Berg phoned a retired Secret Service agent named Walter Brenna. They worked together at one time. The long and the short of it is Berg has Hopkins, she is injured but alive, and he is driving her back to Washington. He doesnt plan to tell anyone else about this. Apparently, Brenna was a Marine Corps medic before he joined the Secret Service. Im talking about thirty years ago. Berg is going to bring the Vice President of the United States to Brennas house in the eastern suburbs, and theyre going to see if they can treat her injuries there. Then theyre going to hide her.

Whats the extent of her injuries?

Unclear. The conversation lasted just over one minute.

Where does Brenna live?

Uh… I have that. They tracked the call to a landline. He lives in Bowie, Maryland, at 1307 Third Street.

Luke was already punching the address into the GPS unit on his dashboard. He watched the unit draw a route map. He was thirty minutes away, less if he gunned it.

Where are Berg and the Vice President now?

Also unclear. Bergs phone stopped moving on a back road in Eastern Virginia. Attempts to call it have gone unanswered. Agents from various organizations are moving toward the location, but they can only pinpoint it to within two hundred yards. Satellite data shows a grassy and woody area long the side of the road. There are no cars parked in the vicinity. It seems like Berg might have made the one call to Brenna, and then threw the phone out the window. No one even knows what Berg is driving.

Luke nodded. The man was clever. He knew people might be watching. What he didnt know was just how many people were watching, and to what extent.

Does Don know about any of this?

Its very strange. He does know. He went racing out of here when the intel came in. Don is not himself.

Did he say anything about me?

He said he talked to you. You had an argument. You told him you were going to bed. He said not to bother you, but I guess I knew better than to think you were actually sleeping. I dont think Ive ever seen you fall asleep for any reason.

Trudy, Don is trying to kill me.

The words came out before he knew they would. Once they were out there, he was okay with it. It was a fact, and Trudy was a big girl. He couldnt protect her from the facts. There was a long silence over the phone.

Luke zoomed past a sign for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Five miles. In ten minutes, he would go racing by David Delligers corpse again.

Trudy?

Luke, what are you talking about?

If I tell you, Ill be putting your life in danger.

Tell me, she said.