"Этаж смерти" with W_cat

“Something sharp, obviously,” he said. A slight grin. “Straight, maybe five inches long.”

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The office was silent. Silent as a tomb. Roscoe looked at me. Stared at me for a while. Then she looked back at the doctor.

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“What’s your name, son?” he asked me.

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“No way,” he said. “Not without telling me first. Why?”

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“He got back late last night,” she screamed. “He was still here this morning. I took Ben and Lucy to school. Now he’s gone. He hasn’t gone to work. He got a call from his office telling him to stay h…

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So I told him the things I remembered. I started the same way Hubble had started. Trapped inside some kind of a racket, terrorized by a threat against himself and his wife. A threat consisting of the…

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“SOMETHING I NEED TO CHECK WITH YOU,” I SAID.

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He looked at me. An expressionless gaze. Eye to eye, but he wasn’t really tall enough. He’d get a crick in his scrawny old neck. And if he kept on staring at me like that, he’d get his scrawny old ne…

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My brother, Joe. Two years older than me. He was born on a base in the Far East right at the end of the Eisenhowerera. Then I had been born on a base in Europe, right at the start of the Kennedy era.…

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“Hello, Reacher,” she said, and smiled.

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“He was an investigator,” he said. “I brought him down here because I want this whole thing stopped. I don’t want to be involved anymore. I’m not a criminal. I’m scared to death and I want out. He wa…

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IN YELLOW SPRINGS WE SLIPPED INTO THE HOSPITAL ENTRANCE lane and slowed over the speed bumps. Nosed around to the lot in back. Parked near the morgue door. I didn’t want to go inside. Joe was still i…

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“It’s part of the United States’ motto, right?” I said. “E Pluribus Unum. It means out of many, one. One nation built out of many former colonies.”

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For a moment there was silence. Just a faint hum, the air, the lights, or the computer. Or the recorder whirring slowly. I could hear the slow tick of the old clock. It made a patient sound, like it …

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The buzzer on the desk went off. Stevenson’s voice came over the intercom asking for Roscoe. They had files to check. I opened the door for her. But she stopped. She’d just thought of something.

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He fell back into silence. He was running it through his head again. Probably for the thousandth time. Trying to figure out if his decision had been the right one.

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“Sure,” I said. “Great. No cream, no sugar.”

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He waved left with the shotgun. There was a red line painted on the wall at waist height. It was a fire lane guide. I guessed it must lead outside, but we were going in the wrong direction. Into the …

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“They cut his balls off, right?” I said.

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“Do you feel bitter?” he said. “Let down?”

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“I did that once,” he said. “On our honeymoon. We went to Europe. We stopped off in New York and I spent half a day looking for the Dakota building, you know, where John Lennon was shot. Then we spen…

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I gave him Hubble’s address and he made a wide, slow turn, shoulder to shoulder across the county road. Headed back to town. We passed the firehouse and the police headquarters. The lot was empty. Ro…

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“But how many people are there?” he asked me. “Nearly three hundred million. That’s only about four hundred and fifty actual cash dollars per head of population. That’s the problem a retail bank has …

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“Why can’t you tell anybody?” I asked him.

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I said it with total certainty. Total conviction. Like absolutely no other possibility existed. She looked at me. I wanted her to see this huge guy. A soldier for thirteen long years. A bare-knuckle …

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“Damn,” I said to myself. “Can you believe that?”

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“The government guy was my brother,” I told her. “Just a crazy coincidence, I know, but I’m stuck with it.”

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We hauled ourselves out of our seat and shuffled down the bus. My left arm was pulled back by Hubble. The driver stopped us at the front. He removed all three sets of handcuffs and dropped them in a …

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Finlay gazed at me. Drummed his fingers on the desk. Kept quiet.

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I paused for a long moment. Tried to figure out how to explain it.

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The drive to town was short. The car hissed over the smooth soaked tarmac. After maybe a half mile I saw two neat buildings, both new, both with tidy landscaping. The police station and the firehouse…

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“Major,” I said. “They give you severance pay when they kick you out. Still got most of it. Trying to make it last, you know?”

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“I wish we had been here,” I said. “We could have gotten a few answers.”

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“I was your last customer?” I said. “That was Sunday. Today is Tuesday. Business always that bad?”

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“I made a decision,” I said. “I have to find out what happened with Joe. So I just want to apologize in advance in case that gets in the way, OK?”

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“It’s deadly serious,” I said. “You need to get ready to leave right now.”

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“You up to speed?” I asked her. “Finlay give you the spread?”

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She went quiet. She saw where the conflict could lie.

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“Is this a basic emergency?” she giggled.

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EVALUATE. LONG EXPERIENCE HAD TAUGHT ME TO EVALUATE and assess. When the unexpected gets dumped on you, don’t waste time. Don’t figure out how or why it happened. Don’t recriminate. Don’t figure out …

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I heard her sniffing, and then her voice came back clear.

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We looked it over very carefully. Wasn’t much left to see. It was totally burned out. Everything that wasn’t steel had gone. We couldn’t even tell what make it had been. By the shape, Finlay thought …

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“Teale wants you in the office,” he said.

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“No more than you did in Boston,” I said.

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“That’s my business, Mr. Reacher,” he said. “Answer my question.”

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For a moment I couldn’t speak. The world was spinning backward.

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“What happens next?” I said. “You stay here until Monday morning, and then you go back to Margrave. Then I guess they’ll let you go.”

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He leaned back in his chair. Blew a sigh at the ceiling and shook his head.

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He was rating his chances of staying alive like he would rate a credit application up at his office.

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“Reacher?” the giant said. “Pleased to meet you. I’m Picard, FBI.”

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“They can tell all that from his fingerprints?” he said.

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“I travel by road,” I said. “Always by road. Walk a bit, and ride the buses. Sometimes trains. Always pay cash. That way there’s never a paper trail. No credit card transactions, no passenger manifes…

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“He’s shaking all over the place,” Finlay said. “Then I tell him we know about the phone number in the shoe. His phone number printed on a piece of paper, with the word ‘Pluribus’ printed above it. T…

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“They came back too quickly for a negative result,” I said.

