“If he does proposition you, he’s sure to offer you some money for the information. Obviously, he’s not going to be able to trick you out of the information again.”

“You never know, though,” Ober said. “Ben can be pretty naive when he wants to be.”

Ignoring his roommate, Ben said, “And if he does offer me money, we’ll get the bribe on tape. Then we’ll at least be able to prove that he bribed a government official.”

“I don’t understand one thing,” Nathan said. “If you do get Rick on tape, how are you going to use it against him? By turning it over to the authorities, you’ll reveal your own involvement as well as his.”

“I know,” Ben said. “But at this point, I’m more concerned with the fact that he’ll always have my involvement to dangle over my head. If I get something on him, he can’t use that information against me. Although it’s not the optimal situation, we’ll at least be on a level playing field. Otherwise, I’ll never be safe.”

“Did you get the taping equipment?” Lisa asked Nathan.

Nathan pulled the small blue duffel bag onto his lap and unzipped it. “Here’s our wireless microphone. And just so you know, it’s equipment like this that makes the United States the enduring superpower of our time.”

“That’s great, Colonel,” Ben said. “Who’d you get it from?”

“This friend of mine who works down in security. I was hoping he could get us the state-of-the-art stuff, but this was the best he could do. Without authorization, the best equipment never leaves the security room.”

“Does he have those microphones that are built into your cuff links?” Ober asked.

“Those are fantastic,” Nathan agreed. “I was hoping for the poison darts that shoot out of your watch, but this was the best he could do.” Rising from his chair, he pulled the various wires from the bag. Looking over at Ben, he said, “Stand up and take off your shirt.”

“Woooooooo!” Lisa howled as Ben unbuttoned his dress shirt.

“Wait until you see his bod,” Ober said. “The man has no chest hair.”

“Hey, at least I don’t have the Isle of Capri on my chest,” Ben said as he stood topless in the living room. Looking at Lisa, he explained, “Ober is hairless except for a great island right in the middle of his chest.”

“Wrong,” Ober said.

“Take off your shirt,” Ben challenged.

“There’s no need for that,” Ober smiled. “But, trust me, it’s not shaped like the Isle of Capri.”

“Let me figure out how this works,” Nathan said, struggling to untangle the wires.

“I hate to admit it,” Lisa said, “but you have a sexy bod.” As Ben tried to fight back a blush, she continued, “I’m serious. I didn’t think you had one, but you have a great chest.” Looking at Ober, she said, “I think I’m actually turned on.”

“Well, I have that effect on people,” Ober said.

“Here we go,” Nathan said, looking over at Ben. “Why are you blushing?” he asked.

“Just show me how this thing works,” Ben said.

“Okay. You take this Velcro strap and you wrap it around your chest. The microphones are built into this,” Nathan explained, pointing to two tiny bumps in the wide strap. “This is your battery source,” he said, tapping a larger protrusion on the back of the strap. “It should last at least eight hours and I just put that battery in, so it’ll be fine.” He pulled a thick black box from the bag. “This is the receiver. It has a cassette deck in it, so we can tape the whole conversation.”

“Is it on?” Ben asked.

“It should be.” Nathan raised the antennae on the box and flipped a few knobs. “Go in the other room and say something.”

As Ben walked toward Lisa’s bedroom, the three friends waited in silence, staring at the black box. Suddenly they heard, “Here I am in Lisa’s bedroom. The satin sheets come as no surprise, but I am shocked to see a picture of myself right next to her bed.”

“DON’T TOUCH MY BED!” she yelled.

“And wait…what’s this? There are remnants of lipstick marks around my face. Oh, Lisa, you are so very, very sad.”

“GET OUT OF MY ROOM!”

“Wait, is this her underwear drawer? Yes, I think it is, boys!”

As Lisa jumped from the sofa, Ben turned the corner and entered the living room. Hitting rewind, Nathan waited a moment and hit play. “…bedroom. The satin sheets come as no surprise, but-”

“It works,” Nathan said.

Ben took off the microphone and put on his shirt. “So all I have to do is talk normally, and everything should come through?”

“Yep.”

“Maybe you should stuff it into your underwear just in case Rick decides to pat you down,” Ober suggested.

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Nathan said. “If you do that, I think we’ll lose a lot of clarity.” Shutting off the receiver, he added, “The only other thing I should tell you is that since it’s cordless, it has only about a hundred-yard radius.”

“That should be fine,” Ben said, buttoning his shirt. “We’re meeting at Two Quail, a tony restaurant on Massachusetts Avenue. I went there today during lunch just to scope it out. It’s a small place and it has only one window that faces the street. But there’s a Thai restaurant across the street that you guys can wait in.”

“I know the one you’re talking about,” Nathan said. “Bangkok Orchid.”

“That’s the one,” Ben said. “I figure you and Ober should get there at about seven. I’m supposed to meet Rick at eight. They’re right across the street from each other, so we should definitely be in range.”

“Is there anything that might interfere with the microphone?” Lisa asked. “Shortwave transmissions? Satellite dishes? Anything like that?”

“My friend said it should be fine,” Nathan said. “It’s not the best equipment, but it’s still reliable.”

“Y’know what we need?” Ober said, excited. “We should have a password. Just in case something goes wrong, it’ll be our signal that you need help.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Ben said, returning to his seat on the couch.

“How about if the password is ‘What’s your damage, Heather?’” Ober asked.

“No way,” Ben said. “It has to be something that I can easily work into the conversation, and it can’t look like I’m panicking.”

“How about ‘travesty of justice’?” Nathan asked.

“What about ‘electric cheese’?” Ober said.

“How the hell can I work that in?” Ben asked. “Please don’t kill me, and can I please have some electric cheese?”

“‘Crimes against humanity,’” Nathan said.

“‘Devil Dogs,’” Ober said.

“How about if I just scream, ‘Help me, unimaginative roommates! Help me!’” Ben said.

“Why don’t you use the word ‘bingo’?” Lisa asked. “It’s easy to work into a sentence, and it always works in the movies.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Ober said. “Name one movie that used bingo as the password.”

“Lots of them.”

“Name one,” Ober challenged.

“I don’t care if it works in the movies,” Ben interrupted. “Bingo’s the password. If I say ‘bingo,’ you guys come running.”

“That should take care of the bribing part,” Lisa said. “The only other thing we have to worry about is getting his picture taken so we can I.D. him.”

“This should take care of that,” Nathan said, pulling out a telescopic lens from the duffel. “It’ll fit on my camera, and it should give us all the pictures we want of this asshole.”

“We need detailed pictures, though,” Lisa said.

“Trust me, this puppy’ll show us the blackheads on his nose. It even has a built-in infrared filter.” Nathan looked at Ben and added, “I just need to know who to photograph. I’ve never seen Rick before.”

“I took care of that today,” Ben said. “Two Quail has one table that sits in front of the main window. Rick and I will be seated at that table, so all you have to do is snap pictures of the guy I’m sitting with.”

“And what if you don’t get seated at that table?” Nathan asked.

“We’ll be there. During lunch, when I went to scope out the restaurant, I gave the maître d’ a hundred bucks to make sure that my party is seated at that table.”