Chapter 3

Previously: Zack discovers the foreign currency room and is intrigued by the lack of security features.

“You okay in here? We could use a little help up front.” Jamie’s voice called.

Zack jumped and sheepishly started stuffing the sealed bags back into the SecurBag. “Uh, yeah! Sorry, just got a little lost.”

He was surprised to hear her voice. He didn’t think her shift started for another hour. How long had he been in here?

“Shawna’s bitching about you taking so long. Hey, what is this room anyway?”

Zack found the sealed bag with Surinamese currency in it and held it up. “I found what I was looking for. You mind signing off as a witness for this?”

Jamie slid into the room like a kid trying to sneak in after curfew. “Are we allowed to be in here? This place is creepy.”

Zack cracked the seal to the Suriname bag and counted the bills inside. He tried not to roll his eyes. “Of course. If you are employed by the bank, you are allowed to be inside of it. This room is storage and also houses the rare foreign currency.”

Jamie tapped her foot. “Well, hurry up. Shawna is angry, and Mrs. Arvidson is going on about fees again.”

Zack grit his teeth and filled out the logbook. He pointed with the pen at the spot designated for witnesses. “Just sign here, okay? I’ll deal with Mrs. Arvidson.”

Jamie shrugged and penned her name. Zack double checked everything, and then took the small stack of bills in one hand and marched back to his station, with Jamie behind.

Zack shot a look over his shoulder as the door to the foreign currency room clicked shut. Zack couldn’t help but feel a little pinch of sorrow that he would have to wait until he was able to return.

Shawna held her head in her hand, her elbow balanced on the counter in front of Zack’s station. “If you took any longer I’d have to ask about nightly rates.”

Zack just smiled at her. “How long have you been sitting on that one?”

Shawna grinned. “Forty-five minutes. It must be policy at this place to drag your ass, eh?”

Forty-five minutes? His stomach lurched. There was no way he was gone for that long, right? Zack ignored her and counted out the unfamiliar bills in front of her. “There it is. Eleven thousand, three hundred Surinamese Dollars. The conversion today is four hundred and sixty one Canadian, and thirty cents.”

“That’s all there was? You didn’t pocket any, didja?”

Zack’s face burned. He studied her expression. That hit too close to home. “You’re lucky we had any at all.”

Jamie interrupted with a tap on his shoulder. “You done? Cory is looking for you. Someone lodged a complaint.”

Shawna stuck a blue painted nail in Jamie’s face. “Go away. You know the rules about interrupting a client.” She turned to Zack. “Empty the account and close it out, please.”

Zack sighed. Jamie was trembling beside him. “As a valued customer, we really would be sorry to see you go—”

“Cut the shit. Do it.”

Zack went through the motions, his mind wandering to the lack of security features in the foreign currency room. He clicked the buttons on his computer to close out Shawna’s account, gave her the money it had left in it, then printed her off the proof that he’d done it.

Shawna leaned forward. “A complaint, huh? Wasn’t me, but you’d better watch your back,” she pushed away from Zack’s station and raised her hand to her mouth, “because this place is FULL OF CORPORATE VAMPIRES THAT SUCK ALL OF YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY AWAY!”

Zack just looked at her. Jamie’s face was flushed, and she yelled after Shawna. “Security!”

Shawna just spun and gave Jamie the finger. “Oh, fuck off Jamie! There’s no security here!”

Jamie hurried off down the hall. Zack rubbed his face. She was probably crying in the bathroom again.

Shawna’s blue sedan raced out of the parking lot. Mrs. Arvidson and another customer just stared at Zack, slack jawed. Somewhere down the hall, a bathroom door slammed shut.

He was about to call the next customer to his station when he spied Cory standing in the door to his office. The Branch Manager’s face could have been chiseled from stone. When his glare caught Zack’s eye, he raised a hand and made the universal ‘come here’ gesture.

Zack gulped, his body propelled forward.