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“I haven’t been in touch for a long time,” I said. “I didn’t know. I didn’t even really know what he did here.”

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“Yes, Hubble,” I said again. “Go for it, it’s the best you can do.”

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“Who was it, Spivey?” I said. “Tell me now, or I’ll come back for you.”

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“Is there counterfeiting going on down here?” I asked her. “Is that what this could be all about?”

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I FIGURED THEY WOULD LEAVE ME ISOLATED FOR A WHILE. It usually happens that way. Isolation causes an urge to talk. An urge to talk can become an urge to confess. A brutal arrest followed by an hour’s…

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“Pluribus means nothing at all to you?” Roscoe asked. “You guys never knew anything about some Pluribus thing? When you were kids?”

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“That’s Kliner,” she said. “The old man himself.”

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I flashed the blade up real quick and nicked his chin. He froze in shock. A moment later a fat worm of dark blood welled out of the cut.

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FINLAY LEANED RIGHT BACK IN HIS CHAIR. HIS LONG ARMS were folded behind his head. He was a tall, elegant man. Educated in Boston. Civilized. Experienced. And he was sending me to jail for something I…

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“Victim is unidentified,” Baker said. “No ID. No wallet. No distinguishing marks. White male, maybe forty, very tall, shaved head. Body was found up there at eight this morning on the ground against …

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He was intrigued. He was losing the game.

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“It was horrible,” she said. Wouldn’t say any more.

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Я старался соотнести по смыслу английский текст с его переводом, ведь переводчик никогда не следует точно разбивке исходного текста. Но отсутствие «разжеванных» ответов, как мне кажется, будет лучше…

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“So what was Joe doing down here?” I asked her.

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“Finlay told me everything,” she said.

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The guy with the revolver was a sergeant. He was pretty calm. The shotgun covered me as the sergeant holstered his revolver and unclipped the handcuffs from his belt and clicked them on my wrists. Th…

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Finlay stopped smiling. Went quiet. Just looked at me.

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“Ten people,” he said. “Not counting me.”

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“Seven years ago, right?” Finlay said.

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“Sure do,” he said. “You were our last customer. Nobody in between to muddle me up.”

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Finlay came out of the office behind me. Touched my elbow and walked me over to Baker. Baker was holding three sets of handcuffs hooked over his thumb. They were painted bright orange. The paint was …

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The old guys mixed up soapy lather in a bowl, stropped a straight razor, rinsed a shaving brush. They shrouded me with towels and got to work. One guy shaved me with the old straight razor. The other…

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I told Hubble about the long hop through the endless plains and deltas all the way down from Chicago to New Orleans. Sliding around the Gulf Coast as far as Tampa. Then the Greyhound blasting north t…

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We stepped out of the file room and walked over toward the rosewood office. The squad room was quiet. The two backup guys from Friday were paging through computer records. Neat stacks of files were e…

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“They confirmed Joe worked there, right?” I said.

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“Hub’s gone,” she screamed. “He’s disappeared. I can’t find him.”

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“Blind Blake was a guitar player,” I said. “Died sixty years ago, maybe murdered. My brother bought a record, sleeve note said it happened in Margrave. He wrote me about it. Said he was through here …

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He took it pretty well. His dark face flushed darker. He sat quietly for a long time. I took a deep breath and glared at him. My glare subsided to a gaze as my temper cooled. Back under control. His …

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He waddled out from behind his desk. I was standing there between his desk and the door. As he crabbed by, he stopped. His fat nose was about level with the middle button on my coat. He was still loo…

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I HEARD RAISED VOICES IN THE ROSEWOOD OFFICE IN BACK. The tenor of argument. The slap of a palm on a desk. The door opened and Stevenson walked out with Chief Morrison. Stevenson looked mad. He strod…

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I stepped back into the cell. Hubble had hauled himself up onto his elbows. He hadn’t eaten his breakfast. He looked more worried than ever.

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“Just tell me what happened,” I said.

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A southern accent. A confident manner. Accustomed to telephones.

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“Lots of reasons,” I said. “But mainly because she worked hard to get me out of Warburton. Morrison wanted me in there as a fall guy for Thursday night, right? So if Roscoe was inside the scam, she’d…

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“Nothing,” Finlay said. “Not authorized. But she promised to tell you what she can. She said she’ll step out of line for you, because you’re Joe’s little brother.”

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“Hub’s Bentley is green,” she said. “It’s still in the garage. I checked. You’ve got to help us. You’ve got to find him. Mr. Reacher, please. I’m asking you to help us. Hub’s in trouble, I know it. H…

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Baker told me to sit down. Then they all left the room. Stevenson carried the bag with my stuff in it. They went out and closed the door and I heard the lock turning. It had a heavy, well-greased sou…

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A clang of fear hit me. They figured me for an assassin. A weird rootless mercenary with a mobile phone who went from place to place killing people. Kicking their dead bodies to pieces. Checking in w…

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“Maybe he started going bald,” I said. “Maybe he was vain about it.”

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“But why was he down here in Georgia?” I asked her.

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“We got an ID on the second body,” she said. “His prints matched with an arrest two years ago in Florida. His name was Sherman Stoller. That name mean anything at all to you?”

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Hubble nodded and rocked back and forth on his bed. Took a deep breath. Looked straight at me.

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“OK, Finlay, let’s get it done,” I said. “I don’t have an address because I don’t live anywhere. Maybe one day I’ll live somewhere and then I’ll have an address and I’ll send you a picture postcard a…

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“OK,” she said, slowly. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

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I parked her car at her door and rang her bell. The children dashed around from somewhere as Charlie opened up and let me in. She was looking pretty tired and strained. The children looked happy enou…

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So I talked for a while, lying on my bed, running through the last six months. He lay on his bed, looking at the concrete ceiling, listening, keeping his mind off his problems. I told him about leavi…

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“Finlay,” she said. “He was up there this morning, poking around, looking for something to help us with the first one. Some help, right? All he finds is another one.”

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“Thanks,” he said. “It’s better that way.”

