“Come on, kid. I got a car waitin’ downstairs. We can do this the hard way or the easy way. Up to you. Either way, you’re gonna talk with the man.”

Slowly, reluctantly, Jake got to his feet. Perez took his topcoat off the hook on the back of the office door and Jake realized he hadn’t taken his car coat off. He rummaged in its pockets for his cap while the two of them headed out into the hallway and toward the car Perez had waiting.

Monster was behind the wheel.

“Hi, Jake,” he said cheerily as Jake climbed into the black sedan’s rear seat. Perez ducked in and sat beside him.

They drove off campus, through the heart of the city, and out into the wooded countryside, heading away from the mountains. Visions of one-way rides and Mob assassinations flooded Jake’s mind.

“Where’re we going?” he asked, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

“The senator’s place, out by the lake,” said Perez.

It was a low, slant-roofed country lodge out on the edge of the lake that had been created when the river had been dammed to make a reservoir. In the summertime families came out for swimming and waterskiing. Jake had spent many moonlit evenings with Louise along the shore, watching the waves glittering in the silvery light.

Monster swung the car up to the lodge’s front door and killed the engine. Perez slid out of the backseat and Jake followed him.

“I’ll wait here,” Monster said, leaning his beefy arms on the sedan’s roof. “I’ll drive you back to town when you’re finished, Jake.”

“Fine,” Jake replied, trying to smile.

Inside, the lodge was decorated in rustic style: log walls, timber beams supporting the ceiling, comfortable armchairs grouped around a big stone fireplace, blackened from use although there was no fire crackling in it at the moment.

Senator Leeds was standing by the big sweeping window that looked out onto the lake, a tumbler of amber liquid in his hand. The late-afternoon sunlight glinted off the water. Even with most of the trees bare the scenery was spectacularly beautiful.

“You’re Jacob Ross,” the senator said as he turned his back to the view. He took a few steps across the oval rug and stuck out his hand. “We met at the dedication of the new library wing.”

“Senator Leeds,” Jake murmured as he took the senator’s hand. It was cold and wet from holding his drink.

Leeds was handsome, Jake saw again, although his once-chiseled features were getting soft. He still looked like a marble statue to Jake, but the marble was starting to turn into something more like putty.

Gesturing to one of the armchairs, the senator called to Perez, “Nacho, see what Dr. Ross wants to drink.”

“Just club soda, thanks,” said Jake.

“You’re not a drinking man?” Leeds asked.