“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.
“My mom,” Nathan explained. “I just wanted to tell her we got home okay.”
“This was hand-delivered while we were gone,” Ben said. handing Nathan the letter. “There was no postage on the envelope.” As Nathan read the short letter, Ober returned from the bathroom.
“What’s up?” Ober asked.
Saying nothing, Nathan passed the letter to Ober, who quickly read it.
“Can I ask you a question in your office?” Ben asked, motioning Nathan and Ober toward the front door. Stepping outside, the three friends got into Nathan’s car.
“When did you get that?” Nathan asked, slamming the car door shut.
“Just now,” Ben said nervously. “What do you think about that last part? Where he says that he’ll hear all about my Thanksgiving.”
“You already know what I think,” Nathan said. “If that’s not a reference to Lisa, I don’t know what is.”
“I know. I know,” Ben said. “But if he was in cahoots with Lisa, do you really think he’d blow her cover?”
“At this point, I think Rick is just playing with us,” Nathan explained. “If he is secretly working with Lisa, he’s enjoying the game. If he isn’t plotting with her, he’s got us worried by hinting that he is. Either way, he’s playing on that fear, and either way, he’s making us crazy. He obviously knows how much you care for her.”
“Shit,” Ben said, slouching down in the seat.
“Can I ask a question?” Ober said, leaning forward from the backseat. Without waiting for an answer, he asked, “Why are we in the car?”
Nathan shook his head. “Goofus, if Rick was close enough to hand-deliver a letter, and he knew we weren’t home, chances are he took a stroll around our house.”
“You think he broke in?” Ober asked.
“Why wouldn’t he?” Ben said. “He knew he could look for any information we have on him. He could bug the house in complete privacy. He could do whatever he wanted. As far as I’m concerned, I wouldn’t say another word in that house.”
“So what do you want to do now?” Nathan asked.
“I think we really have to I.D. Rick-if we can get a photo and run it through the State Department, we’ll be a lot closer to catching him.”
“He obviously knew about our little photography plot,” Nathan said.
“Exactly,” Ben said. “So if I were him, I wouldn’t risk another meeting with us until we hand him the decision. That means we’re going to have to use a more unconventional way to find him.” Sitting up in his seat, Ben continued, “All we really know about him is that he’s between twenty-eight and thirty-eight years old, he’s smart, and he knows what he’s doing. Also, the way I figure it, Rick, if that’s even his real name, has got to be a lawyer. He knows way too much about the law to be a layperson.”
“Do they take your picture when you take the bar exam?” Nathan asked.
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking,” Ben said. “If we think about all the information we have on him, we can find someplace where he had his picture taken. And if we can find that picture, we should be able to I.D. him.”
“So what about the bar exam?”
“Some states don’t take your picture,” Ben said. “And I’m not sure if the Bar Association would even release the information.”
“What about driver’s license photos?” Ober asked.