Все цитаты из книги «"Этаж смерти" with W_cat»
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “Now you’ve got to do something.”
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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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He came out just as she hung up. He was all red in the face. Looked mad. Started stamping around the squad room, banging his heavy stick on the floor. Glaring up at the big empty bulletin board. Finl…
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“What is this about?” I asked him again. He sat back and steepled his fingers.
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“OK,” he said again. “When did you last see him?”
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Roscoe shrugged and moved over to the fax machine. Finlay was still talking to the state police. I saw Baker hanging around on the fringe of the triangle the three of us were making. I got up and wen…
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“Two things,” I said. “The guy is shot in the head close up with a silenced automatic weapon. First shot drops him. Second shot is insurance. The shell cases are missing. What does that say to you? P…
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“It’s not a thousand dollars a year,” he whispered. Then he bent close to my ear. “It’s a thousand dollars a week.”
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“Christ,” he said. “You think the next chief will be in the scam?”
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I shrugged and nodded. Stood up and looked at them both.
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His lips were clamped. I was getting him bad-tempered, too. But he stayed patient. Laced the patience with an icy sarcasm.
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“You’ll find one of them today,” I said.
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The cell stayed locked all day. The floor was silent. We lay on our beds and drifted through the rest of the afternoon. No more talking. We were all talked out. I was bored and wished I had brought t…
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“Gives Teale a lot of power,” I said. “And what’s the story with the Kliner boy? He tried to warn me off you. Made out he had a prior claim.”
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The elevator took us down to a lobby and then we stepped outside into a hot concrete yard. The prison door sucked shut and clicked behind us. I stood face up to the sun and breathed in the outside ai…
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“Morrison,” he said. “Morrison told me what to do.”
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Finlay looked blank. It must have sounded pretty thin to him. It would have sounded pretty thin to me too, in his position.
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“I’ll buy that,” he said. “The first guy was hit at point-blank range, so maybe we should assume he knew the assailants and allowed them to get next to him?”
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“Finlay was satisfied,” Roscoe told me. “You are who you say you are, and midnight Thursday you were over four hundred miles away. That was nailed down. He called the medical examiner again just in c…
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Two things happened as the Kliner kid came near. First, Finlay left in a hurry. He just strode off north without another word. Second, I heard the barbershop blinds coming down in the window behind m…
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WE PULLED UP AT THE DOORS OF THE LONG LOW BUILDING. Baker got out of the car and looked up and down along the frontage. The backup guys stood by. Stevenson walked around the back of our car. Took up …
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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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The tired man at the desk prepared to answer. Like preparing for a lecture. He picked up three files from his left and dropped them on his blotter. Opened the top one. Pulled out the second one and o…
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“Nothing?” I said. “What the hell does that mean?”
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He turned and walked back. A level gaze. Not friendly.
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“Well, not just me,” he said. “My family as well.”
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“Isn’t this the holding floor?” I asked him at the same time.
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“Get your ass in that chair and keep your filthy mouth shut,” he said.
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“I asked the driver to stop,” I said. “He said he shouldn’t, but he did. Stopped specially, let me off.”
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“So you got enough black customers to make a living?” I asked him.
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Her voice was wonderful. Her smile was great. I watched it for as long as it lasted, which was a good long time. Ahead of us, the Hubbles drove off in the Bentley, waving. I waved back and wondered h…
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“You came here looking for a guitar player?” he said.
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“I found them in her stomach,” the doctor said.
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I shrugged. He was right. It was a pretty cold trail. The only spark that Finlay knew about was the panic Hubble had shown on Friday.
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“So who’s getting it?” I said. “Who’s the new chief?”
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“Come here, white boy,” the big guy repeated. Quietly.
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“He’s the guy on the other end of this number,” he said.
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He smiled as he said it. He was recovering his cop’s sense of humor.
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“Good,” he said. “I’m glad about that. Where’s your lawyer?”
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“In Tampa,” I said. “Left at midnight last night.”
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“OK, make a note, he’s said nothing,” he grunted. “Let’s go.”
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I wasn’t sure about taking it, but she passed me a thick envelope.
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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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“Sure,” I said. “But not here. In Alabama.”
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“You never heard him use that word?” I asked her again. “Not on the phone, not in his sleep or anything?”
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“What’s Hubble got to do with this?” he said.
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He leaned his head back and looked around. Blew another sigh up at the ceiling. A somber man.
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I flicked the knife at his belly. Slit his greasy shirt.
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“We’ve got a nice place,” he said. “Out on Beckman Drive. Bought there five years ago. A lot of money, but it was worth it. You know Beckman?”
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As the five swept the room, the other occupants melted away. Any who didn’t get the message were seized and hustled to the door. Thrown out into the corridor. Even the soapy naked guys from the showe…
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I slid slowly out of the booth and extended my wrists to the officer with the revolver. I wasn’t going to lie on the floor. Not for these country boys. Not if they brought along their whole police de…
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“Think about what?” he said. “Wasn’t a message for me.”
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“Don’t get smart with me, Reacher,” he said. “You’re in deep shit. Bad things happened up there. Our witness saw you leaving the scene. You’re a stranger with no ID and no story. So don’t get smart w…
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I carried on just looking at him. Didn’t answer.
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“Not really,” she said. “But I could find it.”
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“I mean it, Roscoe,” I said. “Stick with me and you’ll be OK.”
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After being Mirandized, Stoller had made one phone call. Within twenty minutes of the call, a lawyer named Perez from the respected Jacksonville firm of Zacarias Perez was in attendance, and within a…
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“Maybe,” I said. “It was a special stop. I had to ask him.”
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THE NUMBER FINLAY HAD HANDED ME REACHED MOLLY Beth Gordon’s private line. She answered on the first ring. I gave her my name. It made her cry.
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“OK,” I said. “So he’s got some urgent business some-where. Not even an asshole like Hubble’s going to forget about a ten-thousand-dollar watch, right?”
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It was just Hubble on his own. They’d taken him and dumped him somewhere. Someone had found the body and called the police. A screaming, gagging phone call. The cluster of cars and ambulances was the…
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Finlay wrote it all down. Then there was a long silence. I knew for sure what the next question was going to be.
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I gave her the station house number and told her to speak to nobody except me or Roscoe or Finlay. Then she hung up in a hurry like somebody had just walked in on her. I sat for a moment and tried to…
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“I don’t want names,” I said. “Is it a big deal?”
