‘Mr Bolton, there you are,’ she said.

‘Here I am.’

‘Your mother said you were upstairs. I’ve been looking for you.’

Cab smiled warily. ‘Oh?’

‘My name is Caprice Dean. I’m the executive director of the Common Way Foundation. Tarla probably mentioned that I wanted to speak to you tonight.’

‘Actually, she didn’t,’ Cab said, ‘but I’m usually the last to know when it comes to my mother.’

Caprice laughed. ‘I understand how that goes.’

‘What can I do for you, Ms Dean?’

‘As it happens,’ Caprice said, ‘I want to hire you.’

*

They sat in a gazebo in the gardens, where the foliage made a quiet grove. Cab had counted at least fifty people in and around the estate, but the trail that led here was hidden from prying eyes. They both had champagne, fizzing with bubbles. The octagonal shelter was open to the air and situated in the flow of a damp bay breeze. Fountain grass bowed between the pillars.

‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’ Caprice said. ‘It’s so secluded here. That’s what Diane likes about it. You could believe the city doesn’t exist at all. Mind you, the barbarians are inside the gate tonight.’

‘You mean the media?’ Cab asked.

‘Obviously,’ she replied with a smirk.

‘Well, if Diane values her isolation so much, why did she run for governor?’ he asked. ‘Politicians don’t have a zone of privacy anymore. She knows that.’

Caprice nodded. ‘You’re right. It’s open season on candidates these days. Honestly, we argued about it for a long time. I didn’t think she should do it. I thought we should recruit someone else to be in the spotlight.’

‘So why did she?’ He smiled. ‘I assume it wasn’t solely the counsel of Garth Oakes.’

Caprice laughed. ‘You’ve met Garth, have you? I’m not a fan, but Diane likes him. No, the campaign was Diane’s call all the way. She felt it was her responsibility to lead the ticket.’

‘Why were you opposed?’ Cab asked.

‘Oh, don’t get me wrong. I thought we should be in the race, too. We’ve spent ten years at the foundation advancing our agenda from the outside. Influencing the debate. Supporting and opposing specific candidates. Now we’re ready to get into the game.’

‘In other words, the Governor is politically weak this year, and you hate the idea of a staunch conservative like Attorney General Cortes landing in Tallahassee.’

‘That’s true, too,’ she acknowledged.

‘Diane is ahead in the polls,’ Cab pointed out. ‘Isn’t that a good thing?’

‘It is, but there are also crazies who want to paint a target on her chest. Just like Birch.’

‘You think she’s at risk?’

‘I do. That’s why we’d like your help.’

‘Oh? What kind of help?’

Caprice didn’t answer right away. She pushed her champagne glass in a small circle on the marble table between them. A ringlet of lush brown hair fell across her forehead, and she brushed it back. Her eyes examined him curiously. ‘You know, Tarla warned me about you.’