“What’ll happen when my name is tied to Lexicore?” Nick asked, not wanting to think of the campaign, his reputation or his rising star in the party when so many lives had been lost. But how could he not think about those things two short weeks before the election?

“I wish I knew,” Terry said. “The good news, if there is good news, is that I suspect the tie to the factory in Thailand is going to come as a surprise to most of Lexicore’s investors.”

“First order of business is to unload the stock,” Nick said.

“You’ll take a huge financial hit if you do that,” Christina said. “The value has plummeted since the news broke this morning.”

“Who cares about the money? It’s lost to me either way. I’ve got to unload that stock before the press jumps all over me.”

“It might be too late for that,” Graham O’Connor said as he strode into Nick’s office looking frazzled. “This is all my fault, Nick. I had no idea Lexicore was into factories in Thailand. I failed in my due diligence on your behalf.”

“How much did you invest with Lexicore?” Terry asked his father.

“A million of Nick’s,” Graham said, seeming ashamed, “and a couple million of my own.”

The news hit Nick like a punch to the gut. Half the money John had left him might be gone.

“I’m so sorry, Nick,” Graham said, his voice wavering. “I’ll make it up to you. Somehow.”

“I don’t care about the money.” Nick hated seeing his good friend so upset. “That’s the least of my concerns. My first concern would be why a major U.S. corporation is allowing those kinds of conditions to exist in a factory it owns. My second question—and this is a distant second to the first one—is what’re we looking at politically?”

“It’s hard to say,” Terry said. “The way I see it, we’ve got a couple of options. You could take a mea culpa and get out ahead of the story. Say you had no idea that Lexicore was involved with the factory and say you dumped the stock as soon as you found out about it.”

“What’s my other option?”

“Say nothing. Maybe your name will never come up.”

Nick thought about both options and the potential fallout from each. His nature was to be honest and forthcoming in all his dealings, but if he admitted to the connection to Lexicore it could cost him the election. But if he didn’t admit it and the press caught wind of it, that could cost him the election too. A hell of a dilemma.

“Let me fall on the sword,” Graham said.

“What do you mean?” Nick asked.