of helicopters.” She sent a searching glance toward Neesa.
Neesa caught Rylee’s gaze, then turned to Sun. “Yeah, that’s fine. Anyway, I can help, I’m glad to. I’ll catch Rylee up after her evolution.”
“Hey, Sun, was this fake money on their persons?” Rylee asked.
“It was mixed in with WorldCares cash straps. The three had the banded money in their carry-ons and said they were never out of sight, per our rules.”
“Mixed in with, like in our bands?” Rylee asked.
“That’s my understanding.” Sun hadn’t moved further into the office but stayed there pressed to the door. “The Secret Service wants to bring their K9 tomorrow to sniff through our vaults to see if this has happened in the past. It’s possiblethat we might have sent the teams out with the fake currency. Somehow, we might be the distributors rather than the recipients.”
“Mixedin the straps?” Neesa said. “I certainly don’t break the band and look at each bill when I inventory them back in the vault.”
“I’m trying to wrap my head around this one. You said the Secret Service detained them?” Rylee asked.
“They are detained,” Sun said.
“Do we have someone over there supporting them?” Rylee asked.
Sun shoved his hands deep into his trouser pockets. “We sent counsel.”
“No criminal charges, though. Right?” Neesa asked.
“Right now, our people are in full cooperation with the Secret Service. They’re showing documentation: the money they were given, the money they spent, and the money that’s coming back. Unfortunately, we send them out with hundred-dollar bills.”
“Hundred-dollar bills are what we always send,” Neesa said.
“Hundred-dollar bills,” Sun nodded, “are the denomination of U.S. notes that are the most popular for counterfeiting in the world.”
Rylee leaned forward. “And adogsmelled this? The dog is the one saying these bills are counterfeit.”
