Chapter One
“You’re quite sure about this, Miss Osborne? There is no chance that it could be just a
simple computer error?”
“Absolutely none, sir. I’ve checked and re-checked the figures. It has to be a
deliberate fraud and the amounts involved are huge.”
“Yes, I see. I can hardly believe it. And from what you have told me, some of my senior
executives must be in on it.”
“I’m very much afraid that at least some of them must be, sir. The scale and complexity
of an operation of this size couldn’t be hidden unless there was collusion at a very
senior level.”
“No, I imagine not. This has come as a great shock to me, you know. A great shock. To
think that some of my colleagues have abused their positions to do such a thing...Are you
absolutely certain of your findings? Certain enough to go to the authorities?”
“The evidence is incontrovertible, sir. I have dates and figures which prove it beyond
any shadow of doubt.”
“I see. Well then, I have no choice. Does anyone else know what you’ve found?”
“No, sir, not another soul. I’ve kept it strictly private, under lock and key.”
“Good. It’s too late to do anything this afternoon, but I will arrange a full meeting
for 8:30 tomorrow evening. We’ll keep it quiet for the moment. Can you be ready by then?”
“Yes, of course, sir.”
“Very well, then. Bring everything you have to the main Boardroom tomorrow and when you
have presented your results, I shall take the necessary action.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll be there. Uh… just one thing, sir. It might be
quite...uh...unpleasant...”
“I’m sure it will, Miss Osborne. But don’t worry; I’ll make sure that Security is
present to deal with anyone causing trouble.”
“Thank you, sir. I’m sure that’s a wise move. Good afternoon, sir.”
“Good afternoon, Miss Osborne. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
As he lowered the phone back into its cradle, Andrew Morrison, European Chief Executive
of Shimatsu Electronics, frowned angrily. Damn the woman, he thought to himself, why
couldn’t she have kept her interfering nose out of things that didn’t concern her. How the
hell had she managed to stumble across the “black” file? It was supposed to be top secret,
secure against any normal investigation.
Mr. Shimatsu would be furious, he thought grimly and his neck would be on the chopping
block, unless he could find a way to suppress the evidence that would blow the Company
apart.
Not only his neck, either. The blasted woman had been right, the operation did require
collusion at the highest level and he, Crespi and O’Keefe, two of the other Executive
Directors, were all in it together with Shimatsu himself. If the story got out, they were
all finished and Morrison knew it.
He forced himself to control his anger and concentrate. The evidence had to be
suppressed, to disappear, until every trace of the massive fraud could be buried so deeply
that no one would ever be able to find it again. That wouldn’t be easy, but it could be
done eventually.
Which left the problem of Miss Osborne...?
He lifted the phone to his secretary, “Beth, get me Miss Osborne’s personal file, please
and tell Mr. Crespi and Ms O’Keefe to come in to see me in an hour.”
Five minutes later, he was on his direct line to Ozeki Shimatsu and the millionaire
owner of the Company was furiously demanding to know how the disaster could have
occurred.
“Dawnelle O’Keefe is responsible for security, isn’t she?” the Japanese hissed
venomously. “This is all her fault and I do not tolerate failure or stupidity in my
employees.”
Morrison knew better than to argue with his boss, but tried to soothe the angry
Oriental. “I know, sir,” he began, “but I’m having a meeting with Carlo and Dawnelle as
soon as I come off the phone and I’m sure we can work something out.”
“You’d better!” Shimatsu snapped, “If the truth comes out, my loss of face would be
unacceptable. Who is this Osborne woman? What can you tell me about her? Is there any
lever we can use against her to ensure she keeps quiet?”
Morrison consulted the personnel file. “She is twenty three and single, sir,” he
reported, “next of kin is a sister who shares her home: no other relatives, Honours Degree
in Business, specialising in Accounts and Auditing, five foot five inches tall, one
hundred and fifteen pounds, blonde hair and blue eyes. This is her first job and she’s
been with us just under three months.”
“So,” Shimatsu replied thoughtfully, “she is new to the Company. That is good. It is
unlikely she would have any close friends or colleagues who would miss her if she were to
suddenly disappear. On assignment to the Head Office, perhaps?”
“Sir?” Morrison frowned, wondering what was in his boss’s mind.
“Yes. That would resolve the situation very satisfactorily. You will arrange for the
record to show that she has been transferred here and I will do the rest. Set it up at
once.”
“But sir,” Morrison protested, “she may not want to transfer to the other side of the
world. What if she refuses?”
A low, cruel chuckle came down the phone line, “I suggest you don’t give her that
option.”
Morrison took a deep breath, “You mean...kidnap her?”
“I prefer to call it an enforced transfer,” Shimatsu replied coldly, “one that will save
your neck, Andrew.”