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I felt like I had to give him some kind of an answer. But I couldn’t think of anything. I had been in the service since the day I was born. Now I was out. Being out felt great. Felt like freedom. Lik…
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“I can’t tell you that, can I?” he answered.
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Finlay stared at me. Then he nodded to Baker who opened a buff file.
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“Monday?” I said. “As in the day after Sunday?”
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I just nodded again. I understood his position. I’d been in his position plenty of times myself.
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I was right. A Harvard guy. A Harvard guy, running out of patience.
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His voice had a quiet, cultured tone. Educated. A slight hiss on the sibilants. Not the voice to go with his sunbaked appearance.
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“Run the prints again,” I said. “I’m serious, Finlay. Get Roscoe to do it.”
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“I will,” he said. “You can be damn sure of that. Did you get an honorable discharge?”
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He looked away and shuddered. Very frightened.
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“It held up,” he said. “You were in Tampa when this was going down.”
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Roscoe was as white as the guy’s coat. I thought she was going to pitch forward off her stool. She closed her eyes and hung on. She was hearing about what somebody had planned for us last night.
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“OK, boys, let’s go,” he grinned. “Party time.”
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“It’s your lucky day,” the guard said. “You’re getting out.”
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I shook my head. Finlay was one very cautious guy.
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So we went back out into the dull morning. Got back into Roscoe’s Chevy. Same system as before. She drove. I sat across the back. Finlay sat in the front passenger seat, twisted around so he could lo…
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Hubble piled the meal debris on the tray and shoved it out under the gate into the corridor. He lay down on his bed. Put his hands behind his head. Stared at the ceiling. Doing time. I did the same. …
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He beamed at me and grasped his embroidered lapel.
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“Can’t you just ignore him?” I said. “Just do what needs doing?”
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“No, Finlay, not OK,” I said. “You know I didn’t do a damn thing. You know it wasn’t me. You’re just shit scared of that useless fat bastard Morrison. So I’m going to jail because you’re just a spine…
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I was terrified. I thought for ages. It was going around and around in my head. The detective was going crazy. I didn’t say anything because I was thinking. Seemed like hours. I was terrified, you kn…
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He was thinking hard. I could see what Finlay had meant. I had never seen anybody think so visibly. His mouth was working soundlessly and he was fiddling with his fingers. Like he was checking off po…
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“You’re welcome,” she said, and she smiled, with her eyes too. I smiled back. Her eyes were like a welcome blast of sunshine on a rotten afternoon.
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I grabbed her elbow and pulled her away. We stood flat against the garage door. Crouched down. Stuck close to the walls and circled right around the house. Listened hard at every window and risked du…
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ROSCOE WAS LATE. THE STORM HAD BEEN THREATENING FOR about twenty minutes before I saw her Chevy winding down the rise. Her headlights swept and arced left and right. They washed over me as she swung …
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“What they sent us?” the sunglasses guy said.
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“Do you know who this one is?” I asked her.
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“I stayed in the army,” I said. “Military Police. I served and lived in all those bases all over again. Then, Finlay, after thirty-six years of first being an officer’s kid and then being an officer …
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“That’s an execution, Finlay,” I said. “Not a robbery or a squabble. That’s a cold and clinical hit. No evidence left behind. That’s a smart guy with a flashlight scrabbling around afterward for two …
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“Where are you going to put them?” I asked him.
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“Great,” I said. “Let’s take a look.”
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“If he knows, he’ll tell me,” I said to him. “A question like that, it’s how you ask it, right?”
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“Because he was talking to an investigator?” he said.
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“And right now it’s very exposed?” I asked him. “Why? Because of this investigator poking about?”
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The intercom on Baker’s desk crackled again. He headed back to the office. The big front door opened again. The afternoon sun was blazing low in the sky. Stevenson walked into the station house. Firs…
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“Well, like I say, you’re not wearing the orange suit,” he said.
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I just shrugged at him. A meal cart appeared outside our cell. It was dragged by an old white guy. Not a guard, some kind of an orderly. Looked more like an old steward on an ocean liner. He passed a…
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“Right,” I said. “I’m Reacher. From Friday. What was the deal?”
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“Two things, Reacher,” he said. Precise articulation. “First, if necessary I’ll take care of Chief Morrison on Monday. Second, I am not a coward. You don’t know me at all. Nothing about me.”
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“Reacher?” the clipboard guy said. “You understand?”
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“For you,” he said. Finlay crouched forward on his stool and took the call. Listened for a moment.
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“Why?” he said. “Who the hell’s after you?”
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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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“Yes, it is,” he said. “Jurisdiction issue is clear. No way out for you there, Mr. Reacher. The town limit extends fourteen miles, right up to the highway. The warehousing out there is mine, no doubt…
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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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“What have you been living on?” he asked. “What rank did you hold?”
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I had no backup, no facilities, no help. I couldn’t rely on Roscoe or Finlay. I couldn’t expect either of them to agree with my agenda. And they had troubles of their own up at the station house. Wha…
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“Can you give me a description of him?”
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“Why won’t he make you chief?” I said. “You’re the senior guy, right?”
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“Yo, white boy, come here,” he said. To Hubble.
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Spivey came out. I heard the grilles on the vehicle cage grinding across. I turned and saw a dirty Ford driving through. It came out and stopped next to the Bentley. Spivey heaved himself out. He wal…
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Finlay looked up. He was interested. He loved the process of deduction. It fascinated him. Like when I’d scored with those long shots about Harvard, his divorce, quitting smoking.
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“Hub’s disappeared,” she screamed.
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THE STATION HOUSE DOOR SUCKED OPEN. I SQUINTED through the heat and saw Roscoe step out. The sun was behind her and it lit her hair like a halo. She scanned around and saw me leaning on the statue in…
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“I’ll get the arrest report from Florida,” Roscoe said. “And we’ll find an address for him somewhere. Got to be a lot of paperwork on a trucker, right? Union, medical, licenses. Should be easy enough…
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“May I say what it’s in connection with?”
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I nodded again. Sensed there was something more to come. “Go on,” I said. With resignation.
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“You got things to do,” I said. “You need to get Roscoe on one side and fill her in with the details, OK? Tell her to take a lot of care. Then you need to make some calls and find out from Washington…
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“Two or three days, maybe,” she said. “Finlay says it could have been a double homicide on Thursday night.”
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“Great,” I said. “So what can you tell me?”
