The problem was that the description was too damn general. Finding the actual guy would take a lot of investigation and a fair bit of luck. Heinrich saw a lot of young blood here, plus some older guys and one tottering ancient who may have fought on the wrong side of World War Two. Everyone was white and with only a couple of exceptions everyone was male.

He did, however, catch a lot of accents. His ear for accents was as good as his ear for languages, and he heard natives of Italy, England, Spain, and France in the crowd. No Polish, unfortunately.

Heinrich found a seat near the back where he could observe without being seen too clearly by the speakers. A middle-aged man sat down next to him and extended a hand.

“Heil Hitler. Pleased to meet you,” the man said.

“Pleased to meet you too.” Heinrich couldn’t bring himself to return the complete greeting. It took all his self control to let the man keep his teeth.

The guy didn’t seem to notice. “Glad to be finally having a meeting like this. Things are starting to move.”

“Damn right they are. About time too.”

“You been keeping your computer clean?”

“What do you mean?” Heinrich asked. “I take all the usual precautions.”

“Haven’t you downloaded the latest issue of the Crooked Cross?”

“I’ve been really busy with work, and I’ve been rereading Mein Kampf.”

The guy’s face lit up. “Ah, a fine book.” Then he got serious again. “Oh, but it’s a good thing you haven’t downloaded the latest issue. It’s got a virus. I and a few other brothers had our hard drives wiped.”

Heinrich suppressed a smile. That sounded like Biniam’s work. He was glad to see his friend had a productive hobby. Before Heinrich could figure out something else to say, someone clearing their throat in the front of the room brought the crowd to silence. A middle-aged man who dressed like he had just stepped out of the bar of a country club addressed the crowd.

“Welcome to my home. Sieg Heil!”

He made the straight-armed salute, standing proudly in front of the Nazi flag in his button-down shirt, yellow slacks, and a blue sweater tied around his neck.

I knew it, Heinrich thought. The preppies are all Nazis.

“Sieg Heil!” the crowd replied. Heinrich managed the salute but only mouthed the words. His heart raced.

“Now you’ll forgive me if I don’t introduce myself,” this brought some nervous laughter from the crowd, “but with his prior permission I will introduce our speaker for tonight. He is brave enough to go by his real name. Marcus Bowers. He’s the new East Coast representative for the Purity League and he’s here to tell us all about the plans he and his organization have for this sector. So with no further ado, I give you Mr. Bowers.”

Everyone applauded.