First Daughter - Eric van Lustbader [125]
Jack moved them back into the shadows of the hulking warehouses on their right, crouched down, making their way past the activity. As they moved farther down, the light continued to fade until they were once again engulfed in deepest shadow. At the back of the building that used to house the Hi-Line, they crept along until they reached what looked like a windowless wall. Jack moved his fingertips along the wall until he found the join he was looking for, the outline of the door Gus's detective clients used to come and go without being seen.
Slipping a credit card out of his wallet, he slid it into the join on the left side. A moment later, though Alli heard no sound at all, he gripped the join with the tips of his fingers and the door opened outward.
They slipped in together and Jack immediately closed the door behind them. They were in almost complete darkness. Ahead of them was a thin line of warm light coming through the crack between an inner door and the floor.
Stepping up to the door, Jack turned the knob and, opening it, crossed the threshold. Chris Armitage whirled around, grabbing for a length of pipe.
Jack said, "Down, boy. You could get yourself killed that way."
Armitage had the look and posture of a hunted animal. "How the hell did you find us?"
As he said this, Jack looked behind him at Peter Link, asleep on the sofa. "Let's just say that I know these buildings were the haunts of bootleggers in the thirties, complete with escape routes to outwit the police."
Armitage's mouth twitched sardonically. "Seems nothing much has changed since then." He sighed, put aside the pipe. "I suppose they enlisted you to take us in."
"I had to dodge a Secret Service detail to get in here unnoticed," Jack said. Then he turned and beckoned.
Armitage's eyes opened wide. "Good God."
"Chris Armitage, this is Alli Carson, the soon-to-be First Daughter. Alli, Chris is the co-head of the First American Secular Revivalists."
"What's left of it," Armitage said. "Hey, Alli." Then, to Jack: "Why on earth did you bring her here?"
Jack smiled. "I thought you and she ought to meet."
"My organization has just been smeared by the President of the United States with the help of the Russian president." Armitage let go a bitter laugh. "This is hardly the time for a get-together."
"I don't see that you have anything better to do," Jack said.
Armitage nodded. "I can't argue there." He lifted an arm. "Sorry I don't have much in the way of conveniences to offer you." He pointed at a half fridge. "There're Cokes in there, a couple of cartons of juice. And frozen food."
Jack and Alli shook their heads as they sat on facing chairs. Armitage perched on the edge of the sofa.
"How's Link?" Jack asked.
"Out like a light, as you can see." Armitage ran a hand through his hair. "He'll be okay. Thanks for asking. Thanks for everything."
Jack waved away his words. "I'd like to ask you about a former member of FASR. A man you know as Ronnie Kray."
"Oh, him." Armitage rubbed his chin. "Interesting guy, actually. Very smart, very intense. And he'd done his homework—he knew all the ins and outs of every argument we're propounding. He was so well versed, in fact, that Peter and I wanted him to make some personal appearances with us, you know, to get the word out."
Armitage opened the half refrigerator. After offering them a drink, he took out a can of Coke, popped the top. "Above all, Kray had a quality about him—he was quite charismatic. That was another reason we wanted him to take a more active role. But he turned us down." He gulped down some soda. "He told us he could only spare us a couple of days a week. Plus, he said he was strictly a behind-the-scenes type of guy."
"Did you believe him?" Jack said.
"Interesting question. In a funny way, I did. He had trouble interacting with the other FASR members. He lacked—what?—for want of a better phrase, social graces."
"In what way?"
Armitage rolled the soda can between his palms. "He had no tolerance for people who didn't do things his way—and at the speed of light. He pissed off more