The Detachment

guessing now? With a tasty smoothie to wash it down?”
    “Whatever. Yes.”
    I sat in the desk chair, watching Dox feeding her and doing what he could to make her comfortable under the circumstances. Women were his weakness, I knew, the lady’s man bluster mostly a cover for the bottom line fact that he really just adored them. And his southern code of chivalry was no bullshit, either. He wasn’t happy about what we were doing, and I realized I’d have to watch him with Kei for the opposite reason I’d have to watch Larison. Where Larison was likely to let his evident hatred of Horton cause him to harm Kei, Dox might get too attached and grow to feel too guilty, and therefore become too susceptible to manipulation.
    “Why don’t you tell me what my dad did to you?” Kei asked him at one point. “What difference would it make if you did?”
    Dox took a sip of the smoothie he was drinking. I was aware that he’d broken bread with her, and felt uneasy about it.
    “Wouldn’t make any difference to us,” he said. “But I don’t want to mix you up in this anymore than we already have. I mean, you’re close with your daddy, right?”
    I saw her weigh the pros and cons of possible responses before settling on the truth. “Yes,” she said. “We’re close. Which is why I want to know what he could have done to wrong you. I really can’t imagine it.”
    Dox smiled. “I can tell he’s lucky to have you for a daughter. And all I can tell you is, part of the burden of being a man, and the nature of the defect that defines us, is that we sometimes have to do things we can’t tell our loved ones about.”
    “Why can’t you?”
    “Because sometimes things need to be done in the world, and telling you would make you complicit. By keeping you innocent, we save you from having to join us in hell. It might not sound like much, but it is a comfort when you’re faced with hard choices.”
    “But that’s ridiculous. You make women sound like children. You think we can’t decide for ourselves? That’s completely demeaning.”
    “Demeaning? Hell, I wish someone would do it for me.”
    “No, you don’t. You like keeping it all to yourself because doing so makes you feel powerful.”
    Dox looked perplexed. “I don’t think so.”
    “I do. You say my dad did something to you, something so horrible that now in your mind it justifies kidnapping and threatening his daughter? You’re willing to do all that, but not even to tell me what this is all about?”
    Nicely played, I thought. I waited to see how Dox would respond.
    “We did some work for your dad,” Dox said. “Not the kind of work I’m going to discuss with you. And then, to hide the fact that we did the work, he hired some people to do the same kind of work on us. You follow? You really want to know more?”
    “Yes,” she said. “I do. And you don’t have to be afraid to tell me.”
    “Well, it’s not—”
    “It’s not a matter of fear,” I said. “Like Dox said, the less you know, the better for you. And for your father.”
    She looked at him. “Your name is Dox?”
    “I told you,” I said, “your father already knows who we are. We’re not trying to keep our identities secret from you.”
    “Then what’s your name?” she said.
    She really was smart. She was doing what she could to glean information that at some point might be operationally useful. And she was also establishing rapport, making herself seem human and making her captors feel human, which in itself might create tactical opportunities for her, or, at a minimum, make it more emotionally difficult for us to harm her.
    “You can call me Rain,” I said. “But enough questions for now, okay? We’re tired. We’ll have plenty of time to talk more later, if you want.”
    I had a feeling Dox might have liked to protest, but he must have thought better of it.
    I was a little concerned about Kei. She had a natural interrogator’s personality—smart, likeable, unthreatening, and inquisitive under the guise of sincere interest. Dox was obviously being careful in response to her inquiries, but I wondered how he might comport himself in my absence. He obviously wanted her to like him. Partly to make her comfortable, partly to assuage his guilt, and partly because, after all, she was gorgeous, and he just couldn’t help himself.
    We flex-tied one of Kei’s wrists to a bedpost and passed a couple hours silently, Dox watching her while I catnapped on the floor. I was