Ratio(40)

“How do you know I didn’t just change at work?”

“Your clothes are freshly pressed. No creases. You would have had to fold them up to bring them to work.”

“Any other observations?”

He shook his head. “Maybe another time.”

“Something on your mind?”

Leopold decided to change the subject. “Listen, it’s a big day tomorrow. I get the feeling the Secret Service folks aren’t going to go out of their way to lend us a hand. How about a little Seattle hospitality from you and the rest of your team? We could sure use it.”

Johnson took another sip of her drink, pushing a strand of hair behind her ears. “It’s all business with you, isn’t it?” She paused. “Listen, you’re right about my wanting to see you. I couldn’t say anything with all those agents around, but I’ve got my own concerns about the conference this weekend.”

“What kind of concerns?”

“Call it a gut feeling.”

“I’m going to need a little more than that.”

She took another sip, ice clinking against the glass. “I’ve worked security for fifteen years. I’m trained to spot things that look out of place. So far, I’ve not seen anything.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“Yeah, it is.”

Leopold finished his own drink. He considered ordering another, but settled for a Coke instead. “Explain.”

“With any high-profile event like this, you always get a few crazies pushing the perimeter. Or at least one or two alarm bells. It’s part of the job. I’ve made a few friends on the Secret Service detail. They keep me in the loop. With this, nothing. Not a whisper. It’s all far too polished, too perfect. That in itself rings alarm bells.”

“Maybe we’re just doing too good a job.”

She laughed. “Maybe. Or perhaps somebody knows something you don’t. Perhaps they know exactly what we’re looking out for, know how to keep their movements hidden.”

“Like an inside job? You have any suspicions?”

Johnson shook her head. “Like I said, it’s just a gut feeling. Hell, maybe this is just the one time in the history of my career that everything’s worked out without a hitch.” She drained the last of her gin and tonic. “But you got to plan for the worst, right? I’d keep my eye on Harper, if I were you. She’s not exactly popular around here.”

Leopold watched her stand up. “There is one other explanation,” he said.

“What’s that?”

He pushed his half-drunk bottle of Coke to the side. “That something’s already happened and we just haven’t been looking in the right place.”





Chapter 24





IT HAD BEEN a long time since June had cuddled. Feeling the coarse hairs of Jack’s chest on her back was reassuring. Even better, he hadn’t got up and left her. They were still cozy and warm beneath the sheets.

“What time do you present tomorrow?” she asked in the dark.

“I open the session in the morning. Ten o’clock.”

“Wow, session opener. I’m impressed.”

“Yeah, well, at least the President won’t be there for it.”

“What’s your topic about?” She instantly regretted asking. He had sent her information about it, but she never had looked at it.

“You didn’t read the promo material I sent?”

Her face felt warm and she knew she was blushing from embarrassment. “Kinda busy lately.”

“Use of phi and certain numerical streams to predict economic trends in specific markets.”

June fluffed her pillow, trying to find a comfortable arrangement. She turned her head back to look at him. “Phi?”

“The Golden Ratio, and using the Fibonacci sequence as predictors in economic development. The Fibonacci sequence is…”

“I know what it is,” June said. “I built a Fibonacci spiral from origami paper for a calculus class in high school. But how does Fibonacci relate to economics?” Lovemaking had been set aside until her curiosity could be satisfied.

“With reinvestment of profits at a Fibonacci growth rate, profits are shown to grow at an exponentially faster rate, depending on the market and product availability. Using idealized assumptions, anyway.”

“Whatever that means.” She squirmed around in his arms until she was facing him.

He looked into her eyes. “It means if business profits are reinvested at the same rate of the Fibonacci sequence, future profits will grow at the same rate, but exponentially higher. I’ve been using the same methods in campaigning. By reinvesting new campaign funds into previously balloted states, I remain not just in a static position comparatively to other candidates, but move ahead in polls.”