Better Off Dead Novel Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child [FULL AUDIOBOOK ]

for jane and tasha chapter one the stranger got into position under  the street light at 11 p.m as agreed the light had been easy to find just like he'd  been told it would be it was the only one in the compound that was still working all the  way at the far end six feet shy of the jagged metal fence that separated the united states  from mexico he was alone and unarmed as agreed the car showed up at 1102 it kept to the center  of the space between the parallel rows of lock-up garages they were

made of metal too roofs warped  by the sun walls scoured by the sand five on the right four on the left and the remains of one  more lying torn and corroded ten feet to the side like something had exploded inside it years ago  the car's lights were on bright making it hard to recognize the make and model and impossible to see  inside it continued until it was 15 feet away then break to a stop rocking on its worn springs  and settling into a low cloud of sandy dust then its front doors opened bot

h  of them and two men climbed out not as agreed both the car's back doors opened two  more men climbed out definitely not as agreed the four men paused and sized the stranger up they'd been told to expect someone  big and this guy sure fit the bill he was six feet five 250 pounds chest like a gun  safe and hands like backhoe buckets and scruffy his hair was coarse and unkempt he hadn't shaved  for days his clothes looked cheap and ill-fitting except for his shoes somewhere between a hobo  and a

neanderthal not someone who was going to be missed the driver stepped forward he was  a couple of inches shorter than the stranger and a good 50 pounds lighter he was wearing  black jeans and a black sleeveless t-shirt he had on black combat style boots his head was  shaved but his face was hidden by a full beard the other guys followed lining up alongside him  the money the driver said the stranger patted the back pocket of his jeans good the driver  nodded towards the car backseat get in why

so i can take you to michael that wasn't the  deal sure it was the stranger shook his head the deal was you tell me where michael is  tell you show you what's the difference the stranger said nothing come on what are you  waiting for give me the money and get in the car i make a deal i stick to it you want the money  tell me where michael is the driver shrugged the deal's changed take it or leave it i'll  leave it enough of this the driver reached behind his back and took a pistol from  his wais

tband cut the crap get in the car you were never gonna take me to michael no [ __  ] sherlock you were gonna take me to someone else someone who has questions for me no more  talking get in a car which means you can't shoot me which means i can't kill you yet i  can still shoot you the stranger said can you a witness would have said the stranger hardly  moved at all but somehow in a split second he had closed the gap between them and had his  hand on the driver's wrist which he pulled up like a

proud fisherman hauling something from  the sea he forced the guy's arm way above his head hoisted it so high the guy was raised up on  his tiptoes then he drove his left fist into the guy's side hard the kind of punch that would  normally knock a man down and keep him down only the driver didn't fall he couldn't he  was suspended by his arm his feet slid back the gun fell from his fingers his shoulder  dislocated tendons stretched ribs shattered it was a grotesque cascade of injuries  each one

debilitating in its own right but in the moment he hardly noticed any  of them because his entire upper body was convulsing in agony searing bolts of pain  shot through him all stemming from one place a spot just below his armpit where a dense tangle  of nerves and lymph nodes nestled beneath the skin the exact spot that had just been crushed  by the stranger's massive knuckles the stranger retrieved the driver's fallen gun  and carried him over to the hood of the car he laid him back squealing

and gasping  and writhing on the dull paintwork then turned to the other three guys and said you  should walk away now well you have the chance the guy at the center of the trio stepped forward  he was about the same height as the driver maybe a little broader he had hair cropped short no beard three chunky silver chains around  his neck and a nasty sneer on his face you got lucky once that won't happen again  now get in the car before we hurt you the stranger said really again but he didn't  mo

ve he saw the three guys swap furtive glances he figured that if they were smart they'd opt  for a tactical retreat or if they were proficient they'd attack together but first they'd work  one of them around to the rear he could pretend to check on the injured driver or to give up and  get in the car or even to run away the other two could create a distraction then when he was in  place they'd all rush in at once a simultaneous assault from three directions one of the guys  was certain to take s

ome damage probably two but the third might have a chance an opening  might present itself if someone had the skill to exploit it they weren't smart and they  weren't proficient they didn't withdraw and no one tried to circle around instead the  center guy took another step forward alone he dropped into some kind of generic martial arts  stance let out a high-pitched whale fainted a jab to the stranger's face then launched a reverse  punch to the solar plexus the stranger brushed to the side wit

h the back of his left hand  and punched the guy's bicep with his right his middle knuckle extended the guy shrieked  and jumped back his axillary nerve overloaded and his arm temporarily useless you should walk  away the stranger said before you hurt yourself the guy sprang forward he made no attempt  at disguise this time he just twisted into a wild roundhouse punch with his good arm the  stranger leaned back the guy's fists sailed past the stranger watched it go then drove his  knuckle into t

he meat of the guy's tricep both his arms were now out of action walk away  the stranger said while you still can the guy lunged his right leg rose his thigh first then his  foot pivoting at the knee going for maximum power aiming for the stranger's groin but not getting  close because the stranger countered with a kick of his own a sneaky one straight and low directly  into the guy's shin just as it reached maximum speed bone against toe cap the stranger's shoes  the only thing about him that w

asn't scruffy bought in london years ago layer upon layer of  leather and polish and glue seasoned by time hardened by the elements and now as solid as steel  the guy's ankle cracked he screamed and shied away he lost his balance and couldn't regain it without  the use of his arms his foot touched the ground the fractured ends of the bone connected they  grated together pain ripped through his leg it burned along every nerve way more than his system  could handle he remained upright for another

half second already unconscious then he toppled onto  his back and lay there as still as a fallen tree the remaining two guys turned and made for  the car they kept going past its front doors past its rear doors all the way around the back  the trunk lid popped open one of the guys dropped out of sight the shorter one then he reappeared he  was holding something in each hand like a pair of baseball bats only longer and thicker and squarer  at one end pickaxe handles effective tools in the right

hands he passed one to the taller guy and  the pair strode back stopping about four feet away say we break your legs the taller guy licked  his lips he could still answer questions but you'd never walk again not without a cane so  stop digging us around get in the car let's go the stranger saw no need to give them another  warning he'd been clear with them from the start and they were the ones who'd chosen to up  the ante the shorter guy made his hit to swing but checked then the taller guy took

over  he did swing he put all his weight into it which was a bad technique a serious  mistake with that kind of weapon all the stranger had to do was take a step back  the heavy hunk of wood whistled past his midriff it continued relentlessly through its arc there  was too much momentum for the guy to stop it and both his hands were clinging to the handle which  left his head exposed and his torso and his knees a whole menu of tempting targets all available all  totally unguarded any other day

the stranger could have taken his pick but on this occasion he had  no time the taller guy got off the hook his buddy bailed him out by jabbing at the stranger's gut  using the axe handle like a spear he went short aiming to get the stranger's attention he jabbed  a second time hoping to back the stranger off then he lunged it was the money shot or it would  have been if he hadn't paused to beat too long set his feet a fraction too firm so that when he  thrust the stranger knew it was coming he

moved to the side grabbed the ax handle at its midpoint  and pulled hard the guy was dragged forward a yard before he realized what was happening he let go  but by then it was too late his fate was sealed the stranger whipped the captured axe handle over  and around and brought it siding down square onto the top of the guy's head his eyes rolled back  his knees buckled and he wilted slumping limp and lifeless at the stranger's feet he wouldn't  be getting up anytime soon that was for sure the ta

ller guy glanced down saw the shape his buddy  was in and swung his axe handled back the opposite way aiming for the stranger's head he swung harder  than before wanting revenge hoping to survive and he missed again he left himself vulnerable  again but this time something else saved him the fact that he was the last of his crew left  standing the only available source of information he now had strategic value which gave him  the chance to swing again he took it and the stranger parried the guy

kept going chopping left  and right left and right like a crazed lumberjack he managed a dozen more strokes at full  speed then he ran out of gas screw this the guy dropped the ax handle reached behind him  and pulled out his gun screw answering questions screw taking you alive the guy took two steps back  he should have taken three he hadn't accounted for the length of the stranger's arms let's not be  hasty the stranger flicked out with his axe handle and sent the gun flying then he stepped  c

loser and grabbed the guy by the neck maybe we will take that drive turns out i have  some questions of my own you can stop it was a female voice confident commanding coming from  the shadows near the right-hand row of garages someone knew was on the scene the stranger  had arrived at 8pm three hours early and searched every inch of the compound he  was certain no one had been hiding then let him go a silhouette broke free from the  darkness a woman's she was around five ten slim limping slightl

y her arms were out in front  and there was the squat outline of a matte black pistol in her hands step away the stranger didn't  move he didn't relax his grip the woman hesitated the other guy was between her and  the stranger not an ideal position but he was six inches shorter and  slightly to the side that did leave her at target an area on the stranger's chest  a rectangle it was maybe six inches by ten that was big enough she figured and it  was more or less in the right position she took a

breath in exhaled gently and pulled the  trigger the stranger fell back he landed with his arms spread wide one knee raised and his head  turned so that he was facing the border fence he was completely still his shirt was ragged and  torn his entire chest was slick and slimy and red but there was no arterial spray no sign  of a heartbeat no sign of life at all the tidy manicured area people now called the  plaza had once been a sprawling grove of trees black walnuts they'd grown undisturbed for

  centuries then in the 1870s a trader took to resting his mules in their shade on his treks  back and forth to california he liked the spot so he built a shack there and when he grew too  old to rattle across the continent he sold his beasts and he stayed other people followed suit  the shanty became a village the village became a town the town split in two like a cell multiplying  greedily both halves flourished one to the south one to the north there were many more years  of steady growth the

n stagnation then decline slow and grim and unstoppable until an unexpected  shot in the arm was delivered in the late 1930s an army of surveyors showed up then laborers  builders engineers even some artists and sculptors all sent by the works progress administration no  one local knew why those two towns had been chosen some said it was a mistake a bureaucrat misreading  a file note and dispatching the resources to the wrong place others figured that someone in dc  must have owed the mayor a fa

vor but whatever the reason no one objected not with all the new  roads that were being laid new bridges being built and all kinds of buildings rising up the project  went on for years and it left a permanent mark the town's traditional adobe  arches became a little more square the stucco exteriors a little more uniform the  layout of the streets a little more regimented and the amenities a lot more generous the area  gained schools municipal offices fire houses a police station a courthouse a m

useum and a  medical center the population had dwindled again over the decades since the government money dried  up some of the facilities became obsolete some were sold off others demolished but the medical  center was still the main source of health care for miles around it contained a doctor's office  a pharmacy a clinic with a couple of dozen beds a pediatric suite with places for parents  to stay with their sick kids and thanks to the large yes of those new deal planners even  a morgue it w

as tucked away in the basement and it was where dr houlier was working the  next morning dr houlier was 72 years old he had served the town his whole life once he was  part of a team now he was the only physician left he was responsible for everything from delivering  babies to treating colds to diagnosing cancer and for dealing with the deceased which was the  reason for that day's early start he'd been on duty since the small hours since he'd received  the call about a shooting on the outskirt

s of town it was the kind of thing that would attract  attention he knew that from experience he was expecting a visit soon and he needed  to be ready there was a computer on the desk but it was switched off dr houlier  preferred to write his notes longhand he remembered things better that way and  he had a format one he'd developed himself it wasn't fancy but it worked it was better than  anything those silicon valley whiz kids had ever tried to voiced on him and more importantly in  that parti

cular situation it left no electronic trace for anyone to ever recover dr houlier  sat down picked up the montblanc his father had bought him when he graduated medical school  and started to record the results of his nice work there was no knock no greeting no courtesy  at all the door just opened and a man came in the same one as usual early 40s  tight curly hair tan linen suit perky dr houlier privately called him because of  the bouncy way the guy walked he didn't know his real name he didn't

want to know the guy started  at the far end of the room the cold storage area the meat locker as dr houlier thought of it  after decades of dealing with its contents there was a line of five steel doors the guy  approached examined each handled in turn but didn't touch any of them he never did he moved on  to the autopsy table in the center crossed to the line of steel trolleys against the far wall near  the autoclave then he approached the desk phone he held out his hand dr houlier passed the

  guy his cell the guy checked to make sure it wasn't recording slipped it into his pants  pocket and turned to the door clear he said another man walked in mantis dr houlier called  him because whenever he looked at the guy with his long skinny limbs angular torso and bulging  eyes he couldn't help but think of the insect the large triangular burn scar on the guy's cheek and  the way his three missing fingers made his right hand look like a claw added to the effect although  dr houlier did know

this guy's real name wad dendonker everyone in town knew it even if they'd  never met him a third man followed dendoncker in he looked a little like perky but with straighter  hair and a darker suit and with such an anonymous face and bland way of moving that dr hoolier  had never been inspired to find him a nickname dendoncker stopped in the center of the room his  pale hair was almost invisible in the harsh light he turned through 360 degrees slowly scanning the  space around him then he turn

ed to doctor hoolier show me he said dr hoolier crossed the room he  checked his watch then worked the lever that opened the center door of the meat locker he  pulled out the sliding rack revealing a body covered by a sheet it was tall almost as long  as the tray it lay on and broad the shoulders only just fit through the opening dr houlier  pulled the sheet slowly revealing the head it was a man's its hair was messy the face was  craggy and pale and the eyes were taped shut move dendonker shove

d dr hoolier aside he  pulled the sheet off and dropped it on the floor the body was naked if michelangelo's  david was made to embody masculine beauty this guy could have been another in the  series but at the opposite end of the spectrum there was nothing elegant nothing delicate  this one was all about power and brutality pure and simple that's what killed him  dendoncker pointed to a wound on the guy's chest it was slightly raised its edges were rough  and ragged and they were turning brown

well he didn't die of sloth dr houlier  glanced at his watch i can guarantee that he'd been shot before dendoncker pointed at a  set of scars on the other side of the guy's chest and there's that the scar on his  abdomen dr houlier glanced down like some kind of sea creature he  must have been stabbed at some point that's no knife wound that's something  else altogether like what doesn't matter what else do we know about them not much dr  houlier snatched up the sheet and spread it loosely over

the body including its head  dendoncker pulled the sheet off again and dropped it back on the floor he wasn't done  staring at the biggest of the dead guy's scars i spoke to the sheriff dr houlier moved away  towards his desk sounds like the guy was a drifter he had a room at the border inn he'd paid  through next weekend in cash but he had no belongings there and he'd registered under a false  address one east 161st street the bronx new york how do you know that's false because i've been  there

it's another way of saying yankee stadium and the guy used a false name too he signed the  register as john smith smith could be his real name dr houlier shook his head he took a ziploc  bag from the top drawer of his desk and handed it to dendonker see for yourself this was in his  pocket dendoncker popped the seal and fished out a passport it was crumpled and worn he turned to the  second page personal information this is expired doesn't matter the id is still valid and look at  the photo it'

s old but it's a match okay let's see name reacher jack nunn nationality united states  of america place of birth berlin west germany interesting den donker looked back at the  body on the rack at the scar on its abdomen maybe he wasn't looking for michael maybe he was looking for me it's a good  job that crazy [ __ ] killed him after all dundonker turned away and tossed the passport  in the trash can next to dr julia's desk observations dr houlier held out one of his  special forms the one he j

ust finished filling in dendoncker read each comment twice then  crumpled the paper and dropped it into the trash on top of the passport burn nose  he turned to the two guys he arrived with get rid of the body dump it in the usual place chapter two i first encountered the woman with the  limp two days earlier we met on a road outside the town with the dimly lit compound in the medical  center where dr hoolier worked the whole area was deserted i was on foot she was in a jeep  it looked like it w

as ex-military old maybe vietnam war era its stenciled markings were too  fated to read it's all of drab paintwork was caked and crusted with pale dust it had no roof no doors  its windshield was folded forward but not latched the racks and straps for holding fuel cans and  tools were empty in slack the tread on its tires was worn away below the recommended minimum its  motor wasn't running its spare wheel was missing not the kind of thing anyone would call a  well-maintained vehicle the sun was

high in the sky i guess a thermometer would have said it was a  little over 80 but the lack of shade made it feel much hotter sweat was trickling down my back the  wind was picking up and grip was stinging my face walking hadn't been part of my plan when i woke  up that morning but plans change and not always for the better it looked like the woman's  plans had taken an unwelcome turn as well a fair chunk of the jeep's remaining rubber was  now streaked across the faded blacktop from where she'

d skidded she'd gone right off the road and  plowed into the trunk of a tree a stunted twisted ugly thing with hardly any leaves it wasn't gonna  win any prizes for appearance that was for sure but it was clearly resilient it was the only  thing growing taller than knee height from miles in either direction if the driver had lost  control at any other point she would have wound up in the rough scrub on either side of the road  probably been able to reverse right back out the landscape looked lik

e a bunch of giants  had shoved their hands under a coarse green blanket and stretched their fingers wide how  the woman had hit that exact spot was a mystery maybe the sun had blinded her maybe an  animal had run out or a bird had swooped down it was unlikely that another vehicle had been  involved maybe she was depressed and had done it on purpose but whatever had caused her  accident that was a problem for another time the woman was slumped over the steering wheel  her left arm was stretched

forward across the flattened windshield her hand was open like  she was reaching out to the tree for help her right arm was folded into her abdomen she was  facing down into the foot well she was completely inert there was no sign of bleeding no sign of any  other injuries which was good but there was also no sound of breathing i figured i should check  for a pulse or some other indication she was alive so i stepped in close to the side of the jeep i  reached for her neck slowly and gently i bru

shed her hair aside and homed in on her carotid then  she sat up fast she twisted around to face me used her left hand to bat my arm away and her right  to point a pistol at my gut she waited a beat presumably to make sure i wasn't about to freak  out she wanted my full attention that was clear then she said move back one step only her voice  was firm but calm with no hint of panic or doubt i moved back one step i made  it a large one and i realized why she'd been looking down through the  steer

ing wheel at the floor of the vehicle there was a piece of mirror wedged between  the gas pedal and the transmission tunnel she must have cut it to the right size and  positioned it to give an early warning of anyone who approached her where's your buddy she glanced  left and right there's no one else i said just me her eyes darted across to the rearview mirror  it was angled so she could spot anyone sneaking up behind her they only sent one guy really  she sounded half offended half disappointe

d i was starting to like her no one sent me don't  lie she jabbed the gun forward for emphasis anyway it doesn't matter one of you are a whole  squad you get the same deal tell me where michael is tell me now and tell me the truth or i'll  shoot you in the stomach and leave you here to die i would love to tell you i held my hands  up palms out but there's a problem i can't i don't know who michael is don't she paused  and glanced around again wait where's your car i don't have a car don't get sm

art your jeep then  your motorcycle whatever mode of transport you use to get here i walked here [ __ ] did you hear  an engine just now any kind of mechanical sound okay she said after a long moment  you walked from where and why slow down i tried to make my voice sound friendly  and unthreatening let's think this through i could recount my day to you minute by minute in  other circumstances i'd be happy to but right now are my travel arrangements that important maybe a  better question would b

e am i the person you were waiting for the person with information about  michael she didn't answer because if i'm not and the real guy shows up with me still here  your whole crashed car routine is never gonna fly she still didn't respond is there some law  that says only people you want to ambush can use this road is it off limits to everyone  else i saw a glance at her watch look at me i'm on my own i'm on foot i'm unarmed is that  what you were expecting does it make sense to you her head mo

ved an inch to the left and her  eyes narrowed a fraction a moment later i caught it too there was a sound in the distance  a vehicle engine rough ragged and moving closer decision time i said she stayed  silent the engine note grew louder think about michael i said i don't know where he  is but if whoever's coming does and you keep me here you'll lose your chance you'll never find out  she didn't speak the engine note grew louder still then she gestured towards  the other side of the road over

there quick 10 yards up there's a ditch at an  angle like a stream bed it's dried out get in it keep your head down stay still don't make  a sound don't alert them don't do anything to screw this up because if you do don't  worry i was already moving i get the picture chapter three the ditch was right where she  said it would be i found it no problem i got there before the approaching vehicle was in sight  the stream bed was dry i figured it could provide adequate cover but the bigger issue was

whether to  hide at all or to leave i looked over at the jeep the woman was back in position slumped across the  steering wheel her head was turned away from me i was out of range of her mirror i was pretty sure  she wouldn't be able to see me but even if she did spot me i doubted she would risk taking a shot she  wouldn't want to alert whoever was coming for her leaving was the sensible option there was no doubt  about that but there was a problem i had questions a whole bunch of them like who

was this woman  who was michael who was coming after her and would she really shoot someone  in the stomach and leave them to die i checked the road saw a speck in the distance  shrouded in dust i figured i still had time so i picked up a rock from the floor of the ditch it  was about the size of a cinder block i positioned it on the lip between me and the jeep i found  another a little narrower and flatter rested it at an angle against the first one so that there  was a triangular gap between t

hem a small one just the right size for me to squint through with  one eye high school physics at work the sight line opened up away from me like i was looking through  an invisible cone it gave me a clear view of the jeep and the area around it but the angle narrowed  correspondingly in reverse so no one at that distance would be able to spot me watching them  the approaching vehicle emerged from its cloud it was another jeep also ex-military it was  making steady progress slow and unhurried th

en when it was close to the spot where i'd been  when i noticed the skid marks it slewed a little to the side and stopped there were two men in it  a driver and a passenger both were wearing cocky t-shirts they had cocky baseball caps and mirrored  sunglasses some kind of an urgent conversation broke out between them there was a whole lot  of gesticulating and pointing towards the tree that told me they hadn't expected anyone  to be in place before them or that they hadn't expected anyone with a

matching vehicle  which suggested they were from the same outfit or that they hadn't expected either thing i  thought maybe they'd call the new development in ask for updated orders or if they were smart  withdrawal together but they did neither they started moving again faster than before  then pulled in next to the driver's side of the woman's jeep unbelievable the passenger  jumped down and stood between the two vehicles i could see the grip of a pistol protruding  from the waistband of his

cargo pants it was knurled and worn her the driver looked  around and joined him he put his hands on his hips he also had a gun [ __ ] dendoncker's gonna be  pissed not our problem the passenger took hold of his pistol come on let's do it is she still  alive the driver scratched his temple i hope so the passenger stepped forward we deserve a little  fun he reached for the side of the woman's neck with his free hand never done it with a [ __ ]  i haven't always wondered what it would be like the

driver crowded in closer i the woman sat  up she twisted to the side raised her gun and shot the passenger in the face the top of his  skull was obliterated one moment it was there the next it was a hint of pink mist drifting in  the surrounding air his empty cap fluttered to the ground his body folded over backward one  arm was still stretched out and it swung around and slapped the driver on the thigh as he fell his  neck clattered into the open doorway of his jeep the driver went for his gun

he grabbed it  right-handed he started to pull it clear of his waistband got it about three-quarters of the  way out then he tried to bring it to bear the move was premature it was a sloppy mistake  the barrel was still trapped by his belt his hand slipped off the grip the weapon  was left hanging loose and unbalanced it pivoted around and fell he tried to catch  it and missed he leaned down started to scratch around frantically in the dirt and saw the woman's  gun its muzzle was moving zeroing

in on his face he stopped himself jumped back died  for cover behind the woman's jeep crawled forward a couple of yards until he  reached the road then scrambled to his feet he started to run the woman swiveled  around in her seat she took a breath aimed then she pulled the trigger the bullet must have  come within an inch of removing the guy's right ear he flung himself down to the left and rolled  over twice the woman climbed out of the jeep she moved around to its rear that was the first time

  i noticed she favored her left leg she waited for the guy to get back on his feet then fired again  this time the bullet almost took off his left ear he threw himself down the opposite way and started  to wriggle along on the ground like a snake stop the woman sounded like she was running short  of patience the guy continued to crawl the next bullet won't miss she said but it won't kill you  either it'll sever your spine the guy rolled onto his back as if that would protect him he threw  a cou

ple of kicks like he was trying to swim the effort was futile it stirred up plenty  of dust but only bought him a few more inches his arms and legs went limp his head flopped back  against the ground he closed his eyes he lay there for a moment breathing deeply then he sat up and  held his hands out in front like he was warding off some kind of invisible demon let's talk about  this his voice was shrill and shaky it doesn't have to be this way oh my partner i'll pin it on  him i'll tell the boss

he set the whole thing up oh we got here no one else showed he pulled  his gun on me because he was a trader all along but i was faster we got the body that's  proof right what else do we need get up it'll work i can sell it i promise just don't  kill me please get up you don't understand i had the woman raised her gun get up or i'll  blow your leg off see how you like being called [ __ ] no please the guy scrambled to his feet  moved back the guide took a step a small one further he took anoth

er step that left him out of  range if he was dumb enough to try his luck with a punch or a kick he stopped with his ankles pressed  together and his arms clamped tight by his sides it was a weird position he reminded me of a dancer  i saw busking on the street in boston years ago good now you want me to let you live oh yes his  head bobbed up and down like a novelty dolls i i do all right i'm prepared to do that  but you have to do one thing for me first anything the guy kept on nodding whateve

r  you want name it tell me where michael is chapter four the guy's head stopped moving he didn't speak  his legs were still together his arms were still by his sides his posture still looked awkward  tell me where i can find michael if you don't i will kill you but not quickly like your friend  no not like that at all the guy didn't respond had you ever seen anyone get shot in the  stomach the woman made a show had taken aim at the guy's abdomen how long they take  to die the agony they're in t

he entire time no the guy shook his head don't do that i'll tell  you then i realized why the guy looked strange it was his hands still pressed against his sides  one was open his left but his right was clenched his wrist was bent back he was holding  something and trying to conceal the fact i wanted to shout a warning but i couldn't  breaking the woman's concentration right at that moment wasn't gonna help her well  a sharp edge had crept into her voice so michael's whereabouts okay it's kind o

f  complicated but he's the guy's right arm snapped up his fingers opened and a swirl  of sandy grit flew right at the woman's face she reacted fast her left hand came up in front  of her eyes and she pivoted away on her good leg she dodged the worst of the  cloud but not the guy himself he launched himself forward swatted her arm aside  and slammed his shoulder into her chest he was only a couple of inches taller than her but must  have been at least 80 pounds heavier the impact sent her reelin

g her feet couldn't keep up and  she tumbled over backward she was still holding the gun she tried to raise it but he followed in  and stamped on her wrist she clung on he pressed his foot down harder and harder still until she  shrieked with frustration and let go of the weapon he kicked it away then stepped across her body  one foot either side and stood there looming over well now [ __ ] i'd say the boots on the other  foot but that would be cruel as you only have one the woman lays still i s

tood up the guy had  his back to me he was less than 15 yards away my friend had a plan for you the guy started to  fumble with the front of his pants a kind of dying wish i figure i should see it through once for him  once for me maybe more if i like it i climbed out of the trench then i'll kill you the guy pulled  his belt clear and tossed it away to the side maybe i'll shoot you in the stomach see how long  it takes you to die i started down the slope it could take hours the guy started to un

button  his fly all night even then donker won't care and he won't care what condition you wind up in  just as long as you're dead when i hand you over i forced myself to slow down i didn't  want to make a sound on the loose gravel the woman shifted her position a little  then stretched her arms out on both sides so you know about my foot gold star to you for  observation but do you know much about titanium the guy's hands stopped moving i reached the  blacktop on the far side of the road it's a

very interesting medal the woman braced her palms  against the ground it's very strong very light and very hard the woman whipped her right leg up  bent it at the knee and drove her prosthetic foot towards the guy's groin it connected front and  center full power no mistake nothing held back the guy screamed and gasped and pitched forward  he landed face down in the dirt she rolled to the side and only just avoided getting crushed she  rolled a couple more times and retrieved her gun then she u

sed both arms to  lever herself up off the ground i stopped where i was halfway across the blacktop  one foot either side of the faded yellow line the guy rolled onto his side and curled into  a ball he was whimpering like a whipped dog one last chance the woman raised the gun  michael where is he michael's history you idiot the guy was breathing hard forget about him he's  history what do you mean what do you think i mean den donker takes some poor schmuck in for  interrogation then want me to

draw a diagram no need for a diagram her voice was suddenly flat but i do need to be sure he was a dead man  the moment he started swapping secret notes the guy raised his head you know about den  donker he's the most paranoid guy on the planet he was bound to find out who killed him you no  i swear then who i thought it was going to be us dendoncker told us to be ready as  soon as he was done with his questions we dropped everything no one lasts very long when  dendoncker goes to work on them y

ou know that so we were good to go then he told us we weren't  needed after all why not what changed i don't know i wasn't there maybe michael was too slow with  his answers or too smart with his mouth or just had a weak heart anyway dendoncker stood  us down then this morning he sent us for you the woman was quiet for a moment then she said  michael's body where is it usual place i guess if there was enough of it left the woman's  shoulders sagged a little she lowered the gun the guy curled bac

k up he reached for his ankle  slowly and smoothly he slid something out of his boot rolled onto his front a second later he was  on his feet the sun glinted off whatever he had in his right hand a blade it was short and broad he  launched himself forward his arm was high he was swinging horizontally trying to slash the woman's  forehead he wanted her eyes to fill with blood so she couldn't see couldn't aim she leaned back  bending sharply at the waist just far enough he missed he switched the k

nife to his  other hand shaped up for another try this time she didn't hesitate she just pulled the  trigger the guy went over backward he dropped the knife screamed and clutched his gut with both  hands a dark stain spread across the fabric she'd hit him in the stomach exactly like she'd  threatened to she stepped in close she stood and looked down at him thirty seconds crawled past no  doubt the longest half minute of the guy's life he was writhing and moaning and trying to stem  the stream of

blood with his palms and his fingers she took a step back then she raised the gun lined  it up on his head and pulled the trigger again some of my questions had been answered at  least but now i had another one on my mind something much more urgent the  woman had just killed two people i had watched her do it i was the only witness i  needed to know what she was gonna do about that her actions could be classed as self-defense  for sure she had a solid case i wouldn't argue against it but she ha

d no way of knowing that  relying on a stranger's support was a gamble and any trial she faced would come with its own  risks the skill of the lawyers the disposition of the jurors and she would inevitably spend months  in jail before seeing the inside of a courtroom an unappealing prospect in itself and a dangerous  one jails don't generally boost the life expectancy of anyone who gets locked up in them  i stepped forward there was no point going back a couple of extra yards between us  wasn't

going to make any difference the gun she was holding was a glock 17 one  of the most reliable pistols in the world it had a misfire rate of around one in ten  thousand great odds from her side of the trigger not so good from mine the magazine held 17 rounds  she had fired five shots to my knowledge there was no reason to assume she hadn't started out with  a full load so she would have 12 bullets left there was no way she would need even a quarter  of that number she was an excellent marx woman

she had demonstrated that and she had shown no  hesitation when a violent solution was called for the two guys who were now on the  ground had found that out the hard way i took another step then my new question was  answered too and not in the way i expected the woman nodded to me she turned walked  back to her jeep leaned against its rear shrugged her shoulders side raised her gun  and pressed its muzzle against her temple stop i hurried towards her you don't have to do  that she looked at me

with wide clear eyes oh yes i do no you did what get back she held  up her free hand palm out unless you want to wind up covered in blood and brains i'll give  you three seconds then i'm gonna pull a trigger i believed her i couldn't see any way to  stop her all i could think to do was ask why she looked at me like the answer was so  self-evident it was barely worth the energy it would take to respond then she said because i lost  my jaw i disgraced myself i put innocent people in harm's way and

i got my brother killed i have  nothing left to live for i'd be better off dead chapter five losing a job can be a blow i know i've had the  experience but the feeling pales into nothing besides losing a brother into less than nothing  i know i've lived through that experience too and if you think you're responsible for your  brother's death the burden must be even heavier maybe too heavy to bear maybe there isn't  a path back i wasn't sure but i hoped there was a way to survive in this case at

least  i didn't know what shape it should take but i hope something could help this woman i liked  the way she stood up for herself i didn't want her story to end with a self-inflicted  bullet at the side of some lonely road i stood my ground and counted a three in my  head slowly the woman didn't pull the trigger i didn't get covered in her blood and brains i  took that as a good sign i heard what that guy was saying i waited a couple more seconds  my eyes didn't leave her trigger finger micha

