“It’s so … final,” Glynis said.

After several miles of silence, he glanced at her and saw that Glynis was lost in her own memories, her own sorrow.

Then Jake heard himself say, “That’s why I’m so worried about this business with Perez, Glyn. I don’t want to lose you.”

She stared at him in wide-eyed silence. Jake felt just as surprised as she looked.

Vernon

VERNON

As Jake swung the Mustang off the interstate and headed toward Vernon he asked Glynis, “How did you find Perez?”

“I phoned the hotel downtown, the motel at the casino, and every boarding house and B and B in the area and asked for him. I said I was with Senator Leeds’s office and it was urgent that I find him.”

It was almost noon and the sun was baking hot. Jake had pulled his old baseball cap out of the car’s utility console but Glynis remained bareheaded. Her sleeveless blouse and short skirt exposed plenty of skin, too. He wondered if she would get sunburned despite her slightly olive complexion.

“So you tracked him down,” Jake said.

“People were very kind, especially after I told them I was from Senator Leeds’s office. Most of them had never heard of Perez, but the room clerk at the casino’s motel said she thought he was staying in town at a bed-and-breakfast. The third one I called told me he was staying there. Or was it the fourth one?”

“You found him.”

“I didn’t talk with him. He wasn’t in when I called. But they admitted that he was staying there. Had been for several weeks.”

Jake felt puzzled. “What’s he doing in Vernon?”

With a shrug of her bare shoulders, Glynis replied, “Hiding out. In Vernon he’s protected from snoops like us.”

Thinking of the massive Captain Harraway, Jake muttered, “And we’re walking right into the lion’s den.”

His GPS box faithfully guided them to the address Glynis had given him. It was a beautifully maintained old three-story Victorian house, with a veranda stretching across its front and little balconies at both the upstairs windows.

“How quaint!” Glynis said.

Looks like a good place for a murder, Jake thought as he parked the Mustang across the street and pulled up its top.

When he started to get out, Glynis grabbed his sleeve. “Wait. Let’s see if he’s in first.”

She fished her cell phone out of her purse and pecked out a number.

“Yes. Hello. It’s Glynis Colwyn again.… Yes, that’s right, from Senator Leeds’s office. Is Mr. Perez in? No? Do you expect—oh, yes, I see. Thank you.”

Clicking the phone shut, she told Jake, “He’s out for the day. They expect him back this evening.”

“Might be at the casino,” Jake mused.

Glynis arched a brow. “Do you feel like gambling?”