Previously, Zack and Sydney find themselves facing a new, dangerous reality. Sydney shows Zack that his plan is doomed for failure.
Zack kicked a pebble across the parking lot of True North Canadian as he waited for the branch to open and tugged his coat tight around himself to guard against the late spring chill. A place that was once a place of hope and opportunity now sat in front of him like an ex-girlfriend. The relationship was over, but they still had the apartment until the end of the month.
Jamie’s car pulled into the lot and she waved at Zack. He pulled out his phone and pretended to answer a call and just waved back at her. She went inside and he dropped the phone. It was eight fifty-five. The responsibilities that he had had as the acting Branch Manager, or even the Supervisor in Training were gone now, both of those chances slipped away, like sand through his fingers.
He did the right thing, taking that money. Right? Sydney might be pissed off, but it was a victimless crime; nobody would notice that the money was missing. No harm, no foul. True, the bank would be out a bunch of money, but it was like taking a single grain of sand from a desert. It was the perfect crime, wasn’t it?
Zack shivered and checked his phone. Eight fifty-seven. The branch was only open for another week and a half or so, but Zack only had four more shifts. All he had to do was wait it out and keep his head down and everything would be alright.
Sydney’s Subaru zipped into the parking lot and raced across the lot to the spot that she usually parked in. She turned off the car and hopped out. Her hair was mussed and she combed at it frantically with the fingers of one hand while she locked the car with the other. Zack perked up and took a few steps toward her. “Morning Syd!”
She turned and her eyes met Zack’s then. Her eyes were framed by deep, dark bags and her skin looked pale and sickly. Zack stopped dead in his tracks. “You okay?”
Sydney turned and marched up to him. Her voice was a low harsh whisper. “Do I look fucking okay, Zack? No! I hardly slept. I was up all night trying to find a way out of…this. Do you remember what we agreed upon? Don’t talk to me. I’ll be spending my day combing through the bank’s database, which is sketchy as hell. Just act normal.”
She turned and reached for the clear glass door that led into the branch. Zack nodded and followed her towards the entrance to the bank. “Absolutely. I’ve got it nailed. Just be norma—”
Sydney pivoted, her tangled hair sweeping and almost hitting Zack in the face. “Yeah? You’ve got it fucking ‘nailed’? Okay, hot shot. Can you do something else for me?”
Zack cowered into his coat and gulped. “Sure.”
A tear streaked down Sydney’s face and she wiped it away. “How about you fuck right off.”
Stung, Zack watched as she rushed through the foyer and unlocked her office. Cory came out of his office then and Zack overheard her mumble to Cory that she ‘wasn’t feeling well’ or something. Zack prayed that she would be able to keep it together.
Zack pulled off his coat and made his way behind the counter and dumped his coat and backpack in the break room. When he came back out, Cory was standing in the main bank area and clapped as he spotted him. “Hey! Zack. Perfect timing. We have some visitors coming to the bank today. I’m gonna need you to be the official liaison for them. Sound good?”
Zack paled. The clock struck nine, and the bank was officially open. “What kind of visitors?”
A big black SUV pulled up to the bank, its headlights obnoxiously shining into the bank, which made both Zack and Cory turn.
“Ah, this must be them,” Cory said.
Two unassuming men and a heavyset woman exited the SUV and walked into the branch. The woman stepped forward, hand extended. Cory reached out and accepted her handshake. “Morgan Ruise. I am the special teams auditor for TNCB who spoke to you on the phone.”
Cory smiled and pumped her hand. “Yes, I remember.”
Zack stuffed shaking hands into his pockets. Auditors? Just what he needed. He took a deep breath and tried to calm his racing heartbeat.
Morgan gestured to the two men who stood just behind her. “These are True North’s branch closure auditors, Kevin and Alan.” Each man took a step and shook Cory’s hand.
Cory slapped his hand on Zack’s back. “This is Zack. He’ll be acting as the liaison for you today, so whatever you need, he is your guy.”
Morgan smiled, her red lipstick showing on her front teeth. “Wonderful. We appreciate all of the support that you’ve provided to us.” She stuck out a hand.
Zack glanced at Cory, who nudged him. His eye caught the wicket that he usually stood behind and he realized that his plan to lay low was doomed. He gripped Morgan’s hand and pumped it as enthusiastically as he could manage. “Welcome. As Cory said, I’m here to help with whatever you need.”
Kevin, or Alan, Zack wasn’t sure who was who, stepped forward and held out a manila envelope. “Here are the protocols that we will need you to support us with. Where can we set up?”
Cory gestured down the hall. “We have an old storage room just outside of the break room that would be perfect for you to conduct your audit.”