el's your brother was my brother the gun was  still pressed to her head you were looking for him that's what got him killed you were  looking for him on your own is what i mean you hadn't gone to the police was he on the wrong  side of the law was he a criminal that's what you mean and the answer is yes he was she lowered  the gun gold star to you for figuring that out and you no well yes technically by association  but only because i infiltrated michael's group i was trying to get him out he wa

nted to leave  straighten himself out he got a message to me you didn't know him he was a good man in his heart  that last tour changed him what the army did was wrong it derailed him left him vulnerable  some other guys got their hooks into him took advantage he made some bad choices clearly  which is on him i'm not making excuses but it was a temporary thing a blip the real michael  was still in there somewhere i know it if i could have just gotten to him in time i'm  not judging i understand

why you didn't go to the police before but things have changed the  woman didn't reply i said the guy who killed michael get him arrested go to his trial give  evidence put him away for the rest of his life she shook her head it wouldn't work the guy who  killed michael is too careful he won't have left any proof even if they believe me the police  could look for months and not find anything maybe the police don't need to find anything we  could go visit the guy i heard a name den donker that's

the [ __ ] we could chat i'm  sure he'd soon feel the urge to confess with the correct kind of encouragement a  small sad smile spread across the woman's face i would love to go visit dendonger believe me  i'd be there in a heartbeat but it's impossible no such thing as impossible  just inadequate preparation not in this case getting your hands on dendoncker  cannot be done how do you know i've tried what stopped you for a start no one ever knows where  he is so make him come to you not possible

he only shows his face in one particular circumstance  then create that circumstance i'm about to but it won't help i don't follow he only breaks  cover when someone who was a threat to him is dead even if he only thought they were a threat even  if he only imagined it or dreamed it he has them killed then he has to see the body for himself  it's like a paranoid compulsion he has he won't take anyone's word he won't trust a photograph  or a video or a death certificate or a coroner's report he

only believes his own eyes i took a  moment to think then i said so two people what if that's his mo it'll take two people to capture  him you and i could do it if we work together [ __ ] you don't know what you're talking about  actually i do i spent 13 years catching people who didn't want to get caught and i was good at it  you're serious absolutely you were a bounty hunter yes again not a cop a military cop really  you don't look like one what happened to you i didn't respond to that the wom

an was silent for  a moment too then she said what difference does the second person make i don't see it all in good  time the question right now is capturing dendonker is that worth living for the woman blinked  a couple of times then looked away towards the horizon she gazed in silence for a whole  minute then she looked me in the eye stopping capturing dendoncker that would be a start i  guess but two people working together you and me why would you do that michael was a veteran  you're one t

oo i can see it in you too many of us have been lost already i'm not gonna  stand by and watch another life get wasted i can't ask you to help you're not  asking i'm offering it would be dangerous crossing the street can be dangerous she paused  for a moment okay but can we actually do it sure you promise of course i said would i  lie to a woman with a gun in her hand chapter six my fingers weren't literally crossed  but they might as well have been i had no idea how to capture dendonker and no

intention of finding  a way i had no desire to get tangled up with a crazy person he hadn't done anything to me as far  as i knew i guess the overall scenario carried a certain amount of intrigue it sounded like the  guy had come up with his own take on catch-22 he could only get close enough to kill him by being  in a condition that prevented you from killing him it was ingenious almost a challenge in itself i  was sure it could be done if i thought about it hard enough gathered enough intel ma

ybe deployed  the right kind of specialized equipment the truth was i had no interest in any of those things but  i wasn't about to tell a woman i figured that the prospect of capturing her brother's killer was a  lifeline i could use to pull her ashore probably the only thing i could use it would be stupid to  cut it before her feet were safely on dry land worse than stupid criminal i may not have been  serious about capturing some guy i'd never met but i meant every word about helping her  sui

cide has claimed far too many veterans one would have been too many so if i could prevent  there being one more that's what i was gonna do i planned to take things slow give her time  to see that the police were her best option i was going to deceive her yes in the  short term but better deceived than dead the woman pushed herself away from the jeep and  stood still for a moment staring at the ground she seemed smaller than before stooped deflated  finally she looked up at me she slid the gun in

to her waistband and held out her hand i'm michaela  michaela fenton and before you say anything yes michael and michaela we were twins our parents  thought it was cute we didn't i shrugged i'm reacher her hand was long and narrow and  a little cold her fingers curled around mine she squeezed and i felt a tiny shiver flicker  up my arm well reach her she pulled away glanced to her left and right and her  shoulders seemed to sag even further these bodies guess we should do something  with them an

y ideas that was a good question if dendoncker had set his goons after me i would  have left their remains someplace he couldn't miss them like on his front lawn or in his bed so  that he was clear about the message i was sending i don't like to leave any room for  misunderstanding but dendoncker hadn't sent them after me and if we were really out to capture  him a more subtle approach would be called for hiding the bodies would be the right move  something that kept our cards close to our chest

s but we were in the middle of the desert the sun  was high in the sky digging graves had not been part of my plans when i woke up that morning and  i felt like i'd been flexible enough for one day i said one of them must have a phone we'll call  9-1-1 let the police handle it is that smart these guys have obviously been well they didn't  die in natural causes it'll be fine but won't the police send in a bunch of detectives forensic  teams the whole nine yards she paused for a moment look if i h

ave to pay a price for what i did  i'm fine with that i'll take what i deserve in due course but i don't want to wind up  in jail while dendoncker is out here free and i don't want some huge investigation getting  in our way and stopping us from catching him my agenda was different i hoped the police would  send in a bunch of guys as many as possible i wanted them swarming around all over  the place it's not smart to try and snatch anyone with the law watching you  i was counting on fenton to re

alize that just not yet that's all part of the plan i  pulled what i hoped was a reassuring smile you said dendoncker's paranoid if he sees the  police sniffing around he'll panic make a mistake something we can use i guess she didn't sound  convinced i moved across to the guy she'd shot second and searched his pockets he had a bunch  of keys on a ring with a square plastic fob one was for a vehicle a ford two looked like  house keys one was a yale it was new and shiny the other was for a mortis

e lock it was old and  scratched i figured it was for a separate building a garage maybe or a storage shed the guy also had  a phone and a wallet it had no id in it no credit cards but there were two hundred dollars and  twenties which i took spoils of war only fair the other dead guy's pockets yielded a similar haul he  had a key ring with the same kind of plastic fob one of the keys was for a dodge two were yales and  one was a mortise which was also old and scratched he had a wallet with a hu

ndred and twenty dollars  and twenties and a phone with a cracked case i pressed the guy's thumb to its central button  and held it there until the screen lit up where are we exactly i asked fenton she  shrugged everyone in town just calls it the tree hold on a sec i'll see what i can find she pulled  out her phone and prodded and swiped at the screen then held it up for me to see here you go map  reference when the emergency operator came on the line i gave him the coordinates and told him  i h

ad seen two guys shoot each other during an argument then i wiped the phone clean a prince and  tossed it away i asked fenton is your jeep wrecked no i didn't touch the tree see for yourself i  walked around to the front of her jeep and looked there was maybe room to slide a cigarette  paper between the fender and the trunk but no more she must be one hell of a driver i said  good we'll take yours leave the other one here why an extra vehicle might be useful true  the tainted jeep certainly coul

d be useful as another juicy morsel for the forensic guys to  get their teeth into not as transport but it's too big a risk den dunker is bound to freak out  when he doesn't hear from his guys he'll send a search party if either one of us is seen with  their jeep that would screw things up big time i guess i retrieved the guy's guns plus  a baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses i doubt the cavalry will arrive anytime soon  but we should still get out of here we're too somewhere private we have a

lot to talk about okay  fenton made her way around to the driver's side of her jeep and flipped up the windshield my hotel  she fired up the engine and shifted into reverse then sat with one foot on the brake and  the other pressing down on the clutch both her hands were on the wheel at the top  pressed together at the 12 o'clock position she was hanging on tight her knuckles were  white veins and tendons began to bulge she closed her eyes her chest heaved like she  was having trouble catching

her breath then she regained control slowly she relaxed her grip she  opened her eyes which dislodged a couple of tears sorry she brushed her cheeks then switched her  right foot to the gas pedal and raised the clutch i was thinking of michael  i can't believe he's gone chapter seven fenton pushed the jeep hard the age suspension  creeped and squealed the motor rattled the transmission howled clouds of dark smoke spewed  out of the tailpipe she worked constantly at the wheel sawing back and fort

h but she still  struggled to keep us going straight i tried to focus on the road ahead but after 10 minutes  she caught me glancing down at her right foot ied she said afghanistan she  meant improvised explosive device it was a term i objected to it had become  prevalent during the second gulf war probably coined by some government pr guide  and make the insurgents weapons sound low-tech unsophisticated like they were nothing to  worry about to conjure the image of them being cobbled together b

y unskilled rubes and caves and  cellars whereas the truth was the opposite i knew i was in a compound in beirut years ago when a  dump truck loaded with twelve thousand pounds of explosives burst through the barracks gate  241 us marines and sailors died that day 58 french paratroopers were killed in another attack  nearby and since then things had only gotten worse the bomb makers now have access to complex  electronics remote detonators infrared triggers proximity sensors they've become exper

ts in  positioning concealment and they've become even nastier more ruthless as well as nails and  metal fragments designed to tear human flesh they routinely load their devices with bacterial  agents and anticoagulants then even if their victims survived the initial blast they're still  likely to bleed out or die of some hideous disease i pushed those thoughts aside and asked her army  she nodded 66th military intelligence group out of easebud in germany but this didn't happen while  i was in u

niform there was no purple heart for me you joined a private contractor she shook her head  not me i have no time for those guys call me crazy but i don't think war should be fought for profit  what then how many civilians go to afghanistan i did it's a long story i'll tell you some  other time meanwhile what about you what brings you from the military police to this particular  place on foot of all the roads in all our towns also a long story touche so i'm gonna come  straight out and ask you a

re you on the run are you some kind of fugitive i  thought about her question for a moment about the last town i'd been to it was in  texas i'd left the previous morning in a hurry i ran into a little trouble there it resulted in  a fire a destroyed building and three dead bodies but no major risk of blowback nothing she needed  to know about i said no i'm not a fugitive because if you are no judgment not after what  you saw me do today but stopping dendoncker is important to me it's all i have

right now and if  we're going to do it there are going to be risks we have to trust each other so i have to know  why are you here no special reason i'm on my way out west a guy was giving me a ride he had to  turn around and go back east so i got out got out or got kicked out got out in such a hurry  you forgot to grab your luggage come on what really happened i don't have any luggage and  i could have carried on riding with the guy he asked me to but i don't like turning around  i like to keep

moving forward so i got out okay first things first no luggage really why  would i need luggage what would i put in it oh i'm gonna take a wild shot in the dark  here and say i don't know you're on a cross-country road trip so uh clothes nightwear  toiletries personal items i'm wearing my clothes they have toiletries at hotels and  my personal items are in my pocket you have one set of clothes how many does a  person need i don't know more than one what do you do when they need to be washed thr

ow them away  and buy more isn't that wasteful and impractical no why not take them home clean them laundry's  not my thing nor are laundry rooms or houses so you're homeless call it what you like the  reality is i have no use for a home not at the moment maybe i'll get one someday maybe i'll  get a dog maybe i'll settle down but not yet not for a long time so you do what just roam  around the country that's a general idea how do you even have a car never felt the need  you prefer hitching rides

i don't mind it sometimes i take the bus you take  the bus really i didn't reply okay back to the guy who was driving you this  morning why his sudden 180. he wanted to buy some old british sports car he'd been to texas to  buy a different one but he backed out the seller tried to rip him off something about numbers that  didn't match i don't know why that's a big deal i'm not much of a car guy so he was driving home  again to some place in western arizona he wanted to let off steam so he wante

d an audience so  he picked me up outside a motel near el paso wait a minute we're nowhere near  the regular route west from el paso the radio said i-10 was snarled up some kind of  multi-car accident so he took a bunch of smaller roads cut across the southwest corner of new  mexico made it all the way past the arizona state line then his phone rang it was his wife she had  a lead on another of these old cars in oklahoma this time but you wanted to keep heading west  why what's out there for you

the pacific ocean i don't follow call it a whim i was in  nashville tennessee there's a band i like i caught him at a couple of clubs then when i was  on my way out of the city this weird bird flew by for a moment i thought it was a pelican  it wasn't but it made me think of alcatraz which made me think of the ocean and you  thought the ocean was somewhere up this road no i got bored of waiting for another ride  i started to walk and i saw a giant stone structure at the side of the highway with

an  arrow pointing this way an obelisk or a monument it was covered with carvings and fancy patterns  and it made me curious i thought if the sign's that elaborate what will the town be like  see for yourself she said we're nearly there chapter eight we'd been climbing gradually since we left  the tree and just at that moment we crested the hill and the town came into view it was  spread out below us maybe half a mile away i could see clusters of buildings with  pale stucco walls and terracotta

roofs it was hard to make sense of the layout it looked  like the place was made up of two rough ovals they partially overlapped like a venn diagram  drawn by a kid with a shaky hand the buildings in the segment to the left were lower mainly  single story their walls looked a little rougher they were scattered around a little more  randomly the ones in the other part were taller straighter more evenly laid out the section  in the center had buildings that were taller still i could see arches an

d curves and courtyards  maybe it was the municipal district maybe the bars and restaurants were around there  too if the place ran to that kind of thing on the far side of the town a row of tall metal  ribs froze out of the ground and extended east and west as far as the eye could see they looked solid  permanent unwelcoming they were set close together and their tips were pointed and sharp i guess  the land beyond them belonged to mexico it looked pretty much the same as the land on the u.s si

de  the incline picked up again and there was a slope a few hundred yards long that was undeveloped  like a kind of no-man's land then at the top of the rise the buildings began again i could see  another set of pale stucco walls and terracotta roofs stretching far into the distance what do you  think fenton said i think i'm missing something dendoncker had just ordered fenton killed  he had at least three others on his payroll fenton had talked about him like he was the  second coming of al cap

one only with added craziness that meant he must be based someplace  that could sustain a decent level of crime protection drugs prostitution the usual staples  most likely but this town looked like nothing more than a sleepy backwater the kind of place you  would come to get over insomnia i'd be surprised if they'd ever even had a shoplifting  problem i asked was dendoncker born here fenton didn't answer she seemed lost and thought  i asked her again was dendoncker born in the town what she sai

d no he was born in france  so out of the entire united states maybe the entire world he chose to settle here  i'm wondering why what else do you know about him not as much as i'd like fenton stared at the road  ahead without speaking for a moment then dragged her attention back to my question okay his full  name is wad ahmed dendonker his father was german his mother was lebanese he lived in paris until  he was 18 went to high school there then was accepted by the university of pennsylvania he 

was a bright enough kid by all accounts he got through his bachelor's and stayed on to do a phd  in engineering but dropped out after 18 months he went back to france bounced around europe and  the middle east for a couple of years and then i lost his trail i couldn't find any other trace  of him until 2003 when he resurfaced in iraq he started working for the army as one of those  general translator fixer facilitators then in 2007 the government started a program to bring a bunch  of those guy

s over to the states to save them from reprisals dendoncker applied in may 08. the  vetting process is pretty thorough so he didn't get his visa until april 10. the government  set him up in a town called gooseneck georgia and got him a job in a chicken processing plant  he kept his nose clean his attendance record was perfect he traveled a fair bit but only in the  lower 48 and he spent a lot of time in the library then after a year he quit and moved here fenton  took a left after the first cou

ple of buildings on the outskirts of town and started to thread  her way through a warrant of meandering streets i can understand him not wanting to chop  up chickens for the rest of his life i said but it doesn't explain why he picked  this place i have a theory fenton pulled through an archway and into a courtyard  that had been converted into a parking lot right after he arrived here dendoncker set up a  business on the qt he owns it through half a dozen shell corporations that implies a stro

ng desire  for secrecy so it follows that he wouldn't want his operation to attract a whole lot of attention  this place is perfect for that it's on its own tucked away at the ass end of a single road in or  out the population's been declining for years the locals say it's turning into a ghost town plus  there's no border crossing for miles official or unofficial the fence is secure there have  been no reported breaches in more than 10 years so there's nothing for any department or agency  to ta

ke an interest in what kind of business did he set up catering a company called pie in the  sky inc fenton stayed to the right and continued to the far end of the row of spaces she took the  final spot it lay between a dull white panel van and a blank wall and she pulled all the  way in so the jeep was pretty much hidden so why would he need to stay out of the limelight  you think he's hiding from the health inspector it's not what he cooks or how it's who  for it's a specialist company he owns

it makes in-flight meals but not for mainstream  airlines for private jets only dendoncker has contracts with half a dozen operators his people  pack up the food put it in those special metal boxes or trolleys depending on the quantity take  it to the airport load it right onto the plane and retrieve the containers afterwards  sometimes he provides the flight attendants too the setup could be totally innocent of course  people who fly on private planes need food and drink just the same as if the

y were stuck  in economy on a 737. dendoncker could have hidden his involvement because he has a bunch  of ex-wives he owes money to he could be shy about paying his taxes or the setup could be  something else altogether the kind of airports most private jets operate out of aren't like jfk  or lax security is minimal for the passengers and for the support services i could see how that  kind of setup could provide a guy like dendoncker with certain opportunities and why he would  want to keep his

comings and goings out of sight fenton shut off the jeep's motor he  could be moving drugs diamonds weapons pretty much anything i asked any proof just  suspicion at this point but it's not unfounded take my first day on dendoncker's crew  i got sent to cover for another woman as a flight attendant it was a last minute thing  she was out sick or she knew what was in store the whole experience was gross there were two  of us and four passengers rich [ __ ] they were constantly trying to grope us

making  suggestions about extra services we could perform one guy was obsessed with my leg kept  trying to touch it i nearly took him to the bathroom and beat him to death with it  not even the food distracted him or the drink it was obscene the most expensive stuff  you can imagine caviar call a coffee albino ham harmony berryco cheese pull champagne  berlin crawf brandy lecomp secret there was a ton of it a dozen containers large  ones and here's the thing we only used 10 of them two went unt

ouched maybe they over ordered  or dendoncker was padding the bill no i was gonna take a look inside the spare ones  while the other woman was in the bathroom but they had seals on them tiny things little blobs  of lead on short skinny wires partly hidden by the latches i almost didn't see them so i checked  the containers we did open there were no broken seals on any of them what happened to the sealed  ones they got offloaded at the destination airport two more got put on in their place same s

ize  same shape same seals what would have happened if you opened one by mistake i thought about  trying that but the plane flew back empty no new passengers got on board so there was  no need to open any of the containers and when i thought back to the outbound flight  i realized something it was the other woman who picked which container we should open at the time  it seemed reasonable i was knew she had experience she knew where things were but later it felt  different like she had been steer

ing me away from the sealed ones and it was the same basic picture  with all the other flights i worked on different passengers different destinations but there were  always containers that weren't accounted for fenton climbed out of the jeep she started  towards a door at the center of the long side of the courtyard i followed i saw that the  buildings on all four sides had originally been separate now they were joined together some were  sticking out some were set back but they were all the sa

me height the roof that connected them  was continuous and uniform it must have been added later each original section of the building  had a sign mounted on its front wall i guess they stated the initial occupant there were lots of  names lots of different businesses and services a blacksmith a cooper a hardware store  a place to buy provisions a warehouse one whole side had been a saloon presumably  the places had originally been independent but now their signs were all the same shape  they us

ed the same colors the same font the doors and windows were laid out in different  configurations but they were the same style they used the same materials they looked the  same age and each one had a glass rectangle mounted on the wall near the door the size of  a typical security keypad but with no buttons i said what is this place my hotel where  i'm staying where we're staying i guess i looked around all four sides where's the  office there isn't one the place is unmanned it's a new concept

part of a new chain they're  in five cities maybe six now i don't remember so how do you get a room you book online  you don't see anyone you don't interact with anyone that's the beauty of it how  do you get a key they send it in the mail fenton shook her head there isn't a physical  key they email you a qr code i said nothing a qr code you know like a two-dimensional barcode  you display it on your phone and the scanners by the doors read it it's excellent it is it is  particularly if you happ

en to book with a false id and a false credit card and a made up email  address that way no one can ever trace you this isn't gonna work for me i don't have a false id i  don't have any kind of a credit card or a phone oh she shrugged well never mind we'll figure that  out later there are cameras i gestured to a pair of them they were mounted on the wall near  the jeep's parking spot a mesh cage protected them someone could trace you that way they  could try the cameras do appear to be working b

ut if anyone tries to access their files they  won't see anything they'll just get snow that's the beauty of the training they give you at  fort witchuka it's the gift that keeps on giving chapter nine fenton fiddled with her phone then held  its screen up to a scanner below a sign that read carlisle smith wheelwright the  door clicked open i followed her inside i couldn't picture any hard manual  labor taking place in there now the room was all pastel colors and throw cushions  and nostalgic bl

ack and white photographs plus the standard hotel stuff a bed a couch a work  area a closet a bathroom everything you could need for a comfy night except for a coffee maker  there was no sign of one of those but there was a suitcase neatly squared away sitting on its  own by the door the fenton saw me looking at it old habits she wheeled the case across to the bed  always be ready to move she turned to look at me i figured i'd be moving again today  i hoped it would be with michael but really i

knew there was no chance i was always  going to be leaving alone i just had to be sure it wasn't a surprise but still back there  at the tree it hit me harder than i expected pushed me close to the edge for a second or two  i'm sorry you had to see that it won't happen again now let's focus come on make yourself  at home i figured it was a minute after 3 p.m i was hungry breakfast was a long time ago i'd  made an early start back in el paso i didn't know if fenton had eaten at all that day but s

he must  have burned plenty of adrenaline i figured food would help both of us i suggested we order some  fenton didn't argue she just pulled out her phone pizza work for you she took the chair from under  the desk and tapped away at her phone i sat on the couch i waited until she was done summoning up our  food then said i told you why i'm here now it's your turn she paused like she was marshaling her  thoughts it started with michael's message i guess we were always close like most twins are b

ut  we lost touch he wasn't the same not after he left the army i guess i should explain that  he was in a thing called a teu a technical escort unit they're the guys who are experts in  bomb disposal and chemical warfare i've heard of them if another unit is clearing an area and  they find chemical ordinance they call in at eu they're supposed to but that doesn't always  happen a grunt doesn't always know what a chemical artillery round looks like in iraq the enemy  didn't have any remember not

officially so they're not marked properly or they're deliberately  mismarked plus they look like other shells signal shells especially because they also have  a separate chamber for the precursor material and even if the guys who know chemicals are involved  they sometimes try to handle it themselves they don't want to wait with the best will in the  world it can take 12 hours for a teu to respond sometimes 24 that's up to an extra day of exposure  to enemy snipers and booby traps and an extra

day they're not clearing other areas that leaves other  caches for insurgents to find and raid or for civilians to stumble across maybe getting hurt or  killed so quite often michael's team would arrive at a scene and find it contaminated like the  first one they ever responded to it was a brick chamber underground some infantry guys literally  fell into it they busted through the ceiling they started poking around then got cold feet the  shells in there were old they were in bad shape the guys

must have cracked one without  realizing it contained mustard gas one of michael's friends got exposed it was  horrible did he make it by the skin of his teeth they medivacked him the hospital induced a coma  before the worst symptoms set in that saved him a lot of agony and probably saved his life  did michael get exposed not on that occasion but he did later you see however they come by  chemical shells the teu has to dispose of them if the area they're found in is inhabited they  have to move

the shells before they can blow them up and if there's some unusual feature they have  to recover them so they can be studied that's what happened to michael he was transporting a pair of  shells that the pointy heads wanted taken back to the aberdeen proving ground he had them in  the back of his humvee heading to an rv with a blackhawk one of them leaked it made him  sick he managed to get back to base but the medics wouldn't believe his symptoms were real  he had no burns no blisters no miss

ing body parts he was accused of malingering or treated like  a drug addict because his pupils had trunk anything to put the blame on him not the  army he had spasms chest pain he couldn't stop vomiting his whole gi system was messed up  they finally sent him to germany to a hospital there it took him weeks to recover that's harsh  it was the way they treated him was bad enough but the real kicker michael and his friend with  the mustard gas and a whole bunch of others who got hurt the army refu

sed to recognize them there  was no purple heart for them either you know why the poison didn't leak out during an active  engagement so their injuries weren't deemed to have been caused by enemy action it was like the  army was telling them they did these awful things to themselves and you know what in the exact same  circumstances the marines decorate their guys it just wasn't right michael was demoralized  he left the army at the end of his next tour he drifted for a few years and i guess he

went off  the rails i kept trying to reach out to him but then i had problems of my own she patted her leg  and i was busy with my work what do you do i'm a lab technician in a place near huntsville alabama  at the job that sent you to afghanistan she nodded i went to supervise some sample collection  a stuff we had to bring back and analyze my boss knew i was ex-army he thought i'd  be okay i was out of action for a while afterwards surgery physical therapy and then  i was a bit down for a whil

e bit self-absorbed but when i got michael's message it shook me  up it was something i just couldn't ignore what did it say m help m it was hand  written on the back of a card from a place called the red roan it's a cafe here  in town so you dropped everything and came i dropped everything but i didn't come here right  away old habits die hard first i did some digging i got in touch with his friends some  contacts of my own tried to find out what he might have been into where he might  have bee

n everyone said they didn't know a few promised to ask around then a buddy from the  66th told me about a guy kind of like an agent if you were a vet you wanted work and you weren't too  particular if it was legal he could hook you up i got in touch leaned on him he admitted  introducing michael to dendoncker indirectly i pressed him some more and he admitted to  placing a few guys with dundonker over the years sometimes dendoncker just wanted anyone  ex-military sometimes he wanted people with

specialized skills the guy recalled placing  an ex-sniper who was an expert in .50 rifles michael got hired because he knew about land mines  sounds like den donker could be smuggling weapons that was my first thought too so i came down poked  around but i couldn't find any sign of michael or smuggling rings or other kinds of criminals i got  desperate so i got back in touch with the agent guy and asked him to hook me up with dendoncker i  expected an argument but he was super cooperative said i

was doing him a favor den docker was in the  market for another recruit no particular specialty just had to be a woman i was worried about what  that could mean but i figured my brother's life was on the line so i said all right set it  up and you got the job just like that no my background was already legit but i made up  a few false references to embellish it a little then i had an interview with dundalker's  sidekick a huge creepy guy he took me out into the desert and had me prove i could 

shoot and strip down a gun and drive didn't den donker connect you with michael you  have virtually the same name no we have different surnames his was curtis mine was too obviously  then i got married i took my husband's name and i kept it after he was killed in iraq i'm sorry  don't be it's not your fault fenton looked away i waited until she turned back to me i said  den donker wanted michael because he knew about land mines that's what the guy told me how's that  connected to the catering bu

siness i don't know my best guess is dendoncker some kind of procurer  he smuggles in whatever his customers want and sells it to them he probably needs experts  from time to time to evaluate the merchandise but michael stayed on nodded you didn't come in  contact with them even when you were on the inside no i tried but i had to be discreet then two  days ago i saw a woman i recognized renee she was working at dendoncker's catering business  like me with a different partner she had different sh

ifts and she'd been there longer she knew the  line of the land better where'd you know her from i didn't know where i had seen her in  photos ones michael had of his old unit she was at the place where the containers get  loaded for the planes fenton shook her head no at the red room the place michael sent  the card from i followed her when she left cornered her at her hotel she admitted michael  was in town and still working for dendocker but on some special project she swore  she didn't know

what it was just that it involved michael doing tests in the desert from  time to time land mines maybe fenton shrugged so i asked this renee to set it up for michael and  me to meet she refused said it was too dangerous she seemed genuinely terrified so i asked her to  at least give michael a note for me she agreed to that what did you write i kept it simple i said  i'm here contact me i'll do whatever you need and i gave an email address one i'd set up specially  no one else knew it this was t

wo days ago right she said she might not be able to get the note to  michael right away then an email came this morning i knew michael was in trouble the moment i read  it i feared the worst but i had to find out for certain how did you know from the way the message  was addressed i had signed my note mickey that's what people who knew me as a kid call me the email  it came which set up the rendezvous with the tree it was written to mickey so michael  obviously knew you when you were a kid you d

on't understand when we were growing  up we were always playing soldiers and spies we started doing that thing from the movies  where you only use the other person's real name if you're in danger this note used my real  name so either michael was in danger or my note got intercepted and whoever replied didn't know  our routine what happened to the woman who took the note renee i don't know i went to her room at  the hotel this morning as soon as i got the email some of her clothes had been taken

from the  closet all her underwear was gone so were her toiletries i think something spooked her after she  gave michael a note i think she ran for her life chapter 10 fenton's phone pinged and a moment later  there was a knock at the door she whispered pizza i moved along the side of the bed where  i'd be out of sight i heard fenton open the door and thanked the delivery guy then she grabbed a  towel from the bathroom spread it on the bed like a tablecloth and set down the giant square box  we

ate in silence when we were finished i asked you said dendoncker inspects the bodies where at  the scene or does he have him taken someplace he always does it at the morgue he likes the bodies  properly laid out and examined the whole nine yards is the emmy on his payroll i don't know  could be i guess that means to pull this thing off we need to clear three hurdles to convince  dendoncker that one of us is a threat to him to make him believe that person was killed  and to persuade the enemy to

cooperate that's a big ask i came to the same conclusion  the fenton brushed crumb from her chin i was thinking about it while we were eating it  is a big ask but it's not impossible and i have a way we can do one and two if you play the role of  the dead guy oh okay first hurdle make den donker believe you're a threat that's easy all you have  to do is play the part of mickey dunn docker's already sold he sent two guys to ambush him those  guys didn't come back so dendoncker must be doubly con

vinced that mickey's a problem by now i said  nothing second hurdle make dendonker believe you're dead that's harder but still achievable we  do it by setting up another rendezvous with mickey which i will attend on dendoncker's behalf then  how do we set it up the foundations are already in place dundanker must have gotten his hands on  my note because he used the email address on it but he didn't know i sent it or there would have  been no need for the first rendezvous he would have sent his g

uys straight after me so i'll write  another note the handwriting will be the same which will seal the deal another note saying what  that no one showed up today so let's try again you'll know that's not true at the  least he thinks his guys are missing and if he has ears inside the police department  he'll know they're dead of course he'll know but that's not the point he won't care if mickey is  lying to him all he'll want to do is eliminate the threat he represents as quickly and cleanly  as

possible what's he gonna do leave mickey out there free to come at him whenever he wants  because he didn't tell the truth no he'll jump at the chance to take him out he'll agree  to the rendezvous and pull a double cross again say you're right say he agrees then what  he sends another couple of guys maybe more no in the note i'll say mickey knows  he's not communicating with michael but he's willing to pay ten thousand dollars  for information about michael's whereabouts and he will only deal w

ith me how will he  get the note to dendoncker i'll give it to his deputy i'll ask to meet him tell him i  was approached by a guy outside the red roan i'll describe you that'll be plausible because  they must assume the last note was brought to michael by renee since she's gone missing and  if they bite they'll offer another rendezvous we'll both show up and i'll shoot you at  least that's what i'll report to dundalker i thought for a moment that's a big  risk for you if they don't buy it i don