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“Sure do,” he said. “You were our last customer. Nobody in between to muddle me up.”
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“So, Reacher, I’m sorry,” he said. “You and Hubble stay in the bag until Monday. You’ll get through it. Over in Warburton. Bad place, but the holding pens are OK. Worse if you go there for a stretch.…
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“Who’s on the inside of this thing?” I asked him.
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We drove on east and Roscoe told me she’d pushed Finlay to get me out of Warburton right away yesterday afternoon. Finlay had grunted and agreed, but there was a problem. They’d had to wait until tod…
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“OK,” said the guy called Hubble. “You’re welcome.”
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“How did you meet the guy?” Finlay asked.
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I could see her thinking about it.
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“Worried, I think,” Finlay said. “He hates mess.”
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“What I mean is this,” I said. “You’re going to leave. That’s for sure. Your choice is about how you leave. Either you can walk out of here by yourself, or these other fat boys behind you are going t…
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“Why won’t Teale come in here?” I asked him.
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“Pretty much the same as the last one,” Finlay said. “Looks like it happened at the same time. Shot to death, probably the same weapon. This one didn’t get kicked around afterward, but it was probabl…
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“No fault of his own, you understand,” he said. “He did an excellent job, but it was in a field we moved out of. A strategic business decision, very unfortunate for the people concerned, but there yo…
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“The dead guy was trying to help you, wasn’t he?” I said.
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“Blind Blake was born in Jacksonville,” I said. “Did you know that?”
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“Morrison is dead,” he said. Then he shrugged and clamped his thin lips. Wouldn’t say any more.
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We were going around in circles here.
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“Where are you going to stay?” she asked.
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“Is he in danger?” she asked again.
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MY COAT WAS STILL BALLED UP ON THE CELL FLOOR. I shook it out and put it on. I was cold again. Thrust my hands into the pockets. Leaned on the bars and tried to read through the newspaper again, just…
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“Give me your sweater, white boy,” he said again. Quietly.
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“I was a military kid,” I said. “Show me a list of U.S. bases all around the world and that’s a list of where I lived. I did high school in two dozen different countries and I did four years up at We…
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But it was the most immaculate town I had ever seen. It was amazing. Every single building was either brand-new or recently refurbished. The roads were smooth as glass, and the sidewalks were flat an…
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“No,” I said. “Not a word. We hardly spoke all weekend.”
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“Molly, that would be great,” I said. “I really need that information.”
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I HID THE BENTLEY IN HER GARAGE TO MAINTAIN THE ILLUSION that we hadn’t been back to her house. Then we got in her Chevy and decided to start with breakfast up at Eno’s. She took off and gunned the c…
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He wrote it down. Not much to write. I told him my date of birth.
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“OK,” he said. “Punch it through here, Baker.”
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He glanced over. An expression of horror on his face.
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“Who was the investigator?” he asked. “And where does Joe fit in?”
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Finlay sat at the desk. I sat in the same chair I’d used on Friday. Roscoe pulled a chair up and put it next to mine. Finlay rattled open the desk drawer. Took out the tape recorder. Went through his…
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“Do you understand cash?” he said.
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“Hubble?” I said. “Why did you confess?”
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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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We stepped in through the out door. The foul odor of prison hit me. The night exhalation of countless dispirited men. It was nearly pitch black. A night-light glowed dimly. I sensed rather than saw r…
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“Will you come in for some iced tea?” Charlie asked us.
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“You’ll have to tell her something,” I said. “She’s sure to have noticed you’re not at home, vacuuming the pool or whatever you do on the weekend.”
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“I got to make some calls,” he said. “Time to go to work on this thing.”
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“That’s why we don’t need no customers,” he cackled.
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Sherman Stoller had been flagged down by a sector car for exceeding the speed limit on the river bridge between Jacksonville and Jacksonville Beach at a quarter to midnight on a September night, two …
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“I was the first one there,” he said. “About ten this morning. I hadn’t seen Morrison since Friday and I needed to update the guy, but I couldn’t get him on the phone. It was middle of the morning on…
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“An FBI agent is coming here to pick you up,” I said.
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“It’s obvious, I guess,” he said. “He’s got me marked down as a token and an idiot. Not to be promoted further. Makes sense in a way. Can’t believe they gave me the job in the first place, token or n…
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“You try his mobile number?” I asked him.
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He just grunted at me. I carried on looking straight at him. I figured this was the type of a guy who might answer a question.
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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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“Can’t find him anywhere,” he said. “He’s not up at his place on Beckman Drive and nobody’s seen him around town. Hubble knows all about this, right?”
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“And she remembers Blind Blake?” I asked him.
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“The first guy?” he said. “I haven’t got much at all. The body was in a hell of a mess. He was tall, he was fit, he had a shaved head. The main thing is the dental work. Looks like the guy got his te…
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“Now come here, white boy,” said his tormentor.
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“Money, maybe,” I said. “That’s all I can think of. Joe worked for the Treasury Department, as far as I know. Hubble worked for a bank. Their only thing in common would be money. Maybe we’ll find out…
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He tailed off and went quiet. An echo of the fright and panic he had felt in Finlay’s office was back. He looked up again. Took a deep breath.
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The guy didn’t know how to explain it. Didn’t know where to start. He made a couple of attempts and gave them up.
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“They confirmed Joe worked there, right?” I said.
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“I’ll need that arrest report from Florida,” I said.
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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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“OK, I’ll tell you,” he said. “Time to time, I helped Morrison out. He called me Friday. Said he was sending two guys over. Names meant nothing to me. Never heard of you or the other guy. I was suppo…
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Roscoe shrugged and smiled a tender smile. Looked concerned for me.
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“Everybody else in the department is clean,” Roscoe said.
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“Why should you care?” he said. “What was he to you?”
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ROSCOE WAS BACK AT HER DESK. MAYOR TEALE WAS HANDING her a thick wad of file folders. I stepped over to her and pulled up a spare chair. Sat down next to her.
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She looked at me like I was crazy. Shook her head.
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He was calm. I said nothing. He remained calm. He had the calm of a man whose moment of danger had passed. He would just drive me to the station house and then I would become someone else’s problem. …
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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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Neither of us spoke. We wanted to preserve the quiet intimate cocoon as long as possible. Arriving back in Margrave was going to burst the bubble soon enough. So I guided the big stately car down the…
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“That’s the only way I can explain his behavior,” she said. “Is he in danger?”
