First Daughter - Eric van Lustbader [54]
Jack peered into Garner's face. He was determined to keep his voice calm and steady. Someone had to be rational in this discussion. "Because they don't think like you or the current Administration?"
"They kidnapped the First Daughter!"
"You don't know that."
"Quite right. Thanks to you, I don't. Not for certain, anyway. On the other hand, we have E-Two's signature at the scene of the crime."
"Someone else could have left those," Jack pointed out.
Garner laughed bitterly. "You don't really believe that, do you?"
"To be honest, I don't know what to believe, because we don't yet know what's going on."
Garner began to walk back the way they had come. "Right. Let's get back to the interrogation so we can find out."
Jack turned, blocked his way. "I won't let you continue torturing these people."
"You can't stop me."
Jack flipped open his cell phone, put it to his ear. "I'm due to call the president-elect anyway."
Garner put up his hands. "Look, look. I'm here to find the people who snatched the president-elect's daughter. What's your excuse?"
"Torture doesn't work," Jack said. "Either the subject clams up till he dies or, more likely, he lies. He tells you exactly what you want to hear, but it's not the truth. Fortunately, there's a better way to determine if these guys are the perps."
Garner licked his lips. Jack could see his ire ebbing slightly.
"So what's your bright idea?"
Jack folded his cell phone, put it away. "I go back in there, talk to Chris Armitage. Then I let him go."
"Are you insane? I won't allow it!"
"We release him and, when he's recovered, Link as well," Jack said. "We follow them. Put them under twenty-four-seven surveillance. If they're involved, we'll know it soon enough."
After considering a minute, Garner nodded. "This is your idea, you do the surveillance yourself."
Too late, Jack saw how Garner would make him pay for challenging him. Though Jack wanted more than anything to detach himself from Garner, run down his own lead with regard to Cyril Tolkan, he knew he couldn't wriggle out of this assignment, so he nodded his assent.
"I'll need help keeping an eye on the two men."
"That's your problem. Take care of it."
As he was walking away, Garner called after him, "You have forty-eight hours, bright boy. And after you fail, I will have your career."
SIXTEEN
WHY IS the light out?"
From out of the absolute darkness, Alli Carson felt the air against her face and she shrank away, certain that he was going to hit her. In the days she'd been here, he'd never struck her, but the threat of violence was always in the air, keeping her immersed in a sea of terror. She was too frightened not to sit in it.
"What have I told you?" Kray's voice seemed disembodied, the heart of the darkness itself. "No talking except at mealtimes."
She kept her head up. He didn't want to hurt her, merely to teach her a lesson not yet learned; she knew this now.
"You need to focus your mind, Alli."
She could tell by the placement of his voice that he had sat down in front of her. She felt a little thrill of accomplishment at her newfound ability to discern the nuances of movement in sounds. This was Ronnie Kray, the same man Emma had met, whom Emma wanted to know more about. Now it was her turn. She had to keep that thought in the forefront of her mind. Emma had taught her how to be tough, how to go her own way. Emma was also fearless, a trait Alli had never been able to grasp. Perhaps now was her chance. Be brave, she told herself. Fate has put you in the same hands as Emma. You have the chance to finish what she started. You have a chance to understand this enigmatic man.
"You have a keen mind," Kray continued, "but it's been dulled by your sheltered life. You've been taught to believe that you live a pampered life, but that's a lie. The truth is you live the life of a prisoner. You're forbidden to go where you want, you're forbidden to say what you want. You can't even make friends without your father's knowledge, so that their private lives can be invaded by the Secret Service,