‘Five percent is the absolute limit for this kind of thing.’

‘Up to you,’ Áróra said and got to her feet. ‘Then you can find someone else to track down your money, and good luck with that because I’m as good at hiding cash as I am at finding it.’

The car salesman shot to his feet, cleared his throat and coughed. He appeared to have swallowed his gum.

‘What the hell do you mean? You’ve already put it into my account.’

There was a shadow of the sob she had heard in his voice a week previously.

‘I have a twenty-four-hour recall option on all my bank transfers,’ Áróra said, taking out her phone, tapping in the banking app code and cancelling the transaction. ‘Done,’ she said, and walked out of his office.

She dodged between the cars in the showroom, every one polished to a shine, and headed for the door. Through the glass partition of his office, she could see the man tapping at his phone in desperation, undoubtedly checking his bank account, with which he had been so delighted the previous evening.
8

Áróra was halfway across the parking lot outside when she heard his voice behind her.

‘OK, OK, no problem,’ he called after her, panting after jogging through the showroom. ‘You’re right. Of course we’d agreed. My bad.’

Áróra stopped and turned.

‘I was doing you a favour by agreeing to pay the whole amount into your account so you could pay my commission through your car business. But now that I’m not able to trust you, I’ll make the transfer, but I’m taking my commission out first.’

She held her phone and there was a questioning look on her face. The car salesman nodded and raised his hands in agreement.

Áróra opened the banking app again while the salesman stood there fiddling with his own phone, no doubt wanting to be sure that the cash came through.

‘That’s it,’ Áróra said. ‘Now we’re all square.’ She turned off her phone, dropped it in her pocket and waited a moment, just to see the car salesman’s face when he saw the result. She didn’t have to wait long.

‘No!’ he yelped, his voice full of despair and pain. ‘We’re not all square. That’s only half. Less than half…’

‘That’s right,’ Áróra said. ‘And it was an educational experience to see just what you’re really like. I started to have my doubts about your tales of woe – how your wife had hauled you over the coals during the divorce, had taken the house, and all that stuff you were whining about last week. So I’ll return the half that’s rightfully your wife’s to her Swiss account.’

‘You can’t do this!’ he called, and Áróra turned on her heel and walked away.