Chapter 42

MR. YIM RUBBEDhis nose, glanced at Hope and Ken, and painted on a crooked smile.

“Everything seems to be in order.” He rose unevenly from his chair. “I’ll just—”

Hope grabbed the computer monitor and swung it toward her. The screen was blinking with a bright-red warning sign. She’d seen it reflected in the shiny buttons on the front of Yim’s shirt, the light making the mother-of-pearl surfaces flash pink: NEW SOUTH WALES STATE POLICE ALERT.

There was a phone number, a brief message. Hope stood and whipped the gun out of her handbag. Yim threw his hands up.

“Did you press the button?”

“I—”

“Did you press the fucking button?” She actioned the pistol. Yim shook his head, but there was no telling if he was lying. She hadn’t seen his hand move while he was sitting, but he could easily have nudged the silent alarm under the table with his knee. She’d seen him shift awkwardly in the chair before rising.

Time to initiate Plan B.

She turned and shot Ken twice in the stomach.

The man bucked violently at the impact, then doubled over. He didn’t make a sound. Nor did the gun, thanks to the silencer. Hope shifted her aim to Yim, and the old man whimpered.