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Chapters (50)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. TITLE PAGE
  3. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  4. DEDICATION
  5. CONTENTS
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The senator smiled at his wife. “I believe my wife is referring to a technique commonly employed by our nation’s chief executive: When a situation is deserving of the president’s attention but it’s too controversial to allow a personal appearance, he sends the First Lady instead. She has a softer presence. She conveys compassion and concern. No one wants to embarrass her with awkward questions. They respect her—they treat her with kid gloves.”

Victoria looked at Brad with a pouty face. “You wouldn’t want to make me cry, would you, Brad?”

Brad grinned. “No, ma’am, I wouldn’t want that. Okay, I’ll set it up. When would you like to make this visit?”

“The sooner the better. Get the PR team moving on it, and have Cassandra meet me in my office—we’ll start working up a schedule of events.” She rose from her chair, blew a quick kiss to her husband, and started for the door.

“I do have one more question,” Brad said.

“Yes?”

“What happens if they find more bodies?”

“It won’t matter,” she said.

“It won’t matter?”

“They found an old graveyard, that’s all—it happens all the time. As for the bodies, nobody knows who they are or how they got there. It’s a mystery—and that’s exactly the way we want to leave it until after the election. We want them to get those caskets out of there so they can get back to work on the Patriot Center, but as for the bodies—we want the FBI to take them back to some laboratory and puzzle over them for a few months. Four bodies, five bodies, ten bodies—it doesn’t matter. Time is all that matters here, Brad—it’s all about time.”

Victoria turned and left the room; her heels made a receding clack on the slate floor as she crossed the foyer to her office.

“When are you going to learn to trust Victoria?” the senator said with a sly smile. “We might as well face it, son—the woman is smarter than both of us combined.”

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