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I SAT IN SILENCE FOR A LONG TIME. I WAS WORRIED. I FELT like somebody in a kid’s book who falls down a hole. Finds himself in a strange world where everything is different and weird. Like Alice in Wo…

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Not a Boston banker. More like a Harvard guy.

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“Kliner Foundation,” he whispered. “The community program. It’s a business grant. All the merchants get it. Been getting it five years.”

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“Nothing you can do,” I said. “You’ve been told to keep your mouth shut, so you keep it shut. Don’t tell anybody what’s going on. Ever.”

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He was screaming as loud as he could. Blowing off his tension and trying to scare me. Textbook moves. Plenty of sound and fury to soften the target. I raised my hands. The guy with the revolver start…

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“Not a bad idea,” he said. “I’ll have to go off the record. I can’t ask Teale to make a formal request, right? I’ll call from home, tonight. Guy called Picard. Nice guy, you’ll like him. He’s from th…

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Finlay and Baker looked at each other. Didn’t answer me.

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“They’re not Picard’s,” he said. “He’d have told me.”

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The guy called Finlay stared at me over his fingers for a long moment.

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“Must be working somewhere, right?” I said.

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“In the meantime, I’m a cautious man,” he said. “On the face of it, you look bad. A drifter. A vagrant. No address, no history. Your story may be bullshit. You may be a fugitive. You may have been mu…

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He was a chatty guy, but that question shut him up. He stopped work and thought about it.

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“And it’s a hell of a blind alley,” Roscoe said. “We’ve got to trawl through twenty years of old files and cross-check every name in every file against parole records from across the entire country. …

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“I’ve got no permit,” I said. “You’ll have to do it on the quiet, OK?”

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She nodded. Winked back. We were OK. We went out the front door and left it slightly open, just like we’d found it.

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We all fell quiet. I was thinking about the second guy’s desperate sprint across the road. Trying to reach cover while the bullets smashed into his flesh. Hurling himself under the highway ramp and d…

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We all went back into the rosewood office. Spread the Sherman Stoller stuff out on the desk and bent over it together. It was an arrest report from the police department in Jacksonville, Florida.

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“What can I tell you folks?” he said.

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“Foundation’s got a lot of trucks,” she said.

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“Christ, Reacher, you’re a big help, you know that?” he said.

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She looked at me again. Pushed her hair back.

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He saw where I was going. Like we were colleagues on a knotty case. He flashed me a brief grin.

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“His name was on his watch,” Finlay said.

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Finlay looked up at me from where he was sitting. Shook his head.

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He put the towel around my shoulders and started brushing on the lather.

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I could hear the grinding as the other inmates swung back their gates and latched them open. I could hear movement and shouted conversation as they strolled out to start another pointless day. I wait…

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We dozed through the afternoon. I called the Hubble place at seven in the evening. He still wasn’t back. I left Roscoe’s number with Charlie and told her to have Hubble call me as soon as he got in. …

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Finlay checked his watch. Decided there was time before Teale got back.

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“So what was his exact role?” I asked him.

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“Who the hell is Charlie?” he asked.

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“Come back, white boy, don’t you like me?” the big guy called to Hubble.

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“No problem,” I said. “Where is he?”

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The diner was small, but bright and clean. Brand-new, built to resemble a converted railroad car. Narrow, with a long lunch counter on one side and a kitchen bumped out back. Booths lining the opposi…

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“Somewhere we can go to talk?” I said.

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“OK,” I said. “So the question is this: did you find his balls?”

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“No, fool,” she laughed. “Because we haven’t heard from Washington yet.”

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Finlay glanced at me. I was smiling at him. He made a face.

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“So why is his wife so scared?” I said.

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“Now we get the hell out of here,” I said. “We can’t stay around like sitting targets. So throw what you need into a bag.”

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We all three filed out quickly. We needed to be well clear before Teale got back and started asking questions. Baker watched us go. Called out after us.

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“I’d deal with this myself,” he said. “But I’m a busy man.”

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Slowly we woke up. We crossed the state line back into Georgia. Crossed the river in Franklin. Settled into a fast cruise through the empty farming country. The fields were hidden under a floating qu…

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“How can you tell?” I said. “Because my eyes aren’t too close together?”

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“Call her about one thirty,” he said. “Lunch break, when her office will be empty. She’s taking a big risk, but she’ll talk to you. That’s what she said.”

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She followed what I was saying and nodded.

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“Sounds like she was very close to Joe,” Finlay said. “Sounds like they may have had a thing going. She was very upset. Floods of tears.”

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“Can I get you a cup of coffee?” she asked me.

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“Correct, Finlay,” I said. “But what had he done wrong?”

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He looked at all three of us in turn. Waited. We looked back.

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“You came here looking for a guitar player?” he said.

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“Right,” Hubble said. “And it proves it was who I thought it was. So I was really scared. I was thinking, are they looking for me too? Or aren’t they? I just didn’t know.

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“Any physical evidence left behind?” I asked him.

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“Bureaucracy,” I said. “Who the hell needs it? OK, we have to assume we’re on our own here. At least for a while. We’re going to need Picard again.”

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“OK, Hubble,” I said. “No more questions.”

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“You’re a fool, Jack Reacher,” she said.

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“They wore gloves, too,” he said. “There are rubbery smears in the blood on the walls.”

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“I don’t know,” I said. “Guy next to me had a map, and I picked this place out. I wanted to get off the main drags. Thought I could loop back down toward the Gulf, farther west, maybe.”

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He beamed at me and grasped his embroidered lapel.

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“What about the dead guy?” I said. “Did you run his prints again?”

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He leaned forward and buzzed the intercom button on the rosewood desk. Called Baker back in.

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“You are under arrest for murder,” he said. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say may be used as evidence against you. You have the right to representation by an attorney. Should you…

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“I was winding him up,” he said. “He asked what we’d been doing, looking at a car. I said we weren’t. Said we’d told Baker we weren’t going far, but he’d misheard it as we’re looking at a car.”

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“His name is Sherman,” he said. “Apart from that, no idea.”

