First Daughter - Eric van Lustbader [128]
"Okay, we gotta go." He and Alli rose. "For the time being, sit tight. You have enough food for a week?"
"I think so, yeah." Armitage crouched down, opened the half fridge. "Plus, when the Coke and juice run out, we've got plenty of water." He glanced up. "But that's really all academic, isn't it? The minute the people who run this place return in the morning, we'll be screwed."
"No, you won't. I know them." Jack still owned the building; because he charged his tenants way under the going rate, they'd do anything for him. "Trust me, they won't bother you." Jack shook Armitage's hand. "I'll get you out of this, Chris."
Armitage nodded, but he looked less than sure.
FORTY - ONE
JACK'S FIRST choice would have been Egon, but who knew where he was at this hour. Jack wasn't about to call the house to find out. That left him but one other option, so he took Alli to Sharon's.
He wanted to call her to warn her, but at this point, he was afraid to use his cell phone. Instead, he stopped at a drug superstore, bought a burner—a cheap cell phone with a pay-as-you-go plan. After setting it up, he dialed Sharon's number.
As soon as he heard her voice, he said, "I need to come over. Is it okay?"
"After what happened the last time?"
"It was just an argument. Don't make a big deal over it."
"Big deal? Jack, don't you understand? Emma was the central argument of our life together."
She was right, of course, but he didn't have time to get into it with her. "Listen to what I'm saying, Shar. I need your help. Now."
There was a slight hesitation. "Is everything all right?"
"Not quite."
"What's going on?" A different quality in her voice. The saber had been sheathed, the charger's hooves stilled. "You're scaring me."
"We'll be there in fifteen."
"We? Jack, who are you with?"
"Not on the phone," he said, and disconnected.
He got into the Continental and took off.
PARANOIA RUNNING at peak level, Jack checked out Sharon's neighborhood within an eight-block radius. That seemed excessive, even to him, especially since he could think of no reason why Sharon should be under surveillance. But since he still didn't know who had sicced the Dark Car on him—or even why—the more thorough he was in his security check, the better he'd feel.
Having ascertained there was no surveillance in the area, he pulled into Sharon's driveway. Alli hadn't said a word since she'd translated the text message from Nina for him.
With the engine still running, Jack turned to her. "You okay?"
"I guess." She put a hand to her temple. "My head hurts."
"Sharon'll get you some Tylenol as soon as we get inside."
"You guys broke up, didn't you?"
Jack nodded.
"Are you going to get back together?" Alli asked.
Jack sighed. "I'd be lying if I said I knew."
"Yeah, I know."
"What d'you mean?"
"Emma talked about you guys a lot because what upset her the most was the fighting. She couldn't bear it."
Jack opened the window a crack. The heated canned air was getting to him.
"Plus, she thought it was all her fault."
"That's not true!"
"That's funny, because she said you were always fighting about her."
Jack shut up then. There was a peculiar feeling in the pit of his stomach, as if he'd just overeaten and now had to get rid of the food at any cost. He opened the car door, got out. Leaning against the car, he realized that he was having trouble breathing.
Alli slid out, came around the front of the Continental to stand beside him. "I'm sorry if I upset you."
"Don't give it a second thought."
There had come a moment when, looking back, he saw that their fighting had been incessant. And about what? Nothing. They fought because it had become a habit, because they were locked in combat, like ancient enemies who no longer knew how their enmity began. He was sick of it. There had to be a better way to deal with each other