“What will you do with her when she gets there?” Morrison asked nervously. “You
won’t...won’t...?”
“Dispose of her?” Shimatsu finished the thought for him. “No, Andrew. That would be both
dangerous and a waste. She will be kept quite safe, but in no position to harm our
financial arrangements. As far as you and the world are concerned, Miss Osborne will
simply vanish without trace. These things happen, particularly out here and I can assure
you that any investigations that may follow her disappearance will discover nothing. Just
another example of a foreigner succumbing to the allure of the...ha...mystic East, as you
Europeans call it.”
Morrison bit his lip, “Are you quite sure there’ll be no comeback?”
“Quite sure. We will all be safe to carry on making ourselves very, very rich.”
“Well...OK then,” Morrison agreed reluctantly, “but how do you suggest we get her to
you? And what about her sister? She’s bound to ask questions and stir things up?”
Shimatsu laughed evilly, “Think, Andrew. Use your brain. We air freight components to
you and you send the containers back with export goods, don’t you? I’m sure you could find
room for a passenger inside one of them.”
“That’s right,” Morrison agreed, “we do it every day. It’s routine. No one takes any
notice. Not even Customs.”
“Correct. As you say, it’s routine. And, of course, if one can travel that way, why not
two?”
“The sister, you mean?”
“Why not? Then there would be no one to ask awkward questions.”
“It would work.”
“Yes, it will. Problem solved.”
“I’ll do it,” Morrison said firmly, “The damn girl shouldn’t have stuck her nose in.
It’s her own stupid fault anyway. I’ll fix it with Carlo and Dawnelle and we’ll do it at
the meeting tomorrow.”
“Good. The quicker, the better. I’m relying on you, Andrew. Don’t let me down.”
Morrison knew he was being warned and hurried to reassure his boss, “Don’t worry, sir.
I’m not going to let one woman stand between us and all that money.”
“You had better not! Now, let’s get down to details......”
For half an hour, the two men immersed themselves in times and dates and flight plans,
covering every contingency until the plan was perfect.
“Very good, Andrew,” Shimatsu said finally, “I knew I could rely on you. Just one more
thing, I want Dawnelle O’Keefe to travel with our two...ah...guests in the container.”
“Dawnelle? What for?”
“For two reasons. One, to make quite sure that nothing goes wrong and two, I want to
review our computer security with her. This breach of the “Black” file shows that access
control is not as strong as it should be and I want to be absolutely certain that the
error is put right.”
“All right, I’ll tell her.”
“Good. It’s quite some time since I had the pleasure of Dawnelle’s company. I look
forward to renewing our acquaintance. Goodnight, Andrew.”
Andrew’s two partners listened in consternation as he relayed the bad news to them, “So
that’s the situation,” he said, “and this is how we’re going to deal with it.”
As he told them of the plan he had thrashed out with Ozeki Shimatsu, the wiry, dark
haired Carlo Crespi frowned, “It’s risky, but better than bribery. That would leave us
open to blackmail for the rest of our lives.”
“I agree,” Dawnelle O’Keefe paced up and down the office, her long red hair shining,
“but what I can’t understand is how she got into the file in the first place.”
“Because you screwed up,” Carlo snapped, “it was your job to make sure the file was
secure and you blew it.”
Dawnelle turned on him furiously, “Shut up!” she yelled. “You don’t know anything about
it, you little jerk. I designed the security system and I know it was unbreakable!”
Carlo shot to his feet, his face white with anger, “Unbreakable, you silly bitch? Then
why are we in this mess? This is all your fault, you stupid cow!”
At nearly six feet tall in her high heels, Dawnelle towered five inches over the dark
Italian and her face twisted in fury as her right palm described a swift arc to crack
against Carlo’s swarthy cheek.
The powerful slap sent the smaller man reeling and Andrew leapt to his feet, coming
between his two feuding partners, “Enough!” he shouted. “Sit down, both of you! Sit down!
Fighting between ourselves isn’t going to solve anything.”
For a moment, the two glowered at each other, but then each regained control of their
anger and took a seat.
“That’s better,” Andrew said, “now, let’s forget about whose fault this is and
concentrate on how we’re going to sort it out.”
Slowly, tempers cooled, but it was still a very tense atmosphere as a plan was made to
kidnap and freight the two Osborne sisters. Carlo, it was agreed, would arrange transport
by container, Dawnelle was to bring two Security staff ones who could be trusted to keep
their mouths shut...to the meeting, while Andrew undertook to falsify the paperwork to
cover up the girls’ disappearance.
As Dawnelle strode stiffly from the room, refusing to even look at Carlo, the Italian’s
eyes glittered with anger.
