“We still don’t know exactly what happened,” he was saying, “but that tall guy standing next to Otero had something to do with it. His name is Ed Eagle. He’s a big-time trial lawyer from Santa Fe, and he’s a New Mexico delegate. He and Otero went over to the Virginia delegation—Wait a minute, we have tape on that—there, Eagle and Otero arguing with Senator Mark Willingham of Virginia, and whatever they’re saying, the senator isn’t buying it. Now he buys it: he’s nodding at Otero, then Otero and Eagle go back to the New Mexico seats, where the delegation is being polled, all five of them, much to the amusement of the crowd. Then Otero grabs the microphone, and you know the rest.”

Ed laughed. “I didn’t know I was on TV,” he said. “I’ll catch hell about that when I get back to Santa Fe.”

“I guarantee you,” Stone said, “every TV reporter on the floor is looking for you right now.”

“Then I’m staying here,” Ed said. “I’ll sleep here if I have to.”

“What did the president have to say to you?” Stone asked.

“The same thing you said to me when I got here,” Ed replied. “I talked to Kate, too. She’s pretty excited.”

“I’ll bet she is.”

“Oh, when I took Otero aside and started in on him and told him what you said about the delegate count, the first thing Pete said was, ‘Who the hell is Stone Barrington, and why should I believe him?’ I told him you were the smartest guy in the hall and had the only accurate delegate count, and that Sam Meriwether was feeding it to you. Was I lying?”

“Not exactly, Ed, but when I talked to Sam, he was still pretty worried about how the count was going.”

“Then you were bluffing?”

“Let’s just say I was a little optimistic.”

“Well, it worked. That’s poker—if you can’t tell who’s bluffing, you’re being bluffed!”

“Well, I’m glad I didn’t have to do it face-to-face with Otero and Willingham,” Stone said. “They would probably have called me on it!”

Ann settled into a sofa. “Turn the TV back on. I’m not leaving here until all those people down there go home!”

Chapter 33

Stone and Ann didn’t get home until well after midnight, and they slept until after eight o’clock, late for them. Ann had turned her phone off the night before, and when she checked her voice mail there was a message from Kate, left only minutes before.

“It’s chaotic over here,” Kate said. “I hope it’s okay if Will and I come over there for breakfast because we’re on our way!”

“Oh, shit,” Ann said, running for the shower. “Kate and Will are probably downstairs demanding breakfast!”