When he heard the machine whir with electronic buzzes and beeps, Ben opened his eyes and looked straight ahead. Out of the corners of his eyes, he saw Lungen writing on the sheet of paper.
Fisk opened one of the drawers in the desk and pulled out a deck of playing cards. “Look over here,” he said to Ben.
So predictable, Ben thought, struggling to remain in control.
“Here’s the thing,” Fisk explained. “I’m going to hold up a card and you’re going to tell me what the card is. If you tell the truth, you’ll see the little pencil on the machine stay still. If you lie, the pencil will scribble a bit wider.”
“Are you sure you’re trained to tell the difference?” Ben asked.
“That’s funny, smart-ass. We’ll see who’s laughing in an hour.”
“Calm down,” Rick said, cradling the telephone between his shoulder and chin.
“I’m serious-I want my money.”
“I told you, you’ll get the rest as soon as I’m sure Ben is out of my hair.”
“How much more out of your hair do you want him? I told you everything he knows, everything he’s doing, everything he’s thinking-”
“And when I complete my transaction, you’ll have your money.”
“I can’t believe how scared you are of Ben. For such a know-it-all, you can be a real coward.”
“It has nothing to do with fear,” Rick said, switching the telephone to his other ear. “It has to do with being realistic. Ben’s too resourceful to be left unchecked.”
“Listen, you can call it anything you want. But take it from me-just because you complete your transaction doesn’t mean Ben is going to give up the trail. If he has to, he’ll be after your ass forever. He’s stubborn like that.”
“You’re definitely right about that,” Rick agreed. “But if Ben can’t find me in Washington, what makes you think he’ll be able to find me when the search goes global?”
In her office, Lisa stared at the government-issue, over-sized wall clock above the sofa, wondering what was taking so long. She’d already had two cups of coffee and was now on her first cup of tea. The phone rang. Lunging at the receiver, she picked it up before the first ring finished. “This is Lisa,” she said. Listening for a moment, she continued, “No, of course I remember. I’ll have it to you as soon as possible.” Looking back at the clock, she continued, “Ben should be back any second. I’ll make sure he-”
The office door flew open and Ben stepped in. He looked haggard, his face even whiter than his usual winter pale. Staring at the floor, he walked right past Lisa and collapsed on the sofa.
“He just walked in. I’ll speak to you soon,” Lisa said. Hanging up the phone, she raced from her seat. “So what happened?”
“I failed,” he said.
“You failed? Are you kidding me?”
“I absolutely am!” he said, jumping from the sofa. He raised his hands in the air. “I passed with flying colors!”
“That’s fantastic!” Lisa screamed, hugging him as they both jumped up and down.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Ben said, breaking their embrace. “I think I’m getting excited. My penis is expanding.”
Laughing, Lisa pulled away. “So tell me what happened. What’d they say? Were they mad?”
“They were so pissed. Fisk was biting his nails so much, I thought he was going to gnaw all the way to his knuckle.”
“How’d you pass? What’d you say?”
“They made me look at all these playing cards,” Ben explained. “And if the card was an ace of spades, and I said it was an ace, the machine just scrolled forward. But then when I lied and said it was a king, nothing different happened. Both Lungen and Fisk were beyond irate. They couldn’t believe it. So they unhooked me and started all over. They asked me about ten minutes of questions without the machine on, and then they hooked me up again. And this time, when they got to the cards part, the machine went nuts when I lied. I think it was because I was so excited about beating the machine the first time around.”
“You must’ve been dying.” Lisa sat on the sofa.
“I was,” Ben said, unable to stand still. “I thought I was going to wet my pants. When Fisk was putting away the cards, I closed my eyes and just thought about G-rated movies. I don’t know how it happened, but I started regaining the calm I had when I walked in there.”
“Do you think it was the pills?”
“It could’ve been,” Ben said. “To be honest, that’s what I was thinking about when I closed my eyes-I just imagined that the pills were working, and I started thinking about the day of my brother’s funeral. With those two thoughts in my head, my body basically shut down.”
“That sounds terrible.”
“It was no thrill,” Ben said. “But it did completely calm me. Whenever I need to bring anything in perspective, all I have to do is think about death. Everything else pales in comparison.”
“Whatever works,” Lisa said, leaning on the arm of the sofa. “So what did the marshals ask you?”
“I have to admit, Nathan was right on the money. They asked me if I was over twenty-one years of age, and I had to answer no. When the machine didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, I knew I was home free.”
“Did the marshals say anything?”
“To be honest, I did everything in my power to avoid looking at them. I was worried that if I saw their disappointment, I’d get excited and fail the last part.”
“So then what’d they ask?”
“After my age, they asked me if I smoked. When I said no, the machine didn’t do anything. Then they asked if I had ever done anything I was ashamed of. That’s when I thought about having sex with you. The machine was so silent, I thought they had shut it off.”
“That’s very funny.”
“Then, finally, they asked me whether I knew about the information that was leaked to Eric or whether I knew anything about Eric’s story-to be honest, I’m not exactly sure what they asked. Whatever it was, I tried to zone out of it. Then, when I heard silence, I just answered no. After the third question, when the machine didn’t go crazy, I turned toward the marshals. At that point, I could actually feel the rage seething from Fisk’s little pea-brained head. I asked them if I checked out okay, and Lungen said I was all finished. He thanked me for my time and apologized for the inconvenience.”
“Do you think they knew you were lying?”
“Hold on a second,” Ben said opening the door to their office. “Maybe you can say that a little louder. I don’t think everyone in Maryland was able to hear you.”
“You know what I mean.”
Ben let the door close. “Let’s put it this way: I don’t think for a second that they think I’m completely innocent. But until they find some proof, they really can’t do anything.” Walking to his desk, Ben said, “By the way, who were you talking to when I walked in?”
“Huh?” Lisa asked.
“When I came in, you were on the phone with someone. You said, ‘He just walked in,’ and then you hung up the phone. Who were you talking to?”
“Oh, that was Nancy calling from Hollis’s office. Hollis sent his final version of Grinnell and he wants both of us to do one more read on it. He needs our final copy by Friday. He wants to submit it to the Clerk’s Office by the end of the week so they can announce it this Monday.”
“And that’s all she said?”
“That was it.” Lisa noticed the skeptical expression on Ben’s face. “Don’t give me that bullshit.”
“What bullshit?”
“I know what you’re thinking,” Lisa said, rising from the sofa. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I wasn’t speaking to Rick.”
“Who said you were speaking to Rick?”
“Believe me, I know your suspicious look. I don’t care how well you did with the marshals downstairs, I can always tell when you’re lying.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry. I’m not suspicious. If you say it was Nancy, it was Nancy.”