“But Jake, you said they could be dangerous,” Glynis said, suddenly cautious, worried.

“Yeah. I’ll have to deal with that.”

“We’ll have to deal with that.”

Shaking his head, Jake told her, “You’re going to West Virginia.”

“I am not!”

“I want you out of here, Glyn. I want you where you’ll be safe. Back with your family.”

“I most certainly will not run away from this, Jacob Ross. Any-more than you would.”

“There’s no sense in both of us getting hurt.”

“I’m staying,” Glynis said, iron-hard.

Jake sucked in a deep breath, then replied, “Let’s talk this over with somebody who can give us a better angle on the problem.”

“Somebody? Who?”

“An old friend of mine. He’s been like a father to me.”

Love and War

LOVE AND WAR

Dr. Cardwell sat in stony silence as Jake told him what he and Glynis had learned. It was early morning; Cardwell’s office was bright with the newly risen sun. Jake had phoned him the night before, as soon as he had returned Glynis to her apartment.

Now they sat at the round table by the windows, Glynis on Jake’s left, dressed in a butter yellow short-sleeved blouse and dark green skirt, Cardwell on his right, in his inevitable gray suit and sprightly bow tie.

“So you believe Senator Leeds is part of this?” Cardwell asked, in his soft, curious voice.

“He has to be,” Jake said. “He’s fronting for them. Perez said as much.”

His high forehead furrowing, Cardwell suggested, “Perhaps he doesn’t know what’s really going on.”

Glynis snapped, “If he doesn’t, it’s because he doesn’t want to know.”

Cardwell took in a deep breath. “They murdered Arlan? And his wife?”

“And Dr. McGruder,” Glynis added.

“It’s all a cover-up,” said Jake.

“But what are they covering up?” Cardwell asked, almost pleadingly. “What’s the reason for it?”

Hunching closer to his old mentor, Jake said, “It’s narcotics. Got to be. Mrs. Sinclair must have been hooked and the professor was going to crack up over it.”

Cardwell shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense. There’s got to be something deeper than that.”

Glynis said, “The MHD issue.”

Cardwell’s round eyes widened. “The MHD issue?”

“Professor Sinclair was forced to come out against Tomlinson’s plan to push MHD,” she explained. “But he didn’t want to. He wanted to support Tomlinson. He wanted all the support for MHD that he could get. But they wouldn’t let him.”

Jake looked at her questioningly. “Are you sure?”

Her voice lower, Glynis answered, “Arlan told me things that he wouldn’t tell anyone else … when we were together, alone.”

In bed, Jake realized.

Cardwell said, “I still don’t see…”