Pappy stared at the computer screen in front of him. He motioned to the senator, who was standing off to the side. “It’s the Wall Street Journal. Washington seems to be buzzing with your sudden resignation, Senator. It seems you’re going to be missed. Every social hostess in town is pulling out her hair. It appears your absence will upset their table arrangements. The rest of the article is a rehash of your family politics. They also have a graph of your voting record. The last line says that as the paper went to press you were still unavailable for comment.”

The senator shrugged. “The chopper’s late.”

“Yes, bad weather’s got them delayed by thirty minutes or so. It’s not a problem. Do you want to go over the details one more time, Senator?”

The senator shrugged again. “The chopper is taking me to Pittsburgh, where I will take a flight to Kennedy. From there I will fly to Switzerland with the brand-new passport that arrived this morning. From now until I arrive in Zurich I will be Gerhard Metzer. One of your people will meet me and take me to a private clinic, where I will undergo some facial surgery. When I’m healed, I will be taken by private jet to Athens, Greece. From there, I go to Mykonos, where I will stay indefinitely. Accommodations have been arranged as well as a car. My bank balances have all been transferred to numbered accounts. I will be given a new passport in Greece as soon as my face has healed. The name on that passport will be Peter Nicoli. Did I miss anything?”

“Only one thing. Tell me why.”

The senator looked away. “Back in Washington you asked me how I had evaded marriage so long. No matter how I say this, I’m going to sound like a fool. I don’t feel like a fool, but that’s what you’re going to think. I’ve been married eleven times. It would have been twelve, but one of my ex-wives tracked down all the others.”

Pappy’s jaw dropped. “Eleven times! You were married eleven times!”

“Yes.

Pappy closed his mouth, his eyes full of awe. “So that means you were divorced eleven times!” Brilliant deduction. “Do you fall in love…easily? How did you keep it all so quiet? You lived in a fishbowl for God’s sake. Did the consortium find out? Is that what this is all about?”