't think so fenton counted off on her  fingers the scenario was someone getting one of dendoncker's crew to carry a note a match  the handwriting on the note a match the email address for dendoncker to reply to a match the  note leading to a rendezvous a match the setup is plausible i can sell it i've done this kind of  thing before remember many times i didn't reply okay fenton said yes there is a risk  but whether to accept it is my choice that's fair and getting them to  set up a rendezvous m

ight work but what if they send someone with you or they  have someone hidden watching you can't just report a shooting we need to stage one and  we need it to look real that's easy enough i've done it before in kosovo years ago i  was there on a mission we needed leverage over a local gangster so we made him believe he'd  killed a guy who we revealed was a u.s diplomat all we had was fake blood and a special kind  of bag a detonator a transmitter and some tape the army provided the supplies of

course but i  know where they came from a store in new york i could have the stuff shipped here the only other  prop is blanks and i already have some i brought them with me i didn't know what kind of things  dendoncker had me doing and i thought i might need to avoid killing the wrong people the trick  with the blanks and the fake blood could work i knew from experience only not in kosovo and  not with a diplomat i said that leaves cme could be a problem if he's loyal to dendoncker  we'll have

to tread carefully that's true although i'm sure he could be convinced to take  a sickie given the proper encouragement fenton winked at me but that's maybe best left until  last we should see if dun dunker bites first we also need a wound that looks convincing we need  dendonker to believe it's real even if only for a minute no problem there either when operatives  go undercover they often use a false wound to hide a handcuff key or a blade that way they  have it even if they get captured and s

tripped it works even if they get searched psychology 101  humans instinctively avoid contact with wounds you can get the stuff from the place that  sells the fake blood i'll add some to the order fenton cleared away the empty pizza  box and lifted her case onto the bed she opened it and took a card  and a pen from a pocket and a lid this is the same kind i used before she started to  write i took a bunch just in case after a minute fenton put her pen down and showed me the card  there was a pic

ture of a horse on one side a red roan i guessed she'd written her message  on the reverse next to the cafe's address it looked okay to me i nodded she put the card  down grabbed her phone and tapped out a text i said i've just been contacted by an angry  stranger who asked me to carry a note to someone called michael keep everything crossed the reply  came within a minute all right fenton said that was dendoncker's right-hand man he wants to meet  he wants me to give him the note we could be in

business she stood up and unfolded a jacket from  her case to conceal her gun i said where are you meeting the boarder in she turned to the door  my other hotel it's a regular type place i'm booked under my real name but it's just for show  i never stay there don't worry i'll be back soon the door closed behind her and the room was  suddenly quiet it felt empty with just a hint of her perfume to remind me she'd been there i went  back to the couch and laid down i wanted to play some music in my

head that always helps to pass  the time i figured john primer would fit the bill he backed muddy waters until he died then he  backed magic slim for 14 years until he died john's music is as good as it gets  but try as i might it wouldn't come because i was worried about fenton that she would  be able to sell our scam to dendoncker's guy or worse that she wouldn't be able to sell  it then they'd kill her if she was lucky i told myself to snap out of it fenton was  ex-military intelligence she'

d have had extensive training in all kinds of black arts  she could no doubt convince anyone of anything only that thought made me more worried i really  knew nothing about her only what she'd told me which was what she wanted me to know i got up  and started to search the room i didn't enjoy it even though she'd invited me in the old  feeling of being a trespasser came back to me i always used to feel it when i searched a dead  person's place i hoped it wasn't a premonition i went through her c

ase everything was  neatly folded or rolled she had clothes toiletries extra ammunition for glock  a spare prosthetic foot a blonde wig glasses with plain lenses a field dressing  kit but nothing that said she'd lied to me i checked under the mattress along the seams of the  curtains under the couch and still found nothing i went to sit back down but stop myself  the solution was obvious i should leave walk out and never look back that would leave  the plan dead in the water it needed two people

there was no way fenton could do it alone i  took a step towards the door and stopped again if fenton couldn't get dendonker what would she  do i pictured her with a gun to her head again i didn't like that image i didn't like it at all  so i went back to the couch and waited in silence there was no sound of a key in  the lock just a subdued click 72 minutes later then the door swung open  and fenton appeared i think they bought it she checked her phone no confirmation yet but  i made progress

while i was waiting for the guy i ordered the fake blood and the other  stuff we'll need i expedited the shipping it'll be here in the morning i just  hope they don't want to meet tonight i agreed but that wasn't all i hoped we still had  two hurdles to clear i wanted it to stay that way chapter 11. fenton changed into blue silk pajamas  and climbed into the bed i kept my clothes on and stretched out on the couch she pulled a mask  over her eyes and lay still but i don't think she went straight

to sleep her breathing wasn't  right it was too fast too shallow too tense i kept my eyes open and stayed awake for hours  as well something was bothering me i couldn't put my finger on exactly what but red warning  lights were flashing away deep in my brain they stopped me from settling i guess i finally  dozed off at around four am i got woken up again at seven by fenn calling my name she was sitting  up in bed her mask was pushed up on her forehead her hair was disheveled and she was holding

her  phone at arm's length 11 p.m her voice was husky tonight they want to meet you we've done it this  was not the start to the day i was hoping for i'd been awake for 15 seconds and  already we were down to only one hurdle i said you better reply remind him just you  unarmed and the deal is cash for information fenton fiddled with her phone for a  moment a minute later it made a ping sound all right they've agreed after another  minute fenton's phone made a different kind of noise it was an in

coming text fenton  read it then held her phone out for me to see hook line and sinker it's dendoncker's deputy  telling me to stand by for a job tonight fenton laid back on her pile of  pillows and went to work with her phone okay i searched for me's in this area only one  name comes up a doctor hoolier he seems to be the doctor for everything here he's based at the  medical center the big building in the middle of the town we'll wait for our delivery  then head down there it's due before noon

should give us plenty of time we can't both go  i set up the delivery will it need a signature fenton nodded you better do  that i'll go talk to the doctor fenton did whatever was necessary  with her phone to order some breakfast i took a shower i heard a knock at the door when  i was getting dressed and when i came out of the bathroom i could smell coffee it was sublime  there's nothing like the first mug of the day fenton had also ordered burritos we ate in  silence then i gathered up the pape

r plates grabbed the sunglasses i'd taken from the guy  at the tree and started towards the door no gun fenton looked worried i'm going to an  official building they'll be metal detectors in this town i don't think so it's not worth the  risk and i don't need one if the doctor's straight i'll persuade him to help if he's in dendonkar's  pocket it'll take more than a gun to convince him i stepped out of the room and left the courtyard  via the archway fenton had driven through it was a beautiful

morning perfect for walking the sun  was bright but the temperature was comfortable the last to the chill from the desert  night was still to be chased away the sky was so clear and so blue that if you  painted it people would say you'd exaggerated the color the streets were narrow and winding and the  buildings that lined them seemed old and honest like they'd sprouted years ago along  the paths that people had walked with their donkeys or mules or whatever  animals they used to pull their wago

ns there was no planning no artifice i could picture  the people inside getting on with their lives looking after their families doing their jobs i  looked up at the roofs some had tv antennas but i could see no cell masts that just added to the  impression of a place that progress had passed by probably nothing substantial had changed for  decades nothing except the arrival of dendoncker i found the medical center without any problems  it was a solid muscular building made out of pale stone pri

de had gone into its construction that  was clear real crafts people had been involved they could tell from the attention detail in  the doorway and the windows and the lentils inside an ornate rendering of the staff of  hermes was set into the polished white floor a large lamp shaped like the globe hung directly  above it the ceiling was domed it was painted with scenes showing the history of medicine all the way  from caves to hospitals ending sometime before the second world war from its styl

e the building  could have been a courthouse or a library but if you closed your eyes you would have no doubt  you were in a hospital the smell was unmistakable the reception area was unattended there was  a freestanding desk made out of rich teak its surface shown with years of polish  a laptop computer sat to one side closed along with a leather binder and a message pad  there was a directory in a frame on the wall it was the old-fashioned kind with separate  white letters pressed into the gap

s between rolls of plush burgundy fabric  it made no mention of the morgue probably not the kind of place medical people like  to advertise i went through a doorway to the side of the desk it led to a corridor that was lined  with plain wooden doors they had numbers but no names there was a staircase at the far end i went  down partly because the directory had listed all kinds of wards and clinics and examination rooms  on the upper floors and partly out of instinct it seemed fitting that the de

ad would be kept  below ground i came out onto another corridor it was bright there were triple fluorescent tubes  hanging from the ceiling at close intervals but only one pair of doors they were labeled morgue  as i approached i could hear a voice a man's at first i thought he must have company i couldn't  make out all the words but when i picked up on the stylized way of speaking i realized it was just  one person he was dictating probably medical notes probably into a machine i raised my hand

to knock  but i stopped myself it was time to face facts nothing i could say to the doctor  was going to make a difference i turned around and went back up  the stairs and out into the street chapter 12 i found my way to the red roan and  walked past it just out of curiosity it had a racing theme it seemed  incongruous given its neighboring buildings and unappealing so i continued to a diner further  down the street it was smaller more down to earth i ordered two black coffees to go and carried

  them back to the hotel fenton snatched the door open the instant i knocked well she let the door  swing shut tell me i handed her one of the cubs the bags of fake blood and miniature detonators  and material to make imitation wounds were laid out on the bed her gun was there too there  was a glass full of bullets on the nightstand you switched to blanks she nodded yes  but the me how did it go blanks were better than live rounds in a situation like  that but they were still dangerous close up

pull the trigger when the muzzle is in contact  with your head and the jet of gasity mets can be fatal i know i investigated two cases in the  army one turned out to be a jackass playing the full one time too many the other was something  else altogether i put my coffee down on the desk kayla there's something we need to talk about  this plan it's not gonna work it's time we thought about a plan b the enemy wouldn't cooperate  fenton slammed her cup down on the nightstand so sharply it sent coff

ee spurting out of the  slot in the lid why not what was the problem how hard did you lean on him i'm not gonna lie  i didn't speak to the guy there was no point there are too many other holes in the plan  it's doa we need to find an alternative you said yourself there are three hurdles the threat  the death and the me i took care of one and two i can't believe you chickened out a three i knew  i should have gone myself never send a man to do a woman's job i'll go now i'll take care of it  fento

n reached for a gun i stepped in her way i said it doesn't matter which of us talks to him  or if neither of us does the outcome will be the same the guy's either on dendoncker's payroll or  he's not he's well disposed to us or he's not we may need to persuade him or threaten him or bribe  him in any case there's no guarantee of a result even if he agrees to help can we trust him what  if he changes his mind later what if he gets cold feet and say he does stay away how will dendoncker  behave wi

ll he poke the body my body prod it stab it chop part of it off shoot it fenton didn't  reply and dendunker's unlikely to come alone how many guys will he bring what weapons will  they have who else will be in the building fenn shrugged and if we do snatch him what about  afterwards we'll need time to encourage him to confess where would we go how long would it take  where's the nearest police station when we're done i get the point fenton crossed her arms but it  could still work it could nothi

ng's impossible i'd give it a 50 50 chance of success no  more with a high risk of collateral damage i'll take those odds i won't not when there  are alternatives there's no alternative we must go ahead okay we'll swap roles i'll tell  them i'm sick i'll play the part of mickey at the rendezvous i'll pretend to get shot let them  take me to the morgue i'll deal with dendoncker myself when he shows up that won't work if  you're sick they'll send others in your place who will kill you for real unl

ess you kill  them first neither of which would help okay so you go to the rendezvous too look around in the  dark until everyone shows up then shoot me with a blank before anyone else has the chance they won't  care who fired as long as i'm dead or they think i am what happens when they check your pulse fenton  was silent or if they give you a tap to the head to make sure you're dead fenton opened her  mouth then closed it again without speaking i said why not get dendunka thrown in jail  there

's a federal agent i know you can trust him you could work with him stay undercover  provide intel isn't that what you trained for that would take too long we have to do it  tonight i'll find a way with or without you why is this so urgent the best way to honor  michael is to take the time to do it right what about the vetting guys for example who  cleared dendoncker for entry to the states they must have plenty of muscle and if they  made a mistake they'll want to put it right to avoid embarras

sment of nothing else  this isn't just about michael it never was no then who else is it about i don't know names  innocent people the vets and dendoncker's crew no random strangers oh what kind of  strangers fenton took a breath reacher there's something i didn't tell you i know  what den donker's doing with those planes what he's going to transport in them bombs how do  you know i know because michael was making them chapter 13. fenton pushed the bags of fake blood aside  and sat on the bed sh

e put her head in her hands she rested her elbows on her knees  she was completely still for over a minute then she straightened up i  didn't lie to you reacher i just didn't tell the whole truth you better  tell it now if you want me to reconsider okay rewind to when i left the army i went into law  enforcement i joined the fbi became a special agent evidence processing was my specialty i  worked out of a couple of field offices did well and got assigned to tdac as a result do you  know anythin

g about it not much it's the terrorist explosive device analytical center think of it  as bringing forensics to the battlefield it began during the second gulf war our troops were taken  a hammering someone got the idea of collecting evidence and sending it to quantico a team was put  together to analyze everything that was brought in they came up with ways to spot ieds to defend  against them defuse them eventually they were able to identify the bomb makers sometimes right  down to an individua

l sometimes to a factory the recovered components tell a story so do  the techniques that are used even the way a wire is twisted can be significant the team was  so successful it expanded and moved to a new base in alabama its scope expanded too now it has  a whole world mission with no constraints on time information is shared with partners arrests  have been made all over the globe with tdax help london berlin addis ababa all in the last few  weeks evidence is being brought in from more place

s and from further back in time material  from lockerbie scotland is on its way i heard and yemen and some already arrived from beirut  that big barracks bomb all the way back in the 80s there was another weird echo from the past i'd thought plenty over the years about the  guy whose jawbone wound up in my abdomen and the other marines who died that day but i  hadn't dwelled too much on the physical evidence i know it was examined thoroughly at the time  picked over and combed through by experts

with all the best tools and techniques available back then  i figured once all the clues and leads had been sniffed out anything left would have been disposed  of cleaned up thrown away preferably set on fire i never imagined it getting brought back  to the states so long after all the bodies she said there's an initiative to facilitate this  kind of work it's called icep the international collection and engagement program i was part of it  specialists are sent to partner countries to help with

training that includes afghanistan because  of my background i got sent there to a scene that hadn't been cleared properly it plays into a  classic aq tactic they hide a bunch of devices some obvious some not so much the rest is  history for my foot anyway that's why you moved to work in a lab right but i didn't leave  the bureau i couldn't work in the field anymore so they let me retrain i'm a bio recovery  technician now or i was i pulled prints but mostly from older devices i recovered hairs

and  anything that could yield dna it was uneventful dull but sometimes very satisfying like a month  ago we had a case involving a guy who used to work for a kuwait oil company a league came  in claiming that he was an aqi sympathizer al-qaeda in iraq the bureau set up a sting  operation and they got him on tape boasting to an undercover agent about how he used to build bombs  in a basement naboo grade they cross reference dates and places pulled a bunch of evidence  that hadn't been processed

yet and guess what i pulled his print from a fragment of a roadside  bomb gold star for me life in prison for him i was happy with that result unlike my last  case an unexploded bomb came in that's the holy grail to us everything is intact it's a feast of  evidence this was no different there were a bunch of standout things first it was found within the  united states not brought here from somewhere else second it had a gps chip in it which we figure  was to let the terrorists know when their t

arget was near so they could detonate but as a  backup because the third thing was it also had a transponder i don't know what that is okay  it's like this there are two parts one sends out a radio signal the other bounces back a reply one  was in the bomb the other would be carried by the target presumably without his or her knowledge i  think it was supposed to be the primary trigger what if something else sent a signal and triggered  it they don't work that way each pair has a code if the cod

e doesn't match nothing happens which is  why i think it didn't go off the other part of the transponder must not have come within range before  the bomb was found which is fortunate because of all the lives that were saved and because  of the fourth thing in there a fingerprint right on the transponder itself it came to me  for identification whose was it it was michael's what did you do fenton was silent for a moment  she looked at the floor then she looked at me i was shocked obviously i doub

le checked the  print i triple checked it but there was no mistake it was michael's couldn't there's something  else i was also given the card from the red roan to examine there was no writing on it  i made that part up because i left the bomb part out there was a condom in there too  still in its wrapper i have no idea why to make it look like random stuff had fallen in by  accident if one of dendoncker's guy saw it maybe anyway i figured michael was repenting he  wanted to stop he wanted to ge

t out he knew where i worked he knew what i did he knew i'd  find his print it was so prominent and that's rare current bomb makers wear gloves because  they know the kind of things we can recover now so and i'm not proud of this i panicked i  destroyed his print and the transponder and the card from the red room and i quit the rest  you know everything else i told you is true did you find out anything more she closed her  eyes then opened them and shook her head no i never got to michael i took

a sip of  coffee and weighed up what fenton had told me a bomb had been found with a transponder hooked up  to it a fingerprint a business card and a condom but no note something wasn't adding up i  said the bomb where was it recovered from a private airfield was that the  target don't know what size was it small enough to conceal big enough to do a lot  of damage depending on where it was detonated if there were fewer than 50 casualties it would be  a miracle what if it exploded on a plane if

the plane was the target not just the transport  if it blew up over a city or a shopping mall or a stadium that's possible but unlikely  the bomb we found was packed with shrapnel that's an anti-personnel configuration if a  plane was its target we'd expect it to have a shaped projectile to ensure it could breach the  fuselage or at least cause major system damage well that's something i guess what about  the time scale if they have other bombs she shrugged tomorrow next week next year  can we a

fford to wait how many bombs did michael make she shrugged again could be any  number distributed anywhere in the country we were looking at hundreds dead potentially  maybe thousands dendoncker had the means the opportunity and there were plenty of groups  out there with the cash to make it worth his while all of a sudden 50 50 with a chance of collateral  damage didn't look so bad i drained my cup wait here i'm going for a word with the m.e chapter 14 i walked faster the sun was  hotter the bu

ildings seemed closer together the empty sidewalks narrower the atmosphere was  almost oppressive i reached the medical center and went straight in the lobby was just as it  was before except that there was a woman at the reception desk it was hard to say how old she was  not far from being the wrong side of retirement age i would guess her hair was silver and it  was wound up in an elaborate series of braids her glasses were pointy at the temples  like ones i'd seen in pictures from the 60s she

had a discreet string of pearls and a neat  cream blouse she glanced up when i approached but when she realized i was heading for the  door that led to the basement she looked away a benefit of dendoncker's people  doing business there i guess but i wasn't happy about being  mistaken for one of his goons i paused in the lower corridor and listened at  the door to the morgue i could hear music it was classical mainly piano something by beethoven  i thought i knocked and went in without waiting f

or an answer instantly i was hit by the stench it  was like an invisible wall made up of things i'd smelled before blood bodily products disinfectant  preservative chemicals but it was so strong it stopped me in my tracks ahead of me there was a  guy in the center of the room he had white hair a white lab coat metal rimmed glasses on a chain  and a pronounced stoop behind him was a row of steel doors five of them to the side a desk  it held a computer which was switched off a stack of blank form

s and a fancy pen right  at the guy's side there was a metal table it was made of stainless steel it had raised  sides and a body was lying on it a man's it was naked the top of its skull had been sawn off  its rib cage cracked apart its abdomen cut open blood was running along the channels on both  sides of the table and trickling down a drain there was a trolley covered with tools they were  sharp and bloody there was another trolley covered with jars full of red and brown gelatinous things  a

nd some weighing scales with a brain in its pan the guy took his glasses off and glared at me at  least you knocked that's something now who are you what do you want he seemed like a straightforward  guy so i decided to take a straightforward approach my name's reacher you're dr julia  the guy nodded i'm here to ask for your help i see with what is someone sick hurt i  need you to stay away from work tomorrow out of the question i've worked here for more  than 40 years and i've never missed a da

y that's an admirable record don't  blow smoke okay let's try this there's a guy in this town i believe  you're acquainted with wad dendoncker dr hoolier's eyes narrowed what about  him just how well acquainted are you dr hoolier snatched up a scalpel still  slick with blood and brandished it at me cast an aspersion like that again into  hell with my oath i'll cut your heart out i don't care how big you are he gestured to  the body at his side you can see i know how so you're not a fan dr houlia

rd dropped the  scalpel back on the table let me tell you a little about my history with wad dendonker our paths  first crossed 10 years ago i was here working the door flew open and two of his guys barged in  no knock no excuse me they didn't say a word now right away they just handed me an envelope inside  was a photograph of my brother outside his house in albuquerque you see i'm not married my parents  have passed donald was the only family i had and the guy told me if i ever wanted to see 

my brother alive again i had to go with them so you went of course they put me in a crummy  old army jeep drove out into the desert maybe 10 miles it's hard to tell out there they  stopped when we reached a group of men dendoncker a couple of his guys and two others no  one told me explicitly but i worked out they were customers there to buy hand grenades they must  have asked for a demonstration a pit had been dug two people were in it both women they were naked  who were they no one i recogniz

ed later the guy who drove me said they worked for dendoncker  he said they'd disobeyed his orders this was the consequence dendoncker threw in a grenade i  heard screams when it landed then an explosion the others all rushed forward they wanted  to see i didn't but dendoncker forced me believe me i've seen injuries before i've seen  surgeries every kind of butchery you can imagine but this was worse what happened to those women's  bodies it disgusted me i was sick right there on the spot i was

worried that dendoncker would  expect me to deal with the remains somehow but no a guy used one of the jeeps it had a snowplow  blade on the front he just filled in the hole dendoncker and his customers stayed there to talk  business the two guys who'd brought me took me back to the medical center they told me that the  next day or maybe the day after a body would find its way onto my slab they said i was to process  it thoroughly but not keep any official record and to be ready to answer questi

ons from  dendoncker right and if you didn't go along they said there'd be another pit that they'd  throw my brother in it and make me watch when the grenade went off they said they'd cut  my eyelids off to make sure i saw everything the body they mentioned it showed up three days  later i couldn't sleep picturing what kind of shape it would be in in the end it was only  shot luckily for me anyway how many since then 27 mostly shot some stabbed a couple with their  skulls bashed in did dendoncke

r come and see all of them dr houlier nodded he shows  up every time like clockwork although he has calmed down a little originally he  wanted a detailed analysis stomach contents residue on the skin and under the fingernails  any indication of foreign travel things like that now he's happy with a brief report on the  body but he still wants to see them correct why it could be one of several disorders i'm  not about to analyze him it's not my field and he gives me the creeps whenever he shows up

i  just want him out of my office as fast as possible i said nothing strike that what i really want is  for him to stop coming at all but i can't make him so i find a way to live with it i have a  way to stop him all i need is this room if you're going to stop dendoncker  and you're going to do it in this room someone's going to play dead you i nodded then  told him about the gunshot wound to my chest and the props we were going to use to make it look  real where is this shooting going to take

place i told them the location dendoncker's  guy had texted defend i see and how are you going to get your body from there to here  i hadn't figured that out yet when you're stuck with a plan full of holes more have a habit of  appearing you don't know do you i said nothing what time are you supposed to get shot it'll be a  little after 11 pm okay i'll bring you in myself no you can't be involved think of  your brother donald died last year did he have a wife kids no kids i don't like his  wife

and she's sick anyway cancer metastasized if den donker looked for her she'd be dead  before he found out which hospice she's in so i'll give you a number for your sidekick to  call me on it's a direct line it bypasses 9-1-1 which will make things easier are you sure yes  now dendoncker won't come until morning that means you'll have to sleep here he may have people  watching the place and it wouldn't do for a dead man to be seen leaving and returning i'll come  in early and get you ready for th

e meat locker you'll have a companion i'm afraid  so i can't raise the temperature but i can give you a mild sedative  so you won't start shivering i'll tape your eyes too just in case how long  can you hold your breath for i'd once gone for a little over a minute without breathing but that  was underwater swimming hard fighting for my life this would be different no exertion just  the effort of keeping completely still 90 seconds i said two minutes maximum all  right i'll keep an eye on the tim

e i'll distract dendonker if he drags things out for too  long he's usually quick so i'm not too worried now tell me and you can be honest after you  stop him what are you going to do with him hand him over to the police a flash of  disappointment crossed julia's face i said does dendonker usually come alone or does  he bring bodyguards apes i'd call them two one comes in first to check the room then  dendoncker and the second guy follow weapons non-visible that's good but even with your  brothe

r out of the picture there's still a risk to you you'd be much safer at home or  out of town hooliers shook his head no den donkers had the upper hand for too long i  promised myself if i ever could resist i would i only have myself to worry about with  donald gone it seems like now is the time thank you doctor i appreciate that  but if you change your mind i won't okay until this evening then one last thing mr  reacher i'm a doctor i swore an oath to do no harm you didn't specifically where den

doncker  is concerned i hope you take my meaning chapter 15 i got into position under the street light  at 11 pm as agreed the evening was chilly i'd been in the compound for three  hours to make sure i was alone i wished i had a coat i only had on a t-shirt a  yellow one it was huge it was baggy even on me but it needed to be it needed room to conceal  the bag of fake blood i had taped to my chest i couldn't risk a coat hanging wrong and ending  up with no bullet hole where there should be one

the car showed up at 1102. its lights were on  bright so i couldn't tell the maker model but i could see enough to know it wasn't a jeep  not what i was expecting fenton to be driving if fenton was driving i couldn't see inside either  a moment later the front doors opened both of them two men climbed out not what we'd agreed both the  car's back doors opened two more men climbed out definitely not what we'd agreed i sized the guys  up they were all between maybe six one and six three each aroun

d 200 pounds i didn't see anything  to worry me but i was mainly waiting to see if fenton appeared from the back seat she didn't  either she'd been benched because den donker had opted for more firepower after losing two guys  the day before or she'd been taken out of the game for good if dendoncker had seen through our ploy i  doubted any of the guys in front of me would know paranoid bosses don't generally share insights  with their wet boys so i decided on a different approach whittle down th

e numbers and persuade  the last man standing it was in his interest to escort me up the food chain the last man standing  wasn't gonna be the driver that was for damn sure he stepped forward and immediately launched into  a dumb routine designed to get me into the car that wasn't gonna happen not then anyway the guy realized he couldn't bluff me so he  changed tag he tried to use force he pulled a gun that's always a mistake when you're within arm's  length or near it maybe he mistook size for

slow maybe he was just stupid or overconfident  either way i closed in fast grabbed his wrist and neutralized his weapon then i  neutralized him with a quick easy punch i retrieved the driver's fallen gun in case the  other guys were smart enough to attack together they weren't the one in the center of  the remaining trio was the next to try he screamed like he thought that would frighten me  fainted a jab then tried to land a punch in my gut i blocked it and drove my middle knuckle into his  bi

cep i gave him the option to walk away i figured that was only fair he didn't take it he rushed  back in with a wild crazy punch aimed at my head i let it flail past then immobilized  his other arm i gave him another chance he repaid me by trying to kick me in the balls he  didn't get close i slammed my foot into his shin used his effort against him the guy's ankle  broke at least one bone maybe more he screamed and hopped around for a second then fainted when  the severed ends of his bone touch

ed together now i was down to two these guys tried to raise  their game they fetched axe handles from their trunk the taller of the pair led off with a  monster swing he missed by a mile then his buddy weighed in he started jabbing two faints to begin  with and he went from my gut but he telegraphed it i grabbed the axe handle wrenched it out of his  hand spun it around and smashed it down onto the top of his head like i was chopping wood the  final guy panicked he took a couple of wild swings b

ut there was no hope of him connecting he must  have figured that out because he went for his gun but like the driver he was too close i knocked  the gun out of his hand i grabbed hold of his neck i started to outline his options  then i heard a voice ordering me to stop it was fenton she emerged from the cover of  the row of garages to my right her arms were stretched out and she was holding her gun with  both hands she was trying to resurrect our plan but the last guy was standing between us t

hat  wasn't ideal he was a witness now he wouldn't believe i'd been shot if fenton's bullet  would have had to pass through him to hit me i could throw him aside but that would have been  suspicious too it would be more realistic to pull him closer use him as a shield i looked at fenton  glanced down at my chest figured she could see the right area or close enough anyway taking  the shot was the best bet in the circumstances i willed her to do it i saw her breathe and exhale  i braced myself for

the sound i felt a flick on my chest first then cold dampness i threw myself  back i've seen plenty of people get shot dead some crumple and end up like they're asleep some  fly through the air and end up in a contorted heap i aimed for somewhere in the  middle i pushed my arms out wide kept one knee raised and snapped my head right  back didn't need me huh fenton was coming closer don't worry there's no rush you can apologize  in your own sweet time just make it good what the hell did you do t

he guy sounded mad  dendoncker wanted him alive he had questions fenton paused for a moment dendoncker wanted  him alive huh well if i hadn't shown up this guy would have been the only one who was alive those  three idiots are down and you weren't far behind i felt fingers on my neck they were long slim  a little cold i felt myself shiver anyway he's dead no point crying about it fenton reached  around and pretended to check my back pockets like i thought no cash it was a setup from the  start w

hat an [ __ ] okay i'll call 9-1-1 and get the body picked up you can call it into dendonker  throw me under the bus if you want on one condition you load up your buddies i have a long  walk back to my car after the ambulance shows up chapter 16. i've spent more nights than  i can count in weird uncomfortable places but never until then in a morgue it was  actually less uncomfortable than i expected physically anyway dr hoolier brought me a bedroll  a sleeping bag and an eye mask like you get on

commercial flights he left me to sleep then came  back in at 6 00 am he brought me some coffee and while i drank it he got busy making the simulated  gunshot wound for my chest out of the special clay he made sure to get the size just right the  shape the ragged edges the colors which for a mixture of angry red and congealed brown  when he was happy he stuck it on to me then he gave me my shots one on each arm each  leg my chest and my stomach he cleared away my bedding and hid it behind the ri

ght-hand fridge  door then he checked the clock on the wall okay it's time he opened the center door and pulled  out the sliding rack i took my clothes off he hid them along with the bedding i laid down he  threw a sheet over me and stuck my eyelids down with some kind of tape he said good luck try  not to trash my more gwen dendoncker gets here he pulled the sheet up over my head and  pushed the rack into the refrigerator all the way i heard the door shut i could sense  the light being shut out

i could feel the darkness the skin between my shoulders began to prickle i  hate enclosed spaces always have it's something primal i forced myself to picture the void all  around me behind the doors the refrigerator was a single unit not individual compartments  there was plenty of room i began to feel better until i remembered the chopped up body i wondered  which side it was on part of me wished i could see most of me was glad i couldn't i'd been inside for  close to an hour when the refriger

ator door opened there was no notice i suddenly sensed light the  rack rolled out smoothly and gently the sheet was pulled back from my face i heard a voice it  was nasal and it gave hard edges to the word move the sheet was whipped off the rest of  the way i heard it settle on the floor then the nasal voice spoke again i guessed it was  dendoncker he questioned what had killed me dr houlier replied there was talk of my older wounds  the scars they'd left what might have caused them what else th

ey knew about me 60 seconds without  a breath uncomfortable but manageable the sheet covered me again my body then my face but before  i could inhale it was torn back off there was a debate about my pretend fake id my real id my  real name questions and answers back and forth then i felt dendoncker come closer i couldn't  see him but i knew he was staring at me 90 seconds without a breath i needed air badly my  lungs were starting to burn my body was desperate to move i heard dendoncker make a c

omment about me  looking for him not michael so he was narcissistic as well as paranoid a charming combination  no wonder he didn't play well with others i heard papers russell more questions then  talk about burning my passport dumping my body dendonker's voice was louder and  sharper like he was giving orders it sounded like he was wrapping things up two  minutes without a breath my lungs were done i took a huge gulp of air pulled  the tape off my eyes and sat up there were four people in the

room all  men all with their mouths open in shock there was dr houlier at his desk two guys  in suits maybe in their 40s near the door and one in the center facing me he looked like he  was in his sixties he had an angular face with a burn scar on his left cheek it was triangle shaped  he had bulging eyes abnormally long arms and legs three fingers were missing from his right hand  he was using his thumb and remaining finger to pinch the bezel of his watch i said den donker  he didn't react i ju

mped off the tray he fumbled in his jacket pocket produced a gun a revolver  an naa-22s it was a tiny little thing less than four inches long i took it from him tossed it into  the refrigerator and shoved him towards the back corner of the room i wanted him well away from  the door i wanted no chance of him sneaking out while i was dealing with his goons both were  approaching me a pale suited curly-haired one on my left a dark-suited straight-haired one  on my right there was two feet between t

hem they were reaching under their jackets going for  their guns but they never got the chance to draw i moved towards them fast pulled back both fists  and punched them both in their jaws simultaneously maybe not the hardest blows ever i felt like  the sedative shots had affected me a little taken a few percent off the total not that  it mattered my forward motion combined with their movement towards me made it like they'd  walked into the front of a truck they landed together in a tight tangle

of arms and legs they  weren't moving i turned to check on dendonker and saw him standing in the corner i had a momentary  impression of a stick insect in a cage at the zoo i heard a sound behind me from the door it was  flung open like a gas main had blown some place nearby a guy stepped through i got the impression  he had to turn sideways to fit he was so broad and he was tall six feet six minimum  i would guess at least 350 pounds he had no hair his head was like a bowling ball  his eyes an

