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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

“Because it might just take a little longer than you think. Face it, Nick, you’re a bug man, and you don’t know squat about dogs—now do you?”

“I’ll be waiting,” Nick said. “There’s not much else I can do.”

Nick dropped the phone into his shirt pocket and looked at Kegan. “Did you hear all that?”

“Most of it.”

“Can you believe it? A couple of days.”

“He’s right, you know.”

Nick frowned at her. “What happened to all that sympathy?”

“Entomologists are always in a hurry,” she said. “I suppose it makes sense, since you people work with things that hatch and grow up and die in just a week or two. But anthropologists work with bones, so we tend to take a longer view. Relax, Nick. These graves have been here for a long time—they’ll be here for a couple more days.”

“You can be really annoying sometimes.”

She grinned. “Something else that women do?”

Nick glared at Marge and Bosco. They were taking a break now under the shade of a nylon lean-to set up on the opposite side of the field; the dog was lapping water from its trainer’s hand. “I hate to wait,” Nick grumbled.

“Sorry. Looks to me like you’re out of options.”

“There are always options,” he said. “It just depends on how far you’re willing to go.”

7

7

“Mr. Donovan, the senator will see you now.” The woman made a come-with-me gesture with two fingers, flashing a brilliant and orthodontically perfect smile.

Donovan rose from his leather chair and followed her down the corridor. She looked to be in her early twenties, probably just out of college, like most of the aides and legislative assistants who worked on the Hill. She was probably a political science major, pre-law, trying for one more impressive entry on her résumé before she sent off her application to Georgetown or UVA. Not Harvard—definitely not Harvard—at least that’s what she probably told the guy who hired her, since this was the office of the senior senator from Virginia, and a man with the deep roots of John Henry Braden wouldn’t want a Virginia malcontent on his staff. She was probably grossly underpaid too, like most of the bright young men and women who took these staff positions. But money was beside the point here; the point was just to get a leg up— either on the Hill or someplace else.