We head outside and call a taxi at the bellhop station. I clutch my to-go cup of tea that I requested, needing the hot drink to relax me. Javier and Jake take the first taxi while Sun and I take the next one. We decided it was best to keep as separated from each other as possible just in case.
Our driver ends up dropping Sun and me on the wrong side of the road. A group of sellers hawking their wares, calls out to us. The interesting part is they're all well-dressed like businessmen, wearing black dress pants and button-down collared shirts. A woman selling woven baskets stands to our right. She's wearing the traditional wrap dress and her head is covered.
Sun and I cross the street, darting past a tiny red bus and avoiding a group of rickshaws careening down the road. Once Sun and I step onto the sidewalk in front of the bank, we both let out a sigh of relief.
"Whew!" Sun swipes a stream of sweat from her forehead. "Next time, we need to make sure our driver lets us off on the right side of the street."
"That really didn't help calm my nerves."
The Central Bank of Bangladesh is a seven-story white building lined with palms and gardens. On its sides rise up tall glass-paned towers along with a sprinkling of small dirt-streaked structures. The contrast of new and old, rich and poor, sitting side by side is startling. But even the scenery can't distract me enough from thinking about what we're about to do.
Tall trees rise up around us with twisted vines blocking off some of the blazing sun's rays. We stroll up to the metal gates of the bank and check in with security at a white stone building. They pat us down before we enter through the security scanner.
"Are you sure this is going to work out?" I whisper, my heart thumping in my chest.
"Don't talk." Sun walks briskly, smiling as if nothing could possibly be bothering her. "You're making me nervous."
"Fabulous. Now I'm completely freaking out." I clench the cup holding my green tea, wishing I hadn't brought it along.
"Think of this like a Dream Walk. Except please don't go jumping out of helicopters."
I snort and roll my eyes. Still, she's right. In the Dreamscape, I'm always the bravest on the team. I don't hesitate, instead, I follow my instincts. Why can't I do that in the real world? Why shouldn't I? But then, the real world and the Dreamscape have totally consequences.
The moment we step inside the foyer of the bank, I pull the thumb drive out of the pouch in my purse and slide it into my palm. Mentally, I force Dad's face into my mind, praying that we are one step closer to finding him.
"How about that man at the desk back there," I suggest. "His desk is out of the way of traffic and his computer looks easy to access, not boxed into a cubicle like the others."
The two of us beeline across the lobby. As we walk up, the man looks at us in surprise. He's wearing a sharp black suit and his shirt is buttoned and crisply ironed. His dark black hair has been smoothed back and his mustache twitches as he takes in the two of us.
He rises from his seat, eyebrows lifting. "Can I help you, ladies?"
"Why yes!" I say eagerly. I plop down in one of the two chairs in front of his desk while Sun, following my lead, sits in the chair beside me. My phone beeps and I glance at it.
Ready, it reads.
I eye the computer on the man's desk. It's turned on and opened to an Excel spreadsheet. Except he's got a computer model where the hard drive is separate from the monitor. It will be really awkward if I were to stretch across his desk and plug in the drive.
"Err..." I pause to read the name on the desk. Mr. Bosu. I switch my accent to sound Australian. "Mr. Bosu. Good day, mate. My friend, Tara Karin, and I are here to tour your bank. We're from Australia and thought how fun it would be to visit your bank. We are both in school and considering a career in banking."
I cringe over my Australian accent, which sounds more like an American wannabe. I can only hope he's never met any real Australians.
"Well then, how nice to meet you." Mr. Bosu smiles tightly and picks up a pile of papers, straightening them. "You must excuse me, but we are not doing tours today or offering career lessons. It is a rather bad day for such matters."
"Of course. So sorry to be of inconvenience." Sun clears her throat and clenches the sides of her chair. She's going to back out! We can't just leave without at least trying. Quickly, I stand and cry out.
"Oh!" I set down my tea on Mr. Bosu's desk and gaze at the marble globe resting beside his nameplate, pretending to be completely infatuated with it. "That is the loveliest object! You must tell me where you found it. I simply cannot go home to Sydney without its replica."
