The senator gave Mike’s shoulder another series of pats, along with an admiring smile like a proud father’s at his son’s graduation.

In a chorus, the visitors thanked the senator for seeing them, especially in view of his demanding schedule. Zealous smiles defined each and every face. If the people were disappointed at the brevity of the meeting and the fact that they’d had to wait almost a half hour, they didn’t show it in the slightest.

“It’s my pleasure,” Ashley gushed. “We’re here to serve.”

Spinning around, Ashley turned to leave. As he reached the door, he waved. His home-state visitors responded in kind.

“That was easy,” Ashley murmured to Carol Manning, his long-term chief of staff, who’d followed from the conference room at her boss’s heels. “I was afraid they were going to hogtie me with a litany of sad stories and unreasonable demands.”

“They seemed like nice people,” Carol said vaguely.

“Do you think Mike can handle them?”

“I don’t know,” Carol said. “He’s not been here long enough for me to have much of an idea.”

Leading the way, the senator strode down the long hall toward his private office. He glanced at his watch. It was five-twenty in the afternoon. “I assume you remember where you are taking me now.”

“Of course,” Carol said. “We’re going back to Dr. Whitman’s office.”

The senator shot a reproachful look in Carol’s direction while pressing his forefinger against his lips. “That’s hardly for general consumption,” he whispered irritably.

Without the slightest acknowledgment of his office manager, Dawn Shackelton, Ashley grabbed the papers she held up as he passed her desk and entered his private office. The papers included a preliminary schedule for the following day, along with a list of the calls that had come in during the time he’d been over at the capital for a late roll call vote, plus the transcript of an impromptu interview with someone from CNN who’d waylaid him in the hall.