There was a pause; then a new voice said, "Jim? Leo Winstead here. Just heard the news. Everything all right?"
"Couldn't be okayer, Leo."
Winstead coughed. "Jim, maybe this is too soon to ask you to think about returning to work, but I want to put a proposition to you."
"What kind?"
"New York State is short one senator right now. I have to appoint somebody to replace Thurman. And it seemed to me that you—"
Harker nearly let the phone drop. When he had recovered his poise he said, "I'm still a sick man, Leo. Don't shock me like that."
"Sorry if I did. But it's a job I think you're equipped to handle. Interested?"
"I sort of think I am," Harker said wryly.
When he had finished talking to Winstead, he hung up the phone and looked at Mart Raymond. "That was Governor Winstead. He's naming me to the Senate to fill the rest of Thurman's term."
"Wonderful!"