“Whatever you say, dear,” Lisa said, turning on her side and pulling the covers to her chin.
Early Sunday morning, the Addisons drove Ben and Lisa to the airport. Lisa hugged Ben’s mother as Ben pulled their luggage from the trunk. “Thanks again for having me,” Lisa said.
“It was our pleasure,” Ben’s mother said. “I’m glad we were finally able to meet you.”
“I’ll see you later, Mom,” Ben said as he hugged his mother. Noticing the tears well up in her eyes, he added, “Don’t cry. I’ll see you soon.”
“I’m fine,” his mother said, clenching her jaw. “Have a safe trip back.”
After checking their bags, Ben and Lisa walked toward their boarding gate. “Have you heard from Ober or Nathan yet?” Lisa asked.
“Nothing. Not a phone call or anything. They’re definitely planning something.”
When they arrived at the gate, Nathan, Ober, and Eric were waiting. Hesitantly, Ben approached his roommates. “How was everyone’s weekend?”
“Fine,” Nathan said.
“Great,” Eric said.
“Fine,” Ober said. “And yours?”
“It was fine,” Ben said suspiciously. Looking around the airport, he stared back at Ober and Nathan. Finally, he said, “Okay, let’s have it. Say whatever you want, but respond already. The suspense is killing me.”
“Respond to what?” Ober asked.
“I know not of what you speak,” Nathan said with a straight face.
“Don’t give me that,” Ben said. “C’mon, what’d you plan? Is someone going to pop out and throw rice at us? Is a marching band going to come parading through? What’s happening?”
“Nothing’s happening,” Nathan said.
“Why’s he getting so crazy?” Ober asked Nathan.
“I have no idea,” Nathan said. “Looks like a classic case of paranoia to me.”
After dropping Lisa at her apartment building, the four roommates returned home. The first one to reach the door, Ober pulled the pile of mail from their mailbox, dragged in his luggage, and threw the mail on the kitchen table. After dropping his bag by the closet, Eric walked back to the door. “I’ll see you guys later. I have to go down to the paper.”
The moment the door closed, Ober grabbed Ben’s shoulders. “So how was she? I bet she’s an animal in bed.”
“You thought she was a lesbian,” Ben said.
“I never said that,” Ober said. “I said she was bisexual.”
“Sure you did,” Ben said.
Nathan sat on the couch. “I can’t believe you guys did it. I mean, what were you thinking?”
“What do you mean by that?” Ben asked.
“I mean, I thought we had an understanding that after Thanksgiving, we’d make sure we could trust Lisa,” Nathan said.
Standing in the middle of the room, Ben still hadn’t taken off his jacket. “Don’t start with that,” he said. “I trust her.”
“Ben, don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope you’re not letting a horny weekend get the best of you.”
“Well, no offense, but I am going to take it the wrong way. I learned a lot about Lisa this weekend, and there’s no way she’s working with Rick against me.”
“How do you know that?” Nathan challenged. “What additional information convinces you of that belief? You think that because you had sex you somehow know her better?”
“It’s not just the sexual part. I know her better as a person.”
“Ben, the only difference between this week and last week is that now you know what she looks like naked.”
“That’s not true,” Ben said. “You weren’t there this weekend, we had-”
“Stop talking about this weekend and listen to what I’m saying,” Nathan said, rising from the couch. “For an intelligent person, you’re being extremely stupid. If my theory’s right, Lisa’s doing exactly what she should be doing. Think about it! She’s playing with both your heads!”
Silence swept the room. Ben walked over to the table and sorted through the pile of mail. Pulling out his own letters, he added, “At least Lisa is concerned with my problems.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Nathan asked.
“It means that she spent the entire weekend talking with me about all this crap with Rick. All you guys did was waste your energy on stupid pranks.”
“Now you’re reaching,” Nathan said. “You know how much time we’ve all invested in this. Both Ober and I have risked our jobs to catch Rick. And if that engagement announcement was anything, it was the best way we could think of to cheer you up. Besides, the only reason Lisa spends so much time talking to you is to see what you know.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ben said, heading toward the stairs.
“Don’t get upset and walk away,” Nathan said. “Come back down here and deal with it.”
Ignoring his roommate, Ben walked to his room.
“You should have known he was going to get defensive,” Ober said when Ben was out of sight.
“Of course I knew he’d be defensive,” Nathan said. “But tough shit. I’m looking out for him.”
“I know what you’re doing,” Ober said, “but maybe you could have been more sensitive.”
“You want me to be more sensitive?” Nathan laughed.
“I’m serious. Ben’s really scared about this.”
“Of course he’s scared. I was the one who said it before Thanksgiving-sex will always interfere with rational thought. But it’s time for Ben to wake up. He had his fun, and now it’s time to face reality: Lisa can’t be trusted.”
“How was your trip?” Rick asked, talking into his cellular phone as he waited for his baggage at the airport carousel.
“Did you really have to follow us to Boston?”
“Of course,” Rick explained. “I had to keep an eye on my investment.”
“Well, I hope you’re happy with the results. You’ve made him completely nuts.”
“The thing with his father really freaked him out, huh?” Rick asked.
“That’s the understatement of the year. Now he doesn’t know who to trust.”
“Does he suspect you?”
“I don’t think so, but he’s much harder to deal with. He barely spoke the whole way back.”
Rick smiled and moved the phone to his other ear. “That’s what happens when you know you’re about to lose. You start taking it out on those closest to you.”
When he entered his room, Ben threw the mail on his desk and slumped into his chair. It couldn’t possibly be Lisa, he told himself, his thumbs tapping against the desktop in a disturbed drumbeat. Look at the facts. With everything you know about her, what are the chances she’s some kind of double agent? No. It’s impossible. There’s no way.
As he replayed the details in his head, he turned the single, messy pile of mail into three more manageable stacks, creating one pile for bills, one for junk mail, and one for personal letters. Noticing a magazine offer addressed to Benjamin N. Addison, he knew that Newsweek had sold his name. Picking up another addressed to Benjamin L. Addison, he knew that the Legal Times had made some quick cash. When he saw one addressed to Benjamin C. Addison, he frowned, annoyed that his credit card company had done it, too. He’d specifically told them not to. As he made a mental notation to call the company, he noticed the top letter on the personal-letter pile. Picking up the plain white envelope, he was surprised to see that there was no return address, no stamp, and therefore no postmark.
Ben slid his thumb across the sealed flap, opened the envelope, and pulled out the short, typed letter. “Dear Ben: Hope your Thanksgiving was enjoyable-I’m sure I’ll hear all about it. Sincerely, Rick.”
Ben’s heart beat faster as he reread the letter. He pushed himself away from the desk and left the room. Racing downstairs, he returned to the living room, where he saw Nathan hanging up the phone. “Who was that?” Ben asked.