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.“Rick isn’t some petty criminal.If he wanted to eliminate Ben as a witness, he would’ve put a bullet in his brain a few days after the decision came down.Rick’s after more information.” Nathan washed his hands in the sink.He then shut off the water and paused.“Ober, do you trust Lisa?”“What are you talking about?”“I’m serious,” Nathan said, drying his hands with a dish towel.“Do you trust Lisa?”“Of course I trust her,” Ober said, sitting at the dining room table.“She makes me crazy, but I definitely trust her.Why? What are you thinking?”“I’m thinking that someone had to tip off Rick.You don’t just get lucky and guess our entire plan.Even if he did spot the two of us, how did he know about the microphone? As far as I can figure, either Rick has all of us bugged, or he has an inside person telling him what we’re up to.”“That’s not true.Maybe he actually realizes that Ben is a worthy opponent.In that case, he could’ve just been trying to be cautious.”“Maybe,” Nathan said.“Anyway, why would you suspect Lisa?” Ober asked.“Because, besides Ben, only the three of us knew the plan.So if someone’s leaking, it’s either you, me, or Lisa.”“Well, it’s not me,” Ober said defensively.“I didn’t say it was you.I said it was Lisa.”“Do you think she’d really do that?”“How should I know?” Nathan asked.“But don’t you think it was weird that she wanted to go home rather than come here and wait with us?”“She wanted to take a shower.She smelled.”“She could’ve showered here.Besides, what do we really know about her?”“We know Ben’s been working with her for the past four months, and he doesn’t have a bad word to say about her.”“That’s just because he’s hot for her.Sex will always obscure good judgment.Always.”“I don’t know about that,” Ober said, shaking his head.“I don’t really think Lisa could be involved.”Suddenly, the front door opened and Ben walked in.The questions started flying: “What happened?” “Where’d he take you?” “Are you okay?”“I’m fine,” Ben said, his hands cupped together.“I just need some contact solution.” Turning toward the bathroom, he explained, “Mastermind made me take out my contacts so I couldn’t make out his license plates.”“Well, it doesn’t matter what you saw, because we got everything,” Nathan said as Ben reinserted his lenses.“We got some shots of the limo, and Lisa got everything else.”“Where is she?” Ben asked.As he blinked his contacts into place, saline-solution tears ran down his face.“She went home to shower,” Ober explained.“Did she see Rick when he opened the window?” Ben asked.“She said she did.She took a whole roll of film.”“Did you bring it in yet? Are they clear shots? We can probably enlarge them.”“Already taken care of,” Nathan said.“We took them to the place around the corner.They were closing, so the pictures won’t be ready until tomorrow.As soon as we pick them up, I’ll bring them into work.We’ll have an I.D.in no time.”“So what’d he say?” Ober asked.“What happened?”“You saw the whole story,” Ben said, still struggling with his contacts.“Just like we thought, he fucking knew everything.When I was sitting at the table, he slipped me a note saying that I should meet him outside since he didn’t want to be photographed by the two of you.I almost shit my pants.”“So he did know we were there,” Nathan said.“Did you save the note? Maybe we can analyze it for fingerprints or do a handwriting analysis.”“Forget about it,” Ben said.“The limo driver took it away from me right before he patted me down for the microphone.”“I told you—” Ober began.“I don’t want to hear it,” Ben said angrily.“Take a seat,” Nathan said.“I can’t,” Ben said, leaning on the kitchen table.“I’m too wound up.” Running his hands through his hair, he added, “I can’t believe this.Now we have no audio.If we’d given him a power drill, I don’t think he could’ve screwed us harder.”“What else did he say?”“He wants the Grinnell decision, and he said he’d pay me three million dollars if I gave it to him.”“Three million?” Ober asked.“Did you tell him no?” Nathan asked.“Of course not,” Ben said.“I did exactly what we talked about.I told him I’d think about it.”“When did you talk about that?” Ober asked.“I don’t remember that.”“Last night,” Ben said.“You were down here talking to Eric.”“How come you didn’t invite me?”“I just said—you were with Eric,” Ben explained.“Sorry.”“About Eric—” Ober began.“Ober, I know it upsets you, but I really don’t want to talk about it,” Ben said.“It’s a dead issue, so drop it already.”“Do you think Rick believed that you were interested?” Nathan asked.“Absolutely.He said if I’m linked to Eric, I’m screwed.So if I don’t take the money, I’d be a fool.”Nathan paused for a moment.“You would be.”“I know,” Ben said.Pushing himself away from the table, Ben walked toward the kitchen.“The only other thing that freaked me out was how much information he had on me.He knew everything.He knew about Eric and the Marshals Office.He even mentioned something about my meeting with my firm,” Ben said as he picked up the phone.“Who’re you calling?” Nathan asked suspiciously.“Lisa,” Ben said.“I want to tell her what happened.” Noticing the odd look on both Nathan’s and Ober’s faces, Ben asked, “Why? What’s wrong?”Nathan was silent.“He thinks Lisa might be leaking information to Rick,” Ober explained
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