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.)2.MoneyI don’t have any funds.I don’t have access to my husband’s bank accounts.I can’t raise the amount you’re asking for.3.Insurance PolicyI don’t know what you’re talking about.My husband doesn’t tell me anything.Is he safe? Is he alive? Etc.‘Here.’ Trent tore the page free and slid it across the surface of the desk towards Stephanie.‘Don’t worry, there’s a strong likelihood they won’t give you much chance to speak.The call won’t last long.Thirty, maybe forty-five seconds.They’ll be concerned about the possibility of a trace.They’ll tell you not to contact the authorities and they’ll mention a ransom.They may specify a figure.They may not.If they do, you can’t possibly pay it.Understand?’The paper shook in her hand.She was nervous but he sensed a resolve in her, too.He’d witnessed the reaction many times.Give someone a responsibility.Make them believe they’re the right individual to fulfil an important role.Focus their attention on that one particular task.Then sit back and watch them adapt to it.Marvel at the way they’re able to concentrate on their mission to the exclusion of whatever emotions might be swirling through their mind.‘But there is a problem,’ she said.‘Go on.’‘This.’ She’d flattened the piece of paper on the desk, turning it so that it was facing Trent.Her fingernail was resting just beneath point two on his list: Money.‘It’s true.I don’t have access to Jérôme’s accounts.He controls all our funds.’‘All of it?’She flinched.‘I have a small allowance.’‘How small?’She glanced at Alain.‘Maybe twenty thousand euros?’Alain nodded.Trent supposed that he oversaw her spending in some way.‘How about you?’ Trent asked Philippe.‘The same,’ he mumbled.‘An allowance.No bigger.’Trent vented air through his lips.It was a hitch he hadn’t anticipated.‘But we’re insured.’ Alain opened his hands.He showed his square palms to the three of them.‘That’s right,’ Trent replied.‘But normally the policy reimburses a client once a ransom payment has been made.’‘And in a situation like this?’Trent sighed.‘I should be able to authorise a cash advance.But it’s not ideal.It can take as long as a week.And the payment can’t exceed the two-point-five million limit.’There were other problems, too.Problems he wasn’t inclined to share.Aimée had always handled the paperwork for any claim.Trent could do it himself – he’d be able to figure out the procedures if he really had to – but both their signatures were necessary to process a payment.He guessed he could forge Aimée’s signature.He’d seen it often enough.But there remained the issue of the extra time the process would take.And Trent had no idea how much time he might have.He wanted everything resolved as soon as possible.He couldn’t afford for any more complications to arise.‘What about you?’ Trent asked Alain.He smirked.‘You think I’m a millionaire?’‘Maybe not.But I think you’re smart.I think if you applied yourself you could come up with a fast way to get your hands on some cash.You’ve worked alongside Jérôme for some time.You must have a few ideas.’Trent watched Alain carefully.He didn’t say anything more.Didn’t elaborate.But he saw a flicker of light deep inside the bodyguard’s eyes.The slightest contraction of his pupils, as if he were reassessing the situation.Trent swivelled in his chair.Stephanie was reading back over his prompt sheet.She swallowed hard.Looked from the sheet to the telephone.Stared at it with a mixture of fear and fascination.‘Look, it has a speaker,’ Trent said.He tapped a button towards the bottom of the keypad.‘We’ll be able to listen to everything they say.We’ll be right here with you.’She nodded.Wet her lip with her tongue.Pushed the script alongside the telephone.‘But don’t keep watching it,’ he told her.‘You’ll drive yourself crazy.Silence is one of the most powerful weapons the gang have at their disposal.Making you anxious is a key move for them.Be aware of that and see it for what it is.A negotiating tactic.Nothing more.’She nodded again and summoned a brave smile.It made her appear more scared and more out of her depth than anything he’d seen so far.‘So what happens now?’ Philippe asked, fighting a yawn.‘The hardest part,’ Trent told him.‘We wait.’Chapter TenTwo months agoTrent waited for his mobile to ring.His phone lay in the middle of a sagging bed in a cramped and miserable hotel room in Naples, Italy.The room was a corner unit located on the fourth floor of a decrepit building that had seemed, from the outside at least, to be tilting fatally to one side.The fake terrazzo floor was covered in a fine layer of grime and grit.The cast-iron radiator burned hot as a furnace and there seemed no way to adjust it or turn it off
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