Page 139 of King’s Ransom

‘Up and at it. Gonna tackle that corrupted paragraph of text today.’

I was glad he was okay.

I wanted to tell him about everything I’d learned from my own decryptions of the plaintext—and that I had even spoken to our quarry—but I didn’t dare do that over the phone.

So, I just said, ‘Be careful, Monty. Keep an eye out for anyone following you. And let me know if you crack that corrupted plaintext.’

‘Will do. Hey, it’s good you called,’ he said. ‘Someone’s looking for you but you’re not answering your phone.’

‘Who’s looking for me?’

‘Aristo King.’

‘Aristo King is trying to get in touch with me?’ I said.

‘Well, he didn’t call me himself. He got his new head of security to do it: our fellow detective, Merritt Garrett. Garrett called me twenty minutes ago. He said his boss wants to meet with you.’

Monty gave me Garrett’s number and I called it from the landline.

‘Sam Speedman!’ Merritt Garrett exclaimed. ‘Thanks for calling me back, pal. The big man wants to meet with you today.’

‘Aristo King?’

‘The one and only. How’s 10:45 work?’

This was both unexpected and intriguing.

Why would Aristo King want to meet me? Was he worried about my investigations, too?

I had another reason for concern. ‘You and King aren’t helping the FBI find me, are you?’

‘I can assure you, we aren’t,’ Garrett said.

‘Then, sure, okay,’ I said. ‘Where should I go?’

Garrett chuckled. ‘Sam, you gotta get used to working with a billionaire. Ari will send his helicopter to bring you to him. Are you in Manhattan?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Cool. I’ll get the chopper to meet you at the heliport down by the ferry terminal at ten.’

An hour later, I left 60 Hudson Street via its main street entrance.

It was cold.

Light snow fell.

I was cautious, tense, alert.

I used the main entrance because I knew there would be people around, coming and going in downtown New York City.

(Like many of the other older buildings in New York City, 60 Hudson Street has no underground garage, so there was no vehicle exit to use.)

If the Unperson was waiting outside to kill me, he’d have to do it here, with lots of witnesses around.

As I stepped out on the sidewalk, I scanned all the New Yorkers hurrying by in their overcoats and scarves, heads bent, AirPods in their ears, going about their day.

December 29th was a Tuesday, but also the Tuesday between Christmas and New Year, so the crowds were lighter than usual.