The sight of the .38 stopped him, but she wasn’t sure it would hold Regan long. He had the eyes of an enraged animal.

“Call 911!” she shouted. “And let me out of here! Just let me go!”

“You’re that Masters bitch,” he said in a low, cracked voice. “Penn Cage’s whore. You’re not gonna shoot me.”

Caitlin felt her arm shaking. Regan was calling her bluff. What would happen if she shot a man in his own home, after having gained entry under false pretenses? Did it even matter? Not if I don’t get out of here alive.

“Let me out, I said! I’ll shoot!”

Regan laughed and started forward.

Caitlin fired into the floor at his feet. He stopped, and the smell of gunpowder filled the room. Caitlin moved quickly around him, keeping the gun pointed at him all the time. Regan turned to track her movements, but the door wasn’t far away now. Then a horrifying thought struck her.

“You’d better call 911,” she said. “Because I’m calling it as soon as I leave. You can’t let her die on the floor.”

“You’re dead,” Regan rasped, his eyes burning. “You and your boyfriend both. Dead.”

Caitlin whirled and ran for her car.

CHAPTER 76

I’M SITTING ON the second floor of the old City Jail, now refurbished as a meeting hall for the Board of Selectmen but still known as the “old jail.” Tonight the jail is being used for the Joint Governance Meeting, which brings the city and county governments together, an event as rare as a U.S.-Chinese summit. For nearly two hours I’ve listened in excruciating agony while black and white politicians with only one thing in common—a profound ignorance of history—debate the merits of creating a unique but racially sensitive historical park and memorial. As a result, I’ve developed a detailed fantasy of dropping several of my colleagues through the long-disused hangman’s trapdoor upstairs.

Four days ago, the two projects we’ve met to discuss were the chief goals of my administration (after reforming the public school system). Now they seem like obscure public works projects I read about in the back pages of Newsweek. This is the kind of meeting where I wish the only two people on my side would get off of it. One ally is black, the other white, and neither seems to realize that his impassioned rant will only hurt our chances of securing the votes and funding required to get this park built.

Not that I give a damn at this moment.