Page 66 of Chain Reaction

“Will it survive first contact with the enemy?”

“You’ll find out when you get here.”

“OK, got to go.”

“We’ll pick you up.”

He put the phone in his pocket and stepped back through the arch to the reception area. To the women he said, “It has been a pleasure and a privilege to spend time with you, and thank you very much for your help today,” and to Elwood he said, “Let’s go.”

—

They got in the car and Elwood said, “Where now?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Reacher said. “Just drive away like a legitimate acupuncture patient. In case someone is watching out of Lazarus Lorenzo’s window.”

“They’ll know who we are. You said they have facial recognition.”

“Not programmed into their eyes. We’re a hundred feet away. They’ll think we’re a gay couple coming out of a shared appointment.”

Elwood eased off the curb and slowly accelerated all the way up to a stately twenty-five miles an hour. He said, “I heard you tell the general you have a plan.”

“I do.”

“So?”

“I’m waiting to hear yours first. You outrank me. If it’s a similar idea, you’ll want to take all the credit.”

“We have no time window. From the office door to the taxi is less than fifteen seconds. We can’t pre-position because they’ll see us coming beforehand. We can’t grab him there anyway, not within earshot of his coworkers. They’ll hear the affray. They’ll call the cops.”

“I agree,” Reacher said. “Your performance review would call that an astute analysis.”

“So what’s your plan?”

“We grab him when he gets home. More time, fewer witnesses.”

“We don’t know where he lives.”

“He’ll show us. What’s the crucial thing about a car with no driver? There’s no one to look in the rearview mirror. We’ll follow him all the way home, six feet off his back bumper. He won’t know a thing.”

—

They had time to kill. Just three fixed items on their agenda, and the best part of six hours to get them done. The first item was lunch, the second was a visit to a hardware store, and the third was to be back in position a few minutes before six o’clock. They decided to do their shopping first. Elwood searched on his personal cell. He said, “There’s a Home Depot, an Ace Hardware, and a mom-and-pop on California Avenue.”

“The Home Depot,” Reacher said. “The most anonymous.”

Elwood dabbed his screen and a robot voice gave him the turns. The place was the size of an airplane hangar. Maybe not for a 747, but a 737 would have fit dead easy. They found the aisle with the duct tape. Reacher wanted the right color. He found a light brown. A shade paler than regular parcel tape. Not perfect, but it would do. They paid cash and got back in the car. Elwood dabbed his screen again and the robot voice guided them back to where the restaurants were. They picked the same spot they had used for breakfast. It was fast and anonymous and otherwise adequate. Still half full of people working and eating. Laptops, phones, papers. Same feel, different menu.

Reacher said, “Turner told me you two have known each other a long time.”

Elwood nodded. “Since the start of MP training out at Leonard Wood. We called it Fort Lost in the Woods. Miles from anywhere. Pretty dismal back then. We were new lieutenants, sure we were going places, full of piss and vinegar.”

“You did go places.”

“Where did you meet her?”

“I called the 110th years after I left and she answered. She helped me out with something. Later I stopped by to take her out for dinner, to say thank you.”

“Was that before or after her problem?”