Page 102 of Chain Reaction

Reacher stepped back to the desk. The doorman looked up. Reacher said, “Keep an eye on the downstairs cameras for me, would you? Just in case. Let me know if you see anyone you don’t recognize. I won’t be far away.” He recited his burner’s number and the doorman wrote it down.

“You expecting trouble?” the guy said.

“The opposite,” Reacher said. “I’m expecting a quiet and peaceful night followed by a long and happy life. But I’m a belt and suspenders kind of guy.”

He walked back to where he had left the Dodge and drove it the rest of the inner square, back to the building. He parked in the same bay he had used before, with its clear view of the lobby door. Front and center. He put his burner on the dash. He dropped the seat back a couple of clicks and got comfortable. He settled in to wait. All night and most of the morning. Better safe than sorry.

Chapter 35

Reacher’s burner rang two hours later. Turner. She said, “The meeting has been moved up to three a.m. Apparently we’re about to attack somewhere in the Middle East. I imagine I’ll have to send my people to find the evidence that proves why we had to.”

“Or invent it,” Reacher said.

“Everything OK there?”

“I saw Julia. She was out walking the baby in a stroller to get her to sleep. Hennessy’s people got here about halfway through.”

“Was there trouble?”

“They didn’t see us. I called Hennessy and told him to back down.”

“That’s very direct. I bet old Helmuth von Moltke never thought of that.”

“They didn’t have telephones then. They had to write missives with quill pens and send them on horseback. Spoken words have more nuance.”

“Did your nuance work?”

“He didn’t want his boys to take the loss. He called them home right away. They were gone in ten minutes. To sweeten the deal I promised him a clear run at me at some point in the future. He wants a big showdown. He doesn’t like me. Apparently I broke his guy’s skull. Hence the blood on my shoe.”

“The other five are going to be mad at you.”

“Won’t help them.”

“Are you going to give him a clear run at you?”

“I hope not.”

“Did Julia tell you anything?”

“I said we would talk in the morning. Ten o’clock. Will you make that?”

“Unless we attack somewhere else before then.”

“Always a possibility.”

“I’ll have to leave Elwood here,” she said. “He’ll have a lot of work to do.”

“Better for Julia,” he said. “She’s pretty ragged. We shouldn’t overwhelm her.”

“What have you told her?”

“I told her about the brothers from Denver.”

“Did you tell her what happened to them?”

“It seemed to cheer her up a little.”

“I’ll see you later,” she said. “I’ll get an Uber.”