“They will try again. They have too much invested in her
and they want her to pay off. They won‟t just let her go because
of one setback. It‟ll be fine for a few days. Maybe even a week
but then they will try again and maybe next time, I‟m not there”
Kim said almost sounding defeated.
She looked at Matt and said “I have an idea but I need your
help.”
“Anything” Matt said.
Kim looked at the laptop and asked “Can you program that
thing to make a large number of transactions?”
“Sure” Matt said, “The only risk is that when you do the
transactions they can be traced to an IP address and internet
provider. I can make the money disappear by moving it around a
couple of hundred times and fragment it into many different
accounts before bringing all the small accounts back together
but the first few transactions will be traceable and dangerous.”
“Perfect” Kim said, “What about bank accounts? Can you
create those in someone else‟s name?”
Matt nodded “Easy, I would need an existing account or some
ID though.”
Kim dropped the wallets on the table and said “I need you
to set it up so I am going to have to enter an account number.
Then I want you to create a fake account in the name of Jake
Juliano and transfer thirty million dollars into it. Then you
need to transfer five million dollars from the new account into
the account that was entered into the computer. After that you
need to transfer one million dollars from the new account into
five new fake accounts that belong to the people whose driver‟s
licenses are in those wallets, you will have to create those
account too. Finally, I want you to make the rest of the money
disappear. It needs to become untraceable. Spend as much as you
think is necessary but make sure it cannot be traced. And I want
all of that to happen within 5 minutes after I enter Jake‟s
account number and it all needs to happen from this laptop.
Finally it needs to remove any evidence of the automated
sequence from this computer”
“What are you planning?” Annie asked.
Kim gave her a serious look and said “I have to stop this
and not just for Ally. They will destroy many lives and I need
to stop them. I don‟t want you involved anymore than you already
are.”
“I can have it ready by the day after tomorrow” Matt said.
“Thanks” Kim said and started packing her bag.
“What are you doing?” Annie asked.
“I‟m leaving, this could get ugly and I appreciate all the
help but I couldn‟t bear if anything would happen to either of
you” Kim responded with determination.
She hugged them both and tried to hold back the tears. Why
couldn‟t anything just be easy? Why did it all have to be this
hard?
“Do you want me to drop you off anywhere?” Annie asked.
Kim shook and said “No thank you, I can find my way. I‟ve
been getting good at that”
They smiled at each other and Kim turned and left into the
night.
At the end of the path she yelled back “I‟ll see you in two
days” then she walked around the corner not looking back.
“I love you” she whispered wishing she would be able to say
it aloud.
She thought about getting the Honda but was not comfortable
with driving around and didn‟t want to unless she had to. Also
she couldn‟t afford to get pulled over or be in an accident. She
walked towards a worse neighborhood and found a hotel that
looked like it wasn‟t too particular about identification and
rented a room. They asked for a form of ID and she just
responded she would pay two weeks in advance. This seemed to
make an ID totally unnecessary. She paid cash and went to her
room. On her way to the room she passed a few couples all
seeming to be in a good mood even though the girls were clearly
faking it to keep the men happy. Kim recognized it immediately
and couldn‟t help but wonder how many of these girls were doing
it because they had chosen to and how many had been tricked into
this life?
She got to her room and immediately locked the door and put
the chain on it. The room was anything but pleasant but it would
do. The bed was made but Kim elected to sleep on the couch. She
turned on an episode of Law and Order on the TV to drown out the
noises coming from the other rooms but it didn‟t help much. She
was tired though and still shaken up from the events of the
night. She had been happy to prevent Ally from getting raped but
it had torn open some very deep wounds that she had tried hard
to forget about. Finally she didn‟t have to hold it back and she
cried herself to sleep.
The next morning she didn‟t wake up until almost noon. She
showered and got dressed then went out for something to eat.