Zack’s eyes went wide. He was talking about the rare foreign currency room.
Zack grabbed Cory’s shoulder. “Shouldn’t they set up in the break room? The other room isn’t—”
Cory waved him away. “Nah, it’s fine. Just a little dusty. Besides, I’ve already set up a table and chairs.”
Shit. The one place Zack had hoped would remain untouched for the last little while of the bank’s existence suddenly was the headquarters for an audit team. Zack’s pulse rocketed upward and he rubbed clammy palms on his thighs.
Alan, or Kevin, stepped forward. His voice was reedy and annoying. “So…the protocols?”
Zack remembered that he was holding the manila envelope that he had given him. “Right. Sorry, Kevin.” He opened the flap and pulled out a thick booklet from the envelope. It had to be thirty or forty pages. Zack wiped at the beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
“It’s Alan.”
“Sure. Let’s get you set up.” Zack pushed by them and hurried across the bank’s entrance, in behind the counter and made a beeline for the foreign currency room. Maybe if he got there first he could ensure nothing was uncovered.
He scanned his fob at the bland door that had changed his life and leafed through the booklet that Alan had handed him as he went inside.
Blah, blah, blah, full access and disclosure, cooperation from staff, full cash audit, including vault and log audit, security system and log access.
Full cash audit. Security system and log access.
Zack stopped dead and stared at the headlines for the protocols. He was so screwed. Sydney needed to know about this right away. He pulled out his phone.
“This is a quaint space, isn’t it.”
Zack stuffed his phone back into his pocket and turned to find Alan, or Kevin, standing in the doorway. “Uh…yeah, sorry.”
Kevin, or Alan—the auditor—furrowed his brows and gave Zack a quizzical look. “You okay? You seem a little…distracted. We don’t like distractions.”
Son of a bitch. The very last thing that Zack needed was to be on the radar of the auditors. “No, yeah. I’m good. Just a little surprised. I didn’t know there would be an audit team here today. Cory didn’t say anything.”
The auditor visibly relaxed and put his briefcase on the table and sat down. He unclasped the briefcase and pulled out a small lunch kit, a metal box with The Flintstones cartoon characters on it. He put it to the side and pulled out a laptop and some paperwork. Of course, he piled them in neat piles on the table. “We will get started with the cash audit.” He spied the logbook on the counter. “Is that logbook connected to anything?”
Zack’s breath caught as he realized that the auditor was going to start with the foreign currency. “That…that is for the foreign currency.” He managed.
“Hmm. We will start with the main bank vault.” He opened his laptop and turned it on. He glanced up at Zack, who was still standing there, dumbstruck. “I said, let’s start with the main bank vault.”
Zack realized he was being dismissed and nodded before rushing out of the room. He jogged to the main vault and pulled the physical logs to bring back to the auditor so he could compare them to the digital trail that the system had recorded. Or whatever auditors do. He carried them back to the foreign currency room with shaking hands and quietly dropped them next to the auditor who grunted a thanks, then he sidestepped out of the room.
Sydney’s door was closed and locked. Zack tapped on the door.
“Yeah.” Her voice came through the door, strained and stressed.
Zack swallowed. “It’s me. I…can we talk?”
“What part of fuck off is tough to understand?”
Zack rubbed his face. “Just open the door. Please.”
The door cracked open and Zack squeezed inside before slamming the door behind him. He whirled and looked at Sydney, wild eyed. “How is it going? Are you getting anywhere? I mean, can you erase it, or whatever?”
Sydney crossed her arms. “Chill the fuck out, Zack.”
Zack nervously transferred his weight back and forth. “Yeah. Sorry. I have to tell you something else.”
Sydney gave him a disappointed look. “What now?”
“The True North bank closure procedure requires an audit team to come and prepare the bank for decommissioning. They are here. Right now.”
Sydney’s hands flew to the armrests on her chair and she sat up. “Right now? Holy shit, Zack.”
Zack’s head bobbed frantically. “They want to pull the security logs and server records. Today.”
Sydney paled. “Jesus Christ. Zack. I…I need time to try and erase the record. If I can’t do it internally, the only other way is…”
Zack twirled his hands, gesturing for her to go on. “The only other way is to what?”
Sydney’s deadpan voice sent a chill down Zack’s spine. “Hack the system. From the outside.”
Zack deflated. “Oh.”
Sydney tapped a finger on her armrest. “Zack. That’s a federal offence. Like, huge jail time.”
Zack slowly nodded, staring into space. It was a lot to take in. “Damn.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. I’ll try and stall. Do what you can.” Zack hesitated and put a hand on the doorknob. “I’m sorry.”
Sydney waved him away and tapped on her keyboard. “We’ll see.”