JAKE
Jen had unrolled what I now knew was not, in fact, a kite. Her taller, red-haired sister had slipped into a harness of some sort, which came with a backpack. She tightened all the straps and buckles with Jen’s assistance, and both of them turned to face us, their eyes glittering with excitement, their matching sisterly dimples pressing into their cheeks.
Gabi shifted beside me. “What on earth is this supposed to be?”
I spoke quietly out of the corner of my mouth. “I think we’re about to find out.”
In my experience, it was best to let people pitch to me in person. I’d had several communications with Jen, who seemed to be the advocate of the pair and the one more willing to handle the business side of things, and she’d claimed that she and her sister had an affordable, safe, sure-fire solution to saving people in high-rise buildings during an emergency, such as a fire or, tragically, a bomb. As soon as I’d heard those words my curiosity had been piqued.
For starters, I saw dollar signs.
There was no limit to what people might be willing to spend in the name of safety, especially if this tool was as effective as Jen promised. Secondly, if I could put my hard-earned money into a start-up that would save lives, I’d consider that a win.
Gabi shifted again beside me. Her chair creaked as she reached for her coffee and took a sip.
Jen cleared her throat and lifted her chin. “Mr. Cassidy, I’d like to present to you our invention, the jump-chute, a low-height and effective parachute that’s easy to put on and even easier to use. Once you have the harness on as we just demonstrated, all the wearer has to do if they need to flee a dangerous situation and can’t return to the ground via the stairs or elevator, is find access to the outside. Do these office windows open?” She nodded toward the rows of windows in the conference room.
I shook my head.
Jen seemed to not have expected that answer and took a second to regroup. “In that case, one might have to break the window to exit from this height.”
“These windows aren’t easily broken,” I said. “It would take a great amount of force to break them, more force than a man or woman can generate.”
She licked her lips. “Very well, they would have to make their way to the roof access. From there, they would jump, like base jumpers do, and pull this cord.” She pointed to a neon yellow cord attached to the front of the harness. “This will release the chute, and they will be able to glide down to safety on the ground.”
I ran my thumb along my jaw. “So, it’s basically just a parachute?”
Gabi nudged my shin under the table with her foot. “It’s low height,” she said before turning to Jen. “I assume that means it’s safer to jump with one of these from a thirty-story building than say a parachute for jumping out of an airplane?”
“Precisely,” Jen said. “When jumping from a plane you have to pull your chute from a higher height. These are designed for lower pulls. We have provided all the stats and data to reflect our research and effectiveness, which you can see for yourself.” She walked down the length of the table to hand me a neat collection of documents.
I flipped through them, looking for one heading in particular—winds.
I didn’t find it.
“Where have you tested these?” I asked.
“On our property,” Jess chimed in. “Our father owns a farm, and we’ve done one hundred and twenty test jumps from his silo.”
Not remotely high enough to simulate jumping form a thirty-story or higher building in the middle of a congested city.
I put the paperwork down. I’d seen and heard everything I needed. This was a shit show.
“The idea is kind of cool,” Gabi said, crossing one leg over the other. “I mean, I can see an ad campaign for these as clear as day in my head. Insurance companies might be a headache to deal with, but business owners who operate out of high rises might be interested in purchasing this for their employees.”
I drew an X in the top corner of the file Gabi had prepared for the sisters. “Thank you for coming in today. I think you’ve done a lot of impressive work on your product. Expect to hear from me in the next few days with an answer.”
The sisters exchanged a look.
“That’s it?” Jess asked.
“That’s it,” I said.
Jen’s dimples disappeared with her frown. “Don’t you have any questions?”
“Nope, you answered them all.”
Gabi sat up a bit straighter in her chair. “I have a few questions, if you don’t mind.”