Washington, D. C., Saturday…

Jake Hanlon tossed some hardcopy onto Pierce Hamilton's desk.

"This is our final on the Daniela Romano scandal. For your eyes only. I don't think you want this in the press. They already had enough to get them off your back. This is just FYI."

"How is she?"

Hanlon studied the man before him for a moment. Just like an ex-priest. More worried about saving the criminal's soul than protecting his own well-being. It's still a knee-jerk reaction with you, Pierce, even though you're mostly one hell of a politician.The FBI director had known this man for years and still found him to be a mystery, perhaps because his own faith had disappeared so many years ago.

"She's still denying it was a setup. We even gave her a lie detector test. I don't know how it was done, though she actually believes she was your mistress. We really have nothing to charge her with."

"Is she a nut case?"

"I don't think so. Somehow she got programmed. It's been done before. And the Russians were the best at it."

"What's that mean?"

Jake gestured to the file. "It's all in there. At some of the places shown in the press photos, eyewitnesses identified the man that was with the Romano woman, the one who served as the hanger frame for adding your digitized image. His name is Vladimir Kalinin."

"I've heard of him. He's the CEO of one of the major drug companies. He's an international VIP. Even contributed to Fulton's campaign. You're saying that he set this up? What's the motivation?"

"Our people have concluded it was his way of going after the President. I hope that doesn't mess with your ego but that's the way we see it. A lot of Kalinin's enterprises stood to lose money because of John Fulton's policies."

"The whole thing sounds illegal."

"It is, at least in this country. We have a warrant out for his arrest, to Interpol."

"Because he's out of the country?"

"Correct. He was last seen in Italy. His yacht pulled into Brindisi yesterday."

"Well, let me know when you find him. I would like to interview him personally."

"Off the record, of course."

"Off the record."