3 Thank God it's Monday Read Online Free PDF Page B

footing the bill
for your services. You are wasting their hard-earned money standing in here
flexing your muscles and making faces at me.”
    The senator did not relent. Agent Welker looked down at his
coat. He could not look the senator in the eye.
    “Yes sir. We will set up a perimeter,” he glanced over at
Jake. “No one will be able to get in or out without going through us first,” he
said, his words a threat and a promise.
    The senator rolled his eyes.
    “Well, I will rest easier knowing you are protecting me,
Brad,” Swane said, his voice full of sarcasm and mock gratitude.
    Agent Welker brushed past him and grabbed Sands by the arm. They
exited, the older agent following behind and shutting the door quietly.
    The Senator ran a hand through his thick shock of white
hair, old muscle rippling beneath his golf shirt. He looked deflated.
    “I cannot stand that jackass. He is so puffed up. I know he
is a fine soldier, but I do not trust his team. These were his best men in here
with him; it is the others I worry about.”
    “We know Agent Sands, but who was the older gentleman?”
Hallie asked, rubbing the pool stick between her palms, its rubber base
skidding on the wood floor.
    “Ex-military of some sort named Paul Salvatore. I think he
served in Desert Storm. Hard fellow, but kind and gentle to Nancy. He is the
sort of agent they need more of, not these self-important fellows that are more
bark than bite,” He shrugged. “I don’t know. I am too tired to be critical.” He
sighed. “I need to speak to you in complete privacy. I had Paul remove their
devices in here after I called you.”
    “You trust him?” Jake asked.
    “I don’t trust anyone right now.”
    “Welcome to the club,” Hallie said.
    “We have jackets,” Jake quipped.
    Swane’s smirk was a complement.
    “You two are some kind of team,” Swane remarked. “I would
love to stay and chat...”
    “What’s wrong with Nancy, Robert?” Jake asked quietly, his
hand on the senator’s arm. Jake could feel his arm trembling.
    The senator made a choking sound and his face contorted in
grief for a moment. He composed himself and swallowed.
    “Nancy has lung cancer. She’s been in remission for three
years. It is back and it is spreading too fast to do anything but wait it out,”
he said, his voice thick with emotion.
    Hallie slipped off the table and set the pool stick aside. She
put her arm around Robert’s shoulders as he bowed his head, his silent sobs
racking his body.
    Jake waited it out, thankful for Hallie’s comfort. Nancy’s
health, as devastating as it was, was not why the senator had called them and
asked them to come in person.
    “We’ll go see her,” Hallie offered.
    “She would like that.”
    “That’s not why you called us, though, is it?” Jake said.
    Senator Swane looked up, his eyes rimmed red, and shook his
head.
    “No. What I need to tell you is much graver than this,
this...tragedy. We knew she was sick. On the other hand, I had no idea that I had
been working for a madman all these years.” The senator had gone from grief to
anger and resentment in seconds.
    Jake furrowed his brow.
    “What do you mean?”
    “I am ashamed to say. It is why I sent them away. What I am
telling you now, I should by all rights be telling my priest,” he said.
    “Now you are starting to worry me,” Hallie said.
    “I’m worried, too,” Senator Swane said. “My legacy is
tarnished. My family’s name is damaged irreparably. We have been such fools.”
    “What are talking about?”
    He swallowed. Guilt and fury were mixed in the look in his
eyes.
    “I am going to pull out of the race.”
    “If you are worried about assassination attempts, we will
keep you safe, the Service is diligent and we have more tools today and better
communication with departments like the NSA...”
    Robert was already shaking his head.
    “I am pulling out of the race because of Nancy. I want to be
with her in these last days. But, even more, I do