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I sat listening to their old radio for a while. Then I gave them a twenty off my roll of bills and hurried out onto Main Street. Strode out north. It was nearly noon and the sun was baking. Hot for S…

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“Can’t figure it that way,” I said. “Joe was a reasonably smart guy. He wouldn’t let a fat idiot like Morrison shoot him. The shooter must have been somebody else. I can’t figure Morrison for the man…

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“But he’s been out of work for a while,” he said.

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Hubble stopped his rocking and looked at me. Opened his mouth and closed it again. Opened it for a second time.

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He started scraping my chin. His hand was shaking like old people do.

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“I’m very sorry,” she said. “You’re not saying Hub betrayed your brother?”

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She stood there, her head cocked like she was waiting for an answer. She was maybe thirty, similar age to Roscoe. But she had a rich woman’s ways. A hundred and fifty years ago, she’d have been the m…

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“So Pluribus means many?” she said. “Did Joe know Latin?”

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“We’ve got a new witness,” Finlay said. “He saw you at the warehouse facility. Last night. Hanging around. At midnight.”

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“Mr. Hubble?” Finlay said. He was looking at the desk, writing down the name. “Good afternoon. This is the phone company, mobile division. Engineering manager. We’ve had a fault reported on your numb…

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The bullets in the box were all soft-nose. OK with me. I checked the weapon over. Brutal, but in fine condition. Everything worked. The grip was engraved with a name. Gray. Same as the file box. The …

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He came back in with Finlay at his side. Finlay walked straight back toward the rosewood office where Hubble waited for him. Ignored me as he crossed the squad room. Opened the office door and went i…

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“He didn’t tell me diddly,” I said. “Like I told you, we hardly spoke.”

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“OK,” I said again. “She say anything else?”

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“So you figure you’re just a token?” I said. “That’s why Teale won’t make you chief?”

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“Can’t help you with that inquiry, that’s for sure,” he said. “That’s a subject we prefer not to discuss in here. Best if you ask me about somebody else altogether.”

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It was about ten thirty. A mile and a quarter up to Eno’s place. A gentle half hour stroll in the sun. It was already very hot. Well into the eighties. Glorious fall weather in the South. I walked th…

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FINLAY WAS ON THE SIDEWALK. I WAS IN THE ROAD, STAYING clear of the low awnings in front of every store. There was no traffic on the street to worry about. Monday, two o’clock in the afternoon, and t…

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She passed the cup in through the bars. Up close she looked good. Smelled good. I didn’t recall that from earlier. I remembered thinking of her like a dentist’s nurse. If dentist’s nurses all looked …

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There was another pause. Now I knew something about Molly Beth Gordon. I’d spent a lot of time on computer passwords. Any military cop does. I’d studied the pyschology. Most users make bad choices. A…

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“So Morrison was there?” Finlay said. “Was he the shooter?”

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“There’s never a reason,” he said. “I just do what I’m told.”

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That was the longest speech I had made for six months. Finlay sat and gazed at me. I watched him struggling with any detective’s basic dilemma. His gut told him I might not be his man. But I was sitt…

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“No,” he said. “They’re not going to make me chief.”

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“Looks like the same gun,” he said. “Small-caliber, soft-nose shells. Looks like maybe the first shot only wounded him and he was able to run. He got hit a couple more times but made it to cover unde…

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Finlay nodded gravely. He saw it. He understood.

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She ran over the gravel. Stood right in front of me.

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I stepped over to a basin and ran cold water. Took a wad of paper towels from the dispenser and soaked them. Held them to my bruised forehead. Hubble stood around doing nothing. I kept the cold towel…

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Two things happened. The end two bikers grabbed Hubble and ran him to the door. And the boss man swung a big fist at my face. I saw it late. Dodged left and it caught me on the shoulder. I was spun a…

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“The one with the glasses,” she said.

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“I’ve been married ten years,” Hubble said. “Ten years last month. Had a big party. I’ve got two children. Boy, age nine, girl, age seven. Great wife, great kids. I love them like crazy.”

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He looked at me. Something burning in his eyes. I shrugged.

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I shook my head again. If something very big was going on around people who used threats like that, then he was never going to stop it. He was on board, and he was going to stay on board. I smiled a …

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“OK,” I said. “Your plan is as good as you’re going to get. Go for it.”

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“I know you’re not guilty of much,” she said.

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“Sure,” I said. I understood. This guy was understaffed. Having problems because of a budget. While his friends collected unemployment. Tell me about it.

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Roscoe shrugged and smiled a tender smile. Looked concerned for me.

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“Take that gentleman,” he said. “Let’s make a few guesses, shall we? Probably lives in the outer suburbs, maybe has a vacation cabin somewhere, two big mortgages, two cars, half a dozen mutual funds,…

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“Paul Hubble,” a voice said. “How may I help you?”

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“Big deal around here,” she said. “Old man Kliner. The town sold him the land for his warehouses and part of the deal was he set up a community program. Teale runs it out of the mayor’s office.”

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Finlay sat back. Folded his hands behind his head. Looked a question at me. Hubble as the shooter? I didn’t believe it. Because of his agitation. Guys who shoot somebody with an old pistol, in a figh…

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I just sat there next to Roscoe and watched the horizon reeling in. I’d killed one guy and blinded another. Now I’d have to confront my feelings. But I didn’t feel much at all. Nothing, in fact. No g…

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“I called Dwight Stevenson,” she said. “He had mentioned he had seen a fax from the Pentagon about your service as a military policeman. I asked him to find it and read it to me. I thought it was an …

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“No,” I said. What else could I say? My parents were both dead. I had a brother whom I never saw. So I had no family. No idea whether I wanted one, either. Maybe, maybe not.

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“I just want to see if he’s back home yet,” I said. “I’m not going to eat him. If he’s there, we’ll call Finlay right away, OK?”

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I stepped over to the Lincoln and tried the door. Unlocked. Inside, there was a strong new-car smell and not much else. This was a chief’s car. It wasn’t going to be full of cheeseburger wrappings an…

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I looked out of the window. Georgia. I saw rich land. Heavy, damp red earth. Very long and straight rows of low-bushes in the fields. Peanuts, maybe. Belly crops, but valuable to the grower. Or to th…

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“He wouldn’t say anything,” he went on. “Not a word. He was rigid with shock. All gray in the face. I thought he was having a heart attack. His mouth was opening and closing like a fish. But he wasn’…

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“I want you to come home with me,” she said.

