“The-the Sire-”

“He left when I told him you were dead. Fortunately, he didn’t have the training or experience to detect your heartbeat, especially when it was so faint. As soon as he was gone, I shot you up with epinephrine to stimulate your heart. Treated the knife wound, too. But you need to take it easy. You’ve been through a lot, and too much activity after a dose of epinephrine could throw you into seizure all over again.”

Loving had no problem following the command to stay put. He felt much too puny to move. “Why did you do all this for me?”

“Look, I’m sorry I got you involved in the first place. It’s just-I didn’t know what else to do. You may have noticed-he’s crazy.”

“And the rest of your little club?”

“Don’t be a smart-ass. I may be intrigued by the vampire mythology. I even think the bloodsucking ritual is a turn-on, but I draw the line at murder. And what he’s got going on in the narthex-that’s inhuman. This whole operation-” He shook his head fiercely. “I never wanted to go after those girls-I never wanted any part of it. The Sire lost control and now everyone in the Inner Circle is paying the price.”

“But-”

“Shh. Just try to rest. The others have already left. As soon as the Sire leaves, I’ll smuggle you out of here. Get you back to your people at the law firm. A big tough guy like you should heal up in no time.”

“And you?”

“I think-I think I’m going to leave town. Start somewhere else. It’s obvious to me now-no one can take down the Sire. Not me, not you. He really is immortal. Indestructible. The best I can hope for is to go somewhere far away, somewhere safe, someplace he can never hurt me, and then-”

He froze in midsentence. His entire body stiffened. At first, Loving thought he was going to scream, but when the sound actually came out, it was quieter, more like a strange, hollow rattle.

A death rattle.

His body tumbled forward, and there was nothing Loving could do to avoid it. It fell sideways across his abdomen, knocking the air out of his chest, leaving him gasping for breath.

A scalpel was sticking out of the back of his neck.

In the distance, Loving saw a pair of piercing eyes hovering above him.

“So glad to see you’re still alive, Mr. Loving.” The Sire began to laugh, loud and horribly, hysterically, his dark, deep laughter echoing through the tiny subterranean room. “Now I’ll have the pleasure of killing you myself. After I’ve learned what I want to know. After I’ve sucked you dry.”

“Well now, that was a sweet little story you told,” Padolino said, as he strode across the courtroom toward Senator Glancy. “Touching, especially the part about your close relationship with your wife. I felt my eyes getting itchy.”

Glancy remained phlegmatic. “Was that a question? If it was, I didn’t understand it.”

“So now you admit that you were planning to meet Veronica Cooper on the day she died, at about the same time she died, and that you entered the rear stairway that led to your hideaway at just that time. But we’re supposed to believe you didn’t kill her?”

“That’s right. I didn’t.”

“Must’ve been someone else. Someone who intercepted her on her way to the cafeteria.”

“I really have no idea. I can’t imagine who would want to kill her.”

“Then we agree on that point, Senator. No one had any reason to kill her. Except you.”

Christina started to rise, but Glancy was already answering. “I disagree with that statement. I had no motive at all. As my wife said, she had the situation under control. Sure, I wanted to meet with her, to see if we couldn’t come up with some better solution than blackmail payments. I could see she had problems, possibly mental problems, and I knew that video was going to make it impossible for her to work again in DC. I wanted to see if I could help her make a fresh start, find her another job, maybe something in Oklahoma. I have a lot of friends back home. It wouldn’t be hard.”

“How altruistic of you.”

“And even if that didn’t work-Marie had given her the money she wanted. Either way, I had no motive to kill her.”

“Assuming we believe everything you’ve told us. Which I for one don’t.”

Christina gave Ben the eye. Padolino was making a lot of nonquestion smart remarks. She could object, but she had a hunch that Padolino’s sudden resort to arrogance and sarcasm would turn the jury off, which could only work to Todd’s favor. Give the man enough rope…

“Even if I were going to kill her,” Glancy continued, “which I would never, ever do, I certainly wouldn’t do it at the U.S. Senate. That’s just stupid. And leave the corpse in my own hideaway? That’s beyond stupid. That’s idiotic.”

“So you want us to believe you would never, ever do that, right?”

“Right.” Glancy allowed himself a small smile. “Hell, if I really were stupid enough to kill someone at the U.S. Senate, I wouldn’t leave the corpse in my hideaway.” He paused. “I’d take it to some Republican’s hideaway.”

Grim as the subject was, that actually got a few chuckles. More important, Christina thought, he’d made his point.

“This all assumes that the murder was carefully planned in advance. But I think it’s more likely that you got angry when your attempt to charm her out of her blackmail money failed, lost control, killed her, didn’t know what to do with the body, and left her there till you had time to come up with something better.”

“Wrong. All of it. And just for the record, Mr. Padolino, I never lose control.”

Wrong thing to say. “Yes, we’ve heard all about how you like to stay in control. How you like to dominate. Especially when you’re with your many, many women.”

Aw, swell, Christina thought, priming herself to object. Here we go.

“There were two,” Glancy said emphatically. “I told you that. No one has proven anything different.”

“And what about the handcuffs? Ropes? Is that part of how you like to stay in control?”

Christina rose to object, but Glancy literally waved her down. “Let me say once and for all that I am sick and tired of your use of this courtroom to engage in slanderous statements that don’t relate to the murder in any way, shape, or form.” He was becoming a little heated, but Christina thought-hoped-that he was okay. “I have admitted that I made mistakes, that I had affairs with two women. What possible business of yours is it how we like to go about it? I know it has been fashionable in the press to pry into politicians’ sex lives under the veil of a ‘character issue.’ Are we now going to start doing that in the courtroom? If you made these statements anywhere else, I could sue you for slander, and I for one do not see why courtroom immunity should extend to a prosecutor making gratuitous sexual innuendos that don’t relate to the case at bar.”

“Lovely little speech,” Padolino said, clapping. “Very dramatic. Move to strike.”

To everyone’s surprise, Judge Herndon hesitated. “No,” he said finally, “I think I’m going to let that stand. It was irrelevant, but then so was your question. I think I’d like to see that remain in the record. Maybe, with luck, one of the reporters in the room will print it. Or perhaps even give it some thought.”

Padolino was furious. Christina could see him scanning his outline, looking for another dramatic topic. “Exactly how many times have you lied to the public now, Senator?”

“I’m not aware of any.”

“You lied about your affair.”

“At no time did I lie about any affair. I was silent on the matter. There’s a big difference.”

“I believe that’s what, in my church, we call a sin of omission.”

“Call it what you like. It wasn’t a lie. I didn’t lie before and I’m not lying now.” He turned to face the jury. “You have my word on that. I will not lie to you.”

“You expect us to trust you?” Padolino said indignantly. “Your own wife, the woman who knows you best in all the world, doesn’t trust you.”