Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020 | Page 24

Fiction – Group 2
“Of course,” he assured her. “The fastest way to get there is to take the Honghe Bridge
because it directly connects Jinwan to Hengqin. The drive is only twenty-one minutes.”
The newly built bridge was an extension of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, and
shortened the journey between Jinwan and Hengqin by half.
Twenty minutes later, Ewan jerked the car to a stop in the middle of a pitch-black street.
An eerie silence filled the air.
“Looks like we’re here,” Daytona murmured, getting out of the car. They began scanning
their surroundings.
“There aren’t any people,” Ewan observed, stating the obvious.
“Can you be so sure?” a deep voice boomed from behind. The siblings spun around to
find a man with green eyes and dirty blond hair glaring at them.
“I’m not going to waste your time with introductions, nor do I need to know who
you are,” he said coldly. “We had an agreement. Give me what you want, and the money is
yours.” He held up his briefcase.
The siblings glanced at each other warily. Then Daytona stepped forward and handed
him the watch. He looked it over carefully and slowly nodded, satisfied.
“Before I give you your money, let me make something clear,” he said warningly. “What
we’re doing isn’t exactly legal, given that you stole this watch. If you get me into any trouble,
I will personally come to find you, and I can promise you that it won’t be a pretty visit. Am I
clear?” He gave them a threatening look, and the siblings nodded, paralyzed with fear.
“Good,” he said, shoving the briefcase into Daytona’s hands. Then he flashed them an
evil smile and jogged away.
“Well, that was friendly,” Daytona muttered, flipping the briefcase open. A small gasp
escaped from her lips when she saw the money piled up into neat rows.
“Wow,” Ewan breathed, taking a long look.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “I need to check something first, though.” She took a single
hundred-dollar bill from one of the stacks and held it at an angle.
Suddenly, she sucked in her breath.
“What?” Ewan asked.
“Something’s not right about this bill,” she muttered, squinting at it closely.
He frowned. “Why?”
She continued staring at it. Then she narrowed her eyes and looked up in the direction
that the man had gone. Her brother followed her gaze and found him standing at the end of
the street, smirking at them. Then he ran out of sight.
“Huh?” Ewan said, confused.
Daytona held out the bill. “You see this hundred written in the corner?” she said,
pointing at it. When he nodded, she continued. “On a real hundred-dollar bill, it should turn
from blue to green when it’s held at different angles.”
Ewan tensed. He had a hunch where this was leading to.
“This one doesn’t change colors,” Daytona said, confirming his suspicion. “And I’ll bet
the other ones don’t, either. The money he gave us is fake.”
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