She dug the knife in deeper, and began slicing away huge chunks of fatty tissue and dropping them to the floor and into the bucket. Her hands and arms were slimy with a shimmering mix of blood and grease. The terrible hurt accompanying each jab gave way to a dreamy light-headedness.

Barely looking down at what she was doing, Roberta widened the incision and continued carving away fistfuls of fat. Her dizziness intensified. The floor around her chair was awash in the slick mix of blood and adipose tissue.

Terry Jennings, wait until you see me. I’m going to be so beautiful … so thin and so beautiful.

Her vision began to blur. Still, she could make out the massive incision, and the intestines that had now slid out onto the blood-soaked towel. She felt confused—lost and uncertain what she had done or why. The large knife clattered to the floor. That was the problem, she realized. She had forgotten to sterilize the knife.

Oh, Terry, what have I done? Roberta thought as the darkness enveloped her. What have I done to myself?

Moaning, she lost her strength and tipped over with her chair.

Then, abruptly, her moaning stopped.

Chapter 40

CHAPTER 40

Darlene instructed Victor to pull into a largely deserted area of Fairmount Park’s verdant Belmont Plateau and asked that he keep as far away from the other parked cars as possible. Another Secret Service transport vehicle, part of her usual escort group, parked on the opposite side of the lot to avoid attracting unwanted attention.

Victor shut off the engine and opened the moonroof. “I’ll wait outside,” he said. “Keep an eye on things, check for photographers.”

“Thank you, my friend,” Darlene replied. “We won’t be long.”

It was the second time Victor had driven her and Lou Welcome to a park after peak hours. She knew it was the agent’s job to protect her with his life, but she also knew that ultimately his responsibility—everyone’s responsibility, for that matter, was to her husband. If he reported to the president on her growing friendship with Lou, and on their trip together outside of Washington, the tension that had been developing between her and Martin might well explode.

But she felt a connection with Lou, and wanted to get to know him better, and that was that. It said a lot for the status of her marriage that she had given precious little thought to asking Martin’s permission for the trip. After all, he had made the decision to start his reelection campaign without discussing it with her.

With Victor gone, she and Lou spent a quiet couple of minutes gazing out the town car’s bulletproof front windshield at the twinkling skyline of downtown Philadelphia, in the distance. She sighed deeply.

“Are you all right?” Lou asked.