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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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“OK, here goes, testing, testing,” his voice said. “This is Paul Hubble, right here at home, that’s number twenty-five Beckman Drive, I say again, zero-two-five Beckman Drive, down here in little old…
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“Thanks, Finlay,” I said. “If I’d known the dead guy was Joe, I’d have hit on him so hard, you’d have heard him yelling all the way over here.”
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“OK, he’s the one,” he said. Looking straight at me.
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“And you figure he was called Sherman?” I said.
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They had pushed open the forbidden door. They had made a second fatal mistake. Now they were dead men. I was going to hunt them down and smile at them as they died. Because to attack me was a second …
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I let him ramble on. Prison conversation. It passes the time. That’s what it’s for. Hubble was good at it. But I still wanted him to answer my question. My forehead hurt and I wanted to bathe it with…
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“So what do we make of that?” Finlay said. “The guy was foreign? Or an American who lived abroad or what?”
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I WAS ARRESTED IN ENO’S DINER. AT TWELVE O’CLOCK. I was eating eggs and drinking coffee. A late breakfast, not lunch. I was wet and tired after a long walk in heavy rain. All the way from the highway…
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“Charlie, I’m afraid I have no idea where he is,” I said.
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“SO WHAT HAPPENED?” I SAID AFTER A MILE. “TELL ME.”
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We got back to the front of the house in time to see the big Bentley easing to a stop. The blond woman I’d seen driving away from the prison got out. She had two children with her. A boy and a girl. …
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Then I was walked to the left. They stopped me in front of a door. Baker swung it open and I was pushed into a room. It was an interview facility. No windows. A white table and three chairs. Carpet. …
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The guy at the desk swiveled his tired gaze toward me.
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“But why?” she asked. “You don’t work for the government.”
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Finlay just shrugged. Clicked off the tape recorder. Rewound. Took out the tape. Wrote on it. He buzzed the intercom on the big rosewood desk. Asked Baker to come back in. I waited. It was still cold…
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He wore a faded polo shirt with a small logo and washed chino pants. The sort of clothes that look old when you buy them for five hundred bucks. He had a thick white sweater draped over his back. The…
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“Would they give me severance if I didn’t?” I said.
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“The witness is Chief Morrison,” Finlay said. “The chief of police. He says he was sure he had seen you before. Now he has remembered where.”
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“But I don’t have to wear it,” I said.
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“OK,” she said. “I’ll get you one.”
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“The last twenty-four hours, Reacher,” he said. “In detail.”
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“So tell it to me,” I said. “I need to know.”
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“You’re in my house, fat boy,” I said. “But I’m going to give you a choice.”
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“His sister-in-law’s brother-in-law?” he said. “Drove him home, in the rain, two o’clock in the morning? Officer Stevenson.”
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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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“This is Red Boy territory, man,” the big guy said. Explaining the bandannas. “What’s whitey doing in Red Boy territory?”
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“What about the guy you sent to meet with the investigator?” I said. “Is he one of the ten people?”
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Then her beeper started going. It was a little black pager thing clipped to her belt. I hadn’t seen it before. Maybe she was only required to use it during working hours. It was beeping away. She rea…
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“Who the hell is Blind Blake?” he said.
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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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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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“So there’s you and him and ten others?” I said. “Some kind of a big deal?”
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“They wouldn’t tell me anything,” he said. “They want a shitload of formal authorization from Teale before they say word one.”
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“Not counting himself,” I said. “Not counting Sherman Stoller, either. But I assume he was counting Chief Morrison.”
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“He seems to,” she said. “Finlay’s got him acting as a kind of a lookout. Should we get him involved?”
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“Very good, Reacher,” he said. “Elementary deduction, right?”
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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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THE CONVENIENCE STORE ON THE SOUTHEASTERN CORNER was selling the sort of stuff that gave it a good enough excuse to be open on a Sunday morning. Open, but not busy. There was nobody in there except t…
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“I don’t want any more convenient mistakes,” I said. “The fat moron said he saw me up there. I want him to know that won’t fly anymore.”
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Paul Hubble got out of the car. Baker shut the door. Hubble waited. Baker skipped around him and pulled open the big plate-glass door of the station house. It sucked against the rubber seal. Hubble s…
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“I’m going for a drive in the country,” I said.
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The desk sergeant was looking over. Disapproving. She was going to have to go. I drained the coffee and handed her the cup back through the bars.
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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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“Can I get you a cup of coffee?” she asked me.
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Hubble gave a gasp of fear and revulsion and jumped back. He scuttled backward to the rear of the cell. Tried to hide behind the john. He was practically hugging the pan.
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“And he gave you no idea what the scam is all about?” he asked.
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Finlay nodded gently. “Before that?”
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“First time he saw me was Friday, right?” I said. “In the office? He was staring at me like he’d seen me before, but he couldn’t place where. That was because he’d seen Joe. He noticed a resemblance.…
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“Biggest thing you ever heard of,” he said again.
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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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“Does Baker want in on this?” I asked her.
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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 don’t think he’s dead,” she whispered. “I would know. I would be able to feel it. I think he’s just hiding out somewhere. I want you to find him. I’ll pay you whatever you want.”
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“The mayor’s,” Finlay said. “Town mayor appoints the chief of police. He’s coming over. Guy named Teale. Some kind of an old Georgia family. Some ancestor was a railroad baron who owned everything in…
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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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Finlay picked up the phone on the big desk and listened. Scribbled some notes and grunted a thank-you. Hung the phone up and got out of his chair.
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I looked at him. I wasn’t following his drift. The guy changed gear. Became very patient with me.
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We followed him back outside into the heat. We all got into Roscoe’s unmarked sedan. Left Finlay’s car where he’d parked it. Roscoe drove. I sat in the back. Finlay sat in the front passenger seat, t…
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“I thought I’d come and look for Blind Blake,” I said.
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“I want to take you to lunch,” I said. “Kind of a thank-you thing.”
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“Who told him what to do?” I asked him again.
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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 asked him what Pluribus was,” I said. “He wouldn’t answer. He said there were ten local people involved in the scam, plus hired help in from the outside when necessary. And he said the scam is vul…
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“Is this going to ruin your authority?” I asked her. “To be seen kissing a vagrant who got arrested in here on Friday?”
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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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“Right,” he said again. “Criminology.”
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He thought for a moment. Wasn’t impressed.
