Page 119 of Chain Reaction

“I should call them first. Perhaps they’re busy.”

“Busy doing something more important than national security? I don’t think so, ma’am. Let’s go. We’re wasting time here.”

The woman froze a beat, uncertain, and then she came out from behind the counter and led the way.

Chapter 40

The building was narrow but long, and the woman from the counter led them the length of a central corridor to a double-wide office at the far end. She knocked and waited. Turner stepped past her and opened the door. Inside was a large plain space lined on every wall with shelf units and file cabinets. In the center of the room were two women, facing each other at back to back desks. They looked up. Turner stepped in. Then Elwood. Then Reacher, who thanked the woman from the counter, and closed the door on her.

The two women at the two desks were somewhere between fifty and sixty, both with short gray hair, both with tanned and leathery faces. It was easy to believe they spent a lot of time outdoors with rocks and stones. Turner showed them her ID. Reacher watched their faces. No dread, no panic, no guilt. Just a measure of resignation, as if they knew something in their recent past had been bound to raise awkward questions later. Now the moment had arrived. The other shoe had dropped.

Elwood dragged spare chairs into a line of three. They sat down. Turner said, “Please don’t worry. You are not persons of interest in this investigation. You are not suspected of anything. Far from it. Your story is inspiring for girls and women everywhere, and we applaud your accomplishments and your ownership model. We’re not here to hurt you.”

The sister on the right said, “What is the investigation about?”

“We believe you may be witnesses to something. As such, as with all federal investigations, we require you to answer our questions truthfully, and as completely as you can, leaving nothing out. Do you understand?”

The sister on the left said, “Witnesses to what?”

“First I need a yes or no answer about whether you understood your obligations as witnesses in a federal investigation.”

Yes from the left, yes from the right.

Turner said, “My colleague Agent John Richard will ask the questions.”

Reacher said, “There was a vehicle fire out in Summertown a few days ago. Not much left. But we got the vehicle identification number from the aluminum strip on top of the dash. It had fallen through the wreckage and it was buried in hot ash. But aluminum is a tough metal. The stamping was still visible. It was your truck.”

He watched their faces. They were conflicted. They were weighing two wrong choices. Either too little or too much. They had no middle-sized answer.

“Let’s start at the beginning,” Reacher said. “Summertown’s solar fields. Lots of gravel there. Is some of that yours?”

The sister on the right said, “All of it.”

“When was this?”

“Our last load went out more than two years ago.”

“It must have been a big contract.”

“It was someone’s flagship project. It was supposed to become famous all around the world. They wanted it to look right. So they put in the curbs and the gravel. They wanted a Japanese garden effect. Like an ancient art below and the future growing out of it, with the panels and all.”

“Who was the developer?”

“An oil company out of Texas. Trying to look good. Money to burn. Literally the only reason for the gravel was to look clean and crisp from above, in drone footage for their TV commercials.”

“It worked,” Reacher said. “The place looks great. Then what happened?”

“With what?”

“You and Summertown.”

“I guess we heard they built out the data centers and some guy set up a motel and some other guy opened a diner. Just neighborhood gossip.”

“Then what happened?”

The sisters clammed up again. Like they were hesitating between a binary choice. Say nothing, or talk forever.

Reacher said, “About two weeks before the vehicle fire an army officer was abducted from the Summertown motel and murdered at a location further west. He was stabbed to death. The conspirators fled the scene in a white crew cab pickup truck, which was also yours.”