When she came back she asked for a phone book and the hotel
manager produced one with a thick layer of dust on it. The hotel
was quiet now. There was nothing going on and it was clear that
the time from eight pm until three am was the busy time. She
thanked the manager and took the phone book which he insisted on
being brought back as soon as possible as if it was a vital tool
to his business. In the phonebook she found the pages for
limousine services. She called a few but none would make a
reservation without a credit card. Then she tore a few pages
from the book and put them in her pocket and called a cab. The
cab arrived twenty minutes later and she directed it to the
first limousine service on the list. There they gave her a weird
look when she requested a limo for two nights from now. They
showed her the options and Kim opted for a black stretch Hummer
H2 limo. She also made sure that there were no markings like the
name of the limo company on it. The rental for four hours would
come to a little over eight hundred dollars. She paid and
requested a pickup a few blocks from the hotel she was staying
at. She didn‟t want to be seen being picked up in that thing
leaving a hotel like that.
Then she returned to the taxi and had him drop her off by
her old apartment. There was the Honda. She got in and moved it
a little and then just sat there keeping an eye on the
apartment. She sat there for a few hours and was getting hungry,
but she didn‟t want to leave until she was sure Ally would be
ok. A few minutes later the passenger door to the Honda opened
and Kim just about jumped out of her skin and she started
looking for the gun. Before she knew it, Annie slid into the
passenger seat with a big bag of very good smelling Chinese
food.
“What are you doing here?” Kim asked still recovering from
the shock.
“I thought you might like some company” Annie said with a
smile.
“You shouldn‟t be here” Kim snapped but then calmed down,
smiled and continued “But I‟m glad you are.”
“I brought some food” Annie said.
“Great, I‟m starving” Kim said with her mouth watering.
They ate and Annie asked what she was planning.
“Tomorrow I‟m going to visit Jake” Kim said.
Annie gave her a wide eyed look.
“Is that a good idea?” Annie asked with a mouth full of
rice.
“I have to, I‟m going to pay him to leave Ally alone” Kim
responded.
“But what will stop him from hurting you after you give him
the money” Annie asked concerned.
“I have a plan, but I could use your help tomorrow” Kim
said with a smile.
“What do you need?” Annie asked.
“I need to hang out with my best friend, go shopping, get
our hair and nails done. You know stuff we should have been
doing for the last four years but couldn‟t” Kim said.
Annie looked confused and perplexed but said “Ok, I can
call in sick tomorrow.”
Chapter 36:
The night was uneventful and the next morning Annie picked
Kim up at her hotel. When Kim got into the car Annie gave her a
look.
“What?!?” Kim asked.
“You‟d rather stay here than with me” Annie scolded her.
“Yes, when I‟m here you won‟t get hurt!” Kim shot back.
“Where to?” Annie asked, “You are the girl with the plan.”
“I told you, shopping. I need to look fabulous for my date
with Jake” Kim said with a devious smile.
“You know, last time I helped you get ready for a date with
that slime it didn‟t go too well” Annie said.
“This time the roles are reversed and I know his little
secrets and he doesn‟t know mine” Kim said with the same devious
smile.
“Just promise me to be careful” Annie begged her.
Kim nodded. They arrived at the mall and Annie asked what
look they were going for.
“In control, rich and sophisticated, almost a business like
look but still sexy as hell. I want him to know what he is
missing out on” Kim said.
They shopped for about two hours and finally settled on a
tight black skirt that came to a few inches above the knees with
a matching blazer, a black leather belt and a bright red silk
blouse. They bought some stockings and black leather high heels
to match. And to make it all complete an expensive leather
oversize purse.
“Ok, that should do it” said Annie, “It looks great.”
“I need some jewelry” Kim said, “I need to ooze money.”
They went to a jeweler and bought a matching set of diamond
earrings, bracelet and necklace. Then Kim asked to see diamond
engagement and wedding bands.
Annie gave her a puzzled look and as the clerk walked away
to get the bands Kim whispered to her “I married rich. How else
can I afford to buy Ally from him?”
Kim picked out an engagement band and matching wedding band
that fit so she wouldn‟t have to wait for alterations. The total
came to almost twenty thousand dollars which made Annie‟s jaw
hit the floor. Kim didn‟t even blink. She was shocked by the
amount but she needed to pull off a great performance later so
she might as well start practicing now.
