something I shouldn’t.” She gazed up at him. “Why?” “Because I know how hard

this has been on you. And I know you’ve told me more than you normally would.

And I appreciate that.” She wiped at her face and continued to look at him. “It

was the Vice President who got me back on the case.” Knox stood unsteadily and

placed a hand against the wall. “The VP? The VP!” “Yeah, the guy who takes over

if the President goes down.” “Holy shit. You met him?” “He called me over for a

drink, a free ticket back on the job, and a warning.” “But why him? Why the hell

did he get involved?” “That one’s easy. My father was his mentor. He was

repaying a favor. But that’s as far as he’d go. And just so you know, he’s

scared too. And he’s not privy to everything. And he will never officially

acknowledge his intervention.” Knox stared at him dumbly. “The Vice President of

the United States is scared?” “Everybody gets scared from time to time, Knox,

even the Vice President. But we need to focus. Some thoughts are coming together

for me. Want to hear them?” “Yes,” she said. “But I have to tell you something

first.” She crossed the small room and sat on the edge of the bed. “I didn’t

exactly show up on your doorstep for the reasons I said I did.” “Astonishing,”

replied Puller coolly. “When the allegation came out about your father killing

your mother I was called in by my boss. He obviously knew that we had worked

together.” “And was it his idea to have you try to seduce me?” asked Puller, his

gaze never leaving her face.

 

Her face flushed. “No, that…that was on me.” Puller looked a bit taken aback by

this. “Okay. Go on.” “I just thought they wanted me to see if the allegations

were true, although I didn’t understand why it was any concern of my agency’s.”

“And did there come a time when you began to understand?” asked Puller. “It’s