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The third guy waded in. He was a solid mountain of lard. Sheathed with heavy slabs of meat. Like armor. Nowhere to hit him. He was pounding me with short jabs to the arm and chest. I was jammed back …

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The old guy thought hard. Trawled back through his fading memories. He shook his grizzled head a couple of times. Then he took a wet towel from a hot box and put it over my face. Started cutting my h…

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I was in a booth, at a window, reading somebody’s abandoned newspaper about the campaign for a president I didn’t vote for last time and wasn’t going to vote for this time. Outside, the rain had stop…

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“They’re always in there,” he said. “Never exactly closed. Never exactly open, either.”

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“No,” she said. “It doesn’t happen like that. Not inside the States. All that stuff about little guys with green eye-shades down in secret cellars printing dollar bills is all nonsense. Just doesn’t …

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I was leaning up in my corner running a Bobby Bland number through my head. An old favorite. It was cranked up real loud. “Further On Up the Road.” Bobby Bland sings it in G major. That key gives it …

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I was in a plush and opulent office. I had seen worse offices in Swiss banks. I was in the company of two policemen. Intelligent and professional. Probably had more than thirty years’ experience betw…

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“What are you going to do about Teale?” Roscoe asked me. “He works for the guys who killed your brother.”

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“No,” I said. “Not a word. We hardly spoke all weekend.”

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He was worrying me. My brother had been shot in the head. Two big messy exit wounds had removed his face. Then somebody had turned his corpse into a bag of pulp. But Finlay hadn’t fallen apart over t…

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All of a sudden I was glad I had jumped off that damn bus. Glad I made that crazy last-minute decision. I suddenly relaxed. Felt better. The tiny voice in my head quieted down. Right then there was n…

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We were going around in circles here.

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Roscoe looked great. Her silky shirt was damp. She wasn’t wearing anything underneath it. I could see that because of the way the damp silk stuck to her skin. I was in heaven. I was in a plain old ba…

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“This morning,” he said. “After breakfast.”

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Then I sat for a moment and watched the two guys in their car. They were still watching me. We looked at each other from seventy-five yards away. They were relaxed and comfortable. But they were watc…

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“Don’t mess with me, Reacher,” he said. “Until I get hold of Hubble, I’m going to keep hold of you and sweat your ass for what he told you. And don’t make out he kept his mouth shut all weekend, beca…

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“This is a huge problem for me,” he said. “Bureau can’t act without a call from the responsible official in the local jurisdiction. That would be this guy Teale, right? And from what Finlay tells me,…

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He shook his head as he filled my mug.

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“Last I heard, he worked for the Treasury Department,” I said. “Doing what, I’m not sure.”

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I loaded the dead detective’s big handgun with eight of his shells. Put the spares back in the box and left the box on the floor of the car. Cocked the gun and clicked the safety catch on. Cocked and…

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We drove the hundred yards to the next fence. There was another vehicle cage. The bus went in, waited and drove on out. We drove right into the heart of the prison. We stopped opposite a concrete bun…

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“They’re getting back to me,” he said. “Just hope Teale doesn’t grab the phone before I can.”

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“I need to go to the bathroom,” I said. “Unless I got to wait until I get up to the big house for that, too?”

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This lot was pretty good. Pond Life. They lived up to their ironic name. The bass and the drums were big messy guys, lots of hair all over, fat and dirty. The guitar player was a small dark guy, not …

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“And you closed that down?” I said. “Why?”

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Her door was open. Not wide open, but an inch or two ajar. It was ajar because the lock was smashed. Someone had used a crowbar on it. The tangle of broken lock and splinters wouldn’t allow the door …

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They were nice-looking kids. The girl still had that little-girl chubbiness. No front teeth. Fine sandy hair in pigtails. The boy wasn’t much bigger than his little sister. He had a slight frame and …

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“OK,” he said. “You don’t understand my question, so let me try to make it quite clear. What I mean is, where were you born, or where have you lived for that majority period of your life which you in…

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Hubble looked like a different guy. He was gray and sweating. The tan had gone. He looked smaller. He looked like someone had let the air out and deflated him. He was bent up like a man racked with p…

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Then I tried to finish reading the borrowed newspaper. It was full of shit about the president and his campaign to get himself elected again for a second term. The old guy was down in Pensacola on th…

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“What would you have done?” she said. “Killed four men?”

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“By the code,” he said. “Instead of an area code, they have a prefix which accesses the mobile network.”

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“Interesting,” Finlay said. “The guy’s three hundred miles from home, it’s midnight, and he gets lawyered up within twenty minutes? With a partner from a respected firm? Stoller was some kind of a tr…

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“Right,” I said. “Now I’ll tell you some more links. But first of all, you got to understand something, right? I was just passing through here. On Friday and Saturday and Sunday right up to the time …

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It was true. I wasn’t feeling much of anything. Maybe it was some kind of a weird reaction, but that was how I felt. No point in denying it.

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“I’ll need that arrest report from Florida,” I said.

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They both shrugged and shook their heads. I heard the glass door suck open. Looked up. Kliner was on his way out. Teale was starting in toward us.

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Hubble shook his head again. He was writhing around like my questions were tearing him up.

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“Why should you care?” he said. “What was he to you?”

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He didn’t reply. We were just standing there by the road. A battle of nerves. His nerves were shot to hell. So he was losing. His little eyes were darting about. They always came back to the blade.

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“Never saw them before,” the old guy said. “Little guys, brown car, fancy shirts. Been all over, asking for Jack Reacher. We told them we never heard of no Jack Reacher.”

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“For sure,” he said. “Get your ass up to Beckman. Right now. Stay there. I’ll organize Picard. You don’t leave until he shows up, OK?”

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“Right,” she said. “I sent your prints in about twelve thirty at lunchtime and they were matched at two thirty in the morning.”

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I patted my face dry and leaned up close to the steel mirror to check out the damage. Not bad. I combed my hair with my fingers. As I leaned against the sink I could feel the sunglasses in my pocket.…

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“Great,” I said. “So what can you tell me?”

