Billion-Dollar Ransom

Chapter 1

Transcript of audio conversation (recovered from private Macao-based server)

ONE: Listen to my voice very closely. That is your only job right now. If you have any questions, please wait until the end of my short presentation. I will answer what is relevant.

[No response.]

ONE: Excellent. No names, even fictitious ones, will be used at any point during this operation. And that includes this briefing session, the only one we’ll have as a group. All of you have been assigned code numbers. They will appear on your home screens. You may refer to me as One.

[No response.]

ONE: To set your minds at ease, please know that your voices have all been digitally scrambled. You may answer in the affirmative when I ask you a question directly. Do you understand, Two?

TWO: Stay silent until the question‑and‑answer portion of the program.

ONE: Well done. Let’s hear from Three and Four.

Understood?

THREE: Yes.

FOUR [Underherbreath]: Seriously? [Pause.] Yes, One. Three and I understand.

ONE: How about you, Five? FIVE: Yeah, I got you.

ONE: And, finally, Six? SIX: Yes. I understand.

ONE: Goody. Now, some ground rules. First: Your numbered code names will stay with you throughout the mission. No trading numbers or changing them. They were assigned to each of you for a specific reason. If this is unclear, speak up now.

[Pause.]

ONE: Second rule: The plan must be followed precisely. Not a single change will be permitted. If you ignore a step, you will not be paid. If you improvise, you will not be paid. If you involve others, you will not be paid. If you perform a task a minute too early or a minute too late, you will not be paid. You are to perform your tasks at the precise minute — almost to the second. If this is unclear, speak up now.

[Pause.]

ONE: Final rule, and this is more of an expectation than a rule. It is possible, perhaps even likely, that one or more people will be killed at some point during our mission. You must not let this throw you. Some deaths are unavoidable and ultimately may serve the greater plan. If anyone has a problem with this, speak now and you will be relieved of your duties.

[Pause.]

ONE: Now for the pep talk. The one thing I want you to remember, above all else, is that you deserve this. You need to internalize that and truly believe it. You have earned this. Why? Because, like me, you’ve all come from nothing. And you are merely taking what is rightfully yours.

[Pause.]

ONE: When we have completed our mission, this group will have pulled off the most famous kidnapping in history. Nothing else comes close — not the Lindbergh child, not Patricia Campbell Hearst, not John Paul Getty the Third. This is the one they will study in books and films for decades to come. That will be for many reasons, not least of which is the size of the ransom. Which will be the largest ever: one billion dollars.

[On the recording, there are a series of excited and astonished murmurs.]

ONE: Upon successful execution of your part of the plan, you will be paid your share of that one‑ billion‑dollar ransom within forty‑eight hours. Then you have the rest of your lives to enjoy what is rightfully yours. If you follow the plan, no one will ever know you were involved. The money will be untraceable, and you will be able to spend it freely anywhere in the world. Are there any questions?

[Pause.]

ONE: Excellent. Now you may applaud.

[There is a confused pause before One breaks out in a hearty laugh, which seems to give permission to the others. They join in the laughter and eventually erupt in a round of applause.]