Page 30 of King’s Ransom

The shaft yawned before me.

Heidi and Bill joined me at the edge.

‘What are you thinking, Sam?’ Heidi asked.

I looked up.

The boy was now thirty feet above us, dangling upside-down from the elevator two floors up, lit by the glow of lights from the middle floor.

‘I think we need to provide our own brand of insurance,’ I said.

‘Twenty seconds . . .’ the Tech Detect’s voice said. I could hear him clearly, his voice echoing down the shaft.

Hooper’s voice: ‘Talk to me, Mr McCade?’

‘The board is discussing the matter,’ Quinn McCade’s voice answered.

(‘Discussing the matter.’ This was a new low, even for an insurance company.)

‘Audrey, how’s it going with you?’ Hooper said.

‘We’re in the bitcoin account. About to make the transfer from King’s own funds,’ Audrey’s voice said.

‘Ten seconds . . .’

I spun, searching for something I could use—

And saw it.

An emergency cabinet about ten feet from the elevator shaft marked fire hose.

I ran over to it, flung it open and quickly began unspooling the long canvas fire hose inside.

‘Six seconds . . .’

‘Heidi, Bill, get ready.’ I shrugged off my backpack, flung it to the floor.

‘For what?’ Heidi said, alarmed.

‘Five, four . . .’

I looped the hose’s brass nozzle around my waist John McClane–style and ran to the edge of the shaft.

‘For what, Sam?’

‘Three, two . . .’

Then Audrey shouted, ‘The bitcoin’s about to be transferred! We just need a few more seconds for it to refresh—’

‘One.’

A silence.

Then the voice.

‘Time’s up,’ it said.

‘No!’ Audrey called.