“I was about to. I wanted to hear your thoughts first.”
Still thoughtful, he nodded. “This started out as a last-gasp effort to save my life. Nevertheless, I’ve had occasional twinges of guilt, some reservations regarding the morality of this…undertaking.”
“I’ve tried to assuage those twinges and reservations.”
“For the most part, you have, though some lingered. As recently as last night. But these complications, one piled on top of the other, have given this a different slant. It’s become a challenge. It’s taken on the properties of a campaign.”
“You’ve never backed down from a challenge or—heaven forbid—lost a campaign.”
“No, and I don’t intend to.” He reached for her hand. “You know what’s required to win?”
“A cutthroat attitude.”
He smiled. “You’ve been listening.”
“For the past sixteen years. Listening and learning. Take no prisoners. Win at all costs. To you, it’s more than a motto with a nice ring to it.”
“It’s a credo.”
“I’m the most faithful of disciples.”
“I want to win this one, Del.”
“You will. It’s a certainty.”
“But not enough. I need to win…and leave the slate wiped clean.”
They exchanged a look of mutual understanding, and she sealed it by squeezing his hand.
“I’ll recall Goliad to duty, and alert him that we will be requiring his special services.”
The senator nodded.
Delores reached across and patted his knee. “You rest, darling. Leave everything to me.” She slid off her shoes, curled her legs up under her, and relaxed into the chair as she placed the call to Goliad. He answered right away. She explained the situation.
“Dr. O’Neal has proved herself adept at disappearing. We need you to find her again.”
“Understood, ma’am.”
“You know where to start, and there’s no time to waste. Go now. Take your sidekick with you.”
“Timmy is indisposed.”
Delores’s voice turned as brittle as an icicle. “Indisposed?”
Richard was instantly alert to the change in her tone. He gave her an inquiring look, but she raised her index finger, indicating that she would fill him in after the call.
Goliad said, “Timmy provoked Mallett. Mallett didn’t take it lying down.”
The details were sketchy, but he went on to describe a fight in a parking garage.
“Timmy cut the guy. His hand was bleeding. But in the end, he was upright and okay enough to leave in a run.”
“And you let him?”
“Yes, ma’am. There were security cameras everywhere.”
“I see.”