Gannon and his lawyers hold a triumphant press conference outside in the corridor. This is what they’ve been saying all along: faked evidence by a woman scorned, an honest public servant slandered. The guilt must have been too much, so she took her own life. A tragedy. There are no winners here. And so on.

Carrie watches from a dozen yards away.

When Gannon breaks from the scrum for the restroom, she follows.

She waits a moment to be sure no one else is nearby and goes in after him.

Gannon is at the urinal. He glances over his shoulder and smirks when he sees her.

“Wrong room, Agent Keene.”

Carrie isn’t in the mood to banter. “What did you do?” she asks.

He shakes and zips up. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Carrie bites off each word. “I am not screwing around here, Governor. What did you do?”

Gannon begins to wash his hands. He gives her his most sincere, solemn, politician’s face. “I know what you must think. But believe me. I didn’t have anything to do with it. I swear. I would never hurt Lori. Never. I loved her.”

Carrie squeezes her eyes shut tight, takes a deep breath, then opens them again. The rage boils up and over anyway.

In one smooth motion, she draws her Glock and uses it to club the governor in the head.

Blood from the gash on his forehead hits the floor. Then he does too, as Carrie sweeps his legs out from under him.

She aims the gun at his face. “How did they reach you?” she demands. “What did you offer them?”

He looks dazed, hurt, and baffled, all at once. “What?” is all that comes out of his mouth.

He tries to push himself up. Carrie kicks his arm and he hits the tile floor again.

“Where are the Followers?” she says. Or maybe shouts.

His eyes appear to be having trouble focusing when he looks up at her.

“I loved her,” he says.

Carrie kicks him one more time for that. That’s when his attorneys come into the men’s room and the screaming starts.

Nine hours and two airports later, Carrie is walking through the door of her apartment in Georgetown for the first time in six months. She’s been living in an extended-stay hotel in Little Rock since the case began. Now she’s back to her normal life, or what’s left of it.

As of today, she is on administrative leave with pay, pending a formal investigation into her conduct. She will likely be suspended and demoted, if not terminated. (Her supervisor screamed at her, “You pistol-whipped the sitting governor of the state?” She replied, “Only once.” He’d made a noise, then got control of himself before he said, “This is why you were never promoted, Carrie. You’ve always got a smartass answer for everything.”)