“We recruited males and females who seemed to have all the right markers, the intelligence, the memory, the verbal and quantitative abilities, et cetera. And, without revealing the exact nature of the experiment, we subjected them to the most powerful MRI we could locate. This particular model was manufactured by Siemens A. G., of Germany. We had it modified. But no success-until you.”
“Why?” I asked, draining my Scotch and placing the empty glass on the adjacent table.
“We don’t know,” Rossi said matter-of-factly. “If only we did, but we don’t. Certainly you had the right markers. The intelligence, obviously, but also the verbal skills, the eidetic memory, which is found in fewer than 0.1 percent of the population at large. You play chess, don’t you, Ben?”
“Not too badly.”
“Quite well, in fact. And you’re a whiz at such things as crossword puzzles. I believe you even indulged in Zen meditation at one time.”
“I ‘indulged’ in it, yes,” I said.
“We studied the records of your training at Camp Peary very closely,” Toby Thompson put in. “You were eminently suitable-but of course, we had no idea that you’d be a success.”
“You seem strangely uninterested in a demonstration of my abilities,” I said, addressing them both.
“Quite the contrary,” Rossi said. “We’re quite interested. Extremely interested, in fact. With your permission, we’d like to put you through a number of tests tomorrow morning. Nothing too arduous.”
“That hardly seems necessary,” I replied. “I’d be glad to give you a demonstration right now.”
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, then Toby chuckled. “We can wait.”
“You seem to know a good deal about this condition. Perhaps you can tell me how long it’s going to last.”
Rossi paused again. “That we don’t know either. Long enough, I hope.”
“Long enough?” I said. “Long enough for what?”
“Ben,” Toby said softly, “we’ve brought you here for a reason, as you’ve guessed. We need to run you through a series of tests. And then we need your help.”
“My help,” I said, not bothering to conceal my hostility. “What sort of ‘help’ are you talking about?”
A long beat of silence in the cavernous room, and at last Toby spoke. “Spy stuff, I guess you’d call it.”
I sat there, unmoving, for what seemed like five minutes, as the men watched me. “I’m sorry, gentlemen,” I said, standing. I turned slowly toward the door and began walking.
The two security guards rose, and one of them strode to the doorway, blocking my path, while the other took up a position behind me.
“Ben!” Toby called out.
“Really, Ben,” Rossi said almost simultaneously.
“Please sit down,” I heard Toby say calmly. “Now, I’m afraid, you don’t have much of a choice.”
TWENTY-FIVE
One of the things I learned in my Agency days was when to persist and when to quit. I was outnumbered-not just by the two guards, but by whoever else they had in the house, and I knew there had to be others. I’d calculated the odds of an escape, and they were against me ten thousand to one, a hundred thousand to one.
“You’re putting us in a difficult position,” Toby said to my back.
I turned around slowly. “So much for caged animals.”
He was looking at me with just the slightest trace of anxiety. “We-I-do not want to resort to compulsion. We’d much rather appeal to reason, to duty, to the basic decency I know you have.”
“And to my desire to see my wife again,” I said.
“There’s that, yes,” he admitted. Nervously, he closed his fingers into a loose fist and then opened them, closed and opened.
“And, of course, you’ve already told me quite a bit,” I said. “I ‘know too much,’ right? Isn’t that the expression? So I have the absolute right to walk out of here, but I probably wouldn’t make it to the gate.”
Exasperated, Toby said: “You’re being ridiculous. After what we’ve told you, why in the world would we want to do anything to harm you? If for no other reason than scientific-”
“Did the Agency arrange the freezing of my money, too?” I asked bitterly. I felt the muscles in my legs tense, begin to cramp. My stomach was queasy; beads of perspiration sprang to my brow. “That fucking First Commonwealth thing?”
“Ben,” Toby said after a long silence. “We’d much rather keep things positive, appeal to reason. I think once you hear us out, we can come to some agreement.”
“All right,” I said at last. “That much I’m willing to do. Let’s hear it.”
“It’s late, Ben,” Toby said. “You’re tired. More to the point, I’m tired, but then, I tire easily. In the morning, before you’re brought to Langley for tests, we’ll all talk again. Charles?”
Rossi murmured his assent, gave me a quick, penetrating glance, and left the room.
“Well, Ben,” Toby said when we were alone. “I believe the housekeeping staff has put out everything you’ll need tonight, a change of clothes, toiletries, and whatnot.” He smiled gently. “A toothbrush.”
“No, Toby. You’ve forgotten one detail. I want to see Molly.”
“I can’t let you see her yet, Ben,” Toby said. “It’s just not physically possible.”
“Then I’m afraid we’re not going to come to any sort of agreement.”
“She’s not in the area.”
“Then I want to speak to her on the phone. Now.”
Toby assessed me for a moment, and then gave another hand signal to the security men. One of them left the room and returned with a black touch-tone telephone, which he plugged into a jack near me, placing the phone on the adjacent end table.
Then the guard lifted the handset and punched a long series of numbers. I counted: eleven digits, which may have meant long distance, and then another set of three. An access code, probably. Then two more digits. The guard listened impassively for a moment and then said, “Ninety-three.” He listened again, and handed the phone to me.
Before I could say anything, I heard Molly’s voice, high-pitched, anguished.
“Ben? Oh, God, is it you?”
“I’m here, Molly,” I said as reassuringly as I could.
“Oh, God, are you all right?”
“I’m-I’m fine, Molly. Are you-?”
“Okay. I’m okay. Where did they take you?”
“A safe house somewhere in Virginia,” I said, watching Toby. He nodded, as if in confirmation. “Where the hell are you?”
“I don’t know, Ben. Something-a hotel or an apartment, I think. Outside Boston, not too far.”
I felt my anger rise once again. Addressing Toby, I said, “Where is she?”
Toby paused. “Protective custody in the Boston suburbs.”
“Ben!” Molly’s voice came out of the receiver urgently. “Just tell me these people are-”
“It’s okay, Mol. As far as I know. I’ll know more tomorrow.”
“It’s all connected,” she whispered, “connected with that-with that-”
“They know,” I said.
“Please, Ben. Whatever the hell is going on, why am I involved? They can’t do this! Is this legal? Can they-”
“Ben,” Toby said. “I’m afraid we’re going to have to disconnect the call now.”
“I love you, Mol,” I said. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Don’t worry about it?” she said incredulously.
“Everything will be under control soon,” I said without believing it.
“I love you, Ben.”
“I know,” I said, and then I heard a dial tone.
I put down the handset. “You had no business scaring Molly this way,” I said to Toby.