“That his wife’s a gambling addict? Nobody’s going to be ruined over that. Lots of people have the same problem. For god’s sake, Glynis, the state has counseling programs for gambling addiction. They even put up billboards advertising the programs.”

“But you don’t understand! The professor will be humiliated.”

Thinking of Cardwell and his wife, Jake said, “So what.”

“That’s cruel, Jake.”

He sighed. “Yeah, I guess maybe it is. But Sinclair’s no saint, you know.”

“And the fact that he’s taken money from Senator Leeds and now Leeds is holding that over him…” She shook her head.

“It’d be a good way to blacken Leeds’s eye,” Jake mused.

“Jake, don’t.”

“Sinclair has it coming.”

“Because his wife is sick?”

“Because he’s a pompous ass who’s hidden his wife up there in Vernon while he hits on every woman he sees,” Jake snapped.

Her chin went up. “That’s not so.”

“Isn’t it? You told me he tried to hit on you.”

“Oh, that,” Glynis said. “That wasn’t serious.”

“Wasn’t it?”

She didn’t reply.

Thinking of Cardwell and Alice, Jake said, “It’s not just students, Glynis. He’s gone after married women, too.”

“That’s no reason to be so … so … vindictive.”

She’s trying to protect him, Jake said to himself. Why? She’s going with Tim Younger and Tim’s being held down by the professor.

He heard himself ask, “Whose side are you on, Glynis?”

“Side?” she asked. “Why do there have to be sides?”

“We’re in the middle of a political campaign, for god’s sake. I’m working for a man who’s running for the Senate, remember?”

“And I’m working for a man who has a problem with his wife,” she countered.

“What about Tim? What about the way Sinclair treats him?”

Her eyes flared. “Tim’s a big boy. He can take care of himself.”

“Like he’s taking care of you?”

She stared at him for a long, silent moment. At last she said, “My relationship with Tim is none of your business.”

“But why are you trying to protect Sinclair when he’s treating Tim like some migrant farm worker?”

“Arlan needs protection from opportunists who’d ruin his career and his marriage just to help win an election.”

Arlan? Jake thought. She’s calling the bastard by his first name?

“I’m not an opportunist, Glynis,” he said, surprising himself by how softly he spoke the words. “But I’m working for Tomlinson and I’ve got to tell him about Sinclair and the hold that Leeds has over him.”

“No matter what,” she said bitterly.

“Tomlinson won’t go public about it,” Jake tried to assure her. “It wouldn’t do him any good.” But inwardly he knew that Tomlinson could hurt Leeds by making this story public.