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Outside in the gravel lot the heat was up. It must have rained all night and most of the morning. Now the sun was blasting away and the ground was steaming. Normally this would be a dusty hot place. …

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“OK,” I said. “That’s better. When do I speak to her?”

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“You think I used this on Morrison?” I said.

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“Unidentified white male,” he said. “Same deal as the first one, no ID, no wallet, no distinguishing marks. But this one had a gold wristwatch, engraved on the back: to Sherman, love Judy. He was may…

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“It’s a mobile phone number,” he said. “That we know. Operated by an Atlanta airtime supplier. But we can’t trace the number until Monday. So we’re asking you. You should cooperate, Reacher.”

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I walked north in the sun and the pickup moved slowly alongside, keeping pace. The guy was still hunched forward, staring sideways. I stretched out a couple of steps and the truck sped up to keep sta…

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“No,” he said. “For another reason altogether. It’s like a window of vulnerability is wide open right now. An exposure. It’s been very risky, getting worse all the time. But now it could go either wa…

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He leaned forward. Cupped his mouth and nose with his hands and sighed heavily into them.

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“Yes, Mr. Hubble,” Finlay said. “I’m right here. Can’t find any problem at all, sir. Just a false alarm, I guess. Thank you for your help.”

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“I already know more than I should,” I said. “Finlay asked about the dead guy and Pluribus and you flipped. So I know there’s a link between you and the dead guy and whatever Pluribus is.”

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I couldn’t think of a reply to that. I just shrugged. It was clear Charlie didn’t know anything. She thought her husband had been arrested because of some kind of a mistake. Not because he was grabbe…

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“Can you give me a description of him?”

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The band played on until pretty late. Must have been way past midnight. We were juiced up and sloppy. Couldn’t face the drive back. It was raining again, lightly. Didn’t want to drive an hour and a h…

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Finlay grunted and was heading back there, but I caught his arm.

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“You’re sorry?” I said. “You’re sending two guys who couldn’t have done it to jail and you’re sorry?”

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Baker knocked and entered. Finlay told him to escort me to the cells. Then he nodded to me. It was a nod which said: if you turn out not to be the guy, remember I was just doing my job. I nodded back…

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“Unzip me, white boy,” the big guy said again. “With your teeth.”

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“What about Spivey?” she said. “Over at Warburton? He was ordered to arrange the attack on Hubble, right? So he must know who gave him the order. You should go ask him. Might lead somewhere.”

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“I panicked this morning,” she said. “That’s not really like me at all. I must have given you a very bad impression, I’m afraid. After you left, I calmed down and thought things out. I came to the sa…

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“He ran for it,” the doctor said. “He was hit close up in the back with the first shot, but it didn’t drop him, and he ran. He took two more on the way. One in the neck, and the fatal shot in the thi…

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He glared at me again and left the room. Banged the heavy door. Baker reached over and stopped the recording machine. Walked me out of the office. Back to the cell. I went in. He followed and removed…

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On the other hand, I had no laws to worry about, no inhibitions, no distractions. I wouldn’t have to think about Miranda, probable cause, constitutional rights. I wouldn’t have to think about reasona…

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“I heard about the Morrisons,” she said at last. “Is my husband involved in all of this?”

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“Why?” he said. “Who the hell’s after you?”

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I zipped up and came back into the lobby. Baker was waiting. We walked back to the cell area. I stepped inside my cell. Leaned up in my corner. Baker pulled the heavy gate shut. Operated the electric…

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“It’s you, me and Roscoe,” I said. “Right now, the only safe thing is to assume everybody else is involved.”

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“But not me,” he said. “My wife could take it. Never complained, never once. She was a miracle. Never gave me a hard time.”

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I stood still. Paralyzed. He’d been dragged out of there by force and killed. Charlie sagged in front of me. Then she started whispering to me. The whispering was worse than the screaming.

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“Well, good for you, Finlay,” I said.

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“I sent your prints to Washington over the computer link,” she said. “That was at twelve thirty-six. Big database there, you know, FBI? Millions of prints in their computer. Prints that get sent in a…

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I shrugged under the shroud of towels.

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“You recognize his address?” I asked Roscoe.

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“OK,” she said. She shrugged and smiled. “Let’s go.”

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“Front door was standing open,” he said. “Maybe a half inch. It had a bad feel. I went in, found them upstairs in the master bedroom. It was like a butcher’s shop. Blood everywhere. He was nailed to …

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“No, I don’t need a lawyer,” I said.

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I walked down to the entrance and levered the heavy glass door open with my back. Carried the box over to the Bentley. I set the box on the roof of the car and unlocked the door. Dumped the box on th…

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“I understood you were just passing through,” he said. “We have no hotel here in Margrave and I imagined you would find no opportunity to stay.”

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“Where’s the gun, Reacher?” Finlay said.

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She nodded and glanced around the room. Sat down and unclipped the keys from her belt. Unlocked her desk and rolled open a deep drawer. Nodded down to a shallow cardboard box. I picked it out. It was…

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“This is Ben,” Charlie said. “And this is Lucy.”

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He went quiet and walked on. Revisiting in his mind the scene he’d found.

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“It wasn’t you,” he said. “But maybe you had good reason.”

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“So how long is this exposure going to last?” I asked him.

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“So throw what you need into a bag,” I said again.

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“Four,” he said. “The footprints are confused, but I think I can see four.”

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“It held up,” he said. “You were in Tampa when this was going down.”

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“Why aren’t you working?” Finlay asked.

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“Run the prints again,” I said. “I’m serious, Finlay. Get Roscoe to do it.”

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“But what sort of a thing?” I asked her. “What was his job?”

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“Do you understand your rights?” the guy called Baker asked me again. “Do you speak English?”

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They knew I wasn’t their guy. They weren’t taking care. No care at all. Out there in the lobby I could have decked Baker and taken his revolver. No problem at all. I could have had his weapon off his…

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She didn’t sound convinced, but she was agreeing.

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“Thank you,” I said. “I mean it. You worked hard to help me out.”

