"Get him on the phone, Jack," Duran said at last. "But just make one call. If he's not at his office, forget it."
In less than a minute Woodvale was turning around to say:
"He's in, sir. You want to talk to him?"
Duran grunted and lifted the phone from the clamp beside his seat.
"Senator Duran speaking," he said.
"Vance, this is Loeffler," boomed a voice in considerable contrast to the senator's own mild tone. "Something pretty fantastic has happened. We're trying to keep it quiet, at least until we decide on what action to take. But if you can make it over here some time this evening, I'll tell you the story. You're going to be in on it eventually, and I thought you'd prefer getting in on it early."
Duran had intended quite bluntly to explain that he had more important business. But there was something compelling about the man's apparently ingenuous urgency that caused the senator to change his mind.
"Okay, Loeffler. I'll be right over."
He broke the contact and told Woodvale to dial his home number.
"Ernie, this is Dad," he said at the sound of his younger son's voice. "Tell Mother I'm going to stop off at the Attorney General's office—that's right—but that I'll be home in plenty of time to get ready for the dinner. Got that? That's right. How's school? Something wrong? Okay, son, I'll see you later."