d mouth and nose were small and pinched and they were all crammed together at the front he  had tiny protruding ears shiny pink skin a black suit with a white shirt and no tie which was a  shame ties can be useful for strangling people the guy started moving forward he had a  weird stomping staccato motion like a robot as he came closer his steps turned into  kicks and his arm swings turned into punches he was steady and repetitive and relentless like  he was doing a martial arts demonstration i

t was mesmerizing no doubt devastating if one of his  blows connected and deadly if more than one did i step back to buy a little time dendoncker tried  to scuttle past i grabbed him and threw him behind me i didn't look to see where he landed there  was no way i could risk taking my eyes off the human bludgeoning machine that was closing in on  me dendoncker tried to creep by on the opposite side i shoved him back again the huge guy was  still coming i figured he wanted a toy with me for a whil

e back me up against the wall or into  the corner and then pummel the life out of me when i could retreat no further he didn't seem  worried about keeping out of range of anything i could throw at him i took another step away  then i launched myself the opposite way off my back foot and darted around him i jabbed him in  the kidney on my way past it was a decent blow it would have floored a lot of people this  guy showed no sign of even noticing it he took another step then went into  some kind

of elaborate turning routine his arms crossed and re-crossed and finally opened  the opposite way he pivoted on the balls of his feet he pushed off the floor and threw another  kick but i was already moving i had turned faster pushed off the floor harder i charged head down  before his next kick i slammed into his chest hard enough to throw him back despite the difference  in weight he staggered i tried to line up a punch before he could recover i was thinking his  throat this was no time for ge

ntlemanly conduct but before i could launch anything the  guy's legs connected with the fridge rack it was still extended he toppled back onto  it the force was enough to release the latch and it started sliding he had landed at an  angle so he wouldn't fit through the door his head slammed into the frame not hard enough to  knock him out but enough to stun him for a moment and a moment was all i needed i followed in and  sighed my elbow down into the side of his head i used all my strength my f

ull weight was behind  it it was a perfect connection his arms and legs bounced up like a bugs then flopped down and  dangled off either side of the rack his tongue lawled out of his mouth i waited a moment to  be sure then i turned to check on dendonger there was no sign of them aside from dr houlier  and the three unconscious guys the room was empty she was so quick dr houlier's voice was  flat a woman with a limp she put a gun to dendonker's head and dragged him out of here she  left this dr

hoolier passed me a grocery store bag inside was the shirt i was wearing before  swapping it for the baggy yellow one which by then was ruined and a single sheet of paper  i unfolded it there was a handwritten message richer i'm sorry i was late to the rendezvous  because dendoncker sent me on a [ __ ] errand and i didn't set out to use you i hope you don't feel  that way but i have a feeling things could get very ugly very soon and there are lines i can't  ask you to cross i'm glad we met even

briefly i hope you make it to the ocean soon xoxo p.s you  saved my life i'm grateful and i will never forget chapter 17 i screwed the note into a ball and tossed it into  the trash peeled the fake bullet wound off my chest pulled the shirt fenton had brought over my  head crossed to the right-hand refrigerator door the one where dr houlier had stashed my clothes  opened it and got dressed the rest of the way and then retrieved my passport from his trash can  where are you going dr houlier said

wait a minute what are you going to do about the woman and  dendoncker the way i saw it i had two choices i could let fenton go or i could try to find  her and i couldn't see any point in finding her i had no doubt she could handle herself when  she was up against one old frail guy or numerous strong young guys if that was how things shook  out i had no doubt she would do whatever she saw fit to stop dendonker's bombs she had the contacts  she just needed information how she got it was up to her

maybe she would cross a line maybe a whole  bunch of lines but that was her call i wasn't her conscience and i wasn't her priest my nose was  a little out of joint the way she blindsided me but at the same time i had to say nicely played  the truth was i liked her i wished her the best i'm not going to do anything about either  of them i said if fenton wants to handle things from here i'm happy to let her oh  dr houlier scratched the side of his head then what about these apes you can't leave t

hem on  my floor especially not that big one i treated him after one of his victims bit him and his arm got  infected he's called man sore he's a psychopath what will he do when he wakes up and finds me  it's obvious i helped you don't worry i'll take the trash out when i leave you won't see these  guys again i started with the guy dr houlier had called man sore i checked his pants pocket  and found what i was looking for straight away his keys a big bunch on a plastic fob with one  kind in part

icular a car key the logo molded into the plastic grip said lincoln i hoped it was  for a town car they're spacious vehicles plenty of room for passengers conscious or unconscious  alive or dead that fact was established almost immediately after the first model rolled off the  production line they'd been popular with people who appreciated that quality ever since people  like me at that moment i figured i could tie the three guys up load them in dump the car and call  911. i bet they all had pre

tty substantial records although i wasn't impressed with the way the  police had responded to my report of the bodies by the tree i hadn't seen a single uniformed cop  in the town or a detective or a crime scene truck it made me think of a conversation i had recently  with a guy in texas he had a theory he said that in remote regions any officer sent to deal with  something messy like a bunch of dead bodies must be on his boss's bad side which meant he wouldn't  be looking to carry out a thoroug

h investigation he'd be looking to get the case closed quickly  and tidally to get back in his boss's good graces and to make sure someone else would get sent the  next time there was a problem out in the sticks maybe the guy had been right maybe i'd be better  dumping the car somewhere further away at the side of the highway or in a bigger town or  a city i didn't want to invite extra work but i did want the right result and on top of that  i was hungry making plans on an empty stomach is a bad

idea it can distort your priorities  i figured i should grab something to eat then decide i said it's been a busy morning i  could use some breakfast wanna join me dr houlier pulled a face like he'd smelled something  vile eat now no no thank you i couldn't i tried to slip mansour's keys into my pocket  but the bunch got all snagged up it was big and heavy when i tried to streamline it one key in  particular stood out a mortise it was similar to the ones the guys had been carrying yesterday i 

said which place around here has the best coffee dr houlier blinked a few times then he  shrugged you could try the prairie rose i've heard theirs is good turn left out of the  main exit walk a hundred yards you can't miss it thanks i'll do that i glanced around the room have  you got anything i could use to tie these guys up dr houlier thought for a moment wait here i have  an idea then he hurried out through the door i used the time to work my way through mansour's  other pockets i found his w

allet he had cash but no id nothing with an address i tried his  phone it asked for a face id i had no idea what that was but on a whim i held it level with  the guy's nose after a second its screen unlocked there was no record of any calls being received  or made there were no texts and no contacts nothing to help me so i took his gun and moved  on to the guys in the suits they had a similar range of stuff guns wallets phones and keys  including plastic fobs and a mortise key the keys were scuf

fed and scratched  i held them up next to one another the teeth lined up they were a perfect match  i tried man sores it matched just as well i figured the keys must be connected to  dendoncker's operation in some way i was curious but the question didn't need to be answered  dendoncker was at the wrong end of fenton's glock his crew were heading to jail and i would be  on my way out of town as soon as i had eaten the door swung open there was no knock but it  was pushed gently this time dr houl

ier appeared in the gap he was clutching a bunch of packages  they were identical wrapped in clear packaging and they were slippery he tried to pass one to  me and the whole lot fell and went skittling across the floor i helped him gather them up  and saw they were crept bandages they each had a manufacturer's logo and a sticker indicating  their size four inches wide by five feet long they're elasticated dr houlier said they'll  stretch but they shouldn't break they're full of polyurethane fibe

rs they're added to the cotton  and makes them strong in most places they're used to immobilize limbs after a sprain normally here  we need them for snake bites you have to bind the area around a wound really tight to stop the  venom from spreading i opened one of the packets and tried to break the material if you double  it up it'll be even stronger dr houlier said i used the first bandage to tie mansor's ankles i  checked the knot and figured dr houlier was right it should hold i secured manso

r's hands behind  his back then i did the same with the guys in the suits dr hoolier watched me work and when i  was done he scooped up the pile of empty wrappers and dumped them in the trash i dropped the guy's  guns and wallets and other stuff in the clinical waste bucket i said if i was a secretive person  and wanted to get in and out of the building without being seen how would i do it through the  ambulance bay the way i brought you in last night i was in a body bag last night you could hav

e  brought me down the chimney for all i could see oh of course well it's all the way at  the rear of the building it's on its own it has a separate entrance from the street there's  a gate but it's not locked and you can't see in from the outside the doors are automatic and  the corridor bifurcates before you get to the er one branch leads to an elevator which  comes straight down to the basement as long as the casualty isn't incoming at that  moment no one would have a clue you'd been there se

curity cameras dr hoolier shook his head it's  been proposed a couple of times but never acted on privacy issues that's the official line but  there's also the question of budget that's the real reason if you ask me come on i'll show you i  followed dr houlier out of the morgue and along to the far end of the corridor he hit the call button  for the elevator we waited side by side in silence the doors jerked open after less than a minute  the elevator car was spacious it was broad and deep and l

ined with stainless steel we rode up  one floor then stepped out and followed another corridor around to a pair of tall glass doors they  slid apart as we approached and dumped us out into a rectangular courtyard a series of red lines  was painted on the flaking asphalt i figured they marked the route for ambulances one arc to turn  and another to reverse into the unloading zone there was ample space for two emergency vehicles  and tucked in next to the wall on the right side facing away from th

e entrance there was a  lone sedan a lincoln town car i clicked a button on mansour's key fob and the car's blinkers  flashed the locks and all the doors clunked open it was the old style square and severe it was  black ubiquitous black the official name in the brochure should have been and as a bonus it  also had blacked out windows maybe because of the climate maybe because of dendonker's paranoia  or maybe just because he thought it looked cool i didn't know and i didn't care because it  mean

t no one would be able to see inside the town seemed pretty quiet it was unlikely the  er would be overrun by a spate of wounded citizens at that time of day i figured i could safely  leave the car where it was for a half hour or so i locked the lincoln and dr houlier led the way  back to the morgue he helped me to wrestle man sore onto a gurney i hauled him along the corridor  and into the elevator and around to the ambulance bay i continued across to the back of the car  popped the trunk and h

alf lifted half rolled the guy inside i made a second trip and returned  with the curly-haired guy in the pale suit he was easier to maneuver i wheeled  him up close to the side of the car and slid him onto the back seat like a plank then  i fetched the straight-haired guy in the dark suit i tried to lay him on top of his buddy but he  slipped off and fell face down in the foot well i left him there and returned  the gurney to the morgue i thanked dr houlier for his help said goodbye  and headed

for the medical center's main entrance chapter 18 the prairie rose was as easy to find as dr houlier  had promised it was still in the central portion of the town right on the edge in a building with  two floors it was also built around a courtyard that seemed to be the fashion in the  area the cafe was on the ground floor there was some kind of office above it and a store  on either side the interior was simple and square there were 12 tables three rows of four evenly  lined up each with four

chairs the furniture was solid and durable the silverware was plain and  functional nothing stood out either good or bad there were no flowers no ornaments no  knickknacks no other customers i liked the place i took a seat at the table on  the end of the right-hand row after a couple of minutes the waitress pushed  through the door from the kitchen she was wearing a pink gingham dress with a frilly white apron  and a pair of new balance sneakers they were also pink she looked like she was in her

60s she had  no jewelry her hair was less elaborate and it was gray rather than silver but something about her  reminded me of the medical center receptionist a sister maybe or a cousin she flipped over a  mug and filled it with coffee from a glass jug then looked at me and raised an eyebrow i ordered  a full stack with extra bacon and an apple pie she raised her eyebrow a little higher but  she didn't pass any other kind of judgment there were four copies of the same local paper  jammed into a

rack on the wall near a pay phone i took one and leafed through it while i waited  it was light on news every other page had either a new poll or the result of a previous poll i guess  the publisher thought reader interaction was more important than reporting or maybe it was cheaper  one thing they didn't skimp on was the graphics there were pie charts bar charts scattergrams  other kinds of diagrams that hadn't even been invented when i was in high school all in bright  vivid colors addressing

all kinds of topics should there be an armadillo sanctuary nearby  should the border fence be repainted were there enough recycling facilities in the town should  the community try to attract wind and solar power or oppose it i was on the last page of the paper  when my food arrived the police blotter a fancy name for an account of all the crimes committed  in the area recently i read it carefully there was no mention of dendoncker or smuggling or  planes or bombs just a few minor misdemeanors

most of them were pretty tame and most  resulted in an arrest for public intoxication i ate my last morsel i drained my coffee i was  waiting for another refill when the door to the street opened a man walked in i recognized him  he was the fourth guy from the previous night under the street lamp who had tried to bludgeon  me and who had seen me get shot to death he didn't seem very surprised by my resurrection  he just walked straight up to me he was wearing the same clothes he hadn't shaved an

d he was  holding a black trash bag there was something inside the bag it was at least nine inches long  and heavy enough to keep the plastic sides taut i gripped the edge of the table i was ready to  shove it into his legs at the first hint of a weapon but the guy didn't draw he stood  and sneered raised the bag gripped the lower edge with one hand flipped it over  and sent an item crashing onto the table it was a single piece but it had three distinct  sections a socket shaped with carbon fibe

r the kind of size that would fit a residual  limb a shank shiny made of titanium and a boot just like the kind fenton  had been wearing the last time i saw her follow me or the woman will be  missing more than part of her leg the guy turned and headed for the door you have  30 seconds i stood and pulled the roll of bills out of my pocket i peeled off a 20 and dropped  it on the table 10 seconds had passed i picked up fenton's leg walked to the door another 10 seconds  had gone i waited nine mor

e then stepped outside the guy was still there he was standing next  to a car a medium-sized sedan it was dusty i figured it was the same one they'd used the  previous night in daylight i could see it was a chevy caprice an ex-police vehicle the searchlight  on the driver's door was a dead giveaway its paint was wavy and dull so i figured it  also spent time on taxi duty the guy grinned and opened the passenger door he stepped back and  gestured for me to climb in i approached slowly i switched

fenton's leg to my right hand stepped  into the gap between the guy and the car door then i grabbed the back of his head and smashed his  face into the car roof his mouth hit the edge of the door frame some of his teeth were knocked out  i couldn't see how many there was too much blood i took his gun from his waistband hauled him  around jabbed him in the solar plexus just hard enough to knock the wind out of him i pushed him  into the car folded him into the seat closed the door checked that no

one was watching moved around  to the other side racked the seat all the way back climbed in stretched across and grabbed the guy by  the throat and squeezed i felt his larynx begin to collapse his eyes bulged his tongue flopped out  of his mouth but he couldn't make a sound i said here's how this is gonna work i'm gonna ask  a question i'll give you a moment to think then i'll relax my grip just enough for you to  speak if you don't i'll choke you to death same goes if i don't like your answer

are we clear i  paused then eased the pressure on his throat yes his voice was a scratchy gasp  crystal the woman got taken how den donker has a gps watch with a transmitter in  it he triggered an emergency signal we caught the woman before she got out of the building  we brought den donker to safety that's priority one when the others didn't return then  dunker sent me after you where's the woman now don't know is this really how you want to go  here now i don't know i swear where's dendonker

don't know then where were you supposed to take  me to the house that's all i was told to do address i don't know the address it's  just the house that's what we call it so you get me to this house then what i send a  text someone will come for you this house is it far no in the town yes okay you can show me we'll  go there together then you can send that text chapter 19 i heard a sound from further up the street a  vehicle engine i looked around and saw a car moving towards us not fast not slow

just cruising  around looking for trouble it was a dodge charger its hood and fender were black it had a bull  bar on the front and a slimline lighting rig on the roof clearly the police probably local  possibly state either way their timing sucked i let go of the guy's neck dropped my arm  into my lap and made my hand into a fist make any kind of move don't worry the guy pulled  the road atlas out of the gap next to his seat he opened it wide and held it up so that it covered  his face from fr

ypan to fire i'm not stupid the police car drew closer it slowed  down came alongside us and stopped two cops were inside it they weren't looking  at me or the guy with the bleeding mouth yet they seemed more interested in the chevy they  weren't young they might have had a vehicle like it once maybe even that actual one cops used  to say the caprice was the best patrol car ever maybe they were nostalgic maybe they were bored  i just hoped they weren't suspicious they sat and stared for a minute

two then the driver lit up  their roof bar and sped away into the distance i reached for the guy's neck he closed the  atlas raised it he had both his hands behind it the cover was shiny it was slippery my hand slid  off its surface i wound up grabbing his shoulder he jabbed at my eye with the corner of the map  then wriggled free he scrabbled for the handle got the door open dived out rolled over on the  sidewalk then scrambled up and started to run i jumped out and followed him the guy was  f

ast he was well motivated i'd made sure that the gap between us was growing he reached a  cluster of buildings another courtyard arrangement the windows facing the street were all boarded  up the guy should have kept on running i would never have caught him and i couldn't have risked a  shot not in a residential area but he didn't keep going the lure of potential cover was too strong  he bolted through the archway and disappeared i covered the remaining ground as fast as  possible and stopped ju

st before the entrance i didn't want to risk presenting a  silhouette he could have had a backup weapon i crouched and peered around the corner i saw a  bunch of disparate buildings like the ones that had been made in defense hotel only these had two  stories they were joined together and boarded up with solid wooden panels like a fence there was a  scaffold tower in each corner leading to the roof the process of conversion was underway but  there was no buzz of activity no sound at all the work

had stalled maybe it had been abandoned  altogether maybe the market had crashed maybe tastes had changed i had no idea how the  economics for that kind of development worked i craned my neck a little further and i spotted  the guy he was standing alone in the center of the courtyard just looking around i guess the place  was not what he had hoped for there was no way out and nowhere to hide he moved a couple of feet to  the left then to the right like he couldn't decide which way to go i strai

ghtened up and stepped  through the arch he heard me and turned around his face was pale and the blood from his mouth  was flowing faster the price of exertion i guess do what i tell you and you won't get  hurt i kept my voice calm and even the guy took one step towards me then stopped his  eyes were flicking from me to the arch back and forth over and over he was figuring the distance  the angles weighing the odds of getting past me then he turned he ran for the scaffold tower on  the right he

started to climb there was no way i was going to follow him up he was lighter far  more nimble he would reach the top long before me there was no doubt about that so i would emerge  with my head exposed and no way to defend myself he could have a weapon already he  could find something to use this one a scaffolding pole a hunk of masonry a roof tile  or he could just keep things simple and kick me following him up was definitely out of the  question but so was letting him get away i ran to the t

ower on the left i started to climb  quickly but carefully i had to keep an eye on the guy in case he turned and went back down i saw  him make it to the top he scrambled off the tower and disappeared i made myself go faster i got to  the roof stepped out onto it and steadied myself the surface was slippery the terracotta tiles  were old they seemed brittle i didn't know if they could take my weight the guy was almost at  the far side he must have been hoping there was another tower with access

to the street i doubted  there would be one i went after him i tried to move smoothly and i tried to be quiet i didn't  want him to bolt back the way he came before i was in a position to block him he made it to the  edge of the roof and peered over i drew level he turned towards me his face was paler still i said  come on you're out of options it's time to go down take me to the house then i'll let you walk  away do you think i'm crazy the guy's voice was shaking and shrill do you have any idea

  what dendoncker does to people who betray him he seemed on the verge of panic i figured  i'd have to knock him out and carry him down i would have to calibrate the punch very  carefully that would be the critical part i didn't want to wait too long  for him to come around afterwards i moved a yard closer he turned away and  stepped off the roof he didn't hesitate just plunged straight off the edge i figured  there must be a tower there after all or a ledge or a lower building then i heard a so

und it was  like a wet hand slapping a table in a distant room i got to the edge and looked over the guy's body  was lying on the ground directly below one leg was twisted one arm was bent and a deep red halo  was spreading around the remains of his head i crossed to the tower and hustled down to the  courtyard i went through the archway worked my way around the perimeter of the site and finally found  a route through to the far side of the buildings the guy was lying there on the sidewalk compl

etely  still there was no point checking for a pulse so i went straight to his pockets i found nothing with  an address or an id but he did have a phone it had survived the fall he said he was supposed  to send a text when he got me to the house which gave me an idea if i could come up with a  good enough reason i could change the location of the rendezvous to somewhere that gave me an  advantage and to somewhere i could find i used the guy's fingerprint to unlock the screen but the  phone was e

mpty there were no contacts no saved numbers no messages to reply to nothing i could  use and there was nothing else in his pockets i was at a dead end so i wiped the phone with my  shirt dialed 9-1-1 through the material tapped the green phone icon dropped the phone on the  guy's chest and made my way back to his car i started with the glove box i found the  insurance and registration right away they were the only two pieces of paper in there  both showed the name of a corporation moon shadow a

ssociates it was based in delaware presumably  one of the shell companies fenton had mentioned but whether it was or not it didn't help me  i found the page the town was on in the atlas nothing was circled there were no marks  no addresses scrawled in the margins no phone numbers written down i tried the door  pockets the floor front and back the trunk under the carpet and around the spare wheel there  was nothing no receipts from drug stores or gas stations no carryout menus or to-go cups from 

a coffee shop the car was completely sterile i climbed in behind the wheel trying to figure  out where to look next and something hit my thigh it was the guy's keys they were hanging  down from the ignition one was a mortise it was scratched and worn i compared it with the one on  mansour's keyring it was identical i'd thought it might be for a garage or a store but now i  had another theory as to what it would unlock and i realized another person to worry about ever  since the guy had dumped f

enton's foot on my table at the prairie rose i'd been completely focused on  finding her but the guy had known where to find me that was clear and there was only  one way he could have found that out chapter 20 i knocked on the morgue door  and went straight in dr julia was there alone he was on the floor slumped against his  autopsy table his head was on his chest blood was dribbling out of one nostril in the corner  of his mouth his lab coat was hanging open its buttons had been ripped off his

tie was  stretched into skew he'd lost one shoe his right wrist was fastened to the table leg with  a cable tie i stepped towards him and he raised his head then turned away fear flashed across  his face then he recognized me and turned back uh are you all right he sounded breathless did  that ape find you i'm so sorry i i had to tell him where you went i said you did the right  thing i'm fine but what about you are you hurt dr houlier dabbed at his face with  his free hand it's nothing serious

yet the ape said he was gonna get you then come  back for me he shivered and take me to dendonker that guy won't be coming back i crossed  to the autoclave and picked up a scalpel then i went back to the table cut the cable  tie put the scalpel in my pocket and helped dr houlier to his feet but others might do you have  a car yes of course would you like to borrow it where is it here in the staff parking lot good  i want you to get in it and drive out of town directly out don't go home don't  s

top to buy anything can you do that dr houlier touched his face again i've worked  here for more than 40 years i know you told me but you have to think about your patience you can't  help them if you're dead these guys are serious dr houlier was silent for a moment then  he said how long would i have to stay away not long a day two give me your number  i'll call you when it's safe to come back i guess the world won't stop spinning if i go away  for 48 hours he crossed to his desk and scrawled a

number across the bottom of one of his forms  what are you going to do things you're better off not knowing about they'll conflict with your  hippocratic oath that's pretty much guaranteed dr houlier retrieved his shoe dropped his ruined  lab coat in the trash straightened his tie and led the way to his parking spot a cadillac was  sitting in it it was white maybe from the 1980s it was a giant barge it looked like it should have  been in a soap opera with cattle horns on its hood dr hoolier clim

bed in i watched him drive away  then found my way back to the ambulance bay the lincoln was still there exactly where i  left it i was relieved ever since i'd found dr houlier on the morgue floor a worry  had been nagging at the back of my mind i figured there was a chance dendoncker's guy  had come across it when he was looking for me i opened the back door the  guys in the suits were awake both of them they started wriggling trying to get  out or trying to get me and also trying to speak i co

uldn't understand what they wanted  to say i guess their jaws were messed up i took the scalpel out of my pocket and held it  up so they would be clear what it was i tossed it behind the guy in the dark suits back on the  floor where he could reach it i threw mansour's keys in after it then i closed the door and went  back inside i hurried to the main entrance past the woman with the pearls crossed under the  globe and the dome and emerged onto the street i looped around the outside of the build

ing to the  place where i'd left the caprice it was in a gap between two smaller municipal style buildings  diagonally opposite the ambulance bay's gate i pushed a dumpster in front of it it wasn't  great cover but it obscured the car a little it was better than nothing it took me four and a  half minutes to get from the lincoln to the chevy after another nine i saw the ambulance bay gates  twitch they began to slide open i started the chevy's motor as soon as the gap between  the two halves was

wide enough the lincoln burst out onto the street it turned right so it  didn't pass in front of me i waited two seconds that wasn't nearly long enough but it was  as long as i could risk in the circumstances i swung around the dumpster and turned to follow  the conditions were terrible for tailing anyone i was in a car that might well be recognized  there was no traffic to use as cover i had no team members to rotate with the streets  were twisty and chaotically laid out so i had no option but

to keep close which was easier  said than done whoever was driving the lincoln knew where he was going he knew the route he knew  when to turn when to accelerate when to slow down and when he didn't have to i was pushing the  chevy as hard as i could but the lincoln was still pulling away from me it took a turn fast i  lost sight of it i leaned harder on the gas harder than i was comfortable with the car pitched  on its worn springs and the tires squealed as i barreled around a bend a cardinal

error  when you're trying to avoid drawing attention i made it around another tight curve the tires  squealed again but the noise didn't give me away because there was no one to hear it there  was no sign of the lincoln just empty asphalt leading to a t-junction i leaned on the  gas harder still then slammed on the brakes the tires squealed again and i stopped with the  hood sticking out into the perpendicular street there was a little store in front of me it  sold flowers a woman was tending to

the window display she glared at me then retreated  from sight i looked right i looked left there was no trace of the lincoln there were  no signs to suggest that one way led to a more popular destination no marks on the pavement  to indicate one way carried more traffic no clue to tell me which way the other car had  gone i knew i was facing west so if i turned left the road would take me south towards the border  which was another dead end if i turned right it would take me north it would may

be loop back  to the long road past the tree to the highway away from the town away from dendoncker and his  goons and his bombs but also away from fenton i turned left the road opened out stores and  businesses gave way to houses they were low and curved and roughly rendered they had flat roofs  with the ends of wide round beams protruding from the tops of their walls their windows were  small and they were set back like sunken eyes and tired old faces all the houses had some kind  of porch or

covered area so the owners could come outside and still be protected from the sun but  no one was outside just then no people were in sight and no black lincolns no cars at all soon  a street branched off to the right i slowed and took a good look nothing was moving there was  a gap then a street branched off to the left nothing was moving anywhere along it either there  was a longer gap and another street to the right something blinked red all the way at the far  end a car's brake lights going

out after the transmission was shifted into park and the motor  was shut off i made the turn and crept closer the car was the lincoln it was at the  curb outside the last house on the right a truck was stopped halfway along the street next  to a telegraph pole it was from the telephone company no one was working nearby so i pulled in  behind it i saw the three guys climb out of the lincoln mansour had been driving they hurried  up the path his keys were still in his hand he selected one the mort

ise i guessed unlocked  the door opened it and they all disappeared inside i pulled out looped around the truck and stopped  behind the lincoln the walls of the house it was by were bleached and cracked by the sun they  were painted a deeper shade of orange than its neighbors it had green window frames a low roof  it was surrounded by trees they were short and twisted there were no buildings beyond it and  none opposite just a long stretch of scrubby sand with a scattering of cacti leading up to

the  border i took out the gun i'd captured and made my way up the path the door was made from plain  wooden planks they looked like flotsam washed up on a desert island the surface was rough it had  been bleached almost white i tried the handle it was made out of iron pitted with age and  use and it was locked i stood to the side and knocked the way i used to when i was an mp when  i wasn't asking to be let in when i was demanding chapter 21 there was no response i knocked again  still nothing

i took out the keys i'd found in the chevy after the guy jumped off the roof of the  construction site selected the mortise stretched out and slid it into the lock the key turned  easily i worked the handle and pushed the door its hinges were dry they screeched in protest  no one came running no one shouted a challenge no one fired into the gap i waited for 10 seconds  just listening there was nothing but silence no footsteps no creaking floorboards no breathing not  even a ticking clock i stra

ightened and stepped through the doorway my plan was to shoot mansoor  on site i had no desire to repeat our death match and i would shoot either of the others if they  went for a gun then i'd make the final one talk or maybe write if his speech was unintelligible due  to his injured jaw and finally i'd shoot him too in the interest of evening the odds it was cool  in the house the temperature was maybe 15 degrees lower than outside whoever built the place  knew what they were doing the walls we

re thick made out of some incredibly dense material the  structure could absorb an immense amount of heat that would make it comfortable in the day and it  would release the heat during the night making it comfortable then too the place also smelled musty  of old furniture and possessions it must have been a weird residual effect because there was nothing  in the house no chairs no tables no couches and there were no people visible either the  room i had stepped into was large and square the flo

or was wooden it was shiny with age  and polish the walls were smooth and white the ceiling was all exposed beams and boards  ahead there was a door the top half was glass i could see it led out to a terrace it  was covered for shade there was a kitchen to the right it was basic a few cupboards a  simple stove a plain countertop made of wood there were two windows set into the long wall on  the right they were small and square but even so they reminded me of portholes on a ship there  were three

doors in the wall to the left they were all closed and in the center of  the floor there was something strange a hole the hole was more or less circular its diameter  was probably about eight feet on average its edges were rough and jagged like someone had  smashed their way through with a sledgehammer the top of a ladder was sticking out about three feet  was visible it was an old-fashioned wooden thing angled towards the door i'd just come through i  approached it treading softly trying to ma

ke no noise i peered into the space below the floor was  covered with tiles they were about a yard square the walls were roughly boarded there was a boiler  a water tank and a whole bunch of pipes and wires the pipes were lead the wires were covered with  cloth insulation anyone who lived there would be lucky not to get poisoned or electrocuted the  heating equipment looked newer though and large maybe too large for the original trap door maybe  that's why someone had busted through the floor i

walked around the hole the full 360 degrees i  wanted to get a good look into all four corners of the cellar no one was there there was  no one in the kitchen i tried the first door on the left-hand wall i kicked it open  and ducked to the side the room was empty i guessed it had been a bedroom but i couldn't  be sure there was no furniture and no people the next door led to a bathroom there was a tub a  toilet a basin a medicine cabinet with a mirrored front set into the wall a drip from a dull

metal  faucet landed on a stained patch on the porcelain before trickling down the drain it was the only  thing i'd seen move since i entered the house but i still had one room left to check it was the  furthest from the entrance the most natural place to take shelter ancient psychology at work i  kicked the door i guessed i'd found another bedroom it was larger further from the street more  desirable but just as empty there was nowhere else three guys could hide there was no second floor  ther

e were no other rooms no closets but there was one place i hadn't checked as thoroughly as  the rest one place i hadn't actually set foot in i crossed to the edge of the hole in the  floor looked down again still saw no one i reached for the top of the ladder felt beads  of sweat start to prickle across my shoulders i didn't like the thought of disappearing below  ground of the ladder breaking leaving me trapped i pictured the chevy sitting outside its  tank was three quarters full i could leave

the place far behind never looked back then  i pictured fenton dendoncker and his bombs i took a breath swung my left foot onto one of  the wrongs gradually transferred my weight the ladder creaked but it held i swung my right foot  over two rungs down made my way to the bottom slowly and smoothly the ladder wobbled  it flexed but it didn't collapse i moved so that my back was to  the wall and scanned the space i was wasting my time down there that was clear  there was nowhere one guy could hid

e let alone three the only cover came from the boiler and  the water tank and i'd already seen them from above no one was lurking behind either of them  i gave each one a good shove neither gave way neither was concealing a secret entrance  to any kind of subterranean lair i checked the walls for hidden exits examined  the floor for disguised trapped doors and found nothing i crept back up the ladder and  crossed to the exit to the left of the kitchen the door was locked i tried the key it opene

d  easily beyond it another path snaked away to the street on the other side of the house there was  no sign of the three guys and no sign of a car i slammed the door i was mad at myself the guys  weren't meeting anyone there and they weren't hiding the place was a classic cutout designed to  throw off a tail as old as time itself you go in one side you come out the other the guys must have  had a vehicle stash somewhere they were probably gone before i was even out of the chevy and gone  with t

hem any immediate hope of finding fenton chapter 22 losing contact with dendoncker's guys was a  setback a major one that was a fact there was no denying it there was no disguising it and there  was no point dwelling on it what had happened happened i could rake over the coals later if i  felt there was anything to gain from it but just then all that mattered was picking up the scent i  had no idea where they had gone they had a whole town to hide in a town they knew a lot better  than i did or

