“You go before the press. You tell the press that there’s a ransom. But they aren’t offering the option to negotiate. And there’s no reason to believe they won’t kill her. Say that’s unacceptable. You’ll double the ransom to anyone who delivers her safely to your home or delivers information that allows you to find her and bring her home.”

Light blue eyes look to me, and they crinkle with his slight smile. “Alex is right. This is a good idea. There’s more than one person involved in this. If greed is the underlying motivator, let greed draw them out. And if greed isn’t the underlying motivator for the architect of this plan, then it’ll be a motivator for someone on that team.”

Agent Ryland’s hands rest on his hips. He carries on a private conversation with one of the agents near him. The two men break apart, and Ryland addresses the room.

“We can set up the number for you to use and monitor it. And it goes without saying, but we don’t recommend any ransom being paid.”

Color returns to Jack’s face as he dials the PR agency he’s been using to get them working. The FBI agents get on their phones, presumably because they each have their own tasks to prepare for this change in tactic.

Ryan sidles up to me.

“Solid tactical plan. Low risk. Potentially high reward.” He’s standing close to me. Possibly too close, but all of the agents scattered to give themselves relative privacy for their calls. Jack isn’t paying attention to us as he’s engaged on the phone.

“Thank you.” Praise from Ryan is akin to acing the boards.

Ryan’s phone vibrates. He checks it and gestures for me to join him back out on the deck.

“Erik,” he says as the sliding glass door closes behind me. “Right. Interesting. Thanks.”

He disconnects the call.

“That was Erik,” he says. “Our forensic accountant says there’s nothing unscrupulous on the books. The only thing that stands out from the annual reports is that three years ago sales exceeded forecast by thirty percent. Stock price was gangbusters. But March 2020 was the best gun sales month on record. The last two years, they’ve hovered near earnings forecasts, but are still hugely profitable. There are analysts who are saying that Wayne Killington returning as Interim CEO makes Sullivan Arms stock price a buy. Those analysts are crediting aggressive marketing led by Wayne’s team for Sullivan Arms’ recent success.”

“Why?”

“Three years ago, when Wayne was interim CEO, they launched a new marketing campaign. We’d need to look at the ads, but it appears they shifted from a hunting focus to a personal safety strategy. They followed the market, and it paid off.”

“Three years ago. When Cassandra died? Jack stepped down?”

“Apparently so.”

“Do you know who he was at dinner with Monday night when his daughter was kidnapped?”

“That gives Wayne Killington a potential motive. Is that what you’re thinking?”

“Motive doesn’t equal guilt. But yes. It’s also probably worth researching to see who else did well with Wayne Killington as CEO. My guess is Larry Reyes also did well. He moved into Wayne’s role as head of sales when Wayne moved up.”