Eric Lustbader - First Daughter

"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.

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 than through the armor of anger.

He nodded. "You're just telling me something both Sharon and I should've realized long before now."

SHARON LOOKED scared out of her wits when she opened the door.

"Alli!"

"Hello, Mrs. McClure."

"Come on in." Sharon took a look over their shoulders before closing and locking the door behind them. "Now what's this all about, Jack?"

They went into the living room, sat down on the L-shaped sofa.

"I'll get you something for your headache," Jack said.

"No," Alli said. "It's gone now."

Jack regarded her for a moment before turning to Sharon. "I need a safe haven for Alli," he said. "Just for a short time while I take care of some business."

Sharon looked skeptical. "Alli, why aren't you home with your parents?"

"It's a long story," Jack began.

"I'm asking Alli, Jack."

"It's not for her to answer that question."

"I think it is," Sharon persisted. "Alli?"

Alli looked down at her hands. "This is what Emma said it was like, being with you."

"What?" Sharon said. "What did you say?"

"You wanted her to answer," Jack said softly. "Hear her out."

Sharon glared at him, but remained silent. Perhaps the rattle of sabers was all she was prepared to deliver. Still, Jack could hear the snorting of her warhorse champing at the bit to head into battle.

Intuiting the silence as a tacit acknowledgment that she should go on, Alli took a deep breath. "There's no use arguing over this," she said softly. "Jack's right. If he can't tell you why I'm not with my parents, I can't either." She lifted her head. "But it's important I stay with you, that he's free to do whatever he has to do."

Sharon sat back, looked at Jack. "Did you put her up to this?" Seeing the expression on Jack's face, she raised her hands defensively. "Sorry. Sorry." She nodded. "Of course you can stay with me, Alli." She smiled. "As long as you want or need to."

Alli ducked her head. "Thank you, Mrs. McClure."

Sharon's smile widened. "But only if you call me Sharon."

JACK FOUND Nina's car idling at the curb outside Sharon's house. Before he could open the door, the passenger's-side window slid smoothly down, and Nina, leaning over from behind the wheel, said, "Backseat, Jack."

Curious, Jack opened the rear door. Sliding onto the seat, he found himself next to a rather short barrel-chested man with a neatly trimmed beard and the calm demeanor of a sage.

"Jack," Nina said, "meet Dennis Paull, Secretary of Homeland Security."

"Jack, it's good to finally meet you," Secretary Paull said as he briefly enclosed Jack's hand in a hearty grip. "Nina has told me a great deal about you."

"Has she?" Jack caught Nina's eyes in the rearview mirror. "Spying on me?"

Paull laughed. "Keeping an eye on you is how I see it. Nina works for me undercover. She's a damn good operative."

"I'm in no position to dispute that," Jack said.

Paull laughed again. "I don't trust people without a sense of humor, Jack. And d'you know why? Because nothing murders a sense of humor faster than keeping secrets."

"Nina's a barrel of laughs, I can vouch for that," Jack said. "She's the only one I ever met who used a chocolate-chip cookie as a missile."

That got an appreciative chuckle out of Nina.

"Okay, now that we're one big, happy family, let's get down to brass tacks," Paull said. "Jack, I think you're looking for some answers, and I have them. I sent out the Dark Car manned by two of my agents in order to keep an eye on you. They had orders to protect you should anyone make a move against you. Unfortunately, the National Security Advisor-perhaps with the blessing of the president-countermanded those orders."

What have I gotten myself into? Jack asked himself. "Why would anyone want to make a move against me?"