they could have gone further afield fenton said dendoncker was paranoid i had no  idea what kind of precautions he might take i needed to narrow my options which meant  i needed intel if any was available i drove fast all the way to the arch which  led to the courtyard at fenton's hotel the spot directly outside her room the old  wheelwright shop was free i dumped the chevy and jumped out the next problem was getting the door  open there was no physical key no lock to pick just some weird code t

hat showed up on a phone her  phone even if i had it i wouldn't know what to do so i went old school i turned my back to the door  scanned all four directions saw no one on foot no one in any vehicles no one at any windows i  hoped what fenton had said about knocking out the security cameras was right then i lifted my right  knee and smashed the sole of my foot into the door the door flew open it banged against the internal  wall and bounced back i turned and nipped through the gap before it clo

sed inside i saw fenton's  bed was made the cushions had been straightened on the couch and her suitcase was again sitting on  the floor next to the door i crossed to the window and closed the curtains i took the chair from the  desk and used it to wedge the door it wouldn't withstand a serious attempt to get in but should  at least stop the door swinging open in the breeze i carried her case to the bed then i picked up  the room phone and dialed the number from memory my call was answered after

two rings the guy  at the other end was on a cell his voice was echoey and disembodied but i could make out his  words well enough wall work he said who's this jefferson walwork was a special agent with the  fbi our paths had crossed a little while ago i had helped him with a case things had worked out  from his point of view he said he owed me he said i should call if i was ever in a bind i figured  this counted i said this is reacher the line went silent for a moment is this a social call maj

or  only i'm kind of busy it's not major anymore just reach her i told you before and no this is not  social i need some information is this thing now is called the internet i need specialized  information a woman's life is on the line call 911. she's a veteran she also worked for you  guys she got her foot blown off for her trouble i heard wall works i what do you need to  know she worked at a place called tdac the terrorist explosive device analytical  center do you know what i know of it she

got wind of a plot to distribute bombs here in  the united states there's the potential for a lot of people to get killed the guy behind it is named  dendoncker wad ahmed dendonker who kind of bombs i don't know ones that explode how many don't know  too many [ __ ] okay i'll get the right people on it that's not all the woman's missing i believe  dendoncker's holding her i believe he's planning to kill her so i need all the addresses associated  with him and his business it's called pie in the

sky ink you'll need to dig deep he owns it through  a whole bunch of shell companies one's probably called moon shadow associates this woman what's  a name michaela fenton last known whereabouts plus himelos arizona it's a small town right on  the border she's out there undercover from tdac that's not sop the nearest field office should be  handling it what's going on where's her partner she doesn't have a partner she left the bureau  this is more of a personal initiative wall work was silent fo

r a moment i don't like the sound of  that the last former agent i know who went down a personal initiative route is now in federal prison  his ex-partner tried to help it got her killed i said nothing all right i'll try but no promises  t-deck's not the kind of place you mess around with it's locked down tighter than a bull frog's  ass they deal with some seriously sensitive that's the wrong person the wrong thing it's not just the  end of your career you don't just get fired you can wind up in

jail i get that don't do anything  to jam yourself up here's another angle you could try i suspect dendonker is using his business  as a front for smuggling i don't know what or who for okay that might help i have a buddy in  the dea another at atf i'll tap them up when do you need this pie yesterday can i get you on this  number you should be able to for a while at least i hung up the phone made sure the  ringer was on and turned to the bed i unzipped fenton's case and flipped it open  everyth

ing was neatly folded and rolled just like before a hint of her perfume floated up i felt  even more intrusive than i had done two nights ago i pulled her stuff out there was the same  combination of clothes and toiletries and props for changing her appearance i found nothing new no  notes no files no if you're reading this letters the guns i'd taken from the guys at the tree were  missing and she'd taken a couple of other things the extra ammunition for her glock and her field  dressing kit tha

t made sense given what she'd been planning everything else in her case was familiar  including a stack of cards from the red rhone like the one she said she found in the dud  bomb along with her brother's fingerprint and a condom something about that had sounded  off-key when she told me it still didn't ring true i couldn't place y it was like a discordant  hum at the back of my mind faint but there i started to replace fenton's belongings and  i uncovered her spare leg wrapped in a shirt a tho

ught hit me when i saw it i felt a sudden  surge of optimism i rushed out to the car and grabbed the limb dendoncker's guy had dropped  on the table at the prairie rose i brought it inside the room compared it with the one from  the suitcase both had sockets made of carbon fiber i ran my fingers around inside them tracing  the shape the contours felt identical both had titanium shafts they were the same length the only  thing that was different was the shoe one was a boot the other a sneaker not

enough to prove that  dendoncker's claim to be holding her was a bluff i shook off the disappointment and finished  repacking fenton's case i did it as neatly as i could replaced it by the door ready to take to the  car then i searched the rest of the room again i checked every hiding place i had ever come across  every trick i had ever heard of anyone using to conceal stuff and i found nothing i was left alone  with fenton's leg lying in the center of the bed and a digital clock on the nightst

and its cursor  was flashing despondently it was counting the seconds seconds that fenton may not have despair  i got brought back to the present by a sound the phone chirping away on the desk it was wall work  he said mixed progress the smuggling i got nowhere my dea guy quit last week and my atf buddy is  out sick long term he got shot but i do have better news about tdag an old supervisor of mine  transferred there he trusts me he'll help if he can i reached out he hasn't gotten back to me  y

et but he will addresses i turned up a bunch all with connections to this dendoncker guy's  business most seem like shells i think you were right about that i did find one that seemed  legitimate it's in the town you mentioned he recited a unit number and a street name  where's that in relation to the town center i heard wall works computer keys rattle  a mile west it's a straight shot only one road goes out that way it looks like den  donkers is the only building on that road okay anything else

not within 500 miles and  nothing that isn't a lawyer's office or a p.o box how about dendoncker personally that's where  things get stranger there's no record of him owning any property anywhere in the state i check  with the irs he does pay taxes his returns are handled by his accountant i found the address on  his file tell me it won't do you any good i looked on google earth it's a vacant lot i'm trying  to trace the owner but so far it's just another bunch of shell corporations is dendonck

er  married is there anything in a wife's name there's no record of a marriage nothing  about this smells right reacher my advice is to walk away i know you won't so at least be  careful there's one more place you could check i gave him the address of the house i had  followed the lincoln to while work paused while he jotted the details down okay will do  i'll get back to you the moment i learn more chapter 23 i thanked wal-work before i hung up the phone  but i was just being polite the truth w

as his information was no use to me at all not in  the short term anyway i figured his contact within tea deck could bear fruit and do course he  might help get an angle on dendoncker's bomb plot but my immediate concern was fenton wall work had  only turned up one solid address for dendoncker's business and i could tell from the location  that it was one fenton already knew about it wasn't the place i was looking for now that was  obvious it was too public for dendoncker his other employees wen

t there whenever they had a flight to  service fenton had been there for the same reason and that was while she was actively searching  for her brother she would surely have found him if he was there which meant dendoncker must have  another site he used for his wet work maybe more than one it depended on the scale of his operation  and i had an idea how to tap into that it wasn't a sure thing far from it in fact but it was better  than sitting around waiting for the phone to ring the red roan w

as busier than it had  been when i passed by the day before the lunchtime rush was still in full swing there  were two couples sitting outside they were at round tables perching on spindly metal chairs with  brightly colored cushions and off-white parasols another pair of tables had been pushed together  at the edge of the patio nine people were crowded around them they were all different ages smartly  dressed i guess they were colleagues probably worked locally probably celebrating something no

t  the people i was looking for i was sure about that a pair of tall double doors was standing open  at the center of the bar's facade there was a host desk station to the right just inside  it was unattended so i crossed to a u-shaped booth on the far side and slid around until my  back was against the wall the room was a broad rectangle the bar and the entrance to the kitchen  were at one end the space between the booths and the windows was filled with square tables they  were scattered around

apparently at random each had a potted cactus on it the walls were roughly  rendered with some kind of pale sanding material they were covered with oversized paintings of  horses some were being ridden by cowboys out on the plains rounding up longhorns some were racing  some were standing around looking disdainful there were ten other people in the place  two couples and two groups of three not the people i was looking for i was fairly  sure of that fenton had an advantage when she saw michael'

s friend in there she recognized her  from a photograph i didn't know any of michael's friends but i figured i had an advantage of my own  experience i was used to spotting soldiers in bars particularly when they were up to  things they shouldn't have been a waiter approached he was a skinny kid in  his mid-20s he had curly red hair tied up in a bun on top of his head i ordered coffee and a  cheeseburger i wasn't particularly hungry but the golden rule is to eat when you can and it gave  me some

thing to do aside from flicking through a copy of the same paper i'd read at breakfast  while i waited for more customers to arrive i sat and watched for 30 minutes both couples  paid their checks and sauntered out one of the trios followed suit another couple arrived it  was the receptionist from the medical center and a guy in baggy linen clothes he had white hair  neatly combed and a pair of open leather sandals they took a square table at the end of the room  furthest from the bar they were

followed in by a group of four guys they were wearing shorts and  pale t-shirts they were thin and wiry and tanned they had probably worked outside their whole  lives they were probably regular customers they took the table nearest the bar the  waiter brought them a tray of beers and tall frosted glasses without needing to  be asked he stood and chatted with them for a couple of minutes then turned and  smiled at the next customers who came in two women one was wearing a yellow sun dress  the ot

her had cargo shorts and a yankees t-shirt they would both be in their mid-30s both had  brown hair down to their shoulders both looked fit and strong they moved with easy confidence  and they had purses large enough to conceal a gun maybe the people i was looking for the women  took the booth two away from mine the yankees fan slid in first she continued all the way  around until her back was against the wall like mine her head and body were perfectly still  but her eyes were constantly moving

flitting from the entrance to each occupied table to the bar  to the kitchen door then back to the entrance round and round without stopping the woman in  the sundress slid in after her she glanced at the drinks menu then dropped it back on the table  white wine she said when the waiter approached pinot grigio i think that'll work the yankees  fan said bring the bottle don't spare the horses the women waited for their drinks to arrive and  i watched them out of the corner of my eye they leaned i

n close together they were talking but too  softly for me to make out what they were saying no one left the bar no one else came in the waiter  dropped off their wine there was a picture of an elephant on the label the bottle was slick with  condensation he wiped it down with a towel he took the towel into his apron pocket then poured  two glasses he tried to strike up a conversation the women ignored him he soldiered on for another  couple of minutes then gave up and drifted back to the bar the

woman in the sundress sipped her wine  she looked at her friend and started talking again she was gesticulating with her free hand  the yankees fan drained her glass and two mouthfuls and poured herself another she wasn't  saying much but her eyes never stopped moving i slid out from my booth and approach theirs i  wound up standing where the waiter had been i said sorry for the interruption but i  have a problem i need your help the woman in the sundress put her glass down her  hands rested li

ghtly on the table in front of her the yankees fan switched her glass to her left  hand her right started hovering over her purse i waited a beat i needed to see if it disappeared  inside it didn't so i sat down i leaned in and lowered my voice i'm looking for a  friend his name is michael michael curtis neither woman's expression changed the yankees  fans eyes didn't stop scanning the room i said he's in trouble i need to  find him fast what's his name again the woman in the sundress asked  mic

hael curtis the woman shook her head sorry we don't know him i'm not with the police  i said or the fbi i know why michael's here i know what he's doing i'm not looking to cause  him any trouble i've come to save his life the woman shrugged i'm sorry we can't help you with  that just give me an address one place to look have you got a hearing problem the yankees fan's  eyes were finally still they locked on to mine and didn't move we don't know this michael  guy we can't help you find him now go

back to your table and stop bothering us one location  please no one will ever know it came from you the yankees fan reached into her purse she  rummaged around for a moment then her hand reappeared she was holding something not a gun  a phone she glanced down and it came to life she tapped it tapped it again three times then held  it up for me to see the digits 911 were glowing on its screen do i make the call or do you leave  us alone i held up my hands sorry to bothered you enjoy the rest of

your wine i slid back into my  booth and pretended to read some more of the paper the yankees fan put her phone away and drained  the rest of her drink she picked up the bottle and topped up her friend's glass then she took  the rest for herself the receptionist from the medical center and her companion got up and  left the four guys ordered another round of beer no one else knew arrived the waiter approached  the women's table they waved him away the yankees fan finished her wine she slid out

of their booth  and followed the sign to the restrooms the woman in the sundress stood up too she made her way in  the opposite direction towards me she stopped in front of my booth she put her palms down on the  table and leaned forward until her head was as close to mine as she could get without sitting the  border in her voice was so quiet i could barely hear the words do you know it i could find it okay  room 212 20 minutes come alone it's about michael she straightened up and made it halfwa

y to her  seat then she doubled back and leaned towards me again when my friend comes back don't  say a word this is just between you and me chapter 24 the border inn was on the southeast edge of the  town it was a wide building two stories high with a flat roof tucked away behind a ballast trade its  name was sketched out and faded neon letters at first the facade looked very plain then i realized  i was approaching from what was originally its rear the entrance was on the far side facing the 

border that wall was covered with all kinds of fancy carvings and symbols the outline of a row of  letters and numbers was still visible near the top they spelled out grand central hotel 1890  that must have been the place's original name whoever designed it must have expected the  town to spread south not north now it seemed like it had been built the wrong way around the  entrance opened into a wide rectangular lobby there were dark wood panels on the walls most  had cracks and peeling varnish

there were terra cotta tiles on the floor some were plain some had  intricate patterns and shades of orange and brown a chandelier hung from the ceiling it looked  like real crystal it was cut into elaborate shapes but the pieces were dull and cloudy with  age and dust more than half the bulbs were out maybe they were broken or maybe that  was some kind of economy measure the reception desk was directly opposite the main  door it was five yards wide and also made of dark polished wood a guy was

behind it he had his  boots up on the counter they were long pointy things made of snakeskin there were holes in  the soles the guy had faded jeans a blue paisley patterned shirt a black leather waistcoat it was  unfastened his arms were folded across his chest a wide brimmed hat was pulled down over his face  he looked like he was fast asleep i didn't disturb him i didn't need to i knew where i was going so  i crossed to the corridor which led to the stairs room 212 was at the end of the secon

d floor  corridor on the south side of the building its door was standing open half an inch  a skinny paperback book was down at floor levels stopping it from closing all the way  i peered through the gap saw nothing unusual just coarse brown carpet the end of  a bed with a floral comforter cover the edge of a window with matching curtains no  people no weapons but still obviously a trap it would have been safer to walk away but playing  it safe wasn't going to help finn i needed information and

the only source i knew of was  behind that door i stood to the side and knocked come in it was the woman from the red  roan i recognized her voice so far so good i pushed the door and stepped into the room  the woman was in the corner to my left the room was large enough and the gap between  the door and the frame was narrow enough that i hadn't seen her from the corridor  she was still wearing the yellow sun dress and now she had a gun in her hand a beretta  m9 a weapon she would be very famil

iar with if i was correct about who she was  she was aiming at right in my chest she had planned the setup well she was too far  away for me to grab the gun without giving her ample time to pull the trigger my only  move was to dive back through the door but she would be expecting that there  was no guarantee i would be fast enough plus i didn't know where her friend was  she could have the corridor covered by now and i needed whatever information she could  give me whether she was in a sharing

mood or not i pushed the book aside with my foot let go of  the door and raised my hands to chest height to the bed the woman gestured with the gun i  moved across she said see the pictures there was a stack of photographs on the pillow i picked it  up there were five of them four by sixes color of five different men all in hot weather acu's show  me which one's michael she said then we'll talk i shuffled through the images slowly  and carefully show me the wrong one and the vultures are gonna b

e well fed tonight  she still had the gun leveled at my chest two of the men were african-american one was  hispanic the other two were caucasian like fenton that narrowed the odds one out of  two is better than one out of five but still not close enough for comfort i pictured  fenton's face she wasn't michael's identical twin that was obvious and i'd never seen him  i had no idea how similar they looked but i had nothing else to work with i compared  the two guys eyes to what i remember defends

their noses mouths ears hair color the shape of  their heads their height then i thought about what i'd do if i wanted to catch someone in a  lie i tossed all five pictures back onto the bed what kind of game are you playing i kept my eyes  on her trigger finger michael's not in any of those pictures the woman didn't lower the gun are  you sure look again like your life depends on it because it does i don't need to his picture's  not there okay maybe it isn't how do you know him through his sis

ter michaela his older sister his  twin who joined the chair force army intelligence the woman lowered the gun all right  i'm sorry i had to be sure please sit chapter 25 i lowered myself down onto the bed the woman came  out of the corner and crossed to the other side of the room she perched on the edge of an armchair  that looked like it had been made in the 50s and not clean since the 60s the gun was  still in her hand she said i'm sonya reacher how do you know michael we met in the hospital

in  germany army hospital she nodded why do you think michael's in trouble why do you i never said  i did then why are we having this conversation sonia didn't reply my guess is that you haven't  heard from michael in three days maybe four she didn't answer add the fact that renee is  missing too and you're starting to panic rumors are starting to fly that's why you met your friend  for that liquid lunch it's why we're here now all right i am worried i can't reach michael it's  not like him to d

rop out of sight like this if it was just renee who was missing that'd be one thing  but both of them i need to know where dendoncker could have taken him den donker why would he  have taken michael anywhere michael was done working for den donker he wandered out dendoncker  got wind of that he didn't take it very well that's not possible that's what happened michael  got a message to his sister he asked her for help no sonia shook her head you got this ass backward  michael isn't working for de

n donker dendonker is working for michael michael's running  a smuggling operation no that's entirely dendonker's action michael just needs access to  some of his equipment and some raw materials why how's that relevant do you want to help  him or not sonia sighed and rolled her eyes there's a certain item michael needs to build okay  and transport secretly and securely dendoncker has the infrastructure michael arranged access to it  okay so aside from the place west of town what other premises

does dendoncker have i don't know i  don't work for him i'm just a friend of michael's where does dendonker live nobody knows mexico  maybe michael mentioned something like that once but i have no real idea where does michael live he  has a room here but he doesn't use it much anymore i guess he mostly sleeps at his workshop  where's that i don't know i never went there but it's where he makes the bombs sonya was  immediately on her feet how do you know about that i stood as well she still had a

gun in her hand  it's why he sent an sos to his sister he was in over his head he knew it was wrong he wanted to  stop before it was too late no sonia shook her head that makes no sense look michael was no angel  i'm not pretending otherwise he started down a bad path the operation is his shot at redemption  he believes in it one hundred percent there's no way he wanted to stop no reason he would want  to it's perfect and it needs to be done no reason maybe the penny dropped that killing innoce

nt  people is something that never needs to be done what are you talking about no one's gonna get  killed he's a veteran for god's sake not a murderer he's plotting to detonate a whole bunch  of bombs you're looking at hundreds of casualties no sonia almost laughed you don't understand  then explain it to me i can't you can you mean you won't so i guess you don't want my help  i took a step towards the door wait all right look michael's made a few prototypes sure but  he's only building one fina

l device he's using adapted signal shells they emit smoke that's all  a few people might get sore eyes but nothing worse than that he's aiding dendoncker's smuggling  ring and helping to sell illegal weapons just so we can plant a single smoke bomb i don't buy  it sonia sighed and slumped back into her chair dendoncker is a bad man i give you that i  wasn't happy when michael went to work for him far from it but michael was in a dark place then  look if michael wasn't helping him dendoncker woul

d find someone else and it's a small  price to pay in the greater scheme of things to pay for what success for operation clarion  that's what michael named it sonia leaned forward picture this it's veterans day there are services  and ceremonies all across the country and at one of the biggest venues at 11 minutes past 11 the  whole place fills with smoke beautiful red white and blue smoke it'll be a sensation everyone  who sees it in person will ask why everyone who sees it on tv will ask it'll

be all over the  internet and michael will be there to answer i'll be by his side the pentagon won't be able to  ignore us anymore and the government won't be able to lie anymore lie about what chemical weapons  everywhere we fight but in iraq in particular the pentagon put together a report when the  war was declared over they sent a stuffed shirt to the senate to answer questions about  it the official line was that only a very small quantity of chemical rounds were found and the  risk they p

osed to our troops was minor which is [ __ ] and we know it's [ __ ] not only because we  were the ones getting poisoned and burned and sick but because at the same time the data for the  report was getting cooked the army issued new instructions for treating troops exposed to  chemical agents detailed instructions which stated there was a continuing and significant risk to our  deployed forces so they knew damn right they knew but they lied and why because of the shell cases  you need special o

nes m110s are the most common they look just like conventional m107s more so  when they're corroded or deliberately mislabeled but inside they have two chambers they hold  two separate compounds each inert on its own but lethal when they mix and where did the iraqis  get the shells from the united states and our allies powerful corporations the government turned  a blind eye to it a classified report michael saw said hundreds of thousands were sold the  politicians were in danger of getting emba

rrassed so they threw us soldiers under the bus  to save their own asses and we're not gonna stand for it not anymore this kind of  shell michael's using it for the smoke bomb correct appropriate don't you think kind of poetic  are you sure we're only talking about a smoke bomb if the shells look the same is there any way he  could be making regular explosive ones on the sly sonja leaned further forward i should slap  you for that or shoot you yes i'm sure you think i'm an idiot the shells look

similar  to a layperson but not to me michael's done three separate tests out in the desert in different  wind conditions i witnessed all of them do you think i'd be here talking to you if i'd been  10 feet from an artillery shell when it went up i guess not so when you do it for real how will  he set the bomb off the primary will be a timer the secondary will be cellular so michael will  be at the venue correct he'll drive out i'll join him there where that was a secret even  from me when was m

ichael planning to leave tomorrow which makes it even stranger  that michael's dropped off the radar now where does dendoncker keep the equipment michael  was using the raw materials i have no idea why are you so obsessed with this dendoncker isn't  holding michael that would make no sense you said michael has a room  here do you know the number sonia nodded to the wall behind me it's  next door we should take a look there's no need i already did when a couple  of days ago sonya looked at the fl

oor i wasn't snooping i'm not a bunny boiler michael  didn't call me when he said he would i was worried what did you find nothing out of the ordinary his  bed was made his toiletries were in the bathroom his clothes were hanging in the wardrobe his  duffel was there so was his go bag nothing was missing not as far as i could tell does michael  have a car he has two a personal vehicle and an old jeep issued by dendoncker they're both still  outside both as clean as whistles i said nothing now do

you see why i'm worried if  michael left under his own steam he must have felt some major heat coming  down not to take any of his stuff for his car in which case why wouldn't he call me let me  know he's okay or warn me if i was in danger too we should take another look in his room why i told  you what's there a fresh pair of eyes never hurts and we're not gonna find michael  by sticking around here talking chapter 26 sonja sighed and rolled her eyes she scooped  up her purse from the floor an

d tucked the gun inside fine come on she locked the door to her own  room with a big solid key it was on a heavy brass fob that was shaped like a tear drop she dropped  it into her purse started down the corridor and took out another key this one was made of thin  shiny metal and it was on a flimsy plastic fob stamped with the name of a local drugstore  she used it to unlock the next door we came to she pushed the door all the way open took one step  inside and stopped in her tracks she clamped

her hand over her mouth but she didn't make a sound  i moved up alongside her and stopped still too the room was a mirror image of hers it was an  efficient use of space the bathrooms were half depth so they fitted neatly next to one another  and kept the plumbing sounds away from the beds but while sonya's room was immaculate this one  looked like a tornado would rip through it the bed was on its side the mattress was torn open in  a dozen places and clumps of gray fibrous material were hanging

out the wardrobe was face down on the  floor shredded clothes were heaped up next to it the chair was on its side its cushion  was ripped the curtain pole had been wrenched off the wall the curtains had been  sliced and left in ribbons on the floor sonia said who did this what were they looking  for i don't understand does renee ever run here i asked yes at the other end of the corridor you  don't think i don't know but we should find out sonia closed michael's door and led the  way to room 201

she tried to handle and shook her head she said it's locked wait here  i'll go down to reception borrow a pass key i shook my head no i don't want to involve anyone  else have you got a knife in your bag or tweezers sonja rummaged in her purse and pulled out a  little knurled black case she opened it and revealed a whole array of small shiny tools i  guess they had something to do with nails but i had no idea what most of them did she held out  the set take your pick i selected a pair of needle

nose tweezers and a thin wooden rod it was like  a lollipop stick with a chamfered end i bent the bottom of one leg of the tweezers to 90 degrees  then crouched down and went to work on the lock it was old and plain but solid from the days when  things were built to last it probably rolled off the line in a big dirty factory in birmingham  alabama one of thousands used all across america probably millions probably used all over the world  it was a quality item but not over complicated i felt fo

r the tumblers and found them right away  easing them aside was another story i figured the lock hadn't seen a great deal of maintenance over  the course of its life it was stiff it took more than a minute to force it to turn then i stood  opened the door and looked inside the scene was almost identical to the one in michael's room but  nothing like what fenton said she had seen there the bed and the wardrobe and the chair and the  curtains had been tipped over and ripped open the only real diff

erence was that the  heap of ruined clothes on the floor were women's not men's the find was no  big surprise it wasn't conclusive but it was consistent with the theory that renee was  suspected of smuggling fenton's note to michael you could understand dendonger wanting to have  both their rooms searched he'd have wanted to see if there was any other illicit communication  between them or anyone else there was nothing to suggest i needed to change tack but nor was there  anything to help figure

out where fenton was maybe if i had access to a forensic lab i could  have found something some microscopic trace of rare dirt or sand some tell-tale fibers dna even  but with the resources available which basically meant my eyes and my nose there was no point  wasting effort sifting through the wreckage it was frustrating but those were the facts time was  passing and i was running out of places to look i turned to leave and almost knocked sonya  down she had crept up close behind me and was s

tanding stock still her eyes were  wide and her mouth was hanging open i don't understand she stepped around me it  looks like the same people did this but why what are they looking for and where are  michael and renee i said nothing are they involved in something together wait are  they no they can't be they better not be sonya strode further into the room and kicked  renee's ransacked heap of clothes up into the air i said you and michael were you uh more than  friends is that why you have a k

ey to his room sonia turned to look at me her face was drained  and raw it's nothing official we weren't married or engaged or anything like that we haven't told  many people but yes we found each other in that hospital we saved each other he's everything to me  i can't even think about someone stealing him away this was not the scenario i had expected to  walk into i imagined i'd be dealing with a bunch of worthless conscience-free mercenaries the  kind of people i'd happily pump for informatio

n then leave to rot when their half-assed  scheme crashed down around their heads instead i found myself feeling sorry for this  woman maybe she was naive but that isn't a crime i guess she'd been duped by a guy who  came into her life at a vulnerable moment he must have been pretty persuasive even when he  was off the rails i figured in the circumstances i should level with sonia there was no way to  avoid it not without being unnecessarily cruel but there was a problem my death message  skills

were universally considered to be subpar they were so bad the army had sent  me for special remedial training years ago it hadn't helped very much since  then my preference had been to break bad news in public places people are less likely to  break down or freak out in front of an audience i found bars and restaurants and cafes are  the best the whole process of ordering food and having it delivered and cleared away provides  natural punctuation it helps reality to sink in i thought about the

red roan i thought about  taking sonia back there it was very tempting but i decided not to it would take time to  get there just then time was not my friend and it certainly wasn't fenton's i took hold of  sonya's elbow and eased her out into the corridor come on we better go back to your room  there are some things i need to tell you chapter 27 sonia took the chair she perched at the front of  it her whole body was rigid she was wound up tight i could tell she was a hair's breath away from  fi

ght or flight i sat on the edge of the bed and faced her i kept one foot on the floor near  her purse her gun was still inside it there's a reason the expression don't shoot the messenger  is a thing i said i want to start with good news there was nothing between michael and renee  that's for certain was nothing i'm getting to that first we need to back the truck up a little i  talked her through the whole story all the way from fenton receiving michael's message to  her botched attempt at snatc

hing dendonker including the part where dendoncker's guy told  fenton michael was dead sonja was silent for a moment when i got to the end her eyes flickered  from side to side as she joined the dots then she said michael got caught with the note  from his sister that's how everything turned to [ __ ] that's the way i see it so dendoncker  had michael killed i nodded no i don't believe it i said nothing and renee i think she saw it coming  i think she got away but not michael are you sure sonia'

s voice was on the edge of cracking up  like totally beyond any doubt no matter how tiny i didn't see his body but i heard  one of dendoncker's goons swear the dendoncker had killed michael  and he had nothing to gain by lying sonja got up and crossed to the window she  turned her back and pulled the curtain around her i don't know what to do with this i can't believe  he's gone this must be a mistake i didn't know what else i could say sonya disentangled herself  from the curtain and spun aroun

d to face me if you knew michael was dead why  didn't you tell me right away her eyes were damp and red why string me along  why all that [ __ ] about wanting help finding it i didn't know what your deal was then i held  up my hands i might not be able to help michael but i can still help his sister maybe if i  can find her you still bullshitted me sonja shuffled back to the chair and slumped down i  just can't deal with this what should i do now leave town it'd be my advice now i have to get  g

oing but first i need to ask you a question it's gonna sound insensitive the timing's  awful but it could be important what is it in the message michael sent his sister  along with the card from the red roan there was something else a condom that seems  weird to me does it mean anything to you no michael wouldn't have a condom we didn't use them  and he would never send one to his sister that's gross it got in there somehow someone else must  have put it in i don't think so sonya shrugged maybe

michael was trying to tell her something  like to be careful to take precautions he did love cryptic messages he was always leaving  him for me i generally didn't understand him to be honest i had to ask him to explain  a condom as a warning to take precautions it was possible in the sense that it couldn't be  positively ruled out but it didn't seem likely and as an explanation it didn't feel right the voice  at the back of my brain still wasn't satisfied chapter 28 i guess the guy with the worn

out  boots wasn't as heavy as sleeper as he'd made himself out to be his feet were no longer up on  the reception counter when i got to the lobby he was no longer lounging back in his  chair there was no sign of them at all but two other guys were hanging around two of  the guys from the previous night the only two still able to walk they were waiting for me this  time that was clear they both puffed up a little when they saw me then they moved the guy who'd  been driving stepped in front of th

e double exit doors which were closed and locked presumably the  guy i'd hit with the axe handles slunk around in the opposite direction he wound up blocking the  way back to the corridor he needn't have bothered i had no intention of going that way the men  were wearing the same kind of clothes as before black t-shirts black jeans black combat boots  but now the driver's left arm was in a sling and they each had a small backpack slung over one  shoulder both packs were made out of ballistic nyl

on desert sand color scuffed and stained and  well used and weighed down with something bulky the driver said down on the floor on your  front hands behind you again i said really get down do it now i didn't move were you  dropped on your head when you were a baby was your boss because honestly i'm worried  virtually every creature on the planet has the ability to learn from experience but not you  apparently what happened last time you tried this when you had three buddies to help out not  just

one all we learned the driver nodded the other guy swung his pack off his shoulder he  pulled back its flap and took out its contents a full face respirator it was black with a butyl  rubber coating drooping doleful triangular eye pieces and a round filter case mounted on the left  side it looked like an m40 field protective mask the kind that had been used by the us  army in the marine corps since the 90s not the newest design in the world not the most  comfortable but effective the guy pulled

it over his head and tugged on one of the straps the  driver held his pack between his knees opened it and took out an identical mask he fumbled to put  it on with one hand then stood still for a moment that made him look like a depressed insect  then he took out another item a silver canister it was about the size of a can of baked beans and  it had a ring and a lever sticking out of the top ever heard of cs gas the guy's words sounded  muffled and tinny through the voice emitter at the front

of the mask i'd more than heard of cs  gas i'd experienced it years ago on the final day of a training module a dozen of us were locked in  a room with an instructor the instructor placed a cs canister on a metal table in the center of the  space he pulled the pin and tossed it in the air he was already wearing his mask an older model  an m17 which was the standard in those days we had to wait until the pin hit the ground  then we had 20 seconds to get our masks on we all made it that part of th