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“I know more than you think,” I said. “I know you’re a Harvard postgrad, you’re divorced and you quit smoking in April.”

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“Sure,” the guy said. “You heard about the Foundation?”

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“Monday?” I said. “As in the day after Sunday?”

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“Don’t know,” I said. “Last I heard he was working for the Treasury Department.”

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“I’ve got some,” I said. “I don’t know if I understand it, exactly.”

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“No,” I said. “Smaller the better, a thing like this, right?”

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“You thought it was Hubble got killed, right?” he said. “Why?”

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“Hello, Reacher,” she said. “Come to take me away from all this?”

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He shrugged. Looked unhappy about it.

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“How did it make you feel, being let go?” he asked.

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Another lapse into silence. He was struggling with his ethics problem.

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“I don’t know,” she said. “I really don’t. What I aim to do is find out for you. I can copy his files. I know his computer password.”

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They had attacked me because the description they’d been given was suddenly the wrong description. Spivey had reported that back long ago. Whoever had set him on Hubble hadn’t given up. They’d made a…

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“Yes, Charlie,” I said. “I’m afraid he was. But he didn’t want to be involved, OK? Some kind of blackmail was going on.”

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“Thing is, you see,” he said, “Mr. Hubble doesn’t work here anymore. We had to let him go, I’m afraid, about eighteen months ago.”

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“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m very uptight. It was doing me good just to talk to somebody. I’d go crazy in here on my own. Can’t we talk about something else? What about you? Tell me about yourself. Who…

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“You ever heard of Blind Blake?” I asked him.

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“I called Detroit,” she said. “It was a Pontiac. Delivered four months ago. Big fleet order for a rental company. DMV is tracing the registration. I told them to get back to Picard up in Atlanta. The…

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“There’s a couple of guys watching this place,” I said. “Got here about ten minutes ago. Plain brown sedan. They were at Hubble’s yesterday and around town this morning, asking after me.”

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“It’s in a box,” she said. “In my desk. We’ll have to wait until Teale is gone. And don’t open it here, OK? Nobody knows about it.”

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I told him no, I enjoyed it. I told him I appreciated the solitude, the anonymity. Like I was invisible.

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“I suppose you’re going to say you never heard of this guy?” he asked me.

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Eno’s came into sight. The polished aluminum siding gleamed in the sun. Roscoe’s Chevrolet was in the lot. Standing next to it on the gravel was the black pickup I’d seen the day before outside the c…

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“Finlay, what the hell are you talking about?” I said. “I haven’t got a phone. Don’t you listen? I don’t live anywhere.”

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“I can’t explain it,” he said. “I can’t say anything about it. I just need to know what happens next.”

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“He wrote my old unit,” I said. “They forward my mail to my bank, where I put my severance pay. They send it on when I wire them for cash.”

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“Think about what?” he said. “Wasn’t a message for me.”

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Charlie Hubble sat down opposite us and started pouring the iced tea from the pitcher. The smell of lemon and spices drifted over. She caught my eye and smiled the same strained smile she’d used befo…

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“Which one of you is Hubble?” he asked.

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“Normally, at this point, I’d ask you how you were enjoying your visit with us here in Margrave,” she said, looking at me, strained, smiling.

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“They were after both of us,” I said. “They figure Hubble talked to me in prison. They figure I’ve told you all about it. So they think you and I know whatever it was Hubble knew.”

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The old guy paused a beat. Lifted his broom and crabbed back out of sight. Quickly as he could. Shouting incredulously as he went.

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“And most of that cash isn’t in banks,” he said. “It’s in Vegas or at the racetrack. It’s concentrated in what we call cash-intensive areas of the economy. So a good currency manager, and Mr. Hubble …

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I flicked the knife at his belly. Slit his greasy shirt.

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Finlay shook his head. Looked definite about it.

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“Small caliber?” I said. “How small?”

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“Reacher?” Roscoe said. “I got the stuff on Sherman Stoller.”

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“It’s huge,” he said. “Biggest thing you ever heard of.”

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“I don’t want one,” she said. “I like to do things myself.”

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“I know that,” I said. “That’s pretty obvious.”

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“I’m going to have a talk with this guy,” I said. “He keeps looking at me.”

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She waved vaguely toward the back of the house.

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“I wasn’t leaving a homicide scene,” I said. “I was walking down a damn road. There’s a difference, right? People leaving homicide scenes run and hide. They don’t walk straight down the road. What’s …

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There was a mirror opposite me behind the counter. I looked exactly like a guy who’d been on an all-night bus and then spent two days in jail. I figured I needed to get cleaned up before I took Rosco…

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“I’m going to bring Hubble in, when I find him,” Finlay said. “He knows stuff he should be telling us. Until then, not a lot I can do, right?”

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“Here’s the deal,” said the clipboard guy. “You guys are Reacher and Hubble. In from Margrave. Not convicted of any crime. In custody pending investigation. No bail application for either of you. Hea…

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“I’ve only been here six months,” he said. “I don’t know everybody.”

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“FBI?” she said. She went paler still. “This is really serious, isn’t it?”

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I stared at him. I was getting mad.

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Assess. I could call on some heavy training. And experience. Not intended for prison life, but it would help. I had gone through a lot of unpleasant education. Not just in the army. Stretching right …

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“No,” I said. “He didn’t see me up there. That part was the bullshit story. But he was up there himself. He saw Joe.”

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Baker waited for some sort of reaction from me. He didn’t get one. I just sat there and listened to the quiet tick of the old clock. The hands crawled around to two thirty. I didn’t speak. Baker riff…

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“Shouldn’t we leave that to Finlay?” she said.

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“I can’t tell you that, can I?” he answered.

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“I need to know,” I said. “Maybe you approached the guy for help. Maybe you talked to him. Maybe that’s why he got killed. Maybe it looks like now you’ll start talking to me. Which could get me kille…

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“Any idea where he’s working now?” I said.

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I looked at him and made a face. Didn’t speak.

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There was silence for the next twenty minutes. Baker worked at a desk. So did Roscoe. The desk sergeant sat up on his stool. Finlay was in the big office with Hubble. There was a modern clock over th…

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“OK,” he said. “No hard feelings, right?”

