Page 13 of Billion-Dollar Ransom

“OUR TASK FORCE will be led by Special Agent Nicole Gordon,” John Scoleri said. “Gordon, this is now your meeting.”

Nicky scanned the faces, both digital and in the flesh, of a dozen VIPs who had been summoned to the Sandbox.

Despite all that technology, the Sandbox unnerved Nicky.

In a traditional conference room, you could pull someone aside to stress a point in private.

But the Sandbox’s microphones were so incredibly sensitive, everything could be heard, even the smallest murmur of dissent.

Forget the Sandbox—it should be called the Fishbowl, Nicky thought.

And she was standing at the center of it.

One of the in-person faces was friendly. (Hello, LAPD chief of detectives Michael Hardy.) The rest, both in-person and virtual, not so much.

Some wore bored expressions, as if daring her to impress them.

(Hello, Madam Mayor, beaming in from her own secure meeting room at city hall.) One person was clearly unhappy to be stuck in the Sandbox taking orders from an agent he’d long considered to be John Scoleri’s lackey.

(Hello, Captain Jeffrey Penney, head of the LAPD’s SWAT team—here in person, sadly.) There were also a handful of bureaucrats and advisers not thrilled to be dragged away from their normal duties at the end of an already busy day—and for what? Rich-people problems?

But Nicky needed them all working as a team if she was going to crack this thing.

“You’ve all been briefed on the simultaneous kidnappings in Beverly Hills, Bel Air, and Mexico this afternoon,” Nicky said.

“Three different strikes executed with clockwork precision. Five different targets, all but one within the same family. Let me bring you up to speed on where the investigation stands.”

She tapped her cell phone, and two of the Sandbox screens displayed live video feeds from the two LA crime scenes.

“We do have limited surveillance-camera footage from two of the scenes, Beverly Hills and Bel Air,” Nicky continued. “We’re actively tracking a potential witness in the Beverly Hills abduction and have agents going door to door in Bel Air.”

Another tap brought up a screen with real-time transcriptions of dozens of phone calls.

“As of one hour ago, our tip line is active, and agents are already sorting through the messages that have arrived. As of now, there have been no ransom demands. Which is not—”

“What about the kidnapping in Mexico?” the mayor asked, seeming impatient. “Have we had any sightings of either Tyler Schraeder or Cassandra Bart?”

Nicky wasn’t surprised the mayor would focus on these two.

Not only was the eldest Schraeder child the highest-profile member of the Schraeder family—aside from Papa Randolph, of course—and a well-known political donor, but he’d been abducted along with one of Hollywood’s fastest-rising stars.

This was the abduction that would receive the lion’s share of media coverage.

Naturally, it was also the part of the case that remained the most obscure.

“We have a small team on their way to Mexico City,” Nicky said. “They should be landing shortly and liaising with local authorities.”

“I understand they were taken from a private resort,” the mayor continued. “Who reported them missing?”

“A massage therapist, who became concerned when Schraeder and Bart missed their midafternoon appointment,” Nicky said. “She alerted the staff, who by then had heard about the other kidnappings.”

“And we have absolutely no idea of their whereabouts?” the mayor said. “A high-end resort like that must have robust security systems.”

Nicky knew the mayor wasn’t going to like the answer she was about to get. Nicky didn’t like it much either.

“This resort is known for its privacy,” Nicky told her. “No cameras, no prying eyes, and a bare minimum of staff on-site.”

“Tyler Schraeder didn’t bring along his own security?” the mayor said.

“Apparently not.” Nicky didn’t bother to mention the obvious—the reason people went to an exclusive off-the-grid resort was specifically for the total seclusion from everyone, including security guys, many of whom loved to make a little extra cash from the press.

But the mayor needed to vent her frustrations, and it was important to let her.

Now that they’d reached the low point, Nicky decided to share the ace she’d been keeping up her sleeve.

“I believe I know who is behind these kidnappings,” Nicky said.