e exercise was fine the next part wasn't we had to remove our mask and  shout out our name rank and number one at a time and we could only put our mask  back on when the instructor nodded that was bad really bad but it was even worse if  the instructor didn't like you if he pretended he couldn't hear you if he made you repeat your  information he made one guy repeat his three times between each attempt he left a pause each one  felt like an hour to us they must have felt like a year to the poor

guy the front of his  smock was soaked with tears and snot and drool by the time we staggered out into the fresh  air he quit the program about 10 minutes later well we call this d ass the guy held the  canister up higher gundog or special it's like cs on steroids it burns your eyes so bad  you go blind if you don't get saline in time and your nose your throat your lungs pain like  you will not believe i promise you i said nothing last chance he said get down on the floor do  yourself a favor be

cause if i have to use this the game changes you're gonna have to crawl across  to me lie at my feet beg me to save your eyesight i stayed still that's never gonna happen come on  man the other guy's voice sounded like a robot this is science we're talking about you can't  fight it you've got to respect the chemistry chemistry's fine i still had the gun i'd taken  from the guy outside the cafe i was tempted to use it that would solve the immediate problem but a  shot would be heard and i had no

desire to attract attention not just then what i had in mind called  for privacy so i moved slowly to my left just until the driver was directly between me and the  exit but me i always preferred physics i warned you the driver flicked away the little clip that  held the pin against the curved handle he switched the canister to his left hand curled his right  index finger through the ring and gave it a tug it didn't budge i guess this was the guy's  first time arming a grenade is harder than it

looks in the movies the locking pin is made  of surgical steel one leg is bent at a steep angle it needs to be no one wants to be on the  wrong end of an accidental discharge the guy adjusted his grip he raised his right elbow maybe  he thought that would give him improved leverage i didn't wait to see if he was right i just  pushed off my back foot hard and started to run as fast as i could straight ahead directly towards  him i covered half the distance three quarters then i threw myself forwa

rd my shoulder sank into  the guy's midriff it knocked him off his feet we clattered together into the doors a combined 450  pounds and the effect of my weight was multiplied by the speed i'd gained the old lock was no match  for that not even close the doors burst open one swung around and crashed into the wall the other  came right off its hinges and cartwheeled away the two of us landed on the ground him underneath  on his back me on top i was crushing his chest i felt some of his ribs shatte

r on impact  maybe a collarbone too maybe both of them but those injuries didn't matter  he would never feel the pain because his shoulders wound up level with the  lip of the top step leading down to the street my bulk pinned his torso in place but his head  continued to move it swung around another five inches then the back of his skull hit the  concrete it split open like a watermelon something sticky sprayed up across my face the  guy twitched just once and then he was still chapter 29 half

a second later i felt the weight  on my back a couple hundred pounds then an arm snaked around my neck it was the other guy he  must have followed us out seen his opportunity with me practically on the ground dived on top  of me sandwiching me between him and his buddy he kept stretching until the angle of  his elbow was wrapped around my throat grabbed hold of his wrist with his other hand  pulled back jammed his knee into my spine for extra leverage he was using all his strength  straining lik

e a fisherman fighting to land the catch of his life i reached around behind  me scrabbling for his head but he was leaning too far back that was smart he'd anticipated  the danger and was staying out of harm's way he was going after me i was going after him  neither of us was given an inch neither of us was close to a breakthrough he must have  sensed the deadlock that suited me fine if he was looking for a battle of endurance he'd  pick the wrong opponent that was for damn sure he must have se

nsed that too because he started  rocking back and forth trying to ratchet up the pressure that certainly raised his game  i was suddenly finding it hard to breathe i flexed the muscles in my neck but i could  still feel my windpipe starting to give way pain ripped through my larynx my lungs began to  burn i needed to tip the scale in my favor fast i dipped my right shoulder and pushed down  towards the ground at the side of the body i was still straddling lifted my left shoulder  felt the guy o

n my back adjust his balance he was trying not to slide off compensating by  leaning the other way the instant he moved i corkscrewed in the opposite direction jammed  my left shoulder down my right shoulder up twisted at the waist drove my right knee into the  ground and heaved myself up the pair of us pivoted to the left we teetered for a moment as the guy  realized what was happening and tried to fight the momentum to reverse the motion but he was  too late and he was still clinging to my nec

k we flipped over together he was underneath this  time on his back i was on top also on my back he was pinned down but he was still trying to  strangle me he hadn't given up the opposite he was trying to squeeze even harder i guess desperation  was setting in he probably couldn't breathe very well himself with my weight on his chest and  he couldn't get his head clear the ground was stopping him i stretched around felt his mask  it was facing away from me towards the street the angle was imposs

ible then i realized he  must have pushed it up onto the top of his head he must have wanted to see better but to be ready  if the canister of gas erupted i tore the mask off dropped it slid my hand down his forehead  found the bridge of his nose pressed my thumb into his right eye poked my index  finger into his left and started to press i didn't press too hard not at first he kept  trying to crush my throat i increased the pressure he whimpered thrashed his head from side to side  trying to br

eak contact but he didn't let go i pressed harder harder still i figured i was  no more than a fraction of an inch away from his eyeballs bursting or popping out i would  normally consider that a satisfactory result but in the circumstances i had to  be careful his presence was a bonus i didn't want to waste it i needed  him capable of answering questions so i didn't increase the force any further i  kept my finger and thumb steady i arched my back pushed my other hand between our bodies  moved

it down towards his groin grabbed hold started to squeeze and twist harder tighter  until he screamed and let go of my neck i jumped straight to my feet before he could  change his mind or try something else i stamped on his abdomen not too hard just enough to immobilize  him for a moment then i gathered up his gun on his mask and the gas canister it had slipped out of  the other guy's hand and rolled onto the top step the pin was still in place i picked up his  backpack checked inside he had a

bottle of water a coil of paracord some kind of tool and a bundle  of zip ties the tool was in a tan leather case it was like a folding pen knife with a whole bunch  of extra blades and screwdrivers and scissors the ties were heavy duty there were half a  dozen i put the knife in the ties in my pocket i put the gun in the backpack then i prodded  the guy in the ear with the toe of my shoe that's your car i gestured to the far side  of the street a lincoln town car was parked by the curb it was b

lack it looked like the one  the three guys had driven away from the morgue he craned his neck around to see  what i was pointing at then nodded where's the key he pointed at the body lying next  to him get it no way all the color drained out of the guy's face he's dead i'm not touching him  if you won't get the key you're no use to me i jabbed him in the air again a little harder  wanna wind up like him the guy didn't reply he just rolled onto all fours stretched  across his buddy's body pulled

the keys out of his pants pocket and held him up for me to  see good now pick up the body put it in the trunk no way i'm not carrying him his body's going in  the trunk either you put it in there or you join it in there your choice the guy shook his head  scrambled to his feet and trudged down the steps he grabbed his buddy's hands and pulled he made it  to the sidewalk and a gun rattled free he tried to pounce on it but he was too slow i pinned the  gun down with one foot and kicked him in the

head with the other not too hard just a warning  which worked he went back to dragging the body it left a trail of dark congealing blood across  the street i waited until he was halfway to the car then scooped up the gun and added it to the  stuff in the backpack the guy popped the trunk he struggled to lift the body it was heavy its head  and limbs were flopping around all over the place eventually the guy hauled it into a sitting  position propped his shoulder against the fender moved in clos

e behind it wrapped his arms around  its chest heaved it up and posted it in head first he slammed the trunk immediately as if that  would prevent him from being pushed into and spun around his eyes were wide he was breathing  hard his forearms were smudged with blood i said unlock the doors the guy prodded a button  on the remote i heard four almost simultaneous clunks as the mechanisms responded put the  keys on the trunk the guy did as he was told get in driver's seat i collected the  keys fo

llowed him and moved in close so he couldn't close the door i took a zip  tie from my pocket and dropped it in his lap secure your right hand to the wheel he hesitated  then looped the tie around the rim fed the tail through the tie's mouth pulled until the first  of the teeth started to engage slid his wrist through the gap and tighten the tie halfway i  said tighter he took up half the remaining slack i leaned across took hold of the loose end and  pulled it hard the plastic bit into his wrist

he grunted i said left hand on the wheel he rested  it at the 10 o'clock position i took another tie and fastened it i grabbed his elbow and tugged  he grunted again his hand wouldn't slip through i figured it was secure enough so i closed the  door and climbed into the seat behind him i said where's dendonger the guy didn't answer i pulled  the guy's mask over my head and made a show of adjusting the straps then i placed the canister  of gas on the armrest between the front seats yes gas your

friend said before he died like  cs gas on steroids am i getting that right the guy nodded i don't believe  him i think this is a dummy a prop i think you guys were trying to bluff me i  think i should pull the pin see what happens the guy started thrashing around in his seat  sticking his elbow out trying to knock the canister out of my reach no he said please it's  real don't set it off then answer my question i can't you don't get it den donker you  don't cross him nothing's worth doing that

chapter 30 i tapped the gas canister this stuff  makes you blind right keeping your eyesight that sounds worth it the guy shook his head i had  a friend we worked together for five years for den donker my friend used to go to walmart once a  month the nearest one's like a hundred miles away and they have some special drink he  liked chai he called it from india dendoncker thought that was suspicious he  had my friend tailed the guy following him saw someone in the store at the same time  who loo

ked like he might have been a fed looked like a fed how he wasn't definitely a fed  but he might have been one that was enough for dendoncker and at the same time he was looking  to sell a bunch of 50 cal sniper rifles to some drug lord from mexico there's a big demand for  those things down there a lot of money to be made the buyer wanted a demonstration  before he'd part with his cash so dendoncker got my friend had him tied to a pole  a few hundred yards away in the desert naked made the rest

of us watch through binoculars the rifle  worked fine the drug guy he was a terrible shot he fired a dozen rounds hit my friend in the leg  in the shoulder clipped him in his side by his gut he wasn't dead but dendoncker left him there sent  someone to collect his body a couple of days later i saw it it made me puke his eyes had been pecked  out snakes had bitten his feet something big had taken chunks out of his legs i tell ya i swore  right there and then there was no way i was ever gonna let

anything like that happen to me i tapped  the canister the guy tried to twist around and face me another time den donker was selling land  mines to another drug lord he was building a giant new compound wanted to fortify it he also asked to  see the merchandise in action to prove it worked dendoncker had a bunch planted in some remote  spot then he made a guy i can't even remember what he was supposed to have done walk through  it he made it 10 feet and that was the end of him when i'm done wit

h dendoncker he'll be in no  position to hurt anyone that's for damn sure i tapped the canister again but this  stuff and this enclosed space the guy leaned forward and banged his forehead on  the steering wheel once twice three times i couldn't tell you even if i wanted to i  don't know where den donker is no one does what do you know we were ordered to take you  to the house someone would come and collect you from there i have no idea where they  would take you that's way above my pay grade ho

w would they know to come for me i'd send a text  to what number the guy reeled off a string of ten digits it was an alaska area code presumably a  burner phone used to disguise its current location what message were you to send the exact words  there are no exact words just that we have you how long after you send the message would  they arrive the guy shrugged i don't know sometimes they're waiting when we get there  sometimes we have to wait five minutes the longest was maybe ten where do you

wait  in the house where is the house the guy described the place i'd followed the lincoln to  earlier always there i said ever anywhere else no the guy shook his head it has to be there  whoever comes wherever they go it's always through there there's no other way as far as  i know what's your deadline for delivering me no deadline we have as long as it takes to catch  it put your foot on the brake the guy didn't move i tapped the canister the guy sighed stretched  out his foot and pressed dow

n on the pedal i took off the mask and slipped it into the pack  dropped the gas canister in after it lean through the gap between the front seats cupped the side  of the guy's head with my left hand and pressed it into the window used my right hand to slide  the key into the ignition i turned it the big motor coughed into life then i slid the lever  in to drive and drop back into my seat i said take me to the house the sooner den donkers guys  arrive the sooner i'll let you go if you don't try

anything stupid the guy wrapped his fingers  around the wheel the zip ties made it awkward but i figured he could get a good enough grip and  it would give him something to think about other than trying to escape he switched his foot from  the brake to the gas and pulled away from the curb he steered straight along the front of the  hotel turned left at the end of the building towards the town center slow steady not trying  anything stupid he continued for 50 yards until we drew level with the m

outh of a road on our left no  i can't do this the guy spun the wheel he crossed his arms at the elbows and twisted his wrists as  far as they would go held on until we were facing the opposite direction back towards the border  then he straightened up leaned harder on the gas picked up speed i pulled my gun leaned around  the side of his seat and held it to his temple go ahead he said shoot me please i want you to  we were back level with the front of the hotel the guy didn't turn he kept going

straight and  bumped up the curb onto the rough sandy scrub a cloud of dust was thrown up behind us  we slowed a little we were pitching and bouncing the car was not ideal for that kind of  terrain it was too long too low but we kept going the guy showed no sign of stopping we were  heading directly towards the steel barrier the needle was a hair above 20. the car was  heavy but there was no chance of it busting through at that speed the spikes were solid metal  thick no doubt with deep foundat

ions designed specifically not to get breached it wasn't likely  that either of us would get hurt not badly anyway leaned back and worked the seat belt just in  case i guess the guy was aiming to disable a car the radiator was sure to rupture on impact  which would be a problem in that kind of climate the engine would overheat in no time  it would never make it all the way to the house i considered knocking the guy out or crushing  his windpipe until he lost consciousness but whatever i did it w

as most likely we would  still hit the fence which wouldn't be a major problem sonya said michael had two cars at  the hotel that was only yards away i could use one of them with this guy in the trunk  he could still be useful just not as a driver 20 yards from the border the guy pulled back with  his left hand hard the steering wheel twitched blood started to ooze from where his skin had been  broken by the edge of the zip tie 15 yards from the border he pushed his arm forward through the  tie

as far as it would go then he snatched it back again harder with more determination this time  a flap of skin over his thumb joint tore loose he cried out in pain i could see bone and  tendons blood gushed from the wound maybe that helped to lubricate the plastic maybe it was  just brute force but somehow he got his hand free 10 yards from the border he shoved his hand  into his pocket he pulled out a quarter held it between his thumb and index finger and  rested it at the center of the steering

wheel five yards from the border he leaned forward  tilted his head up exposed his throat and pressed harder on the gas we hit the barrier square on  and instantly about a dozen airbags deployed the sound they made was louder than a crash one  sprang out of the door next to me it hit my arm it was hot it almost burned my skin my view of  the outside world was blocked out it was like being inside a cloud the bag started to subside  the air was thick with white powder like talc there was a smell

like cordite i released  my seat belt opened my door and climbed out the engine had stopped there was a hissing sound  a cloud of steam was escaping from under the hood i pulled the driver's door open the  guy had been thrown back in his seat his face was blackened and burned his eyes  were wide and sightless one side of his jaw was dislocated it was hanging down at a drunken  angle the front of his shirt was soaked with blood and there was a gaping hole in his throat it  was like he'd been shot

which he had in a way he'd used the coin as a bullet it had been  propelled by the explosive in the airbag probably not what the nhtsa had in mind when  they mandated the technology i reached in took the guy's phone from his pocket collected  his backpack and started to walk to the hotel chapter 31 i made it five yards then stopped because of  the guy's phone i was going to need to use it which meant i would have to unlock it which  could be a problem the phone was the kind with just a screen t

here were no numbered keys  no button to press to read a fingerprint i raised it and its screen lit up the whole thing  buzzed angrily in my hand a message appeared it said face id not recognize try again evan  help any phone that recognized my face i thought then i turned back to the car returned to the  driver's door opened it and held the phone level with the guy's nose it buzzed angrily  i lowered it and tried again no success i figured the problem must be the guy's jaw it  had been broken b

y the airbag the phone must keep a record of the shape of its owner's face  that was different now its outline had changed i tried pushing the guy's chin up with my  fingers then lined up the phone no luck i shifted his jaw a little to the side tried the  phone again it still wouldn't unlock it buzzed again more angrily than before a new message  appeared passcode required to enable face id six circles popped up below the text they  were small and hollow and bunched up together in a horizontal l

ine below them there were ten  circles with the numbers zero to nine they were arranged like a conventional keypad i touched  the zero the first small circle turned gray so the phone had a six digit pin far too  many combinations to have a reasonable chance of cracking it not without knowing something  about the dead guy something to narrow the odds i hit the zero five more times just in case  the other small circles filled in the phone buzzed angrily passcode incorrect try again i  thought mayb

e but not there not standing in the sun next to a car with two dead bodies inside it  and not when there was another avenue i could try i walked around to the rear of the car and popped  the trunk the other guy's body was all the way forward piled up against the seats they must  have slid there with the force of the collision i reached in grabbed its belt and pulled it  back i checked its pockets found another phone another one with no keys it also asked for  a face id i wrestled the guy onto hi

s back shuffled him down so that his face wasn't in  the shadows held the phone level with his nose it buzzed and unlocked itself getting one of the  phones unlocked was good but not perfect i had no idea how long it would be until it locked itself  again 30 seconds a minute 10. however long it took it was no problem while i was near the car i  could use the guy's face to reactivate it the issue was i didn't want to stay near the car and i  didn't want to use the phone near the car i wanted to g

et into position at the house before sending  the text and summoning more of dendoncker's guys i wanted to watch them arrive to see how many  there were what kind of weapons they brought it would take me a while to get there half an hour  probably at least the chevy was at fenton's hotel i had walked to the red roan from  there and then on to the border inn i would have to retrace my steps to collect it  or get hold of the keys to one of michael's cars and there were a couple of other  things i

wanted to attend to on the way in the circumstances i could see no alternative  i had to send the message and let the chips fall how they may if i arrived second  to the house no real harm would be done i could surveil a place make a plan it  might impact the details but not the outcome the way i was feeling it didn't matter how many  guys den donker sent or what they brought with them they were all going to be taking a trip  to the hospital or the morgue touched the icon from messages and enter

ed the number the  guy had given me when he outlined his orders he said no exact wording was required so i  tapped out prisoner secured heading to house then i added eta 40 minutes i figured that  might make a difference or it might not but it was worth a try i didn't know if the phone  would be usable for long so i dialed wall works number as i walked to the hotel he answered on the  first ring this is reacher the clock's ticking on a lead so i've got to be brief i have an update  i interrogate

d someone connected to a member of dendoncker's crew she admitted there's a plot  to plant a bomb at a veteran's day ceremony she claimed the bomb only releases smoke for  some kind of publicity stunt do you believe her we know dendonker's guy built a real bomb  fenton's work at tdac proved that so either the woman i spoke to has been duped and the harmless  bomb will be switched or there's a second plot where's the target the woman didn't know okay  better play it safe i'll put out a general al

ert good anything for me the address you gave me that  tracy owner it's a shell corporation another one no connection to dendonca any of his other  companies no other assets and there's something else weird it changed hands ten years ago  right after dendanka showed up in a town i found a report in a local press it says the  previous owner was a nice old guy he lived there for years and pretty much got driven out the house  wasn't on the market he hadn't wanted to sell then some unnamed newcomer

presumably dendoncker came  after it aggressively like it had been targeted specifically why no one lives in it now it's empty  dendonkers guys use it as a cutout there must be dozens of places they could have picked the town  feels like it's on life support why go after that house in particular maybe dendonca plan to live  there and changed his mind or had some other scheme for it that didn't pan out there could be  dozens of reasons could be i guess but do me a favor check who owns the neighb

oring houses check  the whole street see if anything else jumps out the call ended just as i reached the  steps to the hotel's main entrance the blood trail was still there it was dry now  it had turned brown and crusty the surviving door was closed someone had retrieved the other they'd  propped it up against the wall i went in through the gap at left scanned the lobby saw that the  cowboy boots were back propped up on the reception counter they were the same ones snake skin  holes in their sou

ls i was glad they were there it meant ticking the next item off my list would  be nice and easy the guy was lounging back in his chair his waistcoat was still unbuttoned  his hat was pulled down over his face again and he still wasn't really asleep his whole body  stiffened as i came close he hadn't been expecting to see me again that was clear he probably  thought the blood on the ground outside was mine i said how much the guy fumbled with his hat  pushed it back and did his best to look like

he was only flustered because he'd suddenly  woken up how much for what calling den donker telling him i was here what did he pay you nothing  i mean i i don't know what you're talking about i grabbed the guy's ankles and pulled his  ass slid off the chair he crashed onto the floor and squealed as he hit the tile i vaulted  over the counter and landed straddling his legs he reached up towards a little shelf that  wasn't visible from the other side a shotgun was balanced there it was an ancient

thing an lc  smith its barrel had been sawn down to about six inches that would make it easy to wield and it  would still be plenty lethal at close quarters i said leave it the guy kept on trying to grab  it so i kicked him in the face not hard it was more of a push just enough to knock him  onto his back then i stamped on his hand to discourage him in case he felt the urge  to go for the gun again i said how much the guy was rolling from side to side clutching  his crushed hand to his chest not

hing extra he pays me every month 500 cash i report anything  unusual or anything weird any of his people staying here get up to sometimes he puts out  an alert like this morning i got a text with a description of you i had to call when i saw you  i had no choice mr dendoncker hey he's a bad man you always have a choice right or wrong it's  clear-cut you just thought you wouldn't get caught you chose greed you used poor judgment  so this is what's gonna happen when you wake up you're gonna leave

town immediately and you're  never gonna come back i'm gonna check and if i find you here i'm gonna make dendonker look like  the easter bunny are we clear when i wake up what like in the morning in the morning  the afternoon whenever it happens to be i grabbed him by the front of his shirt  and hauled him into a sitting position then i kicked him in the face  again a little harder that time chapter 32 i tapped on the door to room 212 gently  i was trying to sound friendly there was no reply so

i tried again go away it was  sonja's voice but there was an edge to it i couldn't tell if she was angry or sad or scared  then a thought crossed my mind an unwelcome one maybe one of dendonker's guys was in there with  her someone could have sneaked up while i was dealing with the pair downstairs who knew what the  reception guy had reported sonja could have a gun to her head which meant i couldn't risk breaking  the door down which severely limited my options until i remembered what fenton ha

d said about  the routine she and michael had with names sonja and michael had been a couple  maybe they did the same thing i stood to the side and knocked again  heather you in there you okay i waited i heard footsteps from inside the room they were  light but slow a moment later the door opened it was sonja she was still in her yellow sun  dress and there was no gun in sight she leaned out into the corridor looked left and right and  spotted me her eyes were red her cheeks were damp reacher sh

e said thanks for checking in but i'm  fine i just want to be on my own so please go okay i'm not checking in i need your help oh  okay with what have you got a car of course do you want to borrow it where is it parked out  back good i want you to drive me someplace where have you got a go bag handy of course why  grab it and your keys i'll explain in the car sonya's car was tiny it was called a mini and  with good reason i barely fit inside even with the passenger seat cranked all the way back

it was  red with white wheels and decals of old glory on the roof and the curved front edges of the door  mirrors i wish she drove something more discreet in the circumstances but at least it fitted in the  hotel parking lot it was in another courtyard this one contained within the building itself it was a  small cramped space with a low arch leading to the street on the east side i guess it was originally  for receiving deliveries and allowing light into the rooms on the inner side of the corri

dors the  street which ran from the arch led to the road the guy in the lincoln had taken before making his  final u-turn sonya turned left towards town and i brought her up to speed with events since i left  her in her room she saw the opportunity right away i'll watch the back of the house she said that way  no one can sneak out unnoticed or in i just have one question if i see anyone how do i warn you  honk your horn wouldn't it be better for me to call you or text otherwise i'll be warning t

hem  too i don't have a phone i pulled out the one i'd taken from the guy in the lincoln's trunk  the screen had locked itself not one i can use sonya reached around took her purse from the  mini's token back seat and balanced it on her lap she rummaged inside with one hand took out a  phone and passed it to me here you can use this the phone was old school i flipped it  open there was a keypad on one side a real one and a screen on the other it was small  black and white and it didn't even ask

for a pin it's the one michael used to call me on sonia closed her eyes for a moment he had a  matching one i guess he was getting paranoid too he didn't like the idea lots of calls  between numbers den donker could find out about sonia took me to fenton's hotel  i switched to the chevy and she followed me around the maze's streets until  we reached the turn just north of the house she peeled off and i continued to the street to  the south there were no cars parked at the far end there were no c

ars anywhere in sight that could  mean dendoncker's guys had fallen from my eta roos or they hadn't arrived yet for some other reason  it also meant i would have to find somewhere else to dump the chevy it was too conspicuous to  leave on the route dendoncker's guys would take i turned around drove back to the bigger road  and tried the residential street on the far side there was an rv parked halfway down it  was an antique it looked like it hadn't moved in years its tires were flat  its window

s were opaque with grime its paintwork was a mess of beige and brown  stripes all crusted over with sand and dirt the only thing going for it was its size it was  easily big enough to conceal a regular sedan i took the chevy in on the far side and  made my way back to the house on foot there were still no vehicles nearby i approached  slowly and pushed through the tangle of twisted trees between it and its neighbor i peered in  through the first square window saw no one inside tried the other wi

ndows and turned there  was no sign of anybody i crept around to the front and shimmyed under the large window  past the door to the far side of the building checked the smaller bedrooms window there  was no one the bathroom window was frosted so i couldn't make anything out i ducked  below it and tried the larger bedroom no one was there either i figured that according  to the guy's plan if they were already inside and somehow concealed they would be expecting the door  to open so that their bu

ddies could deliver me so i went back around making sure not to pass in  front of any windows slid the key into the lock turned it crouched down and pushed i figured that  if anyone was attracted by the movement they would expect whoever was coming in to be standing they  would be aiming at head height if they were over endowed with caution but no one was there to stare  in my direction no one was there to point a gun so i went in and checked the house from the inside  i looked in every room loo

ked down through the hole in the floor made absolutely certain the  place was deserted i had no car to take cover in there were no buildings or natural features  to give me shelter so i went outside and pushed my way back into the thicketed trees i sat and  leaned against the wall of the house the leaves and branches were dense enough as long as i didn't  move and didn't make any sound a person could pass within a few feet and not know i was there the  clock in my head told me that if dendoncker

's guys were aiming to synchronize their arrival with my  bogus eta they should be there within five minutes five minutes crawled past no cars arrived no one  walked up the path there was no word from sonia i stayed where i was didn't make a sound  another five minutes ticked away and another the guy in the lincoln said he'd  never had to wait more than 10 minutes i waited another 10 and another that was 30  minutes half an hour after the implied rv the waiting didn't bother me i'd be happy  to

wait for the rest of the afternoon if it brought the right result i'd wait all night  but what i didn't want to do was waste time there was no point sitting around the waterhole  if the big game had been scared off i checked the windows again just in case there was no one inside  so i made my way to the parallel street i spotted sonya's flag on wheels right away i walked across  to it and folded myself into the passenger seat i said it was a bust sonia frowned what now any  chance they approache

d from this side and saw you no sonya shook her head nothing's moved the whole  time i've been here i couldn't see what had gone wrong the plan should have been sound maybe the  text should have come from the other guy's phone maybe there had been special wording  maybe the guy had been flat out lying which was why i had wanted to bring him  but that hadn't been possible so there was no point in dwelling on it if dendoncker's  guys wouldn't come out on their own terms i figured it was time to ma

ke him come out on mine chapter 33 sonia said it won't work you won't be  able to get in you need a transponder i know because michael had one he left it  behind one day it got him into hot water there's no lock no keypad the only alternative  is the intercom you have to ask someone to open the gate you think they'll open it for  you you think i'll wait for permission i left sonia to watch the back of the house and  walk to the street where the giant rv was parked climbed into the chevy and head

ed west  dendoncker's company building was on its own at the end of a straight road just as wallwork  had described it was a simple square shape steel frame brick infill flat roof plain functional  cheap to construct and cheap to maintain it was like the kind you see in business parks  all over the country there was a parking lot laid out in front it had spaces for 20 cars  none were taken and there was no movement behind any of the windows there was nothing  to suggest the place was owned by a

murderer that it was the hub of a smuggling operation or  that it was about to be used to distribute bombs there was just a sign on one side of the main  door saying welcome to pie in the sky ink and a picture of a cartoon plane on the other it  had eyes in place of cockpit windows a broad smile beneath its nose and it was rubbing the  underneath of its bulging fuselage with one wing i pulled up to the gate which was just two sliding  sections of the fence which surrounded the site chain link 20

feet high the wire was a decent  gauge the metal posts supporting it were stout they weren't spaced too far apart but it was  only a single barrier there was no inner layer it would provide adequate security at best which  was understandable health inspectors could show up clients people could evidently look at images  of it on the internet like wall work had done if dendoncker wanted to avoid attracting attention  he couldn't afford for the place to look like fort knox i wound down my window n

ext to me there was a  metal pole painted white four boxes were attached to it two were level with my face as i sat in  the car two were higher they would be for truck drivers to use each pair was identical first there  was an intercom with a call button and a speaker behind a metal grille then a thing the size of  a keypad but with no buttons just a plain white rectangle presumably part of the transponder  system nothing i needed to be concerned with i reached out and triggered the intercom i d

idn't  expect to be let in i didn't expect an answer and i didn't need one either what i was hoping  for happened right away a camera mounted on its own pole on the other side of the fence  panned around until it was pointing right at me i stared into its lens and hit the call button  an extra time i said i'm here come and get me i made a beckoning motion to the camera to make  sure the message got through then i reversed for 10 yards and turned the car around i doubted  anything incriminating w

ould be left lying about inside the building or that there would  be any clues as to dendoncker's other locations but over my years as an mp i learned never to  rule out stupidity and never to rule out luck guys who went awol turned up under the bed at their  girlfriend's house stolen equipment was stashed in the trunks of personal vehicles plus i was already  there i figured it wouldn't hurt to give dendunkar something more to worry about i made sure the  rear lined up with the center of the en

trance selected reverse and pushed the gas pedal to the  floor the impact tore both gates clean off their runners but the chevy hardly felt a thing i could  see why they'd been so popular with the police i continued across the compound across the two  rows of parking spaces slowed to check i was on target then accelerated again and plowed into the  building's main doors the chevy punched straight through i hit the brakes and shifted into drive  pulled forward stopped left the car facing the exit

got out and listened there was silence it  was unlikely a place like that would be wired to a police station but not impossible i figured i'd  better work fast and keep an ear open for sirens i started in the office there were desks against  three of the walls each held a computer they were all switched off each had one pedestal with  regular drawers and one with a deeper drawer for files they were all locked so i took two paper  clips from a pile of old letters in someone's filing tray straigh

tened them slid one into  the lock on the nearest desk raked it back and forth until i felt the pins engage used the  other to put pressure on the cylinder turned it and opened the drawer there was a bunch of  regular clerical stuff inside quotations invoices records of other innocuous transactions i flicked  through the papers and only one thing stood out the dates there was nothing less than three weeks  old there was no sign of the police no sign of dendoncker's guys yet the front left corner

  of the building was a receiving area it had a roll-up door a raised platform for trucks to back  up against and metal counters around three sides presumably for checking whatever got delivered  they would need ingredients for any meals they made from scratch and from what fenton had seen  plenty of high-end delicacies and beverages there were no goods there that  day the bay was completely empty no sign of the police no sign of dendoncker's  guys a door led to a storage room it was next in lin

e on the left-hand side it had  floor-to-ceiling shelves against every wall some had labels with different product names  others had barcodes there were only a few things there a box with tiny packets of sugar like  some people use with their coffee some potato chips a bunch of little bags of peanuts nothing  to make it feel like the hub of a vibrant business the kitchen was at the back left corner it  was small clean sterile there was nothing on the counters nothing in the fridge the room to it

s  side was a preparation area it was full of shelves and packaging materials and boxes i guessed it was  where the orders for the different flights were assembled before getting loaded into containers  for transport there was a line of white boards along one wall they were all wiped clean it didn't  look like there were any jobs in the pipeline no sign of the police no sign of dendoncker's guys  the whole place seemed well set up the different areas were lined up logically they would make for 

an efficient workflow there was nothing suspicious nothing out of place but there was no reason for  anything to be according to fenton the outgoing contraband was brought in from elsewhere by  dendoncker's guys and loaded straight onto the trucks any illicit incoming goods were  collected and carted away immediately the absence of anything incriminating didn't mean the  place was innocent just the dendoncker was smart the trucks were the only things i hadn't seen  i found the corridor that led

