He pressed his finger into the wound on the man’s forehead.

The man screamed. “I’ll talk! I will! I’ll talk!”

“Thank you,” Seamus said, smiling. “I appreciate a positive attitude. Now tell me where the operations base is. Don’t hold anything back or-”

Seamus was cut off by a sharp blow to the back of his skull. He lost his balance and fell forward, tumbling into the broken glass.

His head ached, and he had trouble seeing clearly, but he rolled over onto his back, trying to react, trying to salvage himself before it was too late…

He looked up.

Harold Bemis was hovering over him, clutching a metal jewelry case.

Guess the geek wasn’t quite as harmless as I thought, Seamus realized dazedly.

“Why the heck couldn’t you just stay in the car with Arlo?” Bemis said in a nasal, high-pitched voice. “Now we’re going to have to kill you.”

C hristina sat in her office and stewed. She was embarrassed at herself and her lack of productivity, but she just couldn’t help it.

She was worried about her husband.

She had canceled the interviews with the three candidates for the associate’s position. With missiles flying through the skies, the couldn’t focus on business. Besides, she didn’t like deciding on these business matters without Ben. Even if he was currently “of counsel,” he was still her partner, in every possible way, and she preferred working with him to working without him.

And the fact that he wasn’t here just reminded her that she didn’t know specifically where he was or what kind of danger he might be facing. Ben was a good man, smart as they came, in an intellectual sort of way. Not necessarily in a self-preservational sort of way. When things got sticky, he needed her there. She had a different kind of smarts: seat-of-the-pants, save-your-neck street smarts. She filled his gaps. That’s why the relationship worked so well, in her opinion. That, plus the fact that he was the most terrific man she had ever known.

Thank goodness he had managed to make that call to her. At least she knew he was alive. But the call had raised almost as many concerns as it assuaged. She would never really feel safe until this crisis-whatever it was-was over and she and Ben had their arms wrapped around each other again, preferably in bed. Only then would the story come to an end.

She heard a knock on the office door.

Jones poked his head through the opening. “Anything I can do for you?”

“No, thanks. I’m inconsolable.”

“Make a decision on the associate?”

“No, I can’t. Toss a coin.”

“Tempting, but I think I’ll wait for you to pick.” He paused. “That guy at LexiCo is still calling.”

“Take a message.”

He frowned. “In my role as office manager, client relations come within my purview, and I think-”

“Stow it, Jones.”

“Ooookay.” He thought a moment. “Look, I’ve been monitoring the news. So far, no one knows anything.”

“Like who blew up the Jefferson Memorial?”

“If CNN knows, they’re not talking.”

“Then they don’t know. Is there a pending threat? Are there going to be more explosions?”

“Beats me. But the general consensus seems to be that the danger is not over.”

She pressed her lips together.

“I’m sure Ben’s fine,” Jones hastened to add.

“I’m sure he is, too. But I still want to see him.”

“I know.” Jones shuffled his feet on the carpet a minute. “I’m going out. Anything you want?”

“I want my husband!”

He nodded. “I’ll let you know if I hear anything.” He closed the door behind him.

Great. Now she felt guilty, too. She hadn’t meant to be sharp with Jones. She wasn’t fit for human companionship right now.

It just wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. She and Ben hadn’t even been married that long. She had waited so long for this! To think that she might lose him just when-

Just when she had a message she wanted to give him. She glanced at her watch. She would give it another hour. Tops. Try to get some work done. And if nothing happened by then…

Then she would make something happen.

The president requested a short recess before the next witness was called, and Admiral Cartwright granted it-with a strong emphasis on the word short. Kyler and Ben stepped into the small adjoining room where the president had received his initial briefing from the Secret Service agents.

“Ben,” the president said, “I appreciate all you’re trying to do for me. But this trial isn’t off to a good start.”

“I know,” Ben said, “and I’m sorry. Swinburne turned out to be a much sharper prosecutor than I expected. Has he been to law school?”

“No, he came straight out of the oil industry. But I think he has all the DVDs of the old Perry Mason series.”

“Well, that explains it.”

“There’s something you need to know about that jury you’ve got.” President Kyler leaned forward and spoke confidentially. “I know you’re probably thinking we have the edge, since I appointed them. You’re probably thinking they’ll be loyal, indebted, or at least self-interested enough to keep me in office. But the truth is I just barely won this thing, as you know. If Florida had gone the other way, I’d be toast.

I had such a thin mandate, I had to make compromises when I selected my cabinet. Try to appeal to all interested parties.”

“And how does this relate to the current trial?”

“What I’m saying, Ben, is that at least half the people in the cabinet, I don’t really know or like all that much. And the feeling is mutual.”

Well, that was just peachy. “Any other secrets you’d like to let me in on?”

“Yeah.” Anytime his client broke eye contact, Ben knew it was going to be bad. This time proved no exception. “The truth is-I haven’t been feeling… quite myself.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know exactly. I just don’t feel quite… right.”

“Are you telling me you have a problem?”

“I don’t know what it is.”

“Let’s cut to the chase, Mr. President. Should you step down?”

“No! No!” He waved his hands in the air. Ben had never seen the man look weaker. Was he doing the right thing here, trying to keep him in office? Or should he step aside and let the Swinburne locomotive take the presidency? “You can’t do that. I mean-you shouldn’t. You can’t. You know what Swinburne would do.”

“Pull our troops out of Kuraq.”

“Exactly.”

“And that would be bad.”

“We cannot do that!” the president insisted. Ben wasn’t sure if this was a show of strength or desperation. “We can’t abandon our troops. And especially not the men and women who went down in that helicopter.”

Ben stared into the man’s eyes, wondering what was going on in there. He felt more confused than ever.

“Mr. President, please just answer this one question for me. I’ve seen you experience these… episodes. Twice now. How do you explain them?”

The president shook his head helplessly. “I can’t.”

Ben winced. “Do you remember them?”

“Yes. No. I mean-sort of. It’s… hazy.”

“Do you feel as if you lose control?”

“No. I mean-I feel like I’m in control, but afterward… it’s like being drunk. Have you ever been drunk, Ben?”

“Can I plead the Fifth?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m not incompetent. And I’m not crazy.”

Ben swallowed. “Mr. President, forgive me for saying so, but it sounds to me as if there is… something going on inside your brain. Something not right.”

“I’ve been under enormous stress. Did you not hear what the doctor said? The question is whether I’m competent to govern. I don’t have to be perfect. Just competent.”

Ben supposed that was true enough.