I started up the stairs. 29 You went in the house? I guess so. I guess I looked a mess. The next night there were two stretch limos in front of Jesss magnificent home. But with murder came horror. Knowing that someone out there had killed your kid. Your first instinct was to avenge your child. Then, when that emotion died down, things would be looked at more rationally. At that point, the understanding that someone had violently taken your childs life could make you delve into all sorts of personal spaces where most parents would probably rather not go. But what brought all this to mind were the emails I was reading on this rainy autumn afternoon in Danton, Illinois, population eighty thousand and home of Congresswoman Jessica Bradshaw, whose reelection campaign I was running. Her friends called herJess, and wed begun to use that in some of our radio ads. There was nothing fun about the exercise this time. There were two chairs in front of the aircraft-carrier-sized desk. Ted, being the commander, sat behind the desk; Showalter and I sat in front of it. Like wind. I thought the ads say, At sixty miles per hour, the loudest noise is the ticking of the clock. Did Sally say anything else? Well, it wasnt all gone. I … I tell you I didnt take an inventory. Devine sat up straighter and leaned forward.What? Sara was pregnant? Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Montgomery. Let me get the technicalities out of the way. You breathe one word of this to anyone, youll be spending the next twenty years in a federal prison, are we clear? Like carvebitch into her skin? You were friends with Sara Ewes? Audrey took another drag on her marijuana, picked up the pepper cannister, and sat back down at the table. She offered me the cannister but I shook my head. When are you going back to New York? Lance asked. No, sir. I sat down in one of the leather chairs and instead of going around behind his desk and sitting behind it, Corsing sat down in a chair next to me. It was a nice touch, and he knew it was a nice touch, and I didnt mind at all..