to the garage and followed it into a large rectangular bay  there were six panel vans neatly lined up nose in they were like the kind i'd seen parcel delivery  companies use only these were white with red and blue trim and a cartoon plane painted on each side  i picked one at random and checked the cargo area it was immaculate it looked like it had recently  been hosed out like it belonged to a catering company with both eyes on hygiene or someone  who didn't want to leave any physical evidence

the truck's cargo areas were fitted out with racks  they ran all the way along both sides the tallest space was at the bottom it would be big enough  for the wheeled trolleys with drawers i'd seen flight attendants use on commercial flights above  there was plenty of room for containers which could hold the kinds of food and drink fenton had  described or sniper rifles or land mines or bombs i wondered where the containers were kept if  they used standard sizes for that kind of cargo maybe they

picked the closest fit and  shoved a bunch of padding in any extra space or maybe they had custom ones made maybe with  foam inserts to ensure nothing got damaged another thought struck me the kind of container  would be irrelevant if there were no serviceable trucks to carry them i was at a caterer's depot  there was a food store nearby there was plenty of sugar i could pour it in the gas tanks or  grab a wrench and smash up the engines cut the cables and the wires slash the tires then  i thoug

ht no this was dendoncker's operation dendoncker who had sent guys after me with cs  gas it was time to turn up the heat literally chapter 34 i retraced my steps to the kitchen  there was a paper towel dispenser on the wall the cylindrical kind packed with a continuous roll so  you can tear off whatever amount you need i took six pieces each six feet long i brought them back  to the garage removed the cap from each truck's gas tank and fed the strips inside pushed them all  the way into the neck

s and left the excess hanging down to the floor then i went to the office i  grabbed the chair from the desk nearest the door and used it to smash the window took the chair  and broke the windows and all the other rooms went back to the office opened the file drawer  i'd broken pulled out half a dozen sheets of paper took him to the kitchen lit one of the burners on  the stove rolled the papers into a cylinder lit it on fire like a torch carried it to the garage  held it to the strip of paper to

wels sticking out of the nearest truck's tank waited for the flame  to jump across and double timed it to the exit the first truck exploded as i was opening the  chevy's door i heard the hiss of the sprinklers springing into life a bunch of floodlights lit  up they were mounted on the fence poles facing the building i jumped into the car and started  the engine a second truck exploded i pulled away drove across the compound and stopped in the  middle of the road on the far side of the fence dayl

ight was fading fast and fat fingers of  angry orange flame were stretching up into the sky they sent shadows of the trees and cacti  dancing wildly across the rough ground i got out and walked back to the  pole with the low camera attached i grabbed hold and wrenched it around i kept  going until it was pointing at the building i didn't know what kind of alarm standonker had  and i wanted to make sure he didn't miss the show i heard sirens after four minutes i looked in  the chevy's rearview mi

rror the right hand side of the structure was consumed by flames there was  no chance any of the trucks could be saved i was confident about that it was possible some things  could be salvaged from other parts of the building i wasn't too worried on that score so i turned  my headlights on bright made a note how far the beams reached on either side of the road doubled  the distance to give myself a margin of error then i set off slowly to my right and bounced  and weaved diagonally across the sc

rub land away from the road until i figured i'd gone far  enough to not be seen by any cop cars or fire trucks that went barreling past on their way  towards the inferno i found a spot i was happy with and switched off the chevy's lights then  i felt a buzzing in my pocket it was the phone sonya had given me i flipped it open and held it  to my ear she said contact a man just came out of the back door of the house he's huge bigger than  you even he looked like he was in a hurry he went to the ne

xt door house opened his garage and drove  away in a jeep it was old like the one michael had guess he could be heading your way i thanked her  and hung up less than a minute later an emergency convoy rumbled by a dodge charger was in the lead  it had black and white livery and the light bar on its roof was flashing and whooping then there were  two fire trucks they looked like museum pieces but in good shape they were all shiny red paint  and brass dials and valves they all drove through the ga

p i'd made in the fence then the police  car pulled away to the left two cops got out and stood together watching the flames the fire trucks  turned so they were facing away from the building crews jumped down and started swarming around they  got busy with their hoses and nozzles and pumps it looked like a well-practiced routine i  turned away and focused on the road from town a couple of minutes later i spotted another pair  of headlights they wrote pale yellow color feeble they drew closer an

d i confirmed they were on a  jeep it was a similar age to fentons but cleaner and in better shape as it drew level i could see  jerry cans strapped to the front and back a spade and an axe hanging from the side mansor was behind  the wheel i watched the jeep enter the compound it stopped between the fire trucks mansor climbed  out and headed for the building a firefighter tried to stop him he shoved the guy aside and  kept going the cops ignored him then he pulled his shirt up over his face and

disappeared through the  hole in the wall where the main entrance had been he emerged after two minutes he strode over to  the fire truck and grabbed the firefighter he just shoved it looked like he was demanding information  the cops made their way towards him slowly he let go of the firefighter and turned to face them  he barked out more questions the cops shrugged and shook their heads he moved across to the jeep  and climbed in the cops trailed along in his wake it was like they were thinki

ng about detaining  him but it was a half-hearted move mansour paid them no further attention and they made no serious  attempt at stopping him the jeep sped back out of the compound it passed me and i saw mansour was  on the phone probably reporting what he had found i waited until he was 50 yards clear  of me then started the chevy rolling forward i made it to the road picked  up speed followed the jeep's tail light they were like faint red pinpricks  i kept the chevy's lights off the road was

a straight line all the way into  town i'd be fine as long as no animals ran out then sore took a left in the outskirts of town  then two rights i moved in closer to be sure not to lose him a couple of minutes later i saw him  turn into the street to the north of the house i continued and took the next right after a moment  my phone buzzed it was sonja again he's back he pulled into the neighboring garage now  he's out he's on foot heading for the house unlocking a back door okay he's inside i

hung  up and pulled over to the side of the street i stopped in a pool of shadow between  two street lights 10 yards from the house there was a light on inside but no other vehicles  outside he must have had one in another garage i scanned the nearby houses there was  nothing to suggest which one it could be i took the gun from my waistband and focused on  the front door nothing happened for 20 seconds then the lights went out in the house i wound  down my window ready to shoot if the guy ran bu

t he didn't appear the door didn't open ten  more seconds passed another ten i opened the phone found the button to return the last call i  received hit it sonya answered on the first ring i said anything the lights went off did he come  out to your side no did he come back out yours no sure a hundred percent okay keep your eyes open  if he approaches shoot first questions afterwards chapter 35 i closed the phone slipped it into  my pocket and got out of the car mansoor must have seen me tailing

him after all  or maybe he spotted sonya's car but whatever it was something had spooked him that was clear  because he was staying inside i could wait him out there were no creature comforts in the house  and he didn't strike me as a patient kind of guy not as patient as me i was pretty sure of that  but appearances can be deceptive i had no idea how long he would stay every minute he lay low  was a minute fenton might not have and there was no guarantee he would come out my side he could  sne

ak out of the back make me get involved with chasing him or he could go after sonia i didn't  want to end up with two hostages to rescue so i decided on a different approach i cut across  diagonally from the sidewalk to the front right hand corner of the house ducked down crept beneath  the window past the door around to the far side ducked below the first bedroom window and  stopped outside the next room the bathroom the best room to break in through the place  you're least likely to find anyon

e hanging around and if someone does happen to be there they'll  be in the least favorable position to fight back i took the knife i'd captured from the  guy at the border inn out of my pocket discarded its sheath found its largest  blade unfolded it heard it click into place it felt solid so i reached across and worked the  blade up into the gap between the two sash panels i found the lock it was stiff i increased the  pressure until it rotated far enough to disengage i put the knife away switc

hed the gun to my  other hand raised the lower pane just an inch and peeked in it was dark the room seemed empty  there was no movement no breathing no running water just a regular drip drip drip like i'd  heard earlier i opened the window the rest of the way and climbed through i stood and listened  i couldn't hear anyone couldn't sense anyone's presence i didn't move for five minutes i needed  my eyes to adjust to the dark as fully as possible then i moved to the main room no one was there  i

tried the large bedroom the small bedroom the kitchen no one was in any of those places i  tried the external doors they were locked i found a light switch flicked it on saw nothing  that helped which just left one place to check i went back into the bathroom and pulled the  front off the medicine cabinet the whole thing was a mirror it was old its silver was tarnished  in places but it was good enough for what i needed i approached the hole in the main room's floor  stopped three feet from the

edge used the mirror to look down saw the boiler the water tank but not  man sore i worked my way around the circle started to the left of the ladder moved clockwise examined  the space below inspected it from every angle all the way around to the right of the ladder no  one was there the guy had disappeared there was no trace album at all he must have heard me breaking  into the bathroom and used the opportunity to escape i figured i'd better check in with sonya  in case he went out the back an

d found her i put the mirror down and reached for my phone and  i noticed something on the floor it was faint but definitely there a footprint it was large size 18  at least maybe 20 pointing towards the front door i scanned the path whoever  left it should have followed but i couldn't see any other prince i crouched  down and looked from every angle and realized why the trail stretched in the opposite direction  the guy had come in through the back door he'd walked around the hole got to the to

p  of the ladder turned around and gone down his feet must have gotten soaked to dendonkers  building by the sprinklers or all the water the firefighters had hosed in they must  have still been damp when he climbed down they must have dried out the rest of the way while  he was in the cellar then when he came back up they left no more prints the drying out part was  fine but i couldn't understand why he'd gone into the cellar in the first place it was just a boiler  down there and a water tank m

aybe when he heard me breaking in he decided to hide it was possible  but the guy didn't strike me as the hiding kind there must have been some other reason i wasn't  thrilled at the idea of going below ground but whatever drew the guy down there was  my only clue as to where he might have gone i stood up grabbed the ladder and started  to descend i went faster this time i figured that if the wrongs could take his  weight they could sure as hell take mine i found a footprint at the bottom of the

  ladder another big one i could see where the guy had turned and walked over to the wall to the  section directly below the door to the bathroom then he'd stopped and stood still there was  a pair of prints side by side but i couldn't see where he went next i crouched down and  checked the floor from every available angle there was nothing the trail had vanished i  spun around gun out in front i had a sudden vision of the guy charging at me from behind the  boiler or the water tank i figured he

could have made the footprints as a lure so he could  attack me from behind but there was no one racing towards me no one was there at all it was  like the guy had just walked through the wall i turned back and wrapped the wall with my  knuckles maybe there was a hiding place behind it or a safe room but the wall wasn't hollow  it was the opposite it sounded dense solid far more so than i would have expected for such  an old structure i moved to the side until i was beneath the smaller bedroom

i wrapped again  the note was different it was lighter emptier i tried beneath the larger bedroom that also  sounded thin and flimsy i went back to the center tried again there i hadn't imagined it  it was like a castle wall in comparison i took out the knife extended the biggest  blade stabbed the surface the wood was old it looked desiccated and weak the knife penetrated  but not far only three quarters of an inch then it hit something hard some kind of metal i  tried six inches to the right t

he result was the same i shifted another six inches and another i  hit metal every time the tenth spot i tried was different the knife sank in all the way to the  handle six inches beyond there it sank in again i moved to a thin gap between the panels near  the third and fourth places i'd hit metal i jammed the blade in as far as it would go then  pushed to the side and tried to lever the wood forward the surface layer separated it came off  in a jagged hunk but a strip was left behind i tried a

foot lower and got the same result  it was the original wood i was sure of that but it was stuck to something with incredibly  strong glue something metal it must be a door i couldn't see any other explanation  but i also couldn't see any handle or keyhole or any method of opening it at  all i started at the top left and worked systematically across and down i was pushing  with my fingertips checking every square inch looking for a concealed button or a secret  flap or anything a lock could be

hidden behind i found nothing i tried to sections of wall  on either side had no luck there either i tried kicking the wall there wasn't a hint of  movement not even any noise it was muffled by the wooden skin i turned raised my knee and drove  my heel back like i had done at fenton's hotel it didn't even make a dent i began to  search the walls further to the side then stopped putting the controls so far  away didn't make sense i had no experience with safe rooms but i assumed that if someone l

ike  dendoncker had one he would want to be able to get in it quickly the whole point was to use them in  an emergency that implied a high degree of urgency you wouldn't want to go to the far corner of the  cellar to operate some kind of elaborate mechanism even keying in a pin could be too much of a delay  plus pins can be guessed or discovered or betrayed some kind of remote control would be a better  solution like cars have then another thought struck me sonia said the gated dendonkers plant 

was operated by a transponder and if that was a technology dendoncker trusted in one key area of  his operation why not in another if a transponder was needed to open this hidden door mansour must  have one i didn't know what they looked like i thought back to that morning when i searched his  pockets at the morgue to his key ring transponders serve the same function as keys that would be  a reasonable place to keep one and man sores had one thing that stood out the square piece of  plastic i h

ad dismissed it at the time as a fob the guys at the tree also had them i pulled out  the chevy's keys there was nothing similar on its ring i guess the guy i took it from  wasn't senior enough which left me with a self-defeating proposition the only way to  get a transponder was to take one from mansoor but if i could get my hands on him to take his  transponder i wouldn't need it anymore i figured the best option was to wait for him to come  back out or to trick him into coming out or to lure

another dendoncker's stooges down there and  hope he had enough juice to warrant a transponder juice aka power status and in  some places slang for electricity if the door lock was remotely triggered by  a signal from a transponder it must run on electricity i cross to the wall by the water  tank where the fuse box was mounted it was a decrepit looking thing dark wood scuffed and  battered like an electrocution waiting to happen i opened its door there was a row of insulators  inside old school

made of porcelain six of them each cradling an exposed section of fuse wire they  all looked intact they all looked equally obsolete there were no labels no markings nothing  to indicate which circuits they served i figured i could pull them one  at a time and see what happened but it would be quicker to hit the switch  at the top that controlled them all i reached for it then stopped at the bottom tucked  away in the right hand corner there was a pack of matches i was amazed how often people pu

t matches  and flashlights in their fuse box it made no sense it was the wrong way around the fuse box is the  destination in a power failure not a starting point i took the pack struck a match and flicked  the switch the bulb on the first floor blinked out the cellar shrank until it felt no bigger than  the flickering pool of light from the flame i couldn't see much i couldn't swear to it  but i thought i heard something behind me from the wall below the bathroom a  click soft but definitely me

chanical i moved back to the section i'd been gouging  with the knife i took out my gun leaned against the wall and pushed it didn't move i slammed my  shoulder against it and felt it give just an inch i figured it wasn't only the lock that was  electric the door itself was motorized the mechanism wasn't designed to operate without  power so i pushed harder the panel swung back another inch and another a crack appeared  and light shone through it wasn't bright it had kind of an orange tone but t

he other side  was definitely illuminated i dropped the match and crushed out the flame with my shoe i stepped  aside listened i picked up no sound at all no movement no breathing i waited a minute then  i threw my full weight at the door i kept shoving the crack stretched to four inches i dropped into  a crouch my gun was ready i peered through the gap i could see a wall of bricks to the right  they were slightly uneven sizes they'd been whitewashed at some point and now the surface  was flakin

g away the mortar was crumbling the floor was covered with the same  tiles as the main part of the cellar there was no sign of man's sore i braced myself  i expected him to try to push the door back and knock me flying or pull it open and send me  sprawling at his feet but nothing happened there was no movement no sound none of the subliminal  vibrations emitted by another living creature i was left with the feeling of being  alone i waited two minutes just to be sure then i pushed the door unti

l the gap  was big enough to squeeze through chapter 36 the room on the far side was empty  there were no people no things the other walls were also brick they had the same peeling surface  but the one ahead of me at the west side of the house below the bathroom window was mainly missing  there was a hole six feet tall by five feet wide the top was straight a steel girder had been  installed presumably to reinforce the structure and to stop the whole thing from collapsing  the edges were like ca

rtoon teeth where the bricks had been removed they'd been knocked out  neatly one by one on the far side there were more bricks these ones were pale yellow the wall they  were part of was curved it was like looking into a circular passage or a giant pipe but dry  a cable ran down the center of its ceiling it connected a daisy chain of light bulbs they  were naked and through a subdued golden glow there was a track set into the floor like the kind  trolleys run on and mines the passage continued

on the level to the left for a hundred yards then it  began to climb gradually until it disappeared from sight it looked like it originally extended to the  right as well but now that side was all breaked up i had to go back to the main part of the  cellar for my phone to pick up any signal as soon as it was happy i called wall work i said  to him i need a map of the town's water system wall work was silent for a moment i  might be able to find something online what exactly do you need to know i

'm in the  basement of the house i told you about the one owned by dendoncker's shell company i found a  way into some kind of hidden passage an old storm train maybe or a sewer the guy i was chasing  escape down it i want to know where it goes all right this drain does it look old and new  not new that's for sure how old i couldn't say maybe 75 80 years could be more i'm no expert okay  that kind of age it was probably built by the wpa from what i read about the town wpa did a whole  bunch of w

ork there back in the 30s buildings roads amenities and particularly improvements to  the sewers and drains that's why they originally went the town had two parts there was a gap  between them something weird about how it grew from a trading post or whatever anyway  the southern half is higher after a big storm the drains couldn't cope they overflowed and the  water ran downhill and fluttered the northern half it messed things up real bad sometimes  the sewers overflowed too that was even less p

leasant the southern half is part of mexico  technically but the problem impacted the u.s side and the government was less parochial in those  days if the united states saw a problem it fixed it wherever it was and everybody was happy if the  wpa did the work there should be records for sure that's the government for you someone probably  kept track of how many paper clips they used the question is where are the records did they survive  only on paper or digitized and put online i'm not sure any

one would invest the time and effort  they must exist dendoncker had to have seen them you said he made an effort to get this particular  house there has to be a reason for that and it's not the view trust me he must have realized it  gave access to what's essentially a system of tunnels seems likely but there's no guarantee he  found the information online that's a problem if it was on paper in a book he had a year to sniff  it out your missing woman doesn't he could have been poking around in

libraries municipal archives  do you have time for that and wherever it was how many copies were there he could have stolen  them or destroyed him to protect his secret you're saying it's hopeless no i'm saying  i'll try just don't hold your breath i went back outside and crouched down at the  side of sonya's car she rolled down her window and i saw that her eyes were red and swollen  again she said i'm sorry i just had a crazy vision of you coming out and saying you'd found  michael that he was

okay after all i said nothing you haven't have you no i wish i had  did you find anything the entrance to a tunnel i don't know where it goes yet sonya  reached for the door release i'll come with you no it looks like the kind of place you go in  you might not come back out i don't care i do but you're going anyway i nodded i have to  michael's sister could be at the other end michaela right i hope you find her  i hope she's okay do you know her no we never met but i heard all about her  i hope

d one day she'd be my sister-in-law i waited until sonya's taillights had disappeared  around the corner then went back into the house i paused at the top of the ladder felt the  prickles spread between my shoulder blades ignored it climbed down went through the concealed  door and looked into the tunnel it seemed like the rails were pointing into the distance it was  an illusion of course a trick of perspective but i still wanted to know where they went  and why they were there at all dendoncke

r must have installed them there was no place  for them in a functioning sewer or drain plus they looked new newer than  the surrounding brickwork anyway there was no sign of rust the steel was shiny it  had recently been used polished by metal wheels running along it probably some kind of truck  probably carrying dendoncker's smuggled contraband in which case it must link to a storage  facility another house he took over or an abandoned pumping station someplace like that  which didn't make sen

se why not just drive the stuff to and from the depot from there why  move it around underground and load it up here it called for extra effort extra resources extra  time i couldn't see how it reduced the risk but whatever the reason i wanted  to know where the other place was i would rather ambush ments who are there where  he felt safe from a direction he wasn't expecting i didn't want to stalk him through the  tunnel that option didn't appeal to me at all but the only alternative was to wait

for wall work  to see if he found a map he wasn't confident there was no guarantee it would be conclusive and there  was no way of knowing how long it would take him i checked that the pack of matches was in  my pocket retrieved the tarnished mirror stepped through the hole in the wall  into the tunnel and started to walk chapter 37 the temperature in the tunnel was  cool it was surprisingly comfortable but the air quality was a different story it was foul  stale it felt thick and dusty as i br

eathed it in i fought the urge to turn back or if i had to  keep going to cover the ground as fast as possible i forced myself to move slowly to  make as little noise as possible i finally got into a rhythm stepping on every  third sleeper and pausing in the relative shadow between each pool of light thrown by the bulbs on  the ceiling i kept going for a hundred yards to the point where the gradient increased then the  presence of the rail track suddenly made sense from the base of the incline i

could see how far  the tunnel continued another 400 yards at least it climbed all the way but it was dead straight i  pictured the position of the border in relation to the house calculated the distance to the buildings  on the far side the ones i'd seen when i first entered the town with fenton it all added up i  thought about the wpa guys arriving all those years ago how they must have seen things they  faced two challenges too much water and gravity they couldn't make the water disappear the

y  couldn't make it run uphill and they didn't want it to keep flowing down and flooding the  northern part of the town so they must have gone lateral recruited gravity is an ally turned it to  their advantage and joined up the drainage systems to guys in the 30s it must have seemed like  a practical solution to a natural problem they were engineers not  politicians not border guards the world was different in those days before they  had to worry about drugs cartels border walls back then they w

ould have seen two halves of  a town separated by an arbitrary line on a map they would have thought their work was making  life better for the people who lived there now it looked more like they were setting up  a smuggler's dream no wonder dendoncker chose that town and that house he was no fool  that was becoming clearer all the time i kept going up the slope at the same speed  with the same rhythm the further i went the more obvious it became that this underground supply  route hadn't just f

allen into dendonker's lab as i gained height i passed a  bunch of newer sections of brick the patches were circular and dished  they followed the contours of the wall there must have once been lots of smaller  channels that were now blocked off dendonker must have done his homework he  must have come across the records of the work including a diagram the system would have looked  like a tree a broad straight trunk with thinner branches sprouting off right and left the branches  would run beneat

h the southern part of the town collecting the excess water and carrying it to  the trunk that was the key none of it originated in that central section so when dendoncker  chopped off the branches he was left with a dry tunnel i don't know what other impact it  would have had maybe the population had shrunk to the point there was no longer enough water  to be a problem maybe it rained less these days maybe the floods had started happening again but  whatever the outcome i doubted dendoncker car

ed not as long as he could roam back and forth  beneath the border carrying anything he wanted in his little railroad between two parts of a  sleepy town that no one paid any attention to the original tunnel ended after 420 yards or  maybe it began there as that was its maximum height and water ran downhill i came to a  wall made of the same pale yellow bricks it had the same flaky surface but the tracks  veered to the left they turned 90 degrees and disappeared through another hole  there was a

nother steel girder at the top and more jagged edges down both sides  where the bricks had been chipped away i moved in close to the wall and used the  mirror to look around the corner the track only continued for 10 extra feet a rail truck  was parked at the end in front of a concrete wall it was long enough for four people to sit single  file or for a decent amount of cargo to be carried there was room for a variety of sizes of boxes and  containers like the kind den donker transferred to priv

ate planes under cover of his business a  cable snaked away from the side of the truck it was thick heavy duty plenty of amps could flow  down it plenty of power it stretched all the way to a gray box on the far wall i figured the truck  was battery powered that was smart it was much easier to press a button and push something that  size up the gradient empty let alone fully loaded i caught movement in the mirror it was a man he  was familiar but he wasn't man sore he was the second guy from las

t night under the street  light by the border fence whose ankle i had broken he was sitting behind a desk it reminded me  of the kind teachers in grade school used to have i could see his foot it was in plaster sticking  out of the gap between the twin pedestals a clipboard was lying flat on the surface in front  of them there was a chessboard next to it the pieces were laid out for the start of a game the  guy was painted no attention his arms were crossed his head was back the tendons were tig

ht in  his neck he was fidgeting he looked tense nervous i put the mirror down before he spotted it  took my keys out of my pocket picked one at random used it to scratch the wall i started with a  short quick movement then i scratched again a longer motion then another short scratch  i couldn't hear any response from the guy so i kept going i scratched out the  letters to four words and morse code run for your life maybe that  was unfair in the circumstances maybe it was impractical maybe hubbl

e for  your life would have been more appropriate in the end whether he understood or not he came  to investigate i heard him crossing the space between us he was using crutches i could  tell from the sound he made he came closer his head appeared around the corner his chest his  face registered surprise but only for a moment because as he stepped forward i took a handful  of his shirt just below his neck i twisted for a better grip and slammed him back against the  wall the wind was knocked out

of him he slumped forward gasping for breath dropped one crutch and  cradled the back of his head with his hand let go he could barely manage a whisper i twisted the  shirt harder increasing the pressure on his throat oh yeah he summoned a little more volume get help  others will be here in two seconds i said really how many there were four of you last night how'd  that work out the guy tried to suck in some breath go ahead i hope your buddies do come i hope  dendoncker comes i wonder if he'll

be impressed only the way i understand it when you're on  sentry duty you're supposed to stop intruders not let them in and then start crying the  guy breathed out slowly he made a mean hissing sound but he didn't shout  smart move i said let's do this instead i'll ask you a couple of questions you answer  and dendonkar never finds out how useless you are no way i won't tell you anything okay i hooked  my foot behind the guy's standing leg and swept it out from under him he crashed down next to

the  track and the gap between the rail and the wall i grabbed his right pants leg just above the  ankle and hauled it up to waist height pulled out my knife found a blade with a serrated  edge like a little saw and slid it between the plaster of paris and his skin time for a  new plan get rid of the bandage remember how it felt yesterday when the bones broke you screamed  pretty good i bet it was louder than you can shout that should bring den donker and his boys running  saved me the trouble o

f hunting them down later you wouldn't i went to work with the blade it cut  through the powdery material with no effort at all the guy was mesmerized for a moment he  was staring at the cloud of white dust puffing out and floating down to the ground  stop his voice had risen an octave or two okay what kind of questions the woman  dendoncker took michaela fenton is she here i i think so you think i haven't seen her but i  heard some other guys talk and i it sounded like she was here where exactl

y den donker's half of  the building i think what kind of building is this i guess it's a school from the way it looks  was a school there are no kids here now i don't know much else this is my first time here  i was never allowed through the tunnel before what does den donker use it for like a warehouse  i think uh for his merchandise the stuff he takes on the planes i saw the containers i think  there's a workshop here too maybe an office what gets made in the workshop the guy looked away he 

didn't answer i started sawing the plaster again den dunker had someone working there that's  all i know i paused with the knife making bombs maybe probably look i made sure not to find  out some things it's better not to know okay how many people are here there's den  donker there are three guys with them at least a bunch of locals maybe half a dozen i don't  know them haven't seen them before i don't think dendoncker trusts them all the way they just  do the cooking and the fetching and carryi

ng plus the three guys who went to the town  we're still waiting for them to get back no need to wait i folded the knife and put  it back in my pocket they won't be coming i let go of the guy's leg he managed to stop his  ankle crashing into the ground but only just then he rolled onto all fours and struggled up  onto his good foot what happened to him the guy hopped around for a minute while he retrieved his  crutches i shrugged your friends are an accident prone bunch the guy made a move aroun

d the corner  he acted like he was heading back to the desk then he spun around he raised the crutch in his  right hand and lunged he was trying to spear me in the gut i moved six inches to the side grabbed  hold midway between the rubber tip and the handle stepped forward and punched him an  uppercut it lifted the guy right off his feet his remaining crutch clattered to  the ground his body followed completely inert he landed on his back neatly between the rails i  flipped him over secured his

wrists with a zip tie took his pistol from his waistband a 1911 it  was old but well maintained i bent his good leg at the knee used another zip tie to fasten  it to the belt loop at the back of his pants picked him up tossed him in the rail  truck and threw his crutches in after him chapter 38 the desk the guy had been  using was at the side of a plant room it was a giant place there were four  huge boilers in a line along one wall four huge water tanks opposite them the ceiling  was hidden by

a tangle of massive pipes some were lagged some were painted they snaked away  in every direction there was a door in the far corner it was the only way out i could see apart  from the tunnel i crossed the room and opened it the door led to a staircase it was made  of wood it had originally been painted white but patches of bare timber were  peeking out from the center of each tread i guess dendoncker's operation generated more  traffic than the architect originally anticipated i climbed up slow

ly i kept my feet near the sides  to avoid creaking there was another door at the top i stopped listened and heard nothing i tried  the handle it wasn't locked it swung open easily and let me out in the corner of a kitchen  it was a huge industrial scale place all stainless steel and white tile there were  stoves ovens microwaves preparation areas a line of giant fridges along one side wall a line of  cupboards along the other i picked one at random it was full of cans of baked beans there were 

hundreds of them they were tiny single servings maybe for children with no appetite it seemed like  a weird choice given the scale of the equipment the kitchen was separated from the dining hall by  a serving counter it was low a suitable height for kids i guess it ran the full width of the room a  section at the left was hinged it was folded back so i went through the rest of the space was dim it  felt cavernous the ceiling was high maybe 20 feet only one bulb was working roughly in the  cente

r i could barely make out my surroundings the floor was made of rectangular wooden blocks  they were fitted together like herringbones there was just one table it was round made of  white plastic there were six plastic chairs and a scruffy circle around it they seemed lost the  place looked like it was designed for long solid refectory tables lined up in neat parallel rows  not cheap garden furniture there was a set of double doors to the right they were closed and  they were solid so i couldn't

see where they led the rest of the wall was glass  narrow metal frames divided the panes they stretched from floor to ceiling harsh white  light was spilling out from somewhere nearby i moved forward to see what was causing  it then i stopped dead in my tracks it was the lack of light in the dining hall  that saved my bacon it prevented the two guys from spotting me the guys in suits who  had accompanied dendoncker to the morgue they were at the far end of the corridor that  led away from the o

ther side of the double doors they were sitting on stools in front of another  identical set of doors the corridor was eight feet wide it was 20 feet long it had glass walls and  a glass ceiling three raised vents evenly spaced and a double line of fluorescent tubes they ran  the whole length they were powerful and bright the human eye can't see from a brightly lit area  into a much dimmer one which was fortunate for me because the guys were each holding a gun an uzi  an interesting choice of we

apon not the lightest not the fastest cyclic rate not the  greatest amount of rifling inside the barrel there are better options out there any of the  heckler and [ __ ] mp5 derivatives for example that's what i'd have picked in their  shoes but in mine alone against two oozies i wouldn't have liked my chances it looked like  the glass corridor led to a mirror image of the part of the building i was in on the outside  anyway inside it most likely had a different setup i couldn't see why a school

would  need two kitchens and two dining halls given the guards with the uzis it seemed like a  safe bet it would be what the guy with the broken ankle had called dendonker's half it would be  suicide to approach it along the corridor i needed to find another entrance i would have to loop  around the exterior which meant finding a way out ahead at the end of the dining hall furthest  from the kitchen there were two doors the one on the right had a sign  that said el maestro principal the one on

the left el diputado maestro principal  i checked them both they were both empty there was no furniture nothing on the walls no closets or  storage areas and neither had an external door there were three sets of doors in the wall  opposite the windows i tried the closest it opened into another large space it was equally  badly lit it was the same width but longer because it had no kitchen to the right adjacent to the  offices there was a raised area like a stage on the far side there was another

expanse  of floor-to-ceiling windows there was a pair of doors in the center leading outside the  other two walls were covered with climbing bars three ropes were suspended from a central ceiling  joist they were coiled up 10 feet from the ground i guess the place was a combined  assembly hall performance space gymnasium originally now it was a storage area  for dendoncker's aluminum containers the containers came in all sorts of shapes and  sizes some had wheels some had none most were jumbled

up at the far end of the hall a few were  lined up and some taped off sections of floor there were four rectangles each was labeled  with a word made out of white duct tape the first said out then there was prep then  in then onward the out area was empty there was one container in prep in was empty  and there were two containers in onward i opened the container and prep it had wheels  it was six feet long by three deep and four high and it was empty i moved along to onward  these containers we

re smaller they were both four by three by one and they were both  sealed there were little metal tags attached to wires that looped through their catches  i broke open the nearer one i lifted the lid it was crammed full of cash bundles of twenty  dollar bills they were used they smelled sweet and sharp which made me think they were real the  second container was lined with blue foam shaped into protective peat it was also full of cardboard  boxes all the same size all the same shape they were p

