“Yeah. I’m getting that, Cam, and I want you to know that I really went to the mat for you. My boss may be all smiles at those soccer games and cocktail parties we’re always inviting you and Jade to, but here at the bank Alissa is a hard-ass, and she plays by the rules. I have very little wiggle room in these matters.”

The parking lot in front of me smears, a hazy gray wash of asphalt and skeleton branches and gauzy air. “I don’t have time for guessing games, Ed. Just tell me what she said so I can figure out how I’m going to plug the hole.”

“Basically, it’s a yes but. Yes, Alissa agreed to extend a loan to cover the time it takes for us to cash out your IRA, but there are two strings attached. First, she capped the loan at $350,000. Now I realize your IRA is worth much more than that, and that’s great news on the back end, but as far as extending the money up front, Alissa was pretty adamant. Three-fifty is as much as we’ll be able to get out of her.”

I don’t have to do the math: $350K, plus the cash in the bag on the seat next to me, is a little over half of what I need for the ransom. That leaves one hell of a hole, but it’s an amount that feels a little more feasible. My mind kicks into overdrive, racing through a mental Rolodex of people I know with that kind of cash. Business-owner pals whose fields are cash driven, friends who flaunt wives hung with diamond jewelry and Birkin bags, who blather on about yachts and vacation homes and who have homes with panic rooms and safes stuffed with cash.

Only problem is, why would they give any of that money to me?

And then I replay Ed’s words and realize there’s more. He just said there were two strings, two conditions to the money.

“What’s the other one?”

At Ed’s sigh, my body turns to stone, bracing for what comes next.

“The earliest I could get you the cash is tomorrow morning.”

His message is a gut punch. “Tomorrow morning is unacceptable, Ed. I need this money tonight. I need it now.” I slam my fist against the steering wheel.

“I understand that, but even if we could get through the paperwork today, an amount that large takes time to pull together. I’m up here at the executive offices, which means I don’t have that kind of cash just lying around. I’d have to call down to a local branch, but it’s already past five. I doubt I could even find anybody to pick up the phone.”

He pauses, sitting through a silence I know I’m supposed to fill, but with what? I’ve got nothing.