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“You ever hear him play?” I asked him.

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“We got us a situation here, Mr. Reacher,” Finlay said. “A real situation.”

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It was working. I was convincing her. I needed her to be bright, tough, self-confident. I was willing her to pick it up. It was working. Her amazing eyes were filling with spirit.

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“Nothing,” he said. “Just standing by.”

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“She’s a sick woman,” he said. “Very sick. Very pale, right? A very sick woman. Could be tuberculosis. I seen tuberculosis do that to folks. She used to be a fine-looking woman, but now she looks lik…

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He stopped and looked up at me. Like he was still trying to place me. Or like he was waiting for a response. He didn’t get one. So he jabbed his fat finger at me.

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“How did you meet the guy?” Finlay asked.

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“If I’m wrong, I’ll buy you lunch on Monday,” he said. “At Eno’s place, to make up for today.”

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“The phone number,” I said. “You’ve identified it as a mobile?”

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“Bullshit, Hubble,” I said. “You weren’t even there. You were at a party. The guy who drove you home is a policeman, for God’s sake. You didn’t do it, you know that, everybody knows that. Don’t give …

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We tore each other’s clothes off like they were on fire. She was gorgeous. Firm and strong and a shape like a dream. Skin like silk. She pulled me to the floor through bars of hot sunlight from the w…

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I wasn’t sure about taking it, but she passed me a thick envelope.

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“Sure,” I said. “But not here. In Alabama.”

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“OK,” I said. “You can let me go now, right?”

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“Teale runs it?” I said. “Teale’s the enemy.”

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He came back smoothly. Not more than a tiny hesitation.

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“Right,” I said. “About two hundred pounds, maybe.”

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Time to intervene. Not for Hubble. I felt nothing for him. But I had to intervene for myself. Hubble’s abject performance would taint me. We would be seen as a pair. Hubble’s surrender would disquali…

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“Joe Reacher,” I said. “No middle name.”

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She was holding a couple of fax pages. Densely typed.

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“No talking,” he said. “Rules here say absolute silence at all times after lights out. Cell at the end on the right.”

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“So who’s getting it?” I said. “Who’s the new chief?”

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Hubble looked up at him and nodded blankly. Didn’t speak.

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I paid him and got out. The guy was crazy.

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“You bet your ass I’m a cautious guy, Finlay,” I said. “People are getting killed here. One of them was my only brother.”

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“OK,” she said. “You need anything?”

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I gazed back at him. Six o’clock. Bus time.

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The file was too thick for just the shooting and running and bleeding to death bits. This guy clearly had more to tell us. I saw him put his fingers on the pages and press lightly. Like he was trying…

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“Thanks,” I said. “Now make those calls, OK?”

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“But what happened with this dead guy?” I said. “The body was found at eight o’clock, so the prints went in when? Eight thirty, earliest. But Baker was already telling me there was no match on file w…

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Roscoe slowed at a white mailbox and turned left into the drive of number twenty-five. About a mile from town, on the left, its back to the afternoon sun. It was the last house on the road. Up ahead,…

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“You’re a cautious guy?” I said. “That’s for damn sure.”

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“Get your ass in that chair and keep your filthy mouth shut,” he said.

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The old guy was cackling away to himself.

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“Isn’t this the holding floor?” I asked him at the same time.

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“Counterfeiting?” I said. “Counterfeit money?”

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Hubble flicked a despairing glance up at me. Took off his gold glasses. Held them out. The big man took them and dropped them to the floor. Crunched them under his shoe. Screwed his foot around. The …

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“Where’s the gun you’ve got for me?” I asked her.

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“I want to take you to lunch,” I said. “Kind of a thank-you thing.”

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“I thought I’d come and look for Blind Blake,” I said.

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“Who told him what to do?” I asked him again.

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“You should be thinking about Morrison,” I said to him.

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He cracked a grin. Grudging, but a grin. He had a gold tooth way back. Gave him a rakish air. A bit more human. He shouted something to the desk guy. Probably a code for a procedure. He took out his …

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Then she took out the fingerprint gear. A crisp ten-card, already labeled with a number. The thumb spaces are always too small. This one had a reverse side with two squares for palm prints. The handc…

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Finlay nodded gently. “Before that?”

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“Does Baker want in on this?” I asked her.

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“Like a frenzy,” he said. “The guy looks like he was run over by a truck. Just about every bone is smashed. But the doctor says it happened after the guy was already dead. You’re a weird guy, Reacher…

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We were together in that blur for sixteen years. Joe was the only constant thing in my life. And I loved him like a brother. But that phrase has a very precise meaning. A lot of those stock sayings d…

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I nodded and headed for the staircase. Went up and found the master bedroom. Stopped at the door and peered in. There was nothing to see except the ragged outline of the nail holes in the wall and th…

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“Had to be that way,” he said. “Five guys meeting together. Three of them attack the other two. This is some kind of a big deal, right?”

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“He’s a jerk,” she said. “I avoid him when I can. You should do the same.”

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I stared around the knot of men. They were busy reassessing my status.

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I watched him evaluating scenarios like a chess computer evaluates moves. Was Blind Blake my friend, my enemy, my accomplice, conspirator, mentor, creditor, debtor, my next victim?

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Finlay didn’t respond. He was looking very worried.

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“God,” she said. “You’re right. Baker must have screwed up. Finlay took the prints and Baker sent them. He must have screwed up the scan. You got to be careful, or it doesn’t transmit clearly. If the…

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The pathologist pushed the two Morrison files to one side and opened up the third. Glanced through it and looked across at me. The third file was thicker than the first two.

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We were a couple of hundred yards south of where Main Street had petered out. We turned west up a gravel driveway which must have been just about parallel with Beckman Drive. At the end of the drivew…

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But it was still a straightforward attempt to kill me. They came in, chose me, tried to kill me. And Spivey had just happened to be outside the bathroom. He had set it up. He had employed the Aryan B…

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“Nobody,” I said. “It’s just a bit of fun. I like anonymity. I feel like I’m beating the system. And right now, I’m truly pissed at the system.”

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