"I'm afraid her note was in my pocket when I went for my little swim. Maybe whoever rolled me took it. But I have a staff list in the clinic. I can get her numbers from there."

"Good. I'll contact Mark Fuller at the Secret Service offices right away and get people on this."

"Thanks. I'd appreciate that."

"I'm sorry, Gabe. I hope she's all right. First Jim, now Lily."

"And Alison's disappeared. I've been thinking the same thing. What happened at the hospital with Lily?"

"I don't have much to tell. She was transferred sometime last night to the medical center here in D.C. From what's been reported to me, she was perfectly stable. At some point today she was due to have her shoulder operated on. Then, a few hours after she was admitted, she was found dead in bed. So far no one's been reporting having seen a thing."

"I told you, these guys are professionals."

"You think she was murdered. Magnus was told they were thinking embolism—the sort that happens sometime when bones are broken or operated on."

"Fat embolism," Gabe said. "It's the fat in the bone marrow. Pardon me for my skepticism, but two people who are connected to you and knew each other well are dead within a few hours of one another. I'm just not big on coincidence. With an IV line and a chest tube in place, there were plenty of ways to see to it she didn't talk."

"There's an autopsy scheduled for later today."

"Don't bank on its finding too much. These people are good."

"I just don't believe this. Gabe, what should I do?"

For a time, Gabe studied his hands. The filth from the river and the vacant lot, still embedded under some of his nails, seemed to underscore the direness of the situation. Someone physically close to the president, at least intermittently, had the virtually unstoppable capability of either driving him insane or killing him.

"The problem is," Gabe said, "we don't know if Ferendelli's death has changed the rules—maybe caused whoever is behind this to alter their goals or their timetable."

"Do you think it could be Tom Cooper? It would seem he's got a lot to gain if I go bonkers, or worse."

"Or Dunleavy, or the Koreans, or the psycho terrorists, or the drug lords, or . . . or . . . or."

"If you're right, Gabe, than you might be in danger, too."

"I might. But I'm not the President of the United States. And to tell you the truth, Drew, at the risk of hurting your feelings, I wouldn't want to be."

"It requires a special kind of madness."

"You're making a difference, my friend. There's a spirit of optimism throughout much of this country. We've got to keep you healthy and in the game."

"I knew I brought you here for a reason—it's to remind me of stuff like that."