Page 53 of Billion-Dollar Ransom
The plastic cassette tape was rushed to the Sandbox and prepared for playback while Hope started the chain of calls that would gather the team. The tape could not be played until allmembers of the task force—the mayor of Los Angeles included—were connected to the Sandbox so they could hear it at the same time. The mayor herself had insisted on this after their first meeting, and Jeff Penney from the SWAT team backed her up.We all need to work together on this one,blah-blah-blah. Although Jeff was backing up the mayor not so much because he agreed with her as because he was angling for a promotion in the near future.
The wait was driving Nicky up the wall. In a rapidly evolving situation like this, every second mattered. What if the kidnappers had given time-specific instructions for the drop-off? Clearly they had arranged to have this tape delivered at a specific time.
In the Sandbox, Nicky said, “Alonso, play the tape now.”
“Ma’am? Are you sure?”
Even Mike Hardy raised an eyebrow at this one.
“One hundred percent,” Nicky said. “Any blowback will be on me. I’m tired of these bastards screwing around with us. If they do have a mole on the task force, I’m sure they’ll know about the built-in bureaucratic delay.”
Hope glanced over at Mike.A mole?
Mike Hardy shook his head slightly.Not the time.
Hope pressed play on the thirty-year-old machine. After a minute-long silence, which appeared to be the kidnappers’ way of making sure their listeners were paying attention, the tape began.
“Surely Mr. Schraeder has been able to gather the money by now. Yet we are seeing no signs of him being prepared to deliver it.”
Hope frowned. “How do they know if Schraeder has the money ready?”
“They’re confirming that they have someone on the inside,” Nicky said.
After two minutes of additional silence:
“We are growing impatient.”
And then an even longer stretch of nothing but magnetic-tape hiss, to the point where Nicky found herself checking her watch to see if time was passing as slowly as it seemed to be.
Finally Mike grunted. “They’re not the only ones getting impatient.”
“Should I fast-forward it?” Hope asked.
“No,” Nicky said. Later, she’d have the tape analyzed for any subliminal or ambient noises in the long silences. For now, they would experience the tape recording as intended.
After what felt like a pocket-size eternity, the same voice spoke again, but in a hushed tone, as if sharing a dirty secret:
“Do we have tokillsomeone to get your attention?”
CHAPTER 57
Thursday, 6:42 p.m.
DINNER CONVERSATION WAS glum. Four tried her best to draw the kids out, but they mostly pushed their food around on their plates, making tiny barricades like mini-forts. Four was a little hurt by that and wished the kids would at least try a small bite.
“This mac and cheese is my little girl’s favorite,” Four said, as if this would entice them. But when Three shot her a look, she realized she’d have to tell him about her earlier mistake. They weren’t supposed to reveal any personal information.
“What’s wrong with her?” Finney asked. “Your daughter?”
“Never mind that,” Three said. “Eat up before it gets cold.”
But Four couldn’t sit there and ignore the question. “Three,” she said, “it’s okay. I already told them.”
“You what?”
Four turned back to Finney, rested a hand on her forearm, and squeezed it gently.
“We’re doing all we can to help her through it,” Three said finally.
