Flash

enabled him to go."
    "Why would she do that?" Todd closed the passenger door as the Jeep leaped away from the curb.
    "I'll tell you on the way down to the waterfront." Jasper ran the red light at the intersection.
    A litany started up in his brain. It pounded through his veins.
I won't be too late. I can't be too late
.
    But his timing was off. He could feel it in his bones.

    Olivia abandoned the frail hope that Bolivar, Bernie, and Matty would burst through the door to unwittingly rescue her. The pistol in Eleanor's hand did not waver.
    "You know, Eleanor, you really would have made an interesting governor."
    "I would have made a great governor." Rage leaped in Eleanor's eyes. "And an even greater president. This state needed me. This country needed me. But now, because of you, everything is finished."
    Olivia gathered herself. "I always say, give the client what she wants. Eleanor, I want you to know that we at Light Fantastic had planned a really spectacular finale for the fund-raiser. I'd hate for you to leave town without seeing that you got what you paid for."
    She swept out a hand and hit a row of switches on the control panel.
    Martial music swelled suddenly, surging through the speakers on either side of the stage. Drums thundered. Horns blared. The exhilarating strains of a hundred-voice chorus filled the warehouse.

    —
Sweet land of liberty

    The roaring music shattered Eleanor's focused determination for an instant. She flinched.
    "Shut that off." Her gaze shifted wildly toward the nearest speaker.
    Olivia dove off the back of the stage. She landed heavily on a tangle of electrical cords.
    "Damn you, this country needed me," Eleanor screamed.
    Red, white, and blue light blazed in the cavernous gloom of the warehouse. Sprawled on the nest of cords, Olivia looked up and saw the huge flag unfurl in all its glowing majesty.

    —
Land of the pilgrims' pride

    Eleanor came to stand at the edge of the stage. She peered down, searching the gloom for her target.
    Olivia rolled off the pile of cords and threw herself headlong beneath the stage. The lights of the flag created a dazzling glare that cast her hiding place into dense shadow. She could crawl out on the opposite side near the steps.
    She paused when her hand touched a length of metal on the floor. One of the structural pieces left over from the construction of the some-assembly-required platform overhead. She picked it up.
    Another scream, this one of fear rather than rage echoed through the warehouse. Eleanor must have finally looked up and seen the descending flag, Olivia thought.
    But it was too late. There was a shuddering crash on the floor of the stage as Eleanor, scrambling to get out of the way, lost her balance and fell.
    Olivia crawled out from under the stage, metal bar in hand. This would be her only chance to try to get the gun away from Eleanor.
    But when she stood upright and whirled around to survey the situation she saw that there was no great need to grab the pistol.
    Eleanor was trapped unmoving beneath the heavy flag. She had dropped the gun when she put out her hands to break her fall.
    The blazing flag lit up the warehouse, and the majestic strains of the music continued to blare forth a moment later when the warehouse door slammed open.
    Olivia stood in front of the glowing flag and watched Jasper and Todd rush toward her. She was trembling so violently that when Jasper reached her, she fell into his arms.
    "It's about time you got here, partner," she whispered.
    His arms tightened around her so violently that she could not say anything else for a long while.

32
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    I t took some doing, but Jasper made certain that they caught the six-fifteen ferry to Bainbridge that evening. They both needed the tranquillity of the island after the endless interviews with the police, phone calls, and demands for interviews. He was certain that the phone in Olivia's condo would be ringing all evening.
    As far as he knew, neither the media nor any of Olivia's relatives had his unlisted island number.
    They walked on board and stood at the rail as the ferry pulled away from the dock. The summer sun was still high in the evening sky. A warm, golden light glinted on the windows of the downtown highrises. Jasper put his arm around Olivia and pinned her close against his side.
    "She sent him to kill you." Olivia gripped the rail very tightly. "She thought that if she got rid of you in a sort of preemptive strike, it would be easier to control