Rivera closed the Yellow Pages and dropped the book on the floor. Why was she bothering looking for a new dojo? Her days in DC were numbered. Everyone knew it. She just needed to come to grips with it. Life was cruel, she decided. She’d been so close to the top. The one job that every agent covets. The SAC of a Presidential Detail. She was on track, and it would have been hers.

Tears welled and she fought them back. The hell if she was going to break down in front of them. That was what they were waiting for. They’d ship her off for another round of evaluation, and she wasn’t going to do that. She had more than a month of vacation and personal time banked. It was time to take it. Head out west again and hit the slopes. Maybe she’d stop by and see her family. They’d been worried about her when she’d gone home for Christmas, but after two days she couldn’t take the nagging and left early to go meet some friends in Tahoe. She’d hit the bumps hard for three straight days until her back hurt so bad she couldn’t take it anymore.

Rivera grabbed a tissue and wiped the corners of her eyes. She threw it in the garbage and decided she’d put in for vacation. She was about to send her boss an e-mail when her phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number on the screen but answered it nonetheless.

“Special Agent Rivera speaking.”

“Meet me on the street.”

“Who is this?”

“Your sparring partner. Get your ass downstairs. We need to talk.”

“Oh…it’s you. Nice article in theTimes. Sounds like you really made a mess of it.”

Rapp laughed. “You should know better than most not to believe what you read in the paper.”

Rivera looked over the top of her cube and said, “Based on my current situation, I’m not sure it’s a good idea for me to be seen with you.”

“Listen…I’m a busy guy. I have something you are going to want to see. Trust me. I’m parked at the curb. Silver Audi A8.”

The line went dead. Rivera held the handset for a second and then slowly put it back in the cradle. She looked around her empty desk for a moment and considered her empty career and quickly came to the conclusion that she had nothing to lose. She grabbed her purse and started for the elevator. Two and a half minutes later she was climbing into the front passenger seat of Rapp’s car.

“This better be good.” She put her sunglasses on and looked over at Rapp.

Rapp grabbed the gear shift and pulled it back into drive. “Put on your seatbelt.” He hit the gas and darted out into traffic.

“Where are we going?” Rivera fumbled with her seatbelt.

“Nowhere.”

She gestured with her right hand at the passing scenery. “We’re obviously going somewhere.”

“Nowhere in particular. I didn’t want to sit in front of your building.”

“Fine. What did you want to show me?”

“I have a few questions for you first.” Rapp hit his blinker and turned onto 19th Street and headed south toward the National Mall.

“I don’t like games. I’m not in the mood today. Just show me what you have.”

Rapp lowered his sunglasses a bit and looked over the top at his passenger. “You don’t like games? What in the hell would you call what you did to me in your dojo the other morning?”

She ignored the question and said, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, or if you care, but my career is basically over. Thirteen years right down the toilet.”

Rapp stopped for a red light and said, “I haven’t noticed, and no, I don’t care. I want answers, and I need them fast.”

She shook her head and looked out her window.

“At least I’m honest.”

“Good for you. An honest spy. You must be real unique.”

Rapp wasn’t a spy, but he wasn’t about to waste his time trying to correct her. “The day of the attack you said you didn’t shuffle the limos.”

“What are you talking about?”

“When you left the conference, right before the explosion, you told me everyone loaded up. You got in the first limo with Ross and Alexander and Alexander’s wife got in the second limo.”

“That’s right.”

The light turned green and Rapp took his foot off the brake. “And the limos were never shuffled. They stayed in that order until the explosion?”

“Yeah. I already told you this.”

“I’m just trying to make sure. Who decides who rides in which limo?”

Rivera frowned. Her thin dark eyebrows arching above her sunglasses. “I was the SAC. Typically, I do, but a lot of the times we work on the fly with the protectees and their staff.”

“I read in the preliminary report last night that Alexander and his wife arrived in the same limousine, but left in separate vehicles.”

“You have a copy of the preliminary report?” Rivera asked, her surprise obvious.

“Yes, and don’t worry. You come out of it unscathed.” Rapp wasn’t being entirely honest, but he didn’t need her getting all worked up. “Now is that right? Alexander and his wife arrived in the same car and left in separate cars?”

“Yes.”

“And in the report it says you assigned Special Agent Cash to ride with Alexander’s wife in the second limo?”

“Yes.” Rivera grew a bit tentative. “Where are you going with all of this?”

“Bear with me for a little bit longer, and I’ll tell you. The decision to put Alexander’s wife in the second limo, was that a staff decision, or was it your decision?” Rapp took a left onto Constitution Avenue, the Washington Monument looming large up ahead on the right.

“By staff I assume you mean campaign.”

“Yes. Was it you, or the campaign?”

“It was the campaign.”

Rapp’s fingers flexed on the leather steering wheel and then gripped it tight. He was homing in on the truth and he could feel it. “When were you informed of the change?”

“Probably fifteen minutes or so before we were going to leave for the vice president’s residence. Don’t hold me to that, though. Changes like this happen all the time. Even more so during a campaign.”

Rapp nodded. “I won’t. I assume if the campaign wants to make a change they need to inform you personally.”

“Usually, but I’m not always on.”

“When you’re on.”

“Usually, but not always. Sometimes they’ll grab the closest agent and have them tell me, but I made it clear that I wanted all changes to go through me directly.”

Rapp nodded as he drove. So far so good. It was how he had envisioned it. “So on the day of the attack, who informed you there was going to be a change in terms of who would be riding in which car?”

“Stu Garret.”

Rapp felt his chest tighten a bit as he began to experience a spike in adrenalin. “Stu Garret.” Rapp turned his head to the right, cracking his neck.

“Do you know him?”

“Only by reputation.”

“He’s extremely rude, to put it kindly.”

“So I’ve heard.” Rapp got in the right lane and prepared to turn onto 14th Street. “Was Agent Cash already assigned to the second limo or was that a last-minute change?”

“What is your interest in Agent Cash?”

Rapp took a right turn and sighed. “Nothing in particular. Just some inconsistencies we’ve found.”

“I don’t know if this will help, but we got in a fight that afternoon when I told him he needed to take Jillian back to her hotel.”

“So that was a last-minute change?”

“Yes.”

“And why did you decide to pick him over all the other agents?”

“I didn’t. She requested him.”

Rapp looked surprised. “You’re sure about that? Did she tell you personally, or did one of her aides tell you.”

Rivera thought about it for a moment and then said, “Actually, it was Garret who told me she’d requested him.”

Rapp took a hard left turn onto Jefferson Drive. “You’re sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“And this was normal.”

“Yes. He was the campaign manager. He was always running around barking at people making last minute changes.”

“Was it normal for Jillian to request Agent Cash?”

“Actually it was. We used to tease him about it.” Rivera smiled as she remembered her friend. “Some of the agents even joked that she had a thing for him.”