Page 98 of Emergency Exit
Mason hissed out an angry breath.
“This is about money, Ash. Like everything.”
“I can get cash,” said Ash slowly while he looked around his condo for some hint of an idea. He walked with quick steps over to his computer and opened the Slack channel to Mel.
On the phone with Mason. Stephanie and Emma have kidnapped Harper. He says she’s taking a tour of the harbor. Piper has Harper’s phone and is with the cops.
Romeo is calling Piper. I’ve already hacked the office email address they’ve been using. Might be able to triangulate on whoever’s checking the email.
“Cash isn’t going to cut it,” said Mason. “You’re not hearing me. I need the Miller Project. I need all the research, and I need it now.”
The Van Lankens have a yacht. It might be under their father’s name. I think that’s where Harper is.
“What are you going to do with the research?” asked Ash.
The box of papers was devouring his dining room table. It would be easy to scoop it up and deliver it to Mason. He could even call the Pentagon and explain the situation. He had to do it—Harper’s life was at stake.
“That doesn’t really matter, does it?” snapped Mason.
It did matter. What was Ash supposed to tell Shihan Brad?Sorry about your brother’s entire livelihood, but I gave it to the Chinese. Or the Russians. Or whoever Mason was working for. Ash wanted to dive into the silence and yell at Mason.
Let the question hang.
Silence was always the hardest part of a negotiation for him.
“I get that you’re all noble about your investors,” said Mason. “And I appreciate that about you, but not all of us have that luxury.”
Be sympathetic but practical.
“Mason, you’re my friend,” said Ash.Hadbeen his friend. The past tense was definitely on their relationship after today. “We can fix whatever is going on.”
“Ash,” said Mason, tiredly.
Normalize the idea.
“I get it,” said Ash. “You’ve got something going on, but honestly... we’re smarter than most people. Just tell me what you need. We can make it happen. Just like we always do.”
“What I need is for the Donil to get off my ass about the Miller Project. I need him to stop showing up at my house, and I need him to stop staring at my wife. You think Harper going for a boat cruise is bad? Try having a six-foot-six asshole deciding which part of her to carve off.”
“Russians,” said Ash evenly. “OK. That’s what we’re up against.”
“What we’re up against is that the Van Lankens have no idea how to live within a budget. Their father ran off with their trust fund, and Steph promised Daddy’s special friend Donil that we could totally get the Miller research.”
“Well, that is...”
It was a hard place to be, but mostly it was a fucking stupid place to be. Ash couldn’t believe Mason had let himself get roped into the situation.
“It is what it is,” said Mason. “So, you’re going to bring me theresearch, and we’ll bring Harper back, and we’ll all be fine.”
Ash tried to type quietly to Mel.
He says I have to bring him the Miller research. Then he’ll give Harper back.
Cops say agree to it.
Ash was being pushed into an agreement he didn’t want to make. All negotiation was about give and take, but he felt like he was being prevented from negotiating the way he usually would.
“I get that you don’t want to do it,” said Mason. “But I swear no one will ever know it was you that leaked it. Just bring all the files on a thumb drive; no one will ever know.” Mason was normalizing the idea and sounding sympathetic. Ash had learned a lot of his techniques from Mason, and he recognized that this was a stand-off. Doing what he normally did wasn’t going to work.
