Then he remembered what Allard had participated in five years ago .

.

. and today's clean-living remark.

Duncan pressed the button.

This time the pager made no sound, but he felt it vibrate against his palm.

Allard winced and rubbed his right thigh.

"Good luck with the TV folks, Kent, " Duncan said. "And think of an eighteen-year-old named Lisa."

"Pardon>" Allard said.

"Her name was Lisa. Keep that in mind." I want it to be your last coherent thought.

He turned and almost bumped into a dark-haired young woman.

wIn"T Gin tried to speak but found her voice locked. Not from the shock of seeing Duncan on the Capitol steps, but from the look on his face as he'd turned away from Congressman Allard. His eyes, arctic cold, cobalt hard, full of rage and hatred so intense she thought they'd leap from their sockets. Never in her life had she seen an expression like that.

For an instant she thought she was facing a feral stranger.

And suddenly it was gone. As soon as he spoke her name his face changed, metamorphosed into the Duncan Lathram she knew.

And then she could speak.

'"Duncan. You're the last person I expected to run into down here. " He stared at her for a few heartbeats. When he finally spoke, his voice was cool, distant.

"I might have said the same about you . . . until yesterday. How long have you been standing here? " She'd arrived early at the Rayburn Building for her meeting and had been told that Congressman Allard would be slightly delayed because of his television interview. Rather than sit cooling her heels, Gin had opted to stroll across Independence to catch the interview live.

Staying a discreet distance from the congressman's group she'd noticed a man who reminded her of Duncan, but she couldn't be sure from the rear, and besides, what would Duncan be doing down here? She'd edged closer, had been almost on top of him when he'd turned and they'd come nose to nose.