'Pat, what are you doing?' she asked.
'Welcoming you,' he replied.
'Why the gun?' she asked.
'Just go in!' Kendra snapped.
Kat turned angrily. 'What the hell are you doing?'
'We'll discuss that when Eric gets here,' Kendra said.
Kat walked into the living room. Senator Orr was sitting on a divan near the terrace. He was staring ahead, his breathing shallow. His arms were hanging limp, his hands lying palm-up in his lap. There was a glass-topped coffee table in front of him. An open bottle of ginger ale sat beside a half-empty glass. The senator's bodyguard was standing nearby.
'Senator?' Kat said. 'Is he all right?' she asked the bodyguard.
He did not answer. Kat ran to the senator's side and squatted in front of him. She took one of his hands in hers. It was cool. 'Senator Orr, are you all right?'
'He can't answer,' Kendra said. 'Mr. Simcox put several drops of sodium thiopental in his drink.'
'What is that?' Kat asked.
'A mild anesthesia,' Kendra replied. 'It should keep him still for about ninety minutes.'
'Why?' Kat demanded.
There was a knock at the door. Kendra waited. The knock was followed by two others. Kendra opened the door to admit Eric Stone. The young man walked in. His expression was serious but unworried.
'How is everything?' he asked.
'Perfect,' Kendra said. 'What is it like downstairs?'
'Mild disorder and growing,' Stone replied. He walked over to Simcox and took the gun. 'Get him dressed please, Thomas.'
'Yes, sir,' the bodyguard replied.
'Thomas?' Kat said.
'Thomas Mandor,' Stone replied. 'A longtime acquaintance of Admiral Link.'
'What is he, an assassin?'
'No, Kat. We do not want to kill the senator,' Stone assured her. 'We want to get him away from here and have a long talk about William Wilson and about the future. We want to make sure we all have an understanding.'
Kat rose and approached Stone. He held up his free hand for her to stop.
'Eric, what is this?' Kat asked. 'What are you doing?'
'We are helping to save the country,' he replied.
'What are you talking about? The senator is a patriot. And what about Admiral Link? You know him '
'The admiral is not the issue. What concerns me right now is Donald Orr,' Stone said. 'He is a killer, a belligerent nationalist who appeals to the basest fears of the electorate. He nurtures the kind of suspicion that will one day make us turn on ourselves, on anyone who is different than he is.'
Mandor returned with a hat, sunglasses, and wind-breaker. He began putting them on the senator.
'Please,' Kat said. 'Stop this. Stop before it's too late.'
'We are.' Stone moved closer to Kat. 'My question to you is this.
