The heavy bolt on the inside slid open. In the dim light, it took several seconds for the extent of Gabe's injuries to register. Stoddard quickly helped him inside and into a chair.

"Were they after me?" Stoddard asked.

"Not really," Gabe replied. "They were after me. I knew too much."

"And I slept through the whole thing?"

"Probably just as well."

Stoddard, wearing cotton pajamas and a light robe, poured some water for each of them.

"Tell me," he said.

Uncertain how much longer he could remain upright, Gabe gave a terse, though complete, account of the attack on The Aerie by two killers, employed to protect the secrecy of a massive scientific facility exclusively owned and run by Drew's father.

"The two men are both dead."

"You did that?"

"I don't even want to think about it. Treat Griswold is dead, too."

The president looked surprised but not shocked.

"You again?"

"Alison. She was following him. He tried to kill her."

"I'm glad she's all right."

"No thanks to Griswold. He tortured her, but she escaped. We can talk more about that later. Turns out Griswold was the one we came here to get away from—the one with the transmitter. Your father had found a way to blackmail him into poisoning you. Griswold kidnapped young girls from Mexico and kept them for his pleasure."

"Treat and my father," Stoddard said. "Who can you trust?"

"Well, clearly not them."

"I wish I were more stunned to learn it was my father. Is he still alive?"

"For the moment. Initially there's no way to know with strokes, and his is a big one."

"Dad had that heliport built on the roof. The Aerie was so well constructed that almost no shoring up had to be done. I'll call rescue."

"Do that. Tell them they may have to make two trips."

"How bad are you hurt?"

"For someone who's been shot twice and bashed around, not so bad."

"Will LeMar make it?"

"He might. No matter what, his life as master of all he surveys is over. Given the best he'll have to look forward to, I think he would opt for a quick end."

"I'm sorry. No matter what, he's still my father."

"It doesn't seem like he ever had his priorities straight."

"Well, my friend, you certainly have gone above and beyond the Hippocratic oath in this one."

Gabe shifted in his seat to find a position he could handle for a few minutes more.

"Drew, I'm not sure how much longer I can remain upright. But before we go upstairs, I want you to have this."

He handed over LeMar's case and the president opened it, peered in at its contents, then slowly pulled the zipper closed.

"From Fairhaven?"

"Your father got ahold of it after the accident. He says your fingerprints are all over it. None of mine."