She dropped a stack of the bills on the counter and said
“This should be twenty thousand” as coolly as she could manage.
The clerk gave her a shocked look and stared at the money
for a moment.
“I don‟t trust banks” Kim defended quickly.
The clerk showed the money to a colleague and they checked
the bills to make sure they were real. Then they checked her
out. The stack of twenty thousand dollars netted fifty two
dollars and twenty five cents in change. They picked it up and
left. Next they drove downtown and found a salon. In the salon
they both got their hair styled and their nails done. Annie
protested for a minute but Kim insisted that she get her hair
and nails done too. Kim had her hair straightened and colored a
darker shade. She showed the stylist the picture in Gabriella‟s
passport and said she wanted it the same way. When the stylist
was done it was a perfect match. The only difference with her
and the picture was her nose and the skin tone.
For her nails she chose a blood red to match the silk
blouse she had bought. Then she had her makeup done and several
hours and five hundred dollars later they were outside again.
They had a late lunch and found their way back to the car.
“Are we done now?” Annie asked jokingly.
“Almost, we just need to go to the gym first” Kim said.
Annie started the car and was about to ask Kim if she was
serious but though better of it, by now she had figured out that
Kim was on a mission and she had it all worked out to the last
details but for the life of her she couldn‟t figure out what
they needed at the gym.
“Any gym in particular?” Annie asked.
“This one” Kim said as she handed Annie a page from the
phone book.
“What do you want there? It‟s a total muscle fest. Plus,
shouldn‟t we have gone to the gym before we had our hair, nails
and makeup done?” Annie said getting slightly annoyed with Kim‟s
secrecy.
Kim was smiling; she was playing with Annie and loving
every minute of it. When they got to the gym Kim went to the
reception where a tall blonde that was way too muscular to still
look feminine greeted her.
“I need some personal trainers” Kim said.
“More than one?” the girl asked.
“Yes, two” Kim said, “And they need to be bodybuilding
experts.”
The girl looked Kim over with a doubting glare then asked
“When?”
“Tonight, I‟ll pick them up at seven and drop them off at
ten at the latest” Kim said.
“The trainers work here and don‟t travel” the girl said
annoyed.
“I only need them to take a ride with me. I‟m planning a
prank on a friend and I need some muscular company. I‟ll make it
worth their while” Kim explained.
The girl went into the office and two very muscular men
walked out. Kim would have guessed their necks were larger than
her waist.
“What do you want?” asked one of the men slightly annoyed
thinking he was having his chain yanked.
Kim explained that they were planning a prank on a friend
and she needed a muscular escort to pull it off. They would be
picked up a little after seven and would be back before ten,
probably much earlier.
One of the men started turning around and walking away when
the other asked “What‟s it worth to you?”
“Double your rate if you dress up” Kim said with a
confident smile.
“Our rate is seventy five an hour” the other man said.
“Three hours that‟s two hundred twenty five dollars, double
that is four fifty. Let‟s even it out to five hundred each and
you can keep it all even if we get back early” Kim said as she
did some quick math and dropped a thousand dollars on the
counter.
“What do you want us to wear?” they asked.
“Black suit with a t-shirt underneath and dress shoes, is
that a problem?” Kim asked.
The men looked at each other still surprised and then both
shook their heads.
“We aren‟t going to get in trouble over this, are we?” one
man asked.
“Nope, all you do is take a ride and stand by the car while
I visit a friend” Kim said.
Both men shrugged and took the money.
“See you at seven” Kim said as she left the stunned trio
behind.
“You are nuts” Annie scolded Kim, “I‟d never have the guts
to do what you are doing.”
Kim shrugged and said “After some of the things I‟ve been
through this is easy, but I am nervous about meeting Jake. I
hope I can stop myself from beating the crap out of him.”
But she knew she had to control herself for Ally. They went
back to the hotel and Annie got the laptop out of the trunk of
the car and gave it to Kim. At six thirty she headed to the
corner where Kim had agreed to meet the limo. She was still
wearing her normal clothes as the new clothes might attract