Terry checked the car clock and saw that it was time to collect the women. He went into the hotel and up the elevator to the room, straightened his shoulders and knocked on the door with authority.

"Shit, now you see what all this racket has done!" Wilfred held up a shushing finger and went to the door.

"Who is it?"

"I'm here to collect the women."

"What did he say?" Elora asked.

"Those two in the other room; go and get them, it's their ride."

Elora opened the bedroom door and gasped. Hector was flat on his back in the bed with Maria sitting on his stomach, facing the door, while she pulled on her heels. Consuela was stretching her t-shirt over her chest with great difficulty. Hector looked drained and pale.

"I think yure ride is here." Elora said, backing out.

The women came out and walked unabashedly to the door, chests out and chins high. Wilfred opened the door and sputtered as his eyes locked with Terry's.

"YOU!"

"Terry echoed his exclamation and in a blur turned and made a beeline down the hall.

"Stop!" Wilfred raced out the door with Elora on his tail and Ebony and Darcy a little further behind.

*****

Hoyte had followed Terry to the hotel and was surprised to see him hold the door for the two amazons that exited the car, then rush to hold the side door entrance to the hotel. He couldn't figure what Terry might be up to but it didn't look kosher and he was certain it had something to do with the money. He patiently followed him to coffee shops, bookstores and a tedious tour of window-shopping until he realized that Terry was killing time waiting for the women so he headed back to the hotel and waited in the lobby.

When he saw Terry come in checking his watch and heading for the elevator, Hoyte followed immediately. He knew he wouldn't be recognized, Terry had never seen him. They walked down the hall single file, Hoyte several yards behind. When Terry stopped and knocked on a door, Hoyte pretended to be fumbling for a key at another nearby.

The next few minutes were an explosion of confusing action. Hoyte's eyes flew open when he saw the crowd burst out of the room after a retreating Terry and in a moment of decision he threw a cross body block on Terry and sent them both crashing in a heap against the wall. Immediately he felt hands grabbing at him roughly and women shouting and screaming and men swearing. The hall was a scrum of flailing bodies until hotel security, in the form of two huge Argentineans matching the physical size of the two women escorts, intervened and dragged them all down to the manager's office.

******

Chris Ditchburn sat with his feet on his desk, ankles crossed, squinting at the clouded sky between the vee of his shoes. The caller was delivering a concise report that required close attention and he listened closely, massaging his slowly healing nose.

"And you're sure all of it went into that account?"

"Every penny, senor."

"Okay, Carlos, what about the bank officials?

"Nothing to report. They don't even know anything was ever supposed to take place."

"So I can contact you there without raising any suspicions?"

"I am but a simple accountant, senor, calling for me might be a little awkward."

"How do I get you then?"

"Uh- I will give you a number where I can be reached. But it must be after banking hours."

Chris lowered his legs from the desk and swiveled around to lean on his elbows. "Okay, that'll have to do for now. You have erased all the programs we used to intercept the transfer?"

"Everything, senor. The trail is very cold."

There was a bit of a disconcerting chuckle and Chris cleared his throat. "This e-mail you sent me, that's the name on the account and the correct number and password?"

"Everything is as you requested, senor. Carlos Huentos is nothing if not thorough."

"Okay then, Carlos, I guess all that's left is to pay you the agreed amount. I'll arrange for a money transfer to wherever you designate."

"You are most generous, senor. It has been a great pleasure doing business with you. I have already transferred the amount I felt suitable so any further dealing will not be necessary."

Chris sat up suddenly. "You did what?"

"Gracias and adiós, senor." The line went dead.

Frantically, Chris entered the account and password numbers in the computer and a few seconds later read with dismay that the account was closed when the money was transferred out. "SON-OF-A-BITCH!" The money was gone... but not where he intended. He read the screen information and sat trembling with rage. There was no more money and no more Carlos. He pounded his desk with a fist that shook his head and made his nose ache. Too much research and effort had gone into this scam and he was not quitting now. Just getting a partnership in the damn firm had taken the absolutely very best of his experience and bluff.

This was not over by a long shot.

*****

The group was all jammed in the manager's small office, arguing and pushing at one another with shouted accusations. The two security guards wrestled the combatants apart and held them down on the crowded sofa across from the manager's desk.

"Theese ees the most disgraceful display I have ever witnessed in my hotel." His pinched face was red with anger and the comb over that he tried to disguise with a heavy application of sprayed artificial hair and gel had slid to one side under his agitation.

