First Daughter - Eric van Lustbader [100]
"Were you a member of FASR?" Jack said.
"So far as I know that's not a crime."
"You dropped out three and a half months ago," Nina said.
"Again, not a crime." Tolkan laced his fingers together. "Where, may I ask, is this going?"
Jack walked slowly around the room, studying everything. "E-Two."
Tolkan blinked. "I beg your pardon?"
"You can," Jack said, turning to him, "but it won't do any good."
Tolkan spread his hands. "What's an E-Two?"
"Doesn't read the paper, apparently." Nina, perched on the arm of the sofa, took a tiny bite of her chocolate-chip cookie. "My, this is good."
"Listen." Jack advanced toward the desk. "We're not in the mood for lies."
Tolkan shook his head. "Lies about what?"
Was it Jack's imagination, or was Joachim Tolkan becoming more and more like his late father, Cyril? He found the thought intolerable. He was just about to lunge at Tolkan when, entirely without warning, Nina skimmed her cookie right at Tolkan's head. The edge struck him just over the left eye, the impromptu missile shattering on impact.
Tolkan's hand flew to his face. "What the hell—!"
Jack reached over, grabbed Tolkan by his lapels, dragged him up off his comfortable chair so that he was half-hanging over his desk. Cookie crumbs and bits of chocolate were strewn across his Hermes tie.
"You haven't been listening to us, Joachim." Jack's face was flushed; there was a murderous look in his eye. "We don't have time for your fun and games." Jack hurled him back into the chair. "Tell us about your involvement in E-Two."
Now it was Tolkan's face that was white. He looked visibly shaken. "I was sworn to secrecy."
"Your allegiance is admirable," Nina said with a chill Jack could feel, "but misplaced."
"Spill it, Joachim!" Jack thundered.
Tolkan expelled a little squeak. "All right, but there really isn't much to tell." With a trembling hand, he pushed his hair off his forehead. "I heard about E-Two through someone I worked with at FASR. I quit when he did because he said FASR was too slow and poky, too conservative to get anywhere. He said if I was really serious about change, there was another group we could join, one that would get things done. Sounded good to me, so I said okay. Then I come to find out that E-Two's methods are violent."
"That didn't attract you?" Jack said.
"What? No."
"But your father was a violent man."
Joachim regarded Jack with the proper amount of fear. "What does my father have to do with it?"
Jack said, "The rotten apple doesn't fall far from the poisoned tree."
Tolkan shook his head. "You've got it wrong."
Nina crossed her arms. "So enlighten us."
Tolkan nodded. "The truth is once I was old enough to understand how my father could afford all the luxuries I enjoyed as a kid, I stayed as far away from him as I could. It sickened me the way he'd take us all to church on Sunday, how he'd kneel, say his prayers to Jesus, quote from the Bible, and then go out and do . . . the things he did. I wanted no part of him, his contacts, his blood money. I worked my way through college, got an MBA from Georgetown."
Nina came down off the sofa arm. "So how come you wound up here?"
"I worked for Goldman Sachs for a year and hated every minute of it. When I quit, I decided I wanted to be my own boss. The bakery was still going, more or less. I saw an opportunity. I stepped in, invested in advertising, in a community-outreach program. Gradually I built up the business to the point where I needed to expand."
"And look at you now," Nina said.
Jack put his fists on the desk. "So you expect us to believe that you never joined E-Two."
"I didn't," Tolkan said, shying away. "I swear it."
"What happened?" Nina asked.
"I felt ashamed of myself. I went back to FASR, but they wouldn't have me. Chris said I could no longer be trusted."
Jack said, "This friend of yours—"
"He isn't a friend."
"Colleague, whatever." Jack pulled himself up. "Does he have a name?"
"Ron Kray."
Nina checked the printout Armitage had given them. "He's here," she said,