“How should I know?” Amy said, nettled. “I talked to a couple of people in Leeds’s office and said she had some new evidence about the killings. Less than an hour later Perez called me back and asked for her phone number.”

“Jesus!” Jake turned and started to leave, only to bump into Younger.

“What the hell’s going on?” the engineer asked.

“Glynis!” Jake snapped, hurrying for the door. “She’s in trouble.”

“Whattaya mean?”

Shouldering his way through the crowd, Jake said, “She’s going to meet with the guy who told us to keep out of the investigation. And he thinks she’s got evidence against him.”

Keeping up with Jake stride for stride, Younger asked, “How the hell did that happen?”

“Long story. We’ve got to find her! Before—”

“Relax,” Younger said, pulling his cell phone from his jeans pocket. “I’ll get her.”

As Younger tapped on the phone’s keypad Jake towed him outside the ballroom. The foyer was quieter, empty of people except for one of the butler’s assistants standing glumly at the front door.

Jake heard the phone buzz once, twice.…

“Glyn?” Younger’s face lit up. “It’s me. Jake’s here, he wants to talk to you.”

Jake grabbed at the phone so fast he nearly fumbled it out of his hand. Pressing it to his ear he said, “Where are you?”

“Jake?” Glynis’s voice sounded calm, ordinary.

“Where are you? Where are you going?”

“I’m on the interstate. I’m heading for Senator Leeds’s place by the lake.”

“Stop right now! Turn around and go back home.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Jake. The snow’s getting heavier, but it’s not bad enough to be a problem.”

“Perez thinks you have new evidence!” Jake fairly yelled into the phone. “He’s waiting for you so he can find out what the evidence is and then get rid of you!”

“That’s why I’m carrying a microchip recorder. It will take down whatever Perez says and transmit it to my computer, in my apartment.”

“They’ll break into your apartment and tear your computer apart! They’ll kill you!”

“They can’t afford to have another body on their doorstep,” Glynis said coolly.

“The hell they can’t!” Jake shouted. “They’ll make it look like an accident.”

Younger yanked the phone out of Jake’s hands. “Glyn, it’s me again. Jake’s right. Turn the car around and come on back home. I’ll meet you at your—”

He took the phone from his ear and held it before his face, staring at it as if it had betrayed him.

“She hung up,” Younger said, disbelief etching his face.

“Maybe the cellular service cut off,” Jake suggested.

“Whatever.” Younger started for the front door. “We’ve got to find her before she gets herself in trouble.”

“Right!” Jake hurried after him.