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He leaned forward to where he had left the number. Slid the paper back with his long brown fingers. Reversed it so he could read it and picked up the phone. Dialed the number. Hit the speakerphone bu…
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I thought about it. Shrugged at him.
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WE DUCKED UNDER THE TAPE AND PUSHED IN THROUGH Morrison’s front door. The house was a wreck. Gray metallic fingerprint powder everywhere. Everything tossed and searched and photographed.
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I tried to think exactly what I could say to her. She waited for an answer. The coffee machine burbled away in the big silent kitchen.
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I waited out on the road. Five minutes. The taxi drove up. Brand-new and immaculate, like everything else in Margrave.
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“Up at the warehouse again,” she said. “The other side of the road this time, underneath the cloverleaf, where it’s raised up.”
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“Got to throw his ass in the can for now,” he said. “No option. He’s confessed, couple of plausible details. But it definitely won’t hold up.”
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“No,” I said. “Washington, D.C., somewhere. Like I said, we weren’t close.”
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They walked me through to the cold store in back to make a formal identification of his body. His face had been blown away by the gunshots and all his bones were broken but I recognized the star-shap…
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“He was running an investigation,” she said. “Into what, I don’t know specifically.”
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“Your first shot killed him,” Baker said. “Then you shot him again, and then you went berserk and kicked the shit out of the body. There are massive postmortem injuries. You shot him and then you tri…
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“He’s just a southern asshole,” he said. “Old Georgia family, probably a long line of southern assholes. They’ve been the mayors around here since the beginning. I dare say this one’s no worse than t…
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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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“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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“I suddenly figured out what to do,” he said. “I had three problems. If they were after me too, I had to avoid them. Hide, you know? To protect myself. But if they weren’t after me, then I had to sta…
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“Bring some handcuffs home, OK?” I said.
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On the south edge of town I could see a little village green with a bronze statue and a residential street running away to the west. I strolled down there and saw a discreet green sign which read: Be…
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I paid him and got out. The guy was crazy.
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The statue on the village green was of a guy called Caspar Teale who’d done something or other about a hundred years ago. More or less opposite Beckman Drive on the other side of the green was anothe…
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“When’s the autopsy?” I asked him.
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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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“Are they going to make you chief now?” I asked him.
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“What do you make of the kicking?” Finlay asked him.
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“I didn’t say that, no sir, I didn’t say I don’t like your clothes,” he said. “I like your clothes just fine. A very fine set of clothes, yes sir, yes indeed, very fine.”
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“I’m afraid that makes sense,” she said.
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“Have you worked at all since then?” he asked.
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She was holding a couple of fax pages. Densely typed.
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I felt bad I wasn’t staying to wait for Hubble. It made me feel disloyal to Joe. But I just wanted to be on my own with Roscoe. I was burning up with it. Maybe some kind of repressed grief was intens…
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“I’m nobody,” I said. “Just a guy passing through. I’ll be gone on Monday.”
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“OK, drive on through,” he said. “Spivey will meet you at reception.”
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He was getting me involved. I looked at him. He started thinking again. His mouth was working. He was pulling on his fingers. Eyes flicking left and right. Like over here was a big pile of reasons, a…
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“They’re broken, fat boy,” I said. “Give me yours.”
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“A brother up in D.C.,” I said. “Works for the Treasury Department.”
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There were two cars parked in the yard. One was a big dark sedan, an English Bentley, maybe twenty years old, but it looked brand-new. There was a blond woman in it, who I guessed was Hubble’s wife, …
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“They sent us fresh meat,” the big guy answered.
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“I’m out of work,” I said. “I haven’t got any business anywhere.”
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“So Morrison was there?” Finlay said. “Was he the shooter?”
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“I finished in Boston in March,” he said. “Done my twenty years. Unblemished record. Eight commendations. I was one hell of a detective, Reacher. I had retirement on full pension to look forward to. …
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The donut eater went out into the corridor and came back a long moment later with a tray. On it were covered plates, paper cups and a Thermos. He put the tray on the table and the two of them swung o…
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“What happens on Sunday?” Finlay asked.
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“The phone number,” I said. “You’ve identified it as a mobile?”
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“Want me to use this on you?” I said.
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The waitress arrived with the food. We ate in silence. The portions were huge. The fried stuff was great. The eggs were delicious. This guy Eno had a way with eggs. I washed it all down with pints of…
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We waited in the rosewood office with Finlay. Five minutes. Ten. Then we heard a knock and Baker ducked his head around the door. He grinned in at us. I saw his gold tooth again.
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“I am,” I said. “Unless he got married without telling me.”
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The bus rattled to a halt. The idling engine set up a vibration. What little ventilation there had been ceased. It was stifling. Hubble finally looked up. He peered out through his gold rims. He look…
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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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“So how may I help you?” he asked.
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“So right now I’m just enjoying myself,” I said. “Maybe eventually I’ll find something to do, maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll settle somewhere, maybe I won’t. But right now, I’m not looking to.”
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His smile widened. Reached his eyes.
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“So long,” he said. “Don’t come back.”
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“I wasn’t there at midnight,” I said again. “I was getting on the bus in Tampa. Nothing too weird about that.”
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“Charlie,” I said blankly. “Charlie Hubble. His wife. She’s OK. They didn’t get her.”
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“Tell me one thing,” I said. “Without giving me any more details, do you perform a useful function for them? Or are you just some kind of onlooker?”
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“You ever hear him play?” I asked him.
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I looked at him and made a face. Didn’t speak.
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She picked up her own cup from where she’d put it down.
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“What can I tell you?” I said. “It was an arbitrary decision. I was restless. I have to be somewhere, right?”
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“When did you leave the army?” he asked.
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Main Street ran north, straight as a die, past a few hundred yards of more parkland up to the station house and the firehouse, and a half mile farther on than that was Eno’s diner. A few miles beyond…
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I nodded. Baker had said the victim had been maybe forty. Maybe Joe hadn’t worn well.
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The tinny speakerphone relayed a laugh from the guy called Hubble.
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“We got us a situation here, Mr. Reacher,” Finlay said. “A real situation.”
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“He’s not going to help you,” I said. “He hates your useless fat guts. He’s just a guard. You sucked ass and got promotion. He wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire. Why should he?”
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Hubble did nothing. Filled with panic.
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“You think I don’t bring coffee to the guilty ones?” she said.
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I felt I was getting closer to Joe. Like I was hearing a faint echo.
