“Speaking of endorsement deals,” Sam said, “we need to look at what companies he was working with and what a colossal fuckup on the field would do to those deals. When I talk to Carmen, I’ll find out who his agent and manager were. We also need to have a more in-depth conversation with Ms. Clark about the true nature of her relationship with Vasquez. Maybe if we can get her alone without her bosses outside the door she’ll be more forthcoming. But first, I’d like to go back to Ray Jestings and find out whether the alleged affair was common knowledge at his level. If it was, I want to know why he didn’t do anything about it—and I want to know why he didn’t mention it yesterday.”

“I’d like to know that too,” Hill said.

“We’ll go there first.”

* * *

Nick had breakfast with Scotty but let Shelby take him to school so he wouldn’t be late for his nine o’clock meeting with the Democratic caucus. Scotty had been a little better but not quite back to his usual self.

He hoped Scotty would shake off the despair over Willie’s murder in a couple of days, but he worried the incident had triggered the boy’s memories of the dark days that followed the deaths of his mother and grandfather. He planned to call Scotty’s former guardian, Mrs. Littlefield, at some point during the day to see what she thought of the situation.

Nick walked into his office at eight thirty and found Christina and Terry waiting for him, both looking grim.

“What’s up?” he asked as he dropped his bag on top of the desk that had once belonged to John O’Connor.

“We’ve got a little problem,” Christina began.

“It’s a big problem,” Terry said, launching into a detailed explanation of Lexicore’s connection to the factory in Thailand where all the women were killed last summer.

“What’s that got to do with me?” Nick asked.

“Remember when you asked my dad to invest the money John left to you?”

All at once, Nick figured out where this was going, and his stomach turned with dismay. He sank into his desk chair as he tried to process the overwhelming implications. He owned a piece of the company that in turn owned the factory where more than three hundred women had died in a fire while working under deplorable conditions. “Christ,” he muttered.

“My dad is on his way in,” Terry said. “He’s beside himself. He had no idea that Lex was tied to that factory until it was in the paper this morning. According to Trevor,” Terry said of their communications director, “Twitter is going crazy over the fact that Lexicore has been tied to the factory. Lexicore and Thailand are both trending at the moment.”