“She is a bitch, that one,” he muttered under his breath, “but one day, I, Carlo Crespi,
will teach her not to slap me!” and his lips twisted in a thin smile as he plotted
revenge.
Maxine Osborne stared at her reflection in the long mirror, checking her appearance for
about the twentieth time as she prepared for her crucial meeting.
“What do you think, Melissa?” she asked for the third time, “You don’t think this red
scarf is too much, do you?”
“You look great. Stop worrying.”
Maxine looked across at her sister and saw a virtual duplicate of herself. They were
twins, Maxine the older by four minutes, the two inseparable from birth and their bond
strengthened by the death of their parents in a car crash when they were eighteen.
Nearly identical in looks, their characters were distinctly different. Where Maxine was
reserved, hard-working and serious, Melissa was high-spirited and outgoing, a lover of
partying and dances, acquiring and then dropping boyfriends without a care while her
sister was more discerning.
Both had had lovers, Maxine rather fewer, but had always managed to avoid entanglements
with their sibling’s partners and the inevitable difficulties that would have caused and
were completely at ease with each other.
Maxine looked at her reflection again, examining the tailored navy blue suit which
adorned her well proportioned figure, the gleaming white blouse hugging her firm breasts,
the ruffled scarlet scarf at her throat and the black stockings and mid-heeled shoes
beneath the skirt which ended a demure two inches above her knees.
“Yes, you’re right,” she agreed finally, “it’s fine.”
“Told you,” Melissa said casually, “you’ll knock them dead. What about me, then? Will
they like this down at the Club, do you think?”
Melissa looked at the tight white sweater emphasising the thrusting globes of her
sister’s bra-less breasts, then lowered her gaze to the skin tight black leather
micro-skirt and high heeled thigh boots she wore.
“I should imagine it’ll be a riot,” she smiled ruefully, “how do you get away with it,
Melissa? I wouldn’t dare go out in public dressed like that.”
“It turns the guys on,” Melissa chuckled, “I haven’t had to buy myself a drink for
months.”
“I bet you haven’t. But what do you do if they get, you know, pushy?”
“I can look after myself,” Melissa replied confidently. “A guy only gets what I want to
give him. I’m the one in charge, not them and that’s the way I keep it.”
Maxine shook her head, smiling, “Oh well, fair enough, as long as it stays that way.”
“It will. I know what I’m doing. Come on, sis, time we were going.”
As she drove towards Shimatsu Electronics, Maxine said, “Shall I drop you off at the
Club, Melissa?”
But her sister shook her head, “No. It’s too early, yet. I’ll wait in the car until
you’re finished and you can drop me off then.”
“Are you sure? I might be a long time, you know.”
“That’s all right. If I get bored, I’ll find a taxi.
“OK. No problem.”
The huge building was in darkness apart from the top floor and as Maxine entered her
access code on the panel set into the armrest of her car’s door and the high double gates
swung open, she pointed upwards, “That’s where my meeting is. If it goes well, it could
change my whole life. I could really go places.”
Maxine was quite right but not in the way she fondly imagined!
She drove around to the back of the building and parked, then got out and straightened
her skirt, “Wish me luck,” she said.
Melissa smiled, “Good luck,” then settled back in her seat and turned the radio on as
her sister walked away.
Riding up in the lift, Maxine took a deep breath, “This is it,” she murmured, “I’m on my
way.” As she stepped out and walked to the polished doors, she gripped her notes and
evidence firmly in her right hand.
The doors swung open to her knock and she walked in.
The Boardroom was vast, a fifty-seat conference table stretching before her and at the
far end; three people sat waiting as two burly, uniformed Security Guards escorted her
towards them.
“Good evening, Miss Osborne.”
“Good evening, sir,” she replied to Andrew Morrison, the only one she recognised.
“Sit down, please. This is Ms. O’Keefe and Mr. Crespi, two of my senior Directors.” The
two Directors didn’t smile and Maxine grew a little nervous as she took her seat.
“May we see your evidence, please?” Morrison asked and Maxine handed it over.
As the papers were passed around, the faces of the three Directors darkened, “Is this
everything you have?” Crespi snapped suddenly.
“Yes, sir,” Maxine answered, “as you can see, it’s quite clear cut.”
“Yes, it is,” Ms. O’Keefe confirmed, “Who else knows about this?”
“No one, madam. Just us.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, of course. Just the four of us.”
“Excellent!” Morrison nodded meaningfully, and then snapped his fingers. “Now!”
The two Security Guards reacted like lightning, each seizing one of Maxine’s arms and
twisting her slim wrists behind her back, forcing her to bend forward in her seat.
Taken completely by surprise, Maxine had no chance to resist and before she knew what
was happening, a pair of handcuffs was locked tightly on her wrists.
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