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“Shouldn’t we leave that to Finlay?” she said.
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I got Finlay to support the front fender and I crawled under the upside-down hood. Looked for the number they stamp on the scuttle. I had to scrape off some scorched flakes, but I found the little al…
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“So take me as an example,” I said. “I’m in the database, but I’m pretty low down the pyramid. You just said it took fourteen hours to get down to me, right?”
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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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“I’m going to have a talk with this guy,” I said. “He keeps looking at me.”
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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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“Too expensive,” he said. “Big overhead, small margin. It had to go.”
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“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m very grateful. Believe me, I am. You saved my life. You took care of it. That’s why you’ve got to tell me what to do. I’m being threatened.”
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“You better go on out and bring this Hubble guy in,” he said. “Twenty-five Beckman Drive. God knows what he’s got to do with anything, but we better talk to him. Go easy on him, you know, he’s probab…
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“Who was he?” Finlay asked for the third time.
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He was anxious not to be left alone. Understandable. I was going to be his minder for the weekend. Not that I had any other plans.
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I nodded again. I was happy with that. Very happy. Unofficial help suited me fine. It would get the job done without hanging me up on procedure. I had five clear days before Sunday. This morning, fiv…
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“He was here, time to time, way back,” he said. “Born in Jacksonville, Florida, they say, just over the state line. Used to kind of trek on up from there, you know, through here, through Atlanta, all…
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He trailed off again. We got more coffee. It was a sad story. Stories about wrecked dreams always are.
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I stepped casually to my left. Just a foot or so, to put Spivey’s bulk between me and the gate guard. So the gate guard couldn’t see. Morrison’s switchblade appeared in my hand. I held it up at Spive…
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Hubble rocked and bounced beside me. He said nothing. He had slumped down with his face parallel to the floor. His left arm was raised because it was handcuffed to the chrome bar in front of us. His …
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I shook my head. Stopped outside the barbershop.
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“Mr. Hubble was our currency manager,” he said. “It was an important position. He was very good.”
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“Military Intelligence,” I said. “Quit after a while, then he worked for the government.”
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Baker bailed out of the situation. Left Finlay holding the ball. He collected the files and mimed going outside to work on them. Finlay nodded and waved him away. Baker got up and went out. Closed th…
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It was a fine rendition of Miranda. He spoke clearly. He didn’t read it from a card. He spoke like he knew what it meant and why it was important. To him and to me. I didn’t respond.
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“That’s what I was asking you,” I said.
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Roscoe was coming out of the big office in back. She had been pretty shaken up after being at the Morrison place. Wasn’t looking too good now, but she waved and tried a smile. Gestured me over. Wante…
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“OK,” I said. “Fourteen hours. So if it takes fourteen hours to reach nearly to the bottom of the pyramid, it’s got to take more than fourteen hours to get all the way down to the bottom. That’s logi…
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Hubble just stood where Baker had left him. Staring blankly into space. Then he slowly walked backward until he reached the rear wall of the cell. He pressed his back against it and slid to the floor…
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She walked out of the diner. I was aware of her leaning into her car, using the phone. Then she was gesturing to me from the parking lot. Miming urgency. Miming that she had to get back. Miming that …
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My assumption was they’d come to recruit me. Somehow hijack the fact that I’d knocked over a Red Boy. Claim my bizarre celebrity for their cause. Turn it into a race triumph for the Brotherhood. But …
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“It would have been easier for them to get you in here,” I said. “Believe me, if they were looking to kill you, you’d be dead by now. You’re in the clear, Hubble.”
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He was staring at the blade. It shone blue in the stormy sun.
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“OK, Mr. Reacher,” Finlay said. “As I said, we have a lot of questions. I’ve glanced through your personal effects. You were carrying no ID at all. No driver’s license, no credit cards, no nothing. Y…
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The voice was deep. Like a rumble. Not a southern accent. He looked and sounded like a Boston banker, except he was black.
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“Yes,” I said. “Finlay. Chief of detectives.”
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“I can’t read that signature,” he said. “So for the record we’ll start with your name, your address and your date of birth.”
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“This morning was the worst thing I’ve ever seen,” she said. “By far the worst thing. But I’m going to tell you something I would never tell anyone else. I wasn’t upset. Not about Morrison. You can’t…
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“You can’t do that,” I said. “They’ve told you to say nothing, so you say nothing. That way you stay alive. You and your family.”
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“His wife?” I said. “What the hell do you mean?”
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Our friends kept just disappearing. Some unit would get shipped out somewhere and a bunch of kids would be gone. Sometimes we saw them again months later in a different place. Plenty of them we never…
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“Why won’t you get the promotion?” I asked him.
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“Order me some food, OK?” she said. “I’ll have whatever you have.”
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And he had planned it yesterday before ten in the evening. That was clear. That’s why he had left us on the wrong floor. On the third, not the sixth. On a convict floor, not the holding floor. Everyb…
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“Who’s the guy in the truck?” I said.
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“He just won’t,” Finlay said. “Why not is my business.”
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“OK, guys, let’s hit the road,” Baker said.
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I watched him for a while. He was really shaken up. I went cold inside all over again. Hubble must have been left in a hell of a mess to be getting a reaction like that from Finlay. He was a twenty-y…
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I walked away and stood in the dust on the edge of the blacktop. It was a battle of nerves. I was betting Spivey would come on out. I’d know in five minutes. I waited. I could smell rain coming out o…
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“Nothing,” he said. “Just standing by.”
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Silence again. His turn to look at me. I could see him thinking about whether to answer, and how.
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“Hello?” the voice said. “Are you still there?”
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“But how much cash does he have?” the guy asked me.
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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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“Which one of you is Hubble?” he asked.
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I asked for Paul Hubble’s office and the receptionist flipped through a directory. She said she was sorry, but she was new in the job and she didn’t recognize me, so would I wait while she got cleara…
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“Terrific,” I said. “You search the car?”
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“Who was the other guy he was meeting with?” I said.
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But now he was dead. He wasn’t anywhere. I leaned up against the statue in front of the station house and listened to the tiny voice inside my head saying: you’re supposed to do something about that.
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Finlay’s patience was running thin. He looked at his watch.
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Hubble stood up. Took half a pace toward the man at the door. The big guy was glaring with that rage glare that is supposed to chill you with its ferocity.