"Why, thank you," he says, surprise in his voice. "It was a gift."
I pick up the globe and while doing so, pretend to accidentally spill my tea. Dark liquid spills across his desk, racing over his papers like a flood escaping a dam. Eyes wide and yelling words I don't understand, Mr. Bosu waves his hands about, spinning around in search of something to mop up the mess.
"Oh, bloody cuppa," I cry out, trying to maintain a semblance of an accent. Sun covers her mouth. She's laughing at me! I glare at her. It's not my fault I've never been to Australia.
"Here!" Sun leaps up and grabs his arm, leading him to the next desk over where a tissue box sits. "This will do the trick."
When their backs are turned to me, I slide between the desk and the wall. I lean over and snap the thumb drive into the hard drive on his computer. Then I start my stopwatch, hoping Jake will get his data downloaded sooner than later. Meanwhile, Sun holds the tissue box just long enough so that when he turns back around I'm by his desk, pretending to save his desk things from my tea.
Mr. Bosu mops up the mess, rattling off a tirade of words in Bengali, which I'm guessing aren't so complimentary of us.
"You must leave now," Mr. Bosu says, jaw tight. "As I explicitly said before, today is a very busy day."
I check my phone. No word from Jake or Javier. My stopwatch warns me that only two minutes and ten seconds have passed. Jake thought he would need at least five minutes. This isn't good since we can't leave the thumb drive otherwise the authorities could trace the data source.
"I simply can't leave your desk in such a muddle." I run about the desk, taking the tissues from his hand and mopping up the liquid. "You must let us help you tidy up your workspace. There's a good man."
"I suppose," Mr. Bosu grudgingly allows.
"And you can't have that desk all sticky with tea," Sun adds. "Let me go to the loo to gather up some wet paper towels. Those should do nicely."
She returns to finish up the cleaning while I attempt to set everything back into place as slowly as possible. I check my stopwatch and we've now surpassed five minutes without any word from Jake.
"There now," Sun says. "Everything is spit-spot."
Now it's my turn to raise my eyebrows at her word choice. Somehow we've veered from Aussie to British. She winks at me, smirking.
"Yes," Mr. Bosu says. "Thank you and a good day to you both."
"Wait!" My mind frantically scours for another thing to do or say to keep us for a few more minutes. "A photograph! Yes, that's what we need. To remember our lovely time with you, Mr. Bosu, from this lovely bank."
"I do not take photos and certainly do not have the time." His mouth has literally turned downward in complete annoyance.
"But you've been so kind." Sun lightly touches his arm. "It will only be a quick photo."
He clears his throat, his face smoothing out. Then he mutters an okay under his breath. That's Sun for you. She can convince anyone to do what she wants them to do.
Sun and I crowd in on either side of Mr. Bosu behind his desk. I hold up the marble globe and then we take a selfie. By this time, a lady has come up to the table, holding a stack of papers and frowning at the three of us. Other people around the bank are also staring at us, which is bad. How am I supposed to get that thumb drive out with everyone looking?
"Fantastic!" Sun says once I snap the photo.
"Let me just check it." I'm stalling for time. What is taking Jake so long? "Make sure it's not blurry."
My phone beeps and I read the text that pops up.
Done.
Finally!
"I suppose we must be off then," I tell Sun. She nods, understanding my message. I move to take a step toward the desk to return the globe but pretend to trip.
The globe falls out of my hands.
"The globe!" I scream. I drop to the ground right beside the computer console, pretending to catch it.
Everyone's eyes turn to watch the globe roll across the floor. Meanwhile, I yank the thumb drive out, pocketing it in one quick motion. Sun races after the globe and snatches it up, handing it over to Mr. Bosu. The two of us then rush out of the bank, looking incredibly guilty. Adrenaline is still pumping through my veins as we step out into the blazing heat.
The tension in my shoulders loosens and that surge of victory floods me like those times in the Dreamscape when I made it through a dream transition and didn't get knocked out.
I slip on my sunglasses and purse my lips.
"Not bad for the real world," I say.
"Good on ya, mate," she agrees, giggling. "We aced that mission."