Page 18 of Billion-Dollar Ransom
Another ten seconds of ambient noise.
Then thirty more.
Around the sixty-second mark, Mike Hardy leaned over the conference table and murmured to Nicky: “That can’t be all.”
But this was the Sandbox; every other participant could hear him.
Nicky couldn’t believe it either. This wasn’t a ransom demand. It was simply a prelude. A table setting. But to what end? What did these kidnappers want, ultimately?
After more interminable silence…
“Should we fast-forward this damn thing?” Jeff Penney asked. “I mean, what the hell is their point?”
“No,” Nicky said impulsively.
After three full minutes of silence, the mayor sighed. “That’s enough. These bastards are toying with—”
“Congratulations,” said the voice on the tape. “If you are listening to these words, you demonstrated a degree of patience. You’re going to need that to bring the Schraeders home safely.”
The mayor was right, Nicky thought. The bastardsweretoying with them. But the kidnappers were also teaching them all how to behave, much like you teach dogs to behave by not letting them enter the house until you give the verbal cue.
Sit. Stay. Stay…
Then:
Come.
“Tell Randolph Schraeder to meet with his money manager right away. If he wants to see his family members alive again, he’ll need to gather one billion dollars.”
Everyone in the Sandbox looked at each other. Did they just hear that right?
CHAPTER 20
“HOLD ON,” said the mayor of Los Angeles. “I know the voice on that tape was intentionally distorted, but did he seriously just ask for a ransom of abilliondollars? With ab?”
“That’s right, Madam Mayor,” Mike Hardy said. “One billion is what I heard. I’m not sure I have that much in my checking account right now, but I can take a look.”
“Agent Gordon?” the mayor asked as if seeking a second opinion on a medical diagnosis:Are we sure it’s cancer? Couldn’t it just be a cold?
“Detective Hardy is correct. That’s what I heard too.”
“What I’m saying is,” the mayor continued, “are these people serious?”
The idea of a billion dollars was mind-boggling to most people, but Nicky was sure the mayor grasped exactly how much that was, considering that the budget of the City of Los Angeles was close to thirteen billion.
“We have to assume they are,” Nicky said.
“Does it need to be in cash? Is it even possible to place that much cash in a bag?” the mayor said. “Or would it be several bags? Help me visualize this in terms of physical money.”
“A million dollars in hundred-dollar bills—the largest denomination currently circulated by the US government—weighs approximately forty-two pounds,” Nicky said. “Roughly as much as a four-year-old child.”
“What’s the total weight for a billion dollars?”
“One billion,” Nicky said, “equals one thousand million.”
The mayor took a moment to contemplate the math. “These kidnappers are asking for the equivalent of the weight ofa thousand toddlersin cash?”
“Yes,” Nicky replied.