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THE TRIP TO ATLANTA WAS THE BEST PART OF FIFTY MILES. Took nearly an hour. The highway swept me right into the city. I headed for the tallest buildings. Soon as I started to see marble foyers I dumpe…
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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’ve seen this guy before,” he told them.
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She went into the kitchen and I followed. She went quiet. She wasn’t falling apart, but she wasn’t happy. She pulled open the refrigerator door. It was a gesture which said: the cupboard is bare. She…
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“Getting on the bus in Tampa,” I said.
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There was a long pause. He looked at me. I looked at him. Without blinking. He took off his sunglasses and handed them to me. I put them in my pocket.
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He picked up the phone. Dialed an Atlanta number from memory.
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“I suppose you’re going to say you never heard of this guy?” he asked me.
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The little boy’s eyes grew round as he gazed at the FBI Special Agent’s shield Picard was holding out. Then the five of us carried the bags outside and piled them in the blue sedan’s trunk. I shook h…
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“That’s an express bus,” he said. “Runs straight through north to Atlanta. Arrives there nine o’clock in the morning. Doesn’t stop here at eight.”
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“He looked like me, I guess,” I said. “Maybe an inch taller, maybe ten pounds lighter.”
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“You got it, babe,” I said. Held my breath.
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“We’ll have to,” I said. “No other way. You can sell Teale some story. You can double bluff him. Tell him you figure the escaped con who he says did the Morrison thing must have been in a rental car.…
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“Go on,” he said eventually. Gravely, like it was a big deal.
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He stopped and shrugged. Blew a sigh. Not a bad guy. He hadn’t set out to be some big criminal. It had crept up on the blind side. Sucked him in so gently he hadn’t noticed. Until he wanted out. If h…
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“Shit,” he said. “He was the only link we had to exactly what the hell is going on here. You should have hit on him while you had the chance, Reacher.”
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He trailed off again. Just went quiet.
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He sat there in his chinos and his polo shirt. He had picked up his white sweater and wrapped it around his shoulders again. Without his glasses he looked older, more vacant. People who wear glasses,…
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“She let one little thing slip,” Finlay said. “Joe had a big debrief meeting scheduled. For next Monday morning.”
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“So Morrison was inside the same scam as Hubble?” he said.
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“Good morning, my friend,” he said.
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“No,” she said. “You don’t match the deviance profile.”
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The old guy paused and gestured with the razor.
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“How many people?” I asked him. I was trying to build up a picture.
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“You ever heard of Blind Blake?” I asked him.
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Charlie and her kids flashed into my mind and I shivered. They would figure Charlie was close to what Hubble had known. That was inevitable. Maybe even his kids as well. A cautious person would assum…
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“Good boy,” the big guy said. “You paid the tax.”
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I was numb. Finlay was waiting for a comment. I couldn’t think of anything. I was thinking about Charlie. She would ask if I’d found anything out. Finlay should go up there. He should go up there rig…
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The guy ducked under a Perspex hood and made a call. Ducked back out again and shouted over to me.
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“Ever heard of some guy called Hubble?” Finlay asked him. “Paul Hubble, lives here in town, twenty-five Beckman Drive?”
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“They wouldn’t tell me,” he said. “He started some new project exactly a year ago, but the whole thing is a total secret. He was some kind of a very big deal up there, Reacher, that’s for sure. You s…
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He started scraping my chin. His hand was shaking like old people do.
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“Small caliber?” I said. “How small?”
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“I’ve got to run and hide?” she said. “But where to?”
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The guy in the suit nodded. Dropped his gaze.
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“Reacher?” Roscoe said. “I got the stuff on Sherman Stoller.”
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“You did twenty years in Boston,” I said. “That’s what you told me, Finlay. So why are you down here in this no-account little place? You should be taking your pension, going out fishing. Cape Cod or…
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“So what’s the story on this one?” I asked him.
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“Probably about fifty dollars,” he said. “About fifty dollars in a leather billfold which cost him a hundred and fifty dollars.”
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“I won’t distract her,” I said evenly. “I know she’s doing vital work.”
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“Tell me what happened, Finlay,” I said again.
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I watched him for a moment longer. Life or death.
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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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The two policemen were crackling with repressed excitement. A weak case had suddenly grown strong. The thrill of winning was beginning to grip them. I recognized the signs.
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“Great,” Finlay said. “That only leaves me another nine to find.”
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Roscoe and I got into her car. Not really hers, she explained, just a department unmarked she was using. A brand-new Chevrolet something, big, smooth and quiet. She’d kept the motor running and the a…
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“I’ve had him since Sunday,” he said. “Been able to do a more thorough job, you know? A bit chewed up by the rats, but not pulped like the first guy, and altogether a lot less mess than the Morrisons…
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“Pluribus?” she said. “Isn’t that something to do with politics? Like on the podium when the president gives a speech? I never heard Hub talking about it. He graduated in banking studies.”
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“Because I can’t,” he said. Wouldn’t say anything more.
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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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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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“Yes,” I said to him. “It sounds pretty bad.”
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“I’m going to have to ask you a lot of questions, I’m afraid,” he said.
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“Hello, Reacher,” she said. “Come to take me away from all this?”
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There was a long silence in the kitchen. I sat there at the table, nursing the coffee she’d made for me.
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“Can’t rightly say,” he said. “He came back and forth on the road, time to time. I remember that pretty well. Three, four years later he was gone. I was up in Atlanta for a spell, wasn’t here to know…
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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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“And you didn’t press him?” he asked.
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Another lapse into silence. He was struggling with his ethics problem.
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“Not exactly,” Finlay shrugged. “He’s saying it’s maybe a conspiracy, you know, maybe Hubble wasn’t literally there, but he recruited you to do it. A conspiracy, right? He reckons the confession is e…
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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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“What do you mean by that?” he said.
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“State guys are calling back,” he said. “They may have something for us.”
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“But what sort of a thing?” I asked her. “What was his job?”
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“OK,” he said into the phone. “Just print it out and fax it to us here, will you?”
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“So tell me more about these Kliner people,” I said.
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“So how long is this exposure going to last?” I asked him.
