They waited silently, but nothing more came across the screen.
“We knew it was coming, but fifty million is a lot of money,” Bec said as Iris texted the team. “Why cash? Why not cryptocurrency?”
“Cash is harder to trace,” Iris answered, pulling Bec’s chair back. When Bec looked at her in confusion, she pointed at the computer. “I don’t want you to touch something and have it disappear.” She opened her phone camera and took a picture of the screen. “Every cryptocurrency transaction is recorded. Especially one the size of fifty million.”
“There must be a way to put tracers in the cash, right? Isn’t that how they catch people all the time?”
Iris snorted, finding a little levity in the situation. “I’m certain that was the point of the ‘try anything funny’ line that he added. Besides, it’s harder than you may think to trace the cash. They’ll move it to a new bag, remove any wrappers and immediately convert it to gold bars or other untraceable currency.”
“Secure One, Charlie!” Cal called as the stairwell door burst open, and he, Declan and Zac ran in.
Surprised, Iris jumped, juggling her phone as it flew up into the air until Bec grabbed it and put her arm around her waist to calm her. “Deep breath. You’re safe.”
Iris nodded as the team gathered around the computer to read the message.
“Doesn’t seem like he knows you already have the vents back,” Cal said after he read it. “We need to keep it that way.”
“Agreed,” Bec said. “My question is, how will he know that we will do it? We can’t respond.”
Iris glanced back at the computer and then held up her finger. “The cursor is still blinking. Let’s see if we can reply.”
She put her hands on the keyboard, but Bec’s warm fingers wrapped around her wrist to stop her. “What if that bricks the computer?”
“That’s a risk we have to take,” Cal said from behind them. “Do you have a backup of your research?”
“Of course,” Bec agreed. “But the cost to replace these machines will be astronomical for our investors.”
“Not as astronomical as the cost of another global pandemic,” Zac pointed out. “I’m sure they are well insured.”
Bec tipped her head in agreement and motioned for her to type. Iris took a deep breath and hit the U key, but nothing happened. She felt everyone’s hopes deflate, knowing they couldn’t communicate with the kidnapper. Getting fifty million dollars together in two days would be extremely difficult.
“Fantastic,” Bec moaned. “I’ve got to call the board. If I can find their contact information.”
“You don’t know how to reach them?” Cal asked, and Bec shook her head.
“That information was need to know, and I didn’t need to know. Walter took care of the administration side of things. I could find the contact information easily if I could access his computer, but I can’t.”
“Do the investors have fifty million dollars?” Zac asked.
“I have no idea. I know some of their names, but I haven’t been here long enough even to have met them. Again, I’d need Walter’s computer, which I don’t have access to.”
“Yet,” Iris said. “If I work all night, I might be able to break the code.”
“You can’t work all night,” Cal said.
“But we only have forty-eight hours!” Iris exclaimed. “Do you think I can sleep knowing this virus could slip through our fingers?”
Bec lowered her hand onto Iris’s shoulder, giving her a place to focus her mind other than on the anxiety. “We won’t let that happen,” she said. “All we need is access to the containment room. I can protect the world if you can get me inside there.”
“But you can’t save Walter if you don’t pay them,” Iris said. Cal sighed heavily, and she glanced at him. “What?”
“I think we all know that even if we pay them the money, they won’t let Walter go, right?”
“Doubtful,” Zac agreed.
Iris slid her hand up to her shoulder to squeeze Bec’s hand. “We have to try.”
“We haven’t gotten proof of life,” Bec said matter-of-factly. “Chances are, he’s already dead, but on the off chance he’s not, we have to try.”
