‘Probably not,’ Reacher said.
‘We found out about Porterfield’s crusade. It was a colonel named Bateman who killed it. But DIA didn’t like him. They left Porterfield’s copy of the report in his house for a month. They hoped the sheriff would find it. Outside pressure would have given them cover. But the guy didn’t bite. Eventually they had to go get it back. But they got Bateman later, for something else. He went down hard.’
‘Thank you, general.’
‘Thank you, major.’
Reacher walked the phone back to Bramall. He was fussing around the Toyota, moving stuff, trying to make more space. Mackenzie was helping him.
Reacher said, ‘Relax.’
He walked back to the room. Sanderson had new foil in place. Her hood was forward, and the drawstring was tight.
He said, ‘The supe told me Colonel Bateman went down later. So that’s two for two. Him and Scorpio.’
‘Would that make you feel better?’
‘A little,’ he said.
‘Me too, I guess.’
‘I’m not coming with you.’
‘I figured you wouldn’t.’
‘Get the IV.’
‘I will.’
‘Good luck.’
‘You too.’
They didn’t kiss, because the foil was new. Instead they stepped outside and Sanderson got in the car. Reacher shook hands with Bramall, and Mackenzie, and he watched them drive away. He walked up to the gas and the diesel. He found another homeless guy running another hitchhiking market. A dollar to play. Like Sioux Falls. Maybe a South Dakota thing. There were only three choices. Because of the way the lanes were laid out.
You could bid for south on a state road.
Or east on the highway towards Chicago.
Or west on the highway towards Seattle.
Reacher paid his dollar and chose south on the state road. Ten minutes later he was in a carpenter’s truck, with a guy who was heading to Kansas, looking for tornado work.
About the Author
Lee Child is one of the world’s leading thriller writers. He was born in Coventry, raised in Birmingham, and now lives in New York. It is said one of his novels featuring his hero Jack Reacher is sold somewhere in the world every nine seconds. His books consistently achieve the number-one slot on bestseller lists around the world, are published in over one hundred territories, and two blockbusting Jack Reacher movies have been made so far.
He is the recipient of many awards, most recently the CWA’s Diamond Dagger for a writer of an outstanding body of crime fiction, the International Thriller Writers’ ThrillerMaster, and the Theakston Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award.