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I moved on across the lot. Kliner slid into the black pickup. Fired it up and nosed out. He turned north. I turned south. Started the walk down to Roscoe’s place. It was a half mile through the new f…
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“It started last fall,” he said again. “We were within six months of the end. It was all going to be over. We were thinking of a cabin somewhere, maybe. Vacations. Plenty of time together. But she st…
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WE ROCKED AND BOUNCED FOR THE BEST PART OF ANOTHER hour through the huge landscape. A small stand of trees flashed past on my right. Then way in the far distance I saw a structure. It sat alone in a …
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It was empty apart from a box of bullets and a gun. A hell of a weapon. It was a Desert Eagle automatic. I’d used one before. They come from Israel. We used to get them in exchange for all kinds of s…
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“No possibility he might have put a couple of guys on surveillance?” I said.
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The tired guy in the white coat shrugged and picked up a sheet of paper.
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I knew I had to sound confident. Fear wouldn’t get her anywhere. Fear would just sap her energy. She had to face it down. And she had to face down the dark and the quiet again tonight, and every othe…
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“Run them again, OK?” I said. “Will you do that?”
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“Somebody making an example of him?” he said. “A message?”
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“So what do you think?” Finlay asked.
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“It might help, you know,” Finlay said. “We need to find out who saw him around, when and where.”
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“I can’t tell them,” he said. “I can’t tell anybody anything.”
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The driver from the black pickup was sitting at the lunch counter. The Kliner boy, the pale woman’s stepson. He’d spun the stool and his back was against the counter. He was sitting legs apart, elbow…
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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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“It’s worse than a blind alley,” Finlay said. “It’s a coded warning. Nobody in our files looks good for violent revenge. Never had that sort of crime here. We know that. And Teale knows we know that.…
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We walked on north. The sun was dropping away from overhead, but the heat was still fierce. I didn’t know how Finlay could wear a tweed jacket. And a moleskin vest. I led him over to the village gree…
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“He was?” Finlay said. “You said that was a bullshit story.”
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He got to his feet and gave me a fussy gesture. Wanted me to join him at the window. We peered out together at the people on the street, seventeen floors down. He pointed at a guy in a suit, hurrying…
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He was a tall white man. He looked like a page from a magazine. An advertisement. The sort that uses a grainy photograph of money at play. He was in his early thirties. Trim but not strong. Sandy hai…
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“Taking care of some business,” Charlie said. “I expect him back later.”
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It was what I had expected. It was exactly what I would have said. But I just looked at him and shook my head.
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“He runs it because he’s the mayor,” she said. “Not because he’s Teale. The program assigns a lot of money, spends it on public things, roads, gardens, the library, local business grants. Gives the p…
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AT SEVEN IN THE MORNING THE LIGHTS CAME BACK ON. Sunday. I woke up tired, but I forced myself to get up. Forced myself to do a bit of stretching to ease off my sore body. Hubble was awake, but silent…
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“Not the last time I saw him,” I said. “He had hair like anybody else.”
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I didn’t want Roscoe to catch a chill. She ought to get out of that damp shirt. That’s what I told her. She giggled at me.
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“So why won’t you get it?” I said.
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But that would never work with Joe. He was a professional. He’d spent important years in Military Intelligence. His password would be a random mixture of numbers, letters, punctuation marks, upper an…
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“Four,” he said. “The footprints are confused, but I think I can see four.”
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Then something happened. Roscoe sat down next to me on the cane sofa. As she sat, she pushed my leg to one side. It was a casual thing but it was very intimate and familiar. A numbed nerve end sudden…
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“I can’t find Hubble,” Finlay said. Looking at me. “There’s nobody up at his place. Did he say anything to you about going anywhere?”
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“Do you understand your rights?” the guy called Baker asked me again. “Do you speak English?”
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I just sat and watched them. I knew who was in the diner. A cook in back. Two waitresses. Two old men. And me. This operation was for me. I had been in town less than a half hour. The other five had …
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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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She jinked the right turn onto the county road and accelerated south toward Margrave. Drove past Eno’s shiny new place and headed down to town.
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The blond woman seemed to know Roscoe. They greeted each other and Roscoe introduced me to her. She shook my hand and said her name was Charlene, but I could call her Charlie. She was an expensive-lo…
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Up close, the kid was an interesting study. He was no lightweight. Probably six-two, maybe one ninety, shot through with some kind of a restless energy. There was a lot of intelligence in his eyes, b…
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We drove north out of the police lot, turning our backs on the town, heading up toward the highway. We passed Eno’s diner after a half mile. His lot was empty. Nobody looking for an early dinner. We …
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I’d asked Roscoe which was our waitress. And how had she answered? She hadn’t said the smaller one, or the one with the long hair, or the blonder one, or the slimmer one, or the prettier one or the y…
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Outside, the restless night mutter was replaced by the clatter of daytime. Everything was metal, brick, concrete. Noises were amplified and echoed around. It sounded like hell. Through the bars I cou…
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Now I was truly pissed off. I was going to prison for the weekend. I wasn’t staying in a station house cell. Not that I had any other plans. But I knew about civilian prisons. A lot of army deserters…
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The thin sheet of paper fed itself out, covered in writing. Then the machine stopped and went quiet. I picked up the paper and glanced at it. Then I read it through twice. I went cold. I was gripped …
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But we had the thing that army families have. Your family was your unit. The men on the bases were taught total loyalty to their units. It was the most fundamental thing in their lives. The boys copi…
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Finlay was at the desk. The tape recorder was there. The stiff cords trailed. The air was still and cool. Finlay looked harassed. His tie was pulled down. He blew out a big lungful of air in a rueful…
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Then in the service itself, that brutality was refined. I was trained by experts. Guys who traced their own training back to World War Two, Korea, Vietnam. People who had survived things I had only r…
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“Everybody used to stop off here,” he said. “North side of town was just pretty much a mess of bars and rooming houses to cater to the folks passing through. All these fancy gardens between here and …
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“Next Sunday?” she repeated. “I don’t think he mentioned it. Why? What’s going to happen next Sunday?”
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The problem with trying to warn Charlie was I didn’t know how much I wanted to tell her. Certainly I wasn’t about to give her the details. Didn’t even feel right to tell her Hubble was dead at all. W…
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We drove on. Yellow Springs became a smudge in the heat haze on the horizon. Just inside the town limit was the county hospital, standing more or less on its own. Put there back when diseases were in…
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What did he call a threat? Some kind of exposure or embarrassment? Something that might blow away the perfect life he’d described on Beckman Drive? Maybe it was his wife who was involved in something…
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“OK,” she said. “Are we going to fix my door first?”
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“Joe Reacher,” I said. “No middle name.”
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“Fresh meat for everybody,” the big guy said.
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