I also noticed the constant noise coming from the rest of the building. Jackson hadn’t been lying to me when he said there were other inmates. When I first heard the organized sound late in the afternoon, Jackson had turned to me and said, “It’s prayers. Or calls to prayers. Lots and lots of prayers. You get used to it. It’s like hearing someone speak in tongues. There’s a comforting rhythm to it after a while.” He stood up and walked across the room. When he sat a few feet from my cage, he said, “Think of it this way: if they’re saying prayers, they’re not thinking about killing you or me or other Americans.”

I slept in fits during the night. I awoke to the sound of someone calling for morning prayers. Someone had set another can of beans on the floor just outside my cage. I ate them quickly.

Rick Jackson was back at his desk. He turned and said, “Not as easy to sleep without the tranquilizer, is it?” He chuckled.

Now I had all my senses. I said, “You never answered me. What’s going to happen to me?”

“There’s something big going on. Something that would really help us out, and you’re the key to success.”

“Me? How?”

Jackson smiled. “A little surprise is good for the soul.”

“Is that why you have someone following my mom? To avoid surprises?”

“We like to keep tabs on people. Now that you’ve cooperated so nicely and come all the way over here, we’ll probably call off our assistant. Provided you behave.”

“I hate to ruin your plans if I’m the key to them.”

Jackson shrugged. “Don’t you worry about it. It’ll work out. You cost us a lot of money and one of our really good IT people is still in jail in New York.”

“It sounds like you think he shouldn’t be in jail.”

Jackson just shrugged.

I just stared in silence at him. After a while I said, “Someone will ask questions about me.”

“Someone already did.”

I perked up.

He laughed and said, “Your friend DP Lampkin. He asked how many hours you’d be working per day. I told him we would max you out. That means more profit for Non-Metric Solutions.”

Jackson had gotten ahead of this thing and would have plausible deniability. I was on my own. Unless some miracle happened.

Jackson taunted me, making a crying sound and changing his voice. “Why am I here? Why are you so mean? What’s going to happen to me?” Then he switched to his real voice. “Jesus Christ, Mitchum, I’d think a former Navy man would be tougher. You sound like a lost kid. Sit back and think of this as an adventure. You never know how it might turn out.” He laughed and added, “I bet it doesn’t turn out that well for you.”