“Good. This is just the kind of thing the opposition would love to take advantage of—to exaggerate its importance, to draw the eye of the voter away from more significant matters. Don’t get me wrong, Mr. Donovan, the war on terror is one of the major themes of my campaign— whether it’s terrorists acting from outside our borders or criminals operating from within. I intend to take a strong stand against crime in this country, and I intend to push for significant budget increases for organizations like your own. The people of America need to know that I will pursue terrorists to the ends of the earth, and the citizens of my beloved Virginia must know that I will not allow criminals to operate in my own backyard. Do I make myself clear?”

“I think so, sir, yes.”

“Good. I’m glad we had this little chat, Mr. Donovan, and I appreciate you dropping by to see me today. I’ll be keeping track of your progress through Brad here, and I look forward to hearing of a speedy resolution to this matter. Good day, sir.”

The senator stood up and extended his hand. Brad rose too, smiled at Donovan, and gestured toward the door.

Donovan was stunned; the meeting had just begun and it was apparently over. What was that? he wondered. He came prepared to offer a full report, to give a description of the resources that the Bureau had intended to allocate to the case and to discuss his investigative strategy. Instead he got a two-minute sound bite, half policy statement and half pep talk, that he really didn’t need to hear. Braden seemed uninformed, almost unaware of Donovan’s purpose here. But didn’t Braden send for him? Wasn’t he the one who requested him to be assigned to this case?

No skin off my back, Donovan thought. If that’s all the involvement Braden wanted, so much the better—it just meant one fewer pair of eyes looking over his shoulder. Maybe that’s all Braden had time for— to care about the broad strokes and leave the details to somebody else. So much for micromanagement, he thought.

Donovan stepped out into the foyer and closed the door behind him.

“Have a nice day,” the security guard said behind him. “I hope to see you again.”

Donovan headed for the hallway without looking back.

“Mr. Donovan?”

He stopped; it was the young aide who had shown him to the senator’s office.

“Mrs. Braden would like a word with you, please.”

“Mrs. Braden?”

“If you have a moment.”

Donovan followed her into another office. There was no one inside.

“Please make yourself comfortable. Mrs. Braden will be with you in just a moment.”

The door closed behind him with a soft click.