Inside Outt

just the kind of pseudo tough-guy talk he imagined suits liked to pleasure themselves with. And Hort certainly wasn’t for it.
    “What do you want me to do in the meantime?” Ben said.
    “There’s nothing you really can do, except sit tight. How’s that FBI agent, Lanier? She giving you any trouble?”
    “All kinds of trouble. But nothing I can’t handle.”
    “Well, let’s see what we learn about this guy Nico and what the powers that be want to do after that. After tonight, it might make sense to shake her loose.”
    “Roger that.”
    There was another pause. Ben said, “Is everything… are we getting some kind of interference on this?”
    Hort said, “Why do you ask?” and oddly, Ben imagined him smiling.
    “I don’t know. Just… I was thinking about what’s on those tapes. A lot of people must be sweating.”
    “They are. And I’ll tell you about people who are sweating. The sweat gets in their eyes, makes it hard for them to see clearly.”
    “Anything I need to worry about?”
    “Worrying is my job. Your job is to get some sleep now. I might be calling you in just a few hours with an update.”
    “Okay.”
    “Again, good work, son. What you’ve done might have cracked this thing wide open. I’m proud to say I work with you.”
    Coming from Hort, this was extreme praise. Ben was simultaneously touched that he would say it, and also concerned about what was going on the background that could be making him feel, what? Sentimental? Or like he needed an ally?
    “Well,” Ben said, thinking of Obsidian, “there are still a few things you and I need to work on. But… thank you.”
    “Just get some sleep now. We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow.”
    Hort clicked off. His parting words were of course a simple statement of fact, but they were also somehow ominous.
    Ben thought about just getting in bed and telling Paula they could either share or she could sleep on the damn floor. But that feeling of unseen forces was still torquing up his paranoia. The hell with it. He grabbed an extra blanket from the closet, folded it into a sleeping pallet, and placed it along the wall on the hinged side of the door. He grabbed a pillow from the bed and tossed it onto the pallet. Yeah, he’d sleep better this way. Because if anyone breached the room, the bed would be the initial focus. It would be interesting to see Paula sweet-talk her way out of that particular cycle of violence.
    And then he felt bad. Yeah, she was driving him crazy. But he didn’t want anything to happen to her, either. If the room were breached, that bed would be the initial big red X. She thought no one ever saw her coming? She didn’t know some of the guys he worked with. In night vision goggles, she’d show up just fine.
    Paula emerged from the bathroom wearing a hotel robe, beads of water clinging to her face and neck. She looked good.
    Ben sighed. “I know I’m wasting my breath, but it probably wouldn’t be the worst idea to drag the mattress on the floor and put it up against the door. A bed is just too easy to key on when you breach a room.”
    “Are you expecting company tonight?”
    “If I were expecting it, I wouldn’t be here. It’s just some extra insurance, that’s all. This thing is big. And a little weird, somehow. Can’t you feel that?”
    “Well, it’s definitely a little weird. My team is being treated in an Orlando hospital for injuries inflicted by the man with whom I’m spending the night in a San Jose hotel. Whose identity, I might add, remains a mystery. So, yes, you could say it’s out of the ordinary.”
    “If you want to move the mattress, I’ll help you.”
    “It’s fine where it is. But thank you.”
    Ben nodded and looked away. He was surprised at how much he wished he could get through to her. But he didn’t see how. “Well, if you’re done with the bathroom,” he said, “I’m going to take a shower.”
    “Feel free.”
    He walked to the bathroom and paused at the door. “I’m going to leave it open, okay?”
    “What?”
    “I’m sorry, with the water running, I won’t be able to hear what’s going on outside the door. I can deal with not seeing or not hearing, but not both. So no peeking. Unless you want to.”
    She looked at him for a long moment. “Either you are a certified paranoid, or an incorrigible exhibitionist.”
    “Well, I’m not an exhibitionist, as far as I know.”
    He paused, trying to find the right words. “I know you think I’m a