"Hey. Hey, easy." Howard holds up his hand, wincing at the way her shout echoes back up this stairwell. "This's for the government spooks, not you. One of their skirts knocked me in the head the last time I got loose. Gave me a hell of a concussion. And I don't want anything to do with it, except to go home. I figure, it sent me here, right? It can send me home."

Too much information, but he needed her cooperation.