“Here’s the deal,” the man went on, after a pause. “This friend of yours, Chalker, he’s paranoid, delusional. Classic psychotic break. He’s spouting a bunch of conspiracy ideas: that the government kidnapped him, used him for radiation experiments, and beamed rays into his head—the usual. He thinks his landlord and landlady are in on the conspiracy and he’s taken them hostage, along with their two kids.”

“What does he want?” Gideon asked.

“Incoherent. He’s armed with what we think is a 1911-style Colt .45. He’s fired it once or twice for show. Not sure if he actually knows how to use it. You got any knowledge of his prior experience with weapons?”

“I would’ve thought none,” said Gideon.

“Tell me about him.”

“Socially inept. Didn’t have a lot of friends, got burdened with a world-class dysfunctional wife who put him through the wringer. Dissatisfied with his job, talked about wanting to become a writer. Finally ended up getting religion.”

“Was he good at his job? Smart?”

“Competent but not brilliant. As for brains, he’s way more intelligent than, say, the average FBI agent.”

There was a silence as Fordyce took this in and did not react. “The brief says this guy designed nuclear weapons at Los Alamos. Right?”

“More or less.”

“You think there’s a chance he’s got explosives rigged in there?”

“He may have worked with nuclear weapons, but a firecracker would’ve freaked him out. As for explosives—I sincerely doubt it.”

Fordyce stared at him, went on. “He thinks everyone here is a government agent.”

“He’s probably right.”

“We’re hoping he’ll trust someone out of his past. You.”

Gideon could hear in the background more megaphoned words, then a distorted, screamed reply, too far away to make out. He turned toward the sound. “Is that him?” he asked in disbelief.

“Unfortunately.”

“Why the megaphone?”

“He won’t talk on a cell or landline, says we’re using it to beam more rays into his head. So it’s megaphone only. He shouts his replies out the door.”

Gideon turned again in the direction of the sound. “I guess I’m ready whenever you are.”

“Let me give you a crash course in hostage negotiation,” said Fordyce. “The whole idea is to create a feeling of normalcy, lower the temperature, engage the hostage taker, prolong the negotiations. Stimulate his humanity. Okay? Our number one goal is to get him to release the kids. Try to dig out something he wants and trade the kids for it. You following me so far?” He seemed doubtful Gideon was capable of basic reasoning.

Gideon nodded, keeping his face neutral.

“You have no authority to grant anything. You can’t make promises. Get that? Everything has to be checked with the commander. Anything he asks for, be sympathetic, but say you’ve got to check with the commander. This is a crucial part of the process. It slows things down. And if he wants something and the answer’s a no, you don’t get blamed. The point is to wear him out, stop the momentum.”

Gideon was surprised to find himself in general agreement with the approach.

A cop appeared with a bulletproof vest. “We’re going to suit you up,” said Fordyce. “In any case, there shouldn’t be any risk—we’re putting you behind bulletproof Plexiglas.”

They helped him strip off his shirt and put on the vest, tucking the extensions into his upper pants, then fitted him out with an invisible earpiece and remote mike. As he dressed, he could hear more megaphoned conversation in the background, interspersed with hysterical, incoherent responses.

Fordyce consulted his watch, winced. “Any new developments?” he asked the cop.

“The guy’s getting worse. The commander thinks we may need to move into the termination phase soon.”

“Damn.” Fordyce shook his head and turned back to Gideon. “Another thing: you’ll be working from a script.”

“A script?”

“Our psychologists have worked it up. We’ll give you each question through the earpiece. You ask it, then wait a moment after he replies to get the response from us.”

“So you really don’t need me at all. Except as a front.”

“You got it. You’re a rented body.”

“Then why the lecture on hostage communication?”

“So you’ll understand what’s going on and why. And if the conversation gets personal, you might have to ad lib a little. But don’t go shooting your mouth off or making promises. Gain his sympathy, remind him of your friendship, reassure him everything’s going to be fine, that his concerns will be taken seriously. Be calm. And for God’s sake, don’t argue with him about his delusions.”

“Makes sense.”

Fordyce gave him a long, appraising look, his hostility softening somewhat. “We’ve been doing this a long time.” A beat. “You ready?”

Gideon nodded.

“Let’s go.”

Fordyce led Gideon through a final set of barricades to the front line of concrete barriers, armored vehicles, and Plexiglas shields. The armor under his shirt felt bulky and foreign. Now he could hear the megaphone clearly.

“Reed,” came the electronic voice, calm and avuncular, “an old friend of yours is here and wants to talk to you. His name is Gideon Crew. Would you like to talk to him?”

“Bullshit!” came the reply, in an almost incoherent scream. “I don’t want to talk to anybody!”

The disembodied voice was coming from the front door, which was standing ajar. All the curtains had been pulled and there was no one to be seen, hostages or Chalker.

A gravelly voice sounded in his earpiece. “Dr. Crew, do you read me?”

“I read.”

“I’m Jed Hammersmith, I’m in one of the vans, sorry we can’t meet in person. I’ll be guiding you. Listen to me carefully. First rule is, you mustn’t respond to me when I speak to you through the earpiece. When you’re out there, obviously you can’t be seen to be communicating with anyone else. You’re talking only to him. Understand?”

“Yes.”

“You lie! All of you! End the charade!”

Gideon felt a chill. It almost didn’t seem possible this was the Chalker he knew. And yet it was his voice, distorted by fear and madness.

“We would like to help you,” the megaphone said. “Tell us what you want—”

“You know what I want! Stop the kidnapping! Stop the experiments!”

“I’m going to be feeding you questions,” said Hammersmith’s calm voice in Gideon’s ear. “We’ve got to move fast now; things aren’t going well.”

“I can see that.”

“I swear to God I’m going to blow his brains out unless you stop messing with me!”

There was an inarticulate scream from the house, a woman’s pleading. And below that, Gideon could hear the high-pitched wailing of a child. It chilled him to the bone. His own childhood memories—his father standing in a stone doorway, Gideon himself running across a green lawn toward him—came back stronger than ever. He tried desperately to tune them out, but every blast of the megaphone just served to bring them back.

“You’re in on it, you bitch!” Chalker screamed to someone at one side of him, “you’re not even his wife, you’re just another agent. This is all bullshit, all of it. But I’m not playing along! I won’t take this anymore!”

The megaphone voice responded, preternaturally calm, as if talking to a child. “Your friend Gideon Crew wants to talk to you. He’s coming out now.”

Fordyce pushed a mike into his hand. “It’s wireless, set up to loudspeakers on the van. Go.”

He pointed toward a bulletproof Plexiglas shelter, narrow and enclosed on three sides and the top, leaving the back open. After a moment’s hesitation, Gideon stepped from behind the ARV into the glass box. It reminded him of a shark cage.

He spoke into the mike. “Reed?”

A sudden silence.

“Reed? It’s me, Gideon.”

More silence. And then, “Oh my God, Gideon, have they gotten to you, too?”