Lisa turned pale and suddenly looked twice her age. She sank back on her heels. Howhellip; clever. I told Timwick in the beginning we had to be careful of you. The electronic monitoring was obviously bogus, but I saw the infrared so I assume we have a little time before Logan gets here.
Eve nodded.
Good. I need a few minutes to pull myself to-gether. It seems impossible its all gone down She swallowed. I thought I had you. I thought your Bonnie was the key.
She was the key.
But you gave up the chance to
The stakes were too high. You hurt people I cared about.
I was going to do it, you know. I was going to keep my promise about finding Bonnie. Keeping my word about her would have made me feel better.
I believe you.
Eve tensed as Lisa rose to her feet.
Lisa shook her head. Im not going to try to hurt you. Im the one whos the walking wounded. Youvedestroyed me.
You destroyed yourself. Where are you going?
I dropped Bens skull when I ran for the heli-copter. She fell to her knees beside the skull. Its so hellip; small. It surprises me. He was such a big man. In every way, Ben was larger than lifehellip;
Until you killed him.
Lisa acted as if she hadnt heard her. He was so smart. He had such dreams. And he would have made them all come true. She stroked the left cheekbone. She whispered, What an incredible man you were, Ben Chadbourne.
Lisas touch was almost loving, Eve realized with shock. All the horror, all the terror was gone.
Lisas eyes were glistening with tears when she glanced up at Eve. The tabloids are going to want photographs of him. They always like the shots that are the most morbid and ugly. Dont let them take a picture of Ben like this. I want everyone to remember him as he was. Fight them. Promise me.
I promise. No pictures except the ones entered as evidence at the trial. After that, Ill see that he goes home.
Home. She was silent a moment, and when she spoke again there was wonder in her tone. It actu-ally matters to me. But it wouldnt matter to Ben. He always said its what we leave behind that matters, not what we become or where we go after we die. She stared down at the scorched skull and tears welled in her eyes again. God, this hurts me, Ben. I didnt think Id have to see you. You told me I wouldnt have to see you.
Eve froze. What did you say?
Lisa looked at her. I loved him, she said simply. Ive always loved him. I always will. He was kind and caring and extraordinary. Did you really think I could kill a man like that?
You did kill him. Or had Maren kill him for you.
I persuaded Scott to prepare the shot. She low-ered her eyes to the skull. But Ben took the hypo-dermic from Scott and injected himself. He didnt want Scott to have the responsibility. That was the kind of man he was.
Why?
Ben was dying of cancer. He found out a month after he was inaugurated.
It was a moment before Eve recovered enough to ask, Suicide?
No, suicides are cowardly. There was nothing cowardly about Ben. He just wanted to spare She stopped for a moment to steady her voice. He planned it all. He knew that all his dreams were going down the tube. Wed worked for fifteen years to get him into the White House. What a team we werehellip; He had to choose Mobry as vice president because we needed the South, but he always said I was the one who should have been on the ticket. I didnt care. I knew Id be there to help him. Then to find out that he was going to die before he could accomplish what he needed to hellip; It wasnt fair. He couldnt stand it.
He planned it all.
He chose Kevin Detwil. He told me how to handle him, what to tell him to make him most effective. He knew Id need Timwick. He told me what bait to use to get him to cooperate.
Timwick knew about his illness?
No, Timwick thought it was murder. Ben be-lieved hed be more controllable if he thought he was an accomplice to the murder of the President. He was right. She smiled bitterly. He was right about everything. Everything was going well. We all had our jobs to do. Mine was to control Kevin and work behind the scenes to make sure that Bens bills passed. I managed to get seven through Congress this term. Do you realize how hard I worked?
And what was Timwicks job? Eve asked grimly.
It wasnt meant to be killing. He was just there for protection and to make it easier to deceive everyone. He got scared. He panicked and I couldnt control him.
Then your Ben evidently wasnt right about him.
He would have been right if everything had gone as planned. If Donnelli had done what he was supposed to do. If Logan had never entered the pic-ture. She looked at Eve. If youd decided to mind your own business.
If no one else became suspicious.
What were the odds of that happening? Bens plan was almost foolproof. Do you realize what youve destroyed?
