Page 35 of Illusive
“I’m required to be here, as per the terms of your K&R policy. So is a trained hostage negotiator.”
Before Eva could ask for clarification, Gideon explained, “Kidnapping and ransom insurance.”
“Oh.” She was momentarily startled that abductions were so common as to be insurable.
Banning crossed her hands in her lap. “It’s our job to negotiate your sister’s return, Mr. Cross.”
“Ireland,” he corrected. “Her name is Ireland. It’s also your job to ensure that the negotiation includes haggling over the ransom price.”
Recognizing his tone, Eva leaned back in the chair and let him control the conversation.
“For your benefit,” Banning countered. “If it seems like you’ve got more to spend, there’s nothing to stop the abductor or abductors from making additional demands, which would only delay Ireland’s return.”
“That assumes my sister has time for you to spend bargaining the price down.”
Ms. Banning’s head tilted. “You trusted us enough to buy our policy, but you don’t trust us to execute the terms of it? What changed?”
“This kidnapping is personal.”
“I see.” Banning paused for a moment. “I don’t want to take up more of your time than necessary, so I’ll get to the point. Your policy requires the use of our highly trained negotiators. You violated the terms by negotiating on your own. The policy is now void.”
“They made a demand, and I agreed. That’s capitulation, not negotiation.”
“The discussion wasn’t handled the way it should have been, which increases the liability and risk beyond the considerations of the policy.”
Straightening, Eva pulled away from Gideon’s restraining hand on her shoulder and set her elbows on the desk. She wasdeeply resentful that anyone would be worried about their own bottom line when a precious life hung in the balance, but if she’d learned anything from working alongside her husband, it was that the human cost of business was rarely factored in.
“Eva…” he warned, his tone low. “It’s fine. Let it go.”
She spoke anyway. “You can’t be serious. No one in their right mind would come to our home at a time like this, with what we’re going through, to drop a fucking insurance policy.”
Banning cleared her throat. “I also find this distasteful, Mrs. Cross. But there are resources you would’ve been entitled to if your policy were in effect and you need to know that we won’t be providing them.”
Eva’s fingertips tapped a rapid staccato into the desktop. “Oh, you’re going to provide them,” she said sharply. “And you’re not voiding the policy because we’re now the safest bet. Do you think anyone is ever targeting one of us again after this? Knowing how my husband reacts to this kind of threat?”
“His decision to put a bounty on the kidnappers is likely to get Ireland killed,” Banning shot back. “I’m sorry for my bluntness, but it’s true. The company takes pride in achieving safe recovery in the vast majority of our claims.”
“You don’t want this ‘claim’ to be a strike against your reputation? Is that what you’re saying?” Eva fell heavily back into the chair. “Wow.”
It struck her then just how alone her husband was with the decision he’d made. He had zero support from anyone, while facing judgment and criticism from everyone. He alone had responsibility for his choice. It broke her heart that he was carrying this burden alone, and she couldn’t help him. Even if she agreed with him, which she wasn’t sure she did, that wouldn’t change the fact that he’d acted against best practices.
Gideon crossed his arms. “I was open to handling this by the rules, but the kidnappers weren’t interested in arranging a clean, quick trade.”
“It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours.” Banning uncrossed her legs and sat up straighter. “It’s not unusual for kidnappers to test your commitment first, to make sure you’re taking them seriously. A respectful, open dialogue would’ve paved the way for a productive negotiation.”
“I’ve been deadly serious.”
“And confrontational,” she shot back. “Aggressive. That’s widely reported to be your style of conducting business, but that’s not how you show a kidnapper that you respect the power they have over you.”
“Agreeing to their demands wasn’t respectful enough? I’ve had Cross Industries employees kidnapped overseas, as you know, because your company insured those claims. The pattern of demand and return is always similar. This is entirely different.”
Banning paused for a moment, as if carefully considering her reply. “You don’t think your sister’s alive, do you? That’s why you’ve effectively traded her for the rest of your family’s safety. As your wife said, you’ve made it too risky to try again when there’s other, more cooperative prey.”
Eva felt a sudden buzzing pressure in her ears.
“I believe Ireland is alive,” he refuted icily. “I also believe I’ve given her the best chance to remain that way. Every other avenue we could’ve taken assumes we’re dealing with a rational individual motivated by greed. We are not.”
Banning’s brows lifted. “You’ve spoken to an altered voice for a handful of minutes. You can’t determine motive from that.”