"I weel listen to one person only for an explanation. The rest will remain silent or I will have the policia come and take you all away."

Consuela raised a hand and immediately the shouting started again.

"Enough!" The manager pointed to Consuela and showed a mild leer. "Please continue, senorita."

There was a spate of rapid Spanish, which caused the manager's face to expand in size and colour. When she finished all he could do was raise his hand and point emphatically toward the door. Maria smiled and stood along with her friend and they left the room, waving to Terry and calling out that they would wait in the car. Darcy started to protest but Wilfred shoved him back down and gaped at Terry.

"Who speaks for thees group?" The manager demanded.

Elora stood and approached the desk, tugging her skirt in place and shouldering her purse. "I'll be the spokes pairson, sir." She went on to explain what had happened and how it was all a huge mistake and if there was any damage or compensation to be made they would be happy to oblige.

The manager just sat gawping at her having not understood one word in her strange accent. When she finished he looked dismally to his security men, both staring wide-eyed at Elora, and then at the rest of them and, almost crying, dismissed the lot with the admonition that they were all banned from his establishment.

Outside in the alley the squabbling continued and, not about to let the others get away, they all piled into Terry's car. Darcy dove in first to get next to Maria and Consuela. Hoyte sat up front with Ebony on his lap and Elora was on Wilfred's lap in the back next to Maria. Terry complained the entire trip about him probably losing another job because of them and the debate took a different tone because they realized he wouldn't be driving hookers around if he had sixty-seven million. That meant it had to somebody else... and if it was none of them... who?

Raoul was waiting in the parking lot when Terry wheeled in. His face set in a stormy mood, he watched as the car disgorged the eight passengers. Maria and Consuela gathered around him, arms flying, fingers pointing and then they stomped inside. Raoul turned to Terry and beckoned him closer.

"I thought you were more dependable, senor. This is very disappointing. Senor Estavan called from the hospital demanding not only his money back for his standing account but also the termination of my two best escorts... as well as you." He raised his chin and looked past Terry at the others, professionally assessing the two women. "Explain this please."

When he was finished, having concocted a reasonable story without reference to any trust money, Raoul relented and invited them all inside for a drink and a chance to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion—meaning compensation for his losses.

The uncomfortable realization that Elora was the only one with any money meant that she had to cover off the expenses and this led to her running out her credit maximum. Raoul saw the problem they were having and pressed his advantage, taking a hard line about what they owed him, backed by the disconcerting implication of a threat to their well-being, underlined by the presence of three hugely muscled men wearing stony looks.

"What the hell else can we do?" Hoyte asked. "If we don't have it, we don't have it."

"He's right, Ebony added. "None of us expected the way things have turned out."

"Well, your personal problems aside, I have a business to run and you have inflicted considerable damage on that business. I have lost a very good client—"

"That bastard!" Ebony spat. The three men stepped forward and Raoul held up a hand.

"—and I have been banned from a hotel where a considerable amount of my business was conducted."

"I can hardly get worked up about your illegal pimping, pal." Hoyte said.

"Indeed." Raoul gave him a withering look. "I will be compensated in spite of your opinions, senor.

"Right. Like how?" Two of the men lifted Hoyte from his chair and carried him like so much garbage out of the office.

"Hey! Hold on. Don't hurt him, he's just like that... sort of... he doesn't mean anything." Darcy tried pleading.

"This is not your Little Beaver, American home town, senor, this is my country and here I rule this business."

"It's Leave it to Beaver. Little Beaver was Red Ryder's sideki—"

"SILENCE!" Darcy zipped his lips emphatically. Raoul continued in a menacing voice. "Terry will continue in his position... without pay, the two ladies will lend their apparent talents to our publication division and you three gentlemen will work in our media division doing whatever is necessary until the debt is repaid."

The angry protests faded when Raoul summoned a different pair of armed enforcers even larger than those manhandling Hoyte and the group traded expressions of despair.

*****

The six conspirators were lodged in a dormitory type arrangement along with three other women and a few of the camera crew from the film media section. Elora and Ebony shared part of the large room with the other women behind a hanging divider made of colourful plastic, which at night was translucent, providing the men's only entertainment. Terry stared daggers at Wilfred and Ebony, barely pleased that they had the decency to look down and appear contrite.

"You really got your kicks using me didn't you?"

"Terry, it was a scam. That's how scams work." Wilfred sighed and shrugged.

"And you and your fake attention, how could you do that to me. I was a happy employee at a job I liked with a few comfortable amenities..." His voice broke and he stopped.

