Deadly Ambition — Donna Mabry

President Tim Connors is slipping badly in the polls and doesn't stand a chance of being re-elected. Chief of Staff Arthur Locke blames the First Lady, abrasive feminist Congresswoman Rachel Connors.Locke thinks he has the solution. Wouldn't it be easier to re-elect a handsome, grieving widower?When his plan to assassinate the President's wife goes terribly wrong, Locke sets in motion a chain of events that could allow him eventually to place himself in the presidency.Hired assassin Vincent Chambers tells Locke, “Killing a president is easy. Getting away with it is the hard part.”Locke's wife, Elaine, discovers his plan to kill Rachel and vows to stop him, even if she has to kill the man she once loved with all her heart.Washington D.C. is crawling with ambitious characters. There's the randy Vice-President Dennis Quinn, whose trysts with underage girls make plenty of copy for the tabloids, the slovenly head of the DNC, Arnold Combs, who doesn't really care who wins, as long as it's a Democrat, the Assistant Chief of Staff, Ralph Mason, who's so head over heels in debt that murder for money seems a logical way out.Secret Service Special Agent Jason Hall, along with the FBI, the CIA, and Arlington Chief of Police Tom Reilly, all sort through the scarce clues, but will any of them find the solution in time to prevent another murder?