Sheldon looked up and stared into the camera for several seconds with the haunted look of a woman in emotional pain. “I wish to express my deepest sorrow and condolences to the colleagues, friends, and families of the slain FBI employees. I have fully cooperated with the FBI.” Her lip quivered and a tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away and looked off-camera. Breckensen stepped up to the podium and put his arm around her.

“Look at that son of a bitch,” Ernie hissed. “He wants a piece of that. I can’t believe this shit.”

“Shut up, Ernie,” Leonard said. “He’s just comforting her.”

“Yeah, right.”

Breckensen leaned in toward the microphones. “Ms. Sheldon has agreed to take a few questions.” He pointed to a reporter seated in the middle of the first row.

“Ms. Sheldon, have you had any contact with Ernie since the bombing?”

“No,” she said.

The same reporter fired a second question. “When was the last time you spoke with him?”

She looked at Breckensen, silently asking if it was okay to answer. He nodded. “Years ago. After he was released from the Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth. I haven’t heard from him since.”

Breckensen pointed to another reporter.

“Ms. Sheldon, is there anything from Ernie’s past that might’ve led up to this?”

“Not really. He was very angry about his court-martial, but that happened a long time ago. I don’t think this is about that.”

Just as Breckensen was about to point to a third reporter, a question boomed out from one of the back rows. “Have you told Ernie Bridgestone that he’s the father of your daughter, Janey Sheldon?”

The sudden anger in Amber’s face couldn’t be hidden. “That’s none of your damned business.” She twisted away from Breckensen and stormed from the podium. The camera showed Governor Schwarzenegger running to catch her.

Leonard looked at his brother, who was staring at the television with his mouth hanging open. “Ernie? You okay, man?”

“She never told me. How could she never fucking tell me?” He hurled the TV remote across the room.

Leonard didn’t know what to say, didn’t want to provoke Ernie, who seemed dangerously poised at the moment.

“She never told me. I knew she had a daughter, but I didn’t know she was mine. She said she got knocked up by accident in my first year in the Castle.”

“Hey, man, it doesn’t matter, okay?”

“It doesn’t matter? Doesn’t matter? What do you mean, it doesn’t matter?”

“Take it easy, Ern.”

“I had a right to know.”

“I’m not disagreeing with you, but we can’t let this change anything. We’ve got too much to lose.”

“I can’t fucking believe this shit.”