"It's like Wilfred said, Terry." Ebony gave him a sad smile.

"Yeah, well look at us all now. The bloody lot of you all scrambling to get it all for yourselves and now it seems nobody got anything."

"It went somewhere." Hoyte said with suspicion.

"But where?" Darcy asked.

They all studied each other carefully, suspicion almost palpable in the air.

"Let's be leaving this problem for another time. We've got a more pressing one at the moment." Elora announced. She kept harping at the others to come up with something resembling an idea because she was getting pretty pissed over the prospect of being a prisoner of an Argentinean mob, pimp.

Darcy, on the other hand, thought he might have found a new career when he learned what Terry had been doing and was campaigning to be the personal sprayer of Marie and Consuela. He even tried following them to their change rooms but was warned away by a thug with a nasty looking gun. Taking the opportunity of being alone and away from the others, he went around the corner of a shed and took out his phone. The signal was weak but it went through and he explained what was happening and how nobody seemed to know where the money was.

"Are you sure it didn't go where we thought it would.

"I promise, Darce, it didn't go into the account. One of them is faking or- well...I don't know."

"Listen, I have a temporary situation here where I'll be working with call girls. Is there anything you want me to find out, or try out?"

"Not if it means leaving me out."

"Never, Hazy! Never."

"I'm losing your signal. Call again soon."

*****

Terry, for some inextricable reason, felt guilty over the current fate of his companions, and resolved to do something about it. It had to be quick, Ebony and Elora couldn't avoid Raoul for very long. After complaining that he'd already exhausted his searches, Hoyte agreed to use his laptop to search through the tons of data on the web again for any sign of the trust money or a clue as to where it was intercepted. A reluctant union was formed and they all agreed to share information for his search. Elora and Ebony exchanged catty insults over the other's deceit and Hoyte gave Darcy a warning look that told the latter his file discs were still intact and ready to use as a threat.

Using specific information from Wilfred and Ebony he located the bank in the tax haven where they had originally planned to send the money. He learned that there was no transaction of that magnitude. From Ebony's intercept account he found an anomaly that led him to a remotely directed site and a file titled, CHCD. Here he hit a brick wall. The file was password protected and there was no other entry that he could find. Terry worried even more until Hoyte informed him that there was a password cracker program right on the hard drive of his computer but it wasn't instant. They watched together over the next several hours as the program ran through the millions of permutations of the data they gleaned from the file registry. Frustration was showing within the group. Conversation was limited to sharp retorts and curses and the women were threatening mutiny, which only brought the armed enforcers to higher alert. It was almost twelve hours later when Hoyte heard the bell on his program and checked the computer.

"Bingo! Look at that. The password's, TARRSKE. How bloody simplistic; it's an anagram of Trasker."

Hoyte went back to the file entry page and typed in the password and cheered as they were allowed in, only to find that the account number was obsolete and the account was empty. Hoyte worked some more magic and discovered that another transfer had occurred the same day, within the bank itself, this time to an account right in Argentina under the name of Huentos.

"Who the hell is that?" Hoyte asked.

"Who sent the money to that other account," Terry asked.

"Whoever CHCD is would be my guess. And a further guess would be that the H in that name is this Huentos."

"It might also be Hoyte and Darcy." Terry pointed out.

"It might, except that if it was I sure as hell wouldn't be sitting here showing you what I had done."

"So now what?"

"Look, we're all in this together so it's something we should all discuss. We'll take this to the others and see what they think. Personally, I think we should try and find this Huentos. It or he is here in Argentina so tracking the name shouldn't be difficult. It might go nowhere but then..."

"In case you forgot, we need to leave this place first."

"Right, I guess we need plan."

*****

The plan evolved over a few days after they learned from surfing the web that the original account had been opened by a Carlos Huentos, a resident in one of the suburbs of the Gran Buenos Aires. Terry had miraculously fended off Raoul but was warned that the women would be used in the next shoot; they needed to act fast. Hoyte hacked into the city register and came up with an address. They also discovered that along with Carlos on the original account, was a co-signer by the name of C. Ditchburn.

Elora nearly went ballistic and Hoyte had a laughing fit that had to be stopped with a slap from Wilfred. They all sat in one corner of the dormitory and formed a new alliance by revealing everything they did in their attempts to gain the money for themselves, finally admitting that if they had pooled their efforts initially they could all be enjoying more than enough for a lifetime. Hands were shaken, sins forgiven and a new resolve adopted.

All for one and one for all.