lain beige there were no markings of any  kind i picked a box at random and looked inside it was full of plastic bottles 32 of them white  with child safe lids i took one out there was a label stuck to its side printed in black and  purple ink there were logos and symbols and barcodes and some text die law did hydromorphone  instant release eight milligrams 100 tablets there was nothing i could use so i crossed to  the doors in the glass wall and headed outside orange light was spilling around t

he side of  the building ahead there was a parking lot there were spaces for 40 vehicles but only two  were taken by a pair of suvs cadillac escalades they were black and dusty and kitted out  with dark glass they were sitting low on their suspension but evenly front to back which  probably meant they were armored to some degree beyond them there was a fence it was 20 feet high  made of stout chain link there was another one running parallel the same height the same  material 25 feet further out

that meant twice the amount of cutting for anyone looking  to break in twice the time twice the exposure i checked for cameras there was one on every other  fence post they were all facing out none were moving so i went to my left and followed around  the building when i was near the corner i heard a sound someone was running more than one person but  not continuously they were starting and stopping and sprinting and turning and there was another  noise a hollow thumping i crouched down and pee

red around i saw where the weird light was coming from  there was a pair of floodlights on tripods like you see at construction sites they were mainly  illuminating a long rectangular patch of dirt it stretched along the side of the building all  the way past the gap that was filled by the glass corridor there were four guys on it playing soccer  they were probably in their mid-20s they had bare feet baggy shorts and no shirts i took out my gun  held it behind my thigh and stepped into the light

the guys stopped and looked at me the nearest one  beckoned for me to join them i waved thanks but no and started moving again i skirted around the far  side of the pitch they started playing again one guy tried an extravagant flick it didn't work  the ball bounced away off the dirt and between the two halves of the building it rolled towards  the glass wall of the corridor he ran to fetch it the guys inside with the uzis didn't react maybe  they didn't notice because of the light imbalance or

maybe they were used to it and didn't care if  you looked down on the school from above it would have looked like a capital h the assembly hall  and dining hall would be one of the uprights the glass corridor would be the crossbar and the other  upright would be dendoncker's half i was hoping that half would have plenty of doors and windows  and it did there was a door in both of the short sides four doors in the long side as well as four  windows they were big six feet high by 20 wide but none

of them were any use to me they were  all boarded up with steel plates half an inch thick with tamper-proof bolts the kind that  are used to keep thieves and squatters out of high value construction sites there was no way  to break through them no way to prise them off and no way up to the roof all the downpipes had  been sawn off 15 feet from the ground there was no way to smash through the side of the building  with a vehicle giant dollops of concrete had been dumped all the way around they we

re four feet in  diameter on average reinforced with steel rebar with a gap between them of no more than three feet  the only way to breach the place would be with a tank or explosives i didn't have either which left  the glass corridor as the only possible way in i figured i'd have to rethink my approach  it was time to get a little more creative there was nothing interesting between the long  side of the building and the fence just a big patch of ground covered with weird rubbery asphalt  mayb

e the sight of a playground back in the day now it was empty so i followed around the  next corner i came upon a kind of rough shed it was built of cinder block painted white with a  corrugated metal roof it had a wooden door secured with a padlock a new one hefty there was one  window at head height it was barred but there was no glass i struck a match stretched in took a look  and instantly blew out the flame the interior was packed full of cylindrical objects sitting on flat  bases with sharp

noses pointing up to the ceiling artillery shells 20 rows of 15 at least they  looked in bad shape their cases were rusty and corroded some were dented and scraped not the kind  of things i was in any hurry to get involved with i found another structure 10 feet further on it  was smaller cube shaped and slightly irregular each side was no more than three feet long it  was all metal including the roof or the lid there was a row of holes punched along the top  edge of the sides maybe an inch diam

eter the front was hinged it was standing open a little i  opened it wider risked another match and looked in it was empty it had been used recently  though for something maybe animal related judging by the stench or maybe part  of dendoncker's interrogation setup it was the kind of place no one would want to  be cooped up in especially not in the midday sun chapter 39 i completed my circuit of the building and went  back inside i made my way through the assembly hall across the dining hall and

crouched in  front of the doors leading to the glass corridor i knocked mp style i figured one of three  things would happen the guys on the other side would ignore me they would call for  reinforcements or they would investigate the first option would be no help the second  could work out okay but i was hoping for the third i was hoping that one guy would stay back and one  would approach he'd open the door the one on my left judging by the way they fitted together  he would pull it back into t

he corridor then either his gun would appear or his head i didn't  care which i would grab whatever i saw yank the guy through break his neck and i'd do it quickly  before the door swung closed again i'd take the guys oozy and fire it through the gap when the  clip was empty i would follow up with a pistol if that was still necessary if the guy who'd  stayed back didn't resemble swiss cheese after that it would be a question of taking his  key year as transponder or whatever was needed to open t

he other pair of doors then i could  find out what the guys were guarding or who probably den donker and hopefully fenton there  was no response to my first knock so i tried again after a moment i heard footsteps they were heavy deliberate the door opened the left one  as i'd thought then man sora appeared not as i'd thought he didn't pause he didn't  peer out he just came striding through i straightened up the door was already closing  but that was the least of my worries mansour spun around to

face me he was grinning his left cheek  was blue and bruised and swollen a souvenir from my elbow that morning i threw a swift jab looking  to add to the damage but he read it he dodged sideways and right away he came back at me he was  fast crazy fast given his size he raised his knee high almost instantly his massive foot flicked  out he was going for my stomach it would have been like getting hit by a bowling ball if he'd  connected my organs would have been mashed i'd have been thrown again

st the door maybe through  the door it would have been game over right there no way was i going to let that happen so i danced  to the side slipped around his kick and launched myself forward i grabbed his thigh pinned it to  my side and drove the heel of my hand up and into his chin his head rocked back it was a solid hit  not the best ever but it would have knocked most guys on their ass i had no doubt about that  i felt him begin to topple backward i thought the job was halfway done loosened

my grip on his  leg shaped up to kick him as soon as he was down which was a mistake the guy was falling but  deliberately he threw both his arms around me locked his hands behind my back and pulled me  over with him there was no way i could resist he had at least a hundred pounds on me and  momentum was on his side we landed in a tangle face to face with me on top but the moment his  back hit the ground the guy levered with his legs he twisted at the waist my arms were trapped  i had nothing to

brace against just empty air a moment later our positions were reversed i  was under him i couldn't move i couldn't breathe i was in serious trouble i knew it he could sense  it all he had to do was hold on let his bulk do the work but he was impatient or he wanted to  show off he pulled his arms out from beneath me slid his knees forward and raised his chest  off mine i sucked in air he leaned forward grabbed my head one hand either side i felt  his thumbs moving around homing in on my eyes i

didn't know if he was just aiming  to blind me or if he had something else in mind like trying to crush my skull or  lift my head and slam it into the floor i didn't wait to find out i gripped his wrists  and whipped my arms down towards my waist at the same time i pushed down into the floor  with my feet driving my hips up into the air a normal opponent would have been catapulted right  over my head he'd have landed winded and surprised on his back this guy barely rose at all six inches  at the

most but that was enough i rolled out got onto all fours and sprang up onto my feet mansour  was already halfway up so i kicked him in the gut the kind of kick that would send a football out  of a stadium and clear across the parking lot it flipped him onto his back he sat right up so i  kicked him again in the side of the head he went over rolled away i followed he tried to get back  on his feet no way was he gonna succeed it was the first rule when you get your opponent down  you finish him n

o hesitation no second chances no mistakes one more kick was all it would  take i pulled my foot back picked my spot and heard the door open behind me stop it was  a man's voice raspy whispery it was dendoncker the voice came closer move and she dies then you  do i glanced over my shoulder dendoncker was there and he wasn't alone the guy in the pale  suit was at his side with his uzi fenton was on dendoncker's other side she was using  an old-school wooden crutch to keep her balance the cuff of

her right pant leg  was hanging loose and empty she had a rope around her neck the other end was  in dendonkar's right hand he was pinching it with his remaining finger and thumb and holding a  knife in his left it had a long narrow blade like the kind british commandos used in  the second world war designed for one thing killing with maximum efficiency he  was pressing its tip in defense throat don't listen to him fenton's voice  was [ __ ] kill a bastard he won't dendonker's eyes were glisteni

ng he  went to a lot of trouble to find you he wants you alive and even if he changed his mind  and decided you're not worth it he's not a fool he knows he's quick with his feet and his  fists but he knows he's not as quick as a nine millimeter bullet and anyway there's no need  for anyone to get killed i have a proposition something very simple very straightforward agree  and we all get to walk away without a scratch no one else will get hurt either so what do you  say mr reacher would you like

to hear my terms chapter 40 the truth was i had no interest  in hearing den dunker's terms none at all but i had negative interest  in getting shot by his stooge and i didn't like seeing fenton trust up and  held at knife point i didn't like that at all lose the rope i said lose the knife then you can  say your piece beyond that i'm making no promises dendoncker wanted to talk in what he called his  office getting there involved going through the double doors along the glass corridor  and throu

gh the doors at the far end the guy in the dark suit unlocked them he held  his keys up to a white square attached to the frame i guess he had a transponder hooked onto  his keyring probably like the one man sore had when i searched him at the morgue but i was too  far away to be certain the guy didn't go through he stood to the side and dendonker stepped  past him and pushed the right-hand door open he went first i followed with the  guy in the pale suit behind me he was close but not so close

i could easily grab  him or the uzi we stepped into another corridor this one ran at 90 degrees it stretched away  left and right running the whole width of this half of the building there was an exit  door at each end their handles were missing i guess they had to be to allow for the steel  plates that covered them on the exterior one side of the corridor was floor-to-ceiling glass facing  the dining hall there was a wall on the other side it was plain white with four doors two to the left  of

the junction with the glass corridor and two to the right each door had a window the glass  was laced with steel wires and covered on the other side with newspaper it was turning yellow  with age all the text i could see was in spanish dendonker led the way to the right behind  me i heard footsteps peeling off in the opposite direction i looked over my shoulder  and saw man sore with his hand wrapped around fenton's elbow guiding her away it made her  arm look like a tiny stick she was moving fr

eely enough though there was no sign that  they'd heard her which was fortunate for them dendoncker ignored the first door he came to  he stopped outside the next one the one at the end he worked the lock with a regular key went in  and hit the light switch six pairs of fluorescent tubes flickered into life on the ceiling there was  a walled off section to the right it was square there were two doors marked ninos and nina's there  was a wide window and another door straight ahead both were board

ed up on the outside there  was a chalkboard on the left hand wall that had been wiped clean the place  had been a classroom that was clear i could trace where the kids desks had  been from the scuff marks on the floor they had been arranged in a horseshoe with  the open end in front of the chalkboard it looked like there'd been five pairs on each of  the other sides the teacher's desk had survived it was set at an angle in the far left corner a  dining chair was next to it with metal legs and a

n orange plastic seat there was another half dozen  of the same kind of chairs in a circle in the center of the room a beaten up leather couch by  the wall on the right a low bookcase at its side it was full of textbooks about physics a  couple of french novels were lying on top on the other side there was an army cod it had  a metal frame painted all of green there was a pillow and a white cotton case just one a  white sheet pulled tight and a foot locker on the floor there was no natural light

no fresh  air it wasn't much of a place to work or sleep dendoncker headed to the right against  the wall feet apart i'm sure this won't be the first time you've done this one minute i  made it through the door to the boy's bathroom before the guy in the pail's hoop could stop  me inside there were two stalls two urinals two basins and two hand dryers everything was  small and chipped and worn but it was clean nothing offered many options for concealing things  i had two guns and a knife i wasn

't too concerned if they got taken i could easily replace them i  was more worried about the phone i had called wall work from it and sonia i didn't want dendonker  trying those numbers i thought about breaking the phone and flushing it away but i didn't know  if the water pressure would be up to the job if it wasn't i would just be drawing attention  to the fact that i had something to hide so i reconsidered all the phones i had taken from  dendoncker's guys were blank he was used to that kind

of discipline so he wouldn't see anything  unusual in it i hoped i made sure the phone was set to silent worked my way through the menu until  i found the option to delete all call records put the phone away waved my hand under the dryer  to trigger its motor then went back out into the dendonker was standing between the pair of  doors he was fidgeting like a five-year-old i turned and rested my hands on the wall and stood  still while he searched me he did a competent job a little slow but thor

ough when he was done he  handed me back my passport and my cash but he kept my toothbrush and the other things come dundonker  headed to the ring of dining chairs sid i strolled across and took the seat opposite him dendoncker  didn't speak he just sat and stared at me his knees were pressed together his hands were resting  on his thighs his head was tipped to one side he looked like an inmate at a senior center  waiting for an encounter group to get started and curious to find out all about th

e new arrival but  if he thought his silence would fill me with the urge to share he'd pick the wrong guy dendoncker  gave up after two minutes he ran the remaining finger and thumb on his right hand through his  wispy hair and wet his lips with his tongue so to business but first a question  who do you work for mr reacher no one okay so your freelance who hired you no  one someone did and i know who it was you can say his name you won't be breaking any  confidences just confirming what i alread

y know no one hired me den donker looked me  straight in the eye nader khalil yes you can nod your head you don't have to say  a word never heard of the guy dendoncker didn't respond for a moment his face was blank i  couldn't tell if he was relieved or disappointed all right den donker shook his head let's get  back on track my proposition it's very simple easy to carry out no one gets hurt you and your  friend walk away scot-free the moment it's done how does that sound i said nothing all the 

job involves is driving and a little lifting easy for a guy your size it'll only take three  days i'll give you the route to follow and pay for your meals in a hotel for both nights nice  places then when you reach the destination you'll drop off an item just one see nothing  could be easier i take it you agree i do not maybe i wasn't clear about the alternative  dendonker nodded towards the guy with the uzi there's a lot of desert around here a lot  of scavengers they'd never find the bodies y

ours or your friends my answer's still no  i'm not your delivery boy and it's better for two lives to be lost than 50. i don't  follow dendonker pretended to look confused how would 50 lives be lost the item you  want me to deliver i know what it is wrinkles furrowed dendonkar's forehead  the item is harmless i give you my word i said nothing i don't know what you  heard but if you think the item is dangerous you've been given bad information  then donker stood up come see for yourself chapter 4

1 dendoncker led the way to the next room along the  corridor another former classroom it was the same shape as dendoncker's office the same size the  same layout it had the same kids bathrooms the same broad rectangular window and exit door sealed  up tight with steel plates the same harsh lighting another army cod against the wall this one had  a green blanket over its sheet and two pillows and in place of the circle of chairs in the  center of the room it looked like the contents of a mobile

workshop had been unloaded there  was a folding metal workbench with a pair of goggles hanging over the handle of its vice it  was next to a trolley with two gas cylinders attached with chains one was larger than the  other oxygen and acetylene i guessed they were connected by a flexible pipe with a nozzle at  one end there were four tool chests on wheels with all kinds of drawers and doors and handles  they were made of metal painted olive green they were all scuffed and dented this wasn't thei

r  first tour of duty that was obvious dendoncker crossed the roman stood against the left-hand wall  next to the chalkboard he was at the end of a row of artillery shells there were nine all together  divided into three groups of three one in the center of each set was pointing straight up one  was angled to the right one was angled to the left each of the trios was fixed to a metal base like  a tray the sides were four inches high and there was a wheel at each corner this is what we're  talkin

g about den donker pointed at the shells one of these they generate smoke that's  all nothing harmful nothing dangerous i stayed near the door then donker blinked a  couple of times then stared off into the distance as if he was struggling to complete a complex  calculation in his head okay i see the problem this is what we're gonna do pick one i didn't  move the original plan was to go with three but we decided a single one would get the point across  better less is more isn't that what people

say so pick one we'll take it outside and trigger  it you'll see for yourself that it's benign i figured that if dendoncker was prepared to  sacrifice one of his bombs it'd be crazy not to let him that would be one fewer to deal with later  i made my way over to the liner devices examined them each in turn saw that the shells all had a  series of holes drilled around their bodies just below the point where the nose cone was attached  each hole was half an inch in diameter each shell had a tube s

ticking out of one of the holes the  tubes were made of black rubber and they snaked down to a pump mounted at the center of each tray  each pump was wired to a battery the kind that might be used in a small car or a lawn mower each  battery was also wired to a watch and a cell phone the watches were digital just the bodies no straps  some ancient casio model i remember my brother joe had one just like it in the early nineties they  were secured to the left-hand shell of each device the phones w

ere taped to the shells on the  right they had real keys and small screens they looked basic old-fashioned but solid reliable and  presumably redundant if the watches did their jobs i had thought i would maybe see something  different in one of them something small and subtle that showed it had been set up specially  for the demonstration or that den donker would try to trick me like a hustler who needs their mark  to pick a particular card either way i would go for one of the others but there w

as nothing the  devices were identical as far as i could tell dendoncker stood back he stayed still his body  language was silent his expression was neutral what are you waiting for dendoncker swept his hand  along the line but without emphasizing one device over another they're all the same just pick one  when in doubt i always let the numbers guide me there were three devices there were  two prime numbers between one and three so i pointed to the second device dendoncker  pulled out his phone

and told whoever answered his call to report to the workshop right away  two minutes later mansoor appeared in the doorway dendoncker pointed to the device i'd  picked and said he wanted it taken outside mansoor loped across the room and studied  it for a moment then he grabbed it by its central upright shell he dragged it away from  the wall and steered it back towards the door the whole time he was dealing with it he  was ignoring me actively the way feuding cats pretend not to notice each oth

er we  must have made a strange looking procession first man sore wheeling the bomb in front of him  then dendoncker then me and finally the guy with the uzi further back keeping what he probably  thought was a safe distance no one spoke as we went through the first set of double doors along  the glass corridor through the second set of doors across the dining hall through the assembly hall  and out into the parking lot mansour continued until he was level with the pair of suvs it was  almost fu

lly dark by then his outline started to fade as he reached the limit of the glow that was  spilling out through the tall windows the orange light was no longer visible from around the corner  of the building there was no sound except for the device's wheels skittering across the asphalt  the soccer players must have called it a night dendoncker made another call he said  he wanted the floodlight switched on a moment later the whole perimeter of the  building lit up it was like a castle moat only

made of light rather than water ahead of us  mansour plotted the device's wheels with his toe one at a time engaging their locks then he  made his way over and stood at dendonker's side dendoncker dialed another number and held the  phone out to me wanna do it i shook my head okay dendoncker hit the green button closed  the phone and slid it back into his pocket just watch nothing happened for 10  seconds 20. then i heard three beeps from the device i pitched electronic the pump  began to hum i

t built up to a steady drone smoke appeared just a wisp at first  white from the holes in the central shell it grew into a steady stream it was  thick dense like steam from a kettle blue smoke began to pour from the right hand shell  it mingled into a single plume but maintained the two distinct colors finally the left-hand shell  got in on the act red smoke gushed out it was at full force right away billowing upward and  quickly matching the other shades for volume c smoke dendonker walked forw

ard until he  was a couple of feet away from the device he flapped his left arm and made a show of  wafting some of each color into his mouth and nose he kept it up for 10 seconds then coughed and  retreated to his previous spot it burns the throat a little i can't deny that but it's not poisonous  there are no explosions and there's no so are you satisfied i waited another minute until  the last of the smoke had petered out the blue lasted longest but all three shells had produced a  prodigious

quantity the space between the wall and the fence along the whole width of the building  was filled with a swirling patriotic cloud i was impressed when sonja first told me about  michael's plan i was dubious i pictured a tiny spurt pale colors a blink and you miss it kind of  deal nothing to impress an audience live or on tv but if a thing like this went off in the middle  of a ceremony there was no way the crowd could fail to notice satisfied dendoncker glared at me  good to go i was starting

to think i'd been wrong maybe i should have been more interested  in dendonker's proposal after all i said you want me to take one of these things  drive for three days then leave it somewhere priests nicely dendoncker nodded that's all  you have to do where do you want me to leave it you'll be given directions one day at a time  three days drive enough time to get all the way up into canada or down into central america  but realistically given that kind of distance the target would be on the e

ast coast dc  maybe or the white house or the pentagon i said okay but why do you want me to leave  it anywhere what's the point i have my reasons you don't need to know them and they're not  up for debate the only question is who drives the truck you can do it and walk away when the  job's done or you can choose a different outcome and i'll find someone else to do it and the woman  her fate is your fate you choose to live she lives you choose not to okay she can come with me  in the truck share

the driving help with the navigation dendoncker shook his head she's going  to remain our guest until you complete the mission in other words you don't trust me den donker  didn't reply that's okay i said i don't trust you either how do i know you won't  kill a woman the moment i'm out of sight dendoncker took a moment to think fair point  before you leave i'll return your phone i'll give you a number you can call it anytime talk  to her confirm she's okay you let a captive sit around all day w

ith a phone of course not one of  my guys will bring you the phone when you call i would have been happier if i was sure  which of his guys would answer the phone if i could guarantee it would be one guy in  particular but i had a good idea who it would be what role he would play anyway and in the  circumstances i figured that was good enough chapter 42 my mother was french i was born in  germany i've lived on bases in dozens of countries i've listened to people speak all kinds of  languages som

e sound familiar some i can make sense of pretty easily others not so much  the words i heard come out of dendonker's mouth sounded just like they were english only i  knew they meant something else altogether something i could understand with no trouble at  all he wanted me to do his dirty work to plant the device for him he would keep fenton alive until  it was in place then he would kill her and me maybe the truck he'd supply was booby-trapped  maybe he'd have someone lying in wait with a sni

per rifle but one way or another there was no  scenario in which he could let fentner me survive i understood dendoncker's words when he laid  out his plan i was sure i did but whether he understood mine when i agreed was a whole other  question one he wasn't gonna like the answer to the demonstration was over terms were agreed the  wind was picking up it was tugging at our clothes the desert night was growing chilly  there was no reason to stay outside so we headed back into the building we tro

oped  along in the same order as before but two things were different this time the first was that mansor  wasn't wheeling a bomb in front of him he just left its spent remains outside in the parking  lot still shrouded in the last traces of smoke the second came when we reached the far end  of the glass corridor we passed through the double doors and mansoor turned left dendonker  went to the right and headed for his office i stopped and stood still the guy with  the uzi almost clattered into m

e this way [ __ ] man sores stopped outside the  first door he reached and worked its lock i let a moment tick past then moved up alongside  him the guy with the uzi trailed along behind in mansour pushed the door open i stepped through  and he shoved me in the back hard his fingers were spread his hand landed square between my shoulder  blades he put his full weight into it like he was trying to launch me through the back wall a  little payback for earlier i guessed probably hoping i'd at least

end up flattening my face and  looked stupid in front of the guy with the uzi in which case he must have been disappointed  because i saw him move he was reflected in the glass so i planted my foot leaned back  into the pressure and barely broke my stride the room was just like dendonker's office and  the workshop only it was laid out the opposite way round the bathrooms were on the left and  the chalkboard was on the right there was only one piece of furniture an army cod it was in the  dead c

enter of the room it was bolted to the floor and fenton was sitting on it she grabbed her  crutch stood up and took one step in my direction the door slammed behind me footsteps stomped  away down the corridor 30 seconds later they stomped back again the door opened and a  mattress came sailing in through the gap i stepped to the side to avoid it landing on me  it was thin with cream and olive green stripes and it had more than its share of marks and stains it  was probably the one from the bed

in the workshop minus its sheets and blanket and pillows sleep  well [ __ ] mansour slammed the door again i heard the key turn and this time two sets  of footsteps clattered away into the distance fenton hustled around the crumpled mattress  close the gap between us and threw her free arm around me she pulled me close and pressed her head  against my chest she said i can't believe you're here then she let go and took a step back you  shouldn't have come you know that right what were you thinkin

g i'm like the proverbial bad penny  you can't get rid of me this isn't funny now we're both in trouble deep trouble honestly there might  be no way out of this for either of us i shook my head don't worry everything's gonna work out  fine give it three days and we'll be home and dry fenton held up her free hand then pointed to  her ear then made a circular gesture indicating the roman general all i can say is thank you  and i'm sorry i got you involved in all this don't mention it i picked up t

he mattress and set  it on the floor about six feet away from the bed and seriously don't worry i copied  her someone might be listening signal i've made an arrangement with dendoncker i'd  do something for him and he lets us both go oh fenton rolled her eyes good that's reassuring i  used the bathroom and when i came out i saw that fenton had moved her mattress off her bed frame  and laid it on the floor next to mine she'd spread her sheet out so that it covered about half  of each side and had

given us one pillow each want to get the light she said i hit the switch  and made my way slowly through the darkness until my foot found the side of my mattress  i laid down and put my head on the pillow but didn't take off my shoes i wanted to be ready  for whatever might be in store before morning i didn't trust dendocker one inch and i could  easily imagine mansoor and his buddies hatching some dumb scheme with me in their crosshairs a  moment later fenton sat down i heard her crutch rattli

ng against the floor i felt her stretch  out she was still for a moment then she wriggled across onto my half of the makeshift bed she  snuggled in close her breath was warm on my neck then she was twisted like she was having  some sort of convulsion something landed on my head it was rough against my cheek and it  stank like a mixture of diesel fuel and mildew it was her blanket judging by the weight she'd  folded it multiple times to muffle the sound she whispered where are we you don't know 

i whispered back they threw a hood over my head made me go down a ladder felt like maybe  through a tunnel there were stairs at the far end we're in mexico the tunnel is actually a drain  it goes right under the border how did you know i'm good at finding people remember you  said you were good at catching people seems to me we're the ones who've been  caught don't worry it's a temporary situation why did you come i heard you were in trouble  figured you'd do the same for me you came to help and

to deal with den donker fent inside  it's just i was hoping no forget it i'm being stupid about what i was hoping you were  bringing news about michael that he was alive i said nothing so fenton said after a moment  what happens next then donker lets me go in the morning i come back for you think he'll  let me live long enough i guarantee he will why would he he thinks he has to in order to  get what he wants just what kind of a deal did you make one that won't turn out the way  he thinks it wi

ll why not because i'm gonna fenton didn't reply she rested her head on my  shoulder but i knew she wasn't about to sleep i could feel the tension in her reacher she lifted  her head will you really come back count on it i have no right to ask but when you do  will you help me with one more thing what michael's body help me find it i want to take  him home give him a proper funeral i didn't answer right away it was an understandable  request i didn't see how i could say no but the body could be

anywhere buried in the  sand burned beyond recognition blown to pieces i didn't want to commit to a never-ending hopeless  quest don't worry it was like she'd read my mind i know where it'll be the guy at the tree  said the usual place i know where that is it was getting stuffy under the blanket fenton  raised her arm to push it away but i stopped her i whispered wait i have a question for you about  michael is it true that he liked puzzles cryptic clues i guess i never paid much attention to  t

hat kind of thing i'm too literal too analytical it's the one thing we don't have in common take  crosswords for example michael loved them i hate them i'm too pedantic i can always give you  10 reasons why the answers don't make sense they drive me crazy fenton didn't wait for me to  ask her anything else she just flung the blanket aside we lay still side by side breathing the  slightly fresher air then she put her head on my shoulder rolled onto her side stretched her  left arm out across my c

hest and she was still again except for a little shiver that ran down  her spine i brought my arm up and cupped her shoulder in my hand she snuggled her face into  my neck her hair smelled of lavender all of a sudden i didn't care about the lumpy pillow or the  paper-thin mattress or the hard floor beneath it spending the night there with fenton was an  upgrade on the morgue and the dismembered guy that was for sure though i would have been even  happier if we were somewhere else all together re

acher fenton's voice was  even quieter than before will this really turn out all  right absolutely i said for us chapter 43 i felt fenton's body relax and her  breathing grows slower and deeper but when i tried to follow her off to sleep  i had no luck not right away my head was too full of questions and doubts about dendoncker  about the whole charade we were playing out i'd almost caused him to get kidnapped  and i'd killed a bunch of his guys burned down his business broken into his hidden  h

q he should have been angry resentful outraged but instead he'd laid out his proposal like he was  interviewing me for a job in a candy store i was missing part of the picture there was no other  explanation i just didn't know how big a part dendoncker could have had someone from his  regular smuggling crew deliver the bomb the long-standing team fenton had been allocated  to backfill when she infiltrated his organization that would have been the easy thing  to do the straightforward thing but h

e hadn't gone down that path he'd gone  out of his way to avoid it twice first when he tapped michael to transport the bomb even  though that wasn't his specialty and now with me he was determined to compartmentalize to insulate  the rest of his operation from this one job and he was desperate to see it through  to completion both those things were clear but neither was consistent with  helping michael make an innocent protest my guess was that there was an additional  layer to the scheme that s

omeone else had approached dendoncker someone with an agenda that  involved wreaking havoc on veterans day and with deep enough pockets to convince dendocker to play  ball or with a big enough stick to force him to dendoncker already had michael on board fenton's  contact said dendoncker hired michael to help with the landmines he was selling michael was on shaky  ground psychologically at that time i doubt it would have been too hard for dendoncker to finesse  him into believing the protest was

his own idea so michael designed the devices built them  tested them then something happened he got cold feet and sent an sos to his sister i didn't know  michael i never met him but i couldn't imagine anyone in his position wanting to pull a plug  on an operation he'd worked so hard to create not unless something about  it had fundamentally changed or had been fundamentally misunderstood from  the outset like the ingredients of the smoke maybe dendoncker was planning to add something  to the f

inal mix or maybe his paymaster was dendoncker had a bunch of artillery shells  crammed into the shed beyond the school building 300 of them at least some of them could contain  chemicals all of them could mustered gas sarin all kinds of nasty things that could be what michael  had discovered what brought him to his senses what ultimately got him killed if i was right  dendoncker and his guys were in for a busy night the device wouldn't just need to be moved through  the tunnel and carried up th

e ground level it would need to be doctored filled with poison  or loaded with extra explosives or made lethal in some other way all without their resident bomb  maker's help but whatever dendoncker had in mind it wouldn't make any difference not anymore not  combined with a demonstration because he hadn't just agreed to prepare another bomb for transport  he'd also promised me the keys to its truck that meant two-thirds of his immediate arsenal  would soon be neutralized which left only one dev

ice to deal with and it would be just  as soon as fenton was out of harm's way i slept for five hours in the end my eyes  opened again at seven half an hour later i heard the key turn and the log the door  was thrown open fenton woke with a start she rolled back onto her own mattress the lights  flickered into life and the guy in the pale suit stepped into the room he covered us with a zoozy  the guy in the dark suit moved in behind him he was carrying a tray in each hand he set them  down on th

e floor between the bathroom doors each had a plate covered with some kind of orange  mush and a mug of coffee nerdy minute the guy in the pale suit said his words were slurred i  guess his jaw still wasn't working quite right be ready don't keep us waiting the two guys  backed out into the car door and locked the door i collected the trays while fenton hauled her  mattress up onto the bed frame and then we sat together and drank our coffee it was weak and  lukewarm and someone had put milk in b

oth mugs not a promising start and things got worse  with the food the stuff on the plates turned out to be baked beans they must have been  microwaved to death but now they were cold they'd started to congeal fenton balked at hers  so i ate both platefuls it was the golden rule eat when you can the guys came back after 28  minutes i was lying on my mattress pretending to doze fenton was in the bathroom on your feet the  guy in the pale suit held the door open let's go i stretched and yawned and

stood up and ambled  towards him see in three days i called as i passed the bathrooms then i left the room the guy  in the dark suit led the way i was the meat and the sandwich with the other guy following with  a zoozy we went through the double doors along the glass corridor diagonally across the dining  hall and into the kitchen the guy pointed to the door in the far corner you know the way mansoor  was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs he didn't say anything just set off into  the

tunnel and beckoned for me to follow we walked in silence side by side breathing  the stale air we followed the rails in and out of the pools of yellow light until we reached  the hole in the wall which led into the house mansour went through first it was darker  in the little ante room the motorized door was closed there was a button on its frame a  small thing like a bell push mansur pressed it a motor rumbled and the door started to  move it cranked its way through 90 degrees we went through

into the cellar mansur waved  his keys near a spot on the rough wooden wall and the door started to close again then he  nodded towards the ladder i climbed up first he followed pushed past me and led the way through  the door to the side of the kitchen a u-haul truck was sitting out on the street it had been left  in the spot sonja had parked in the day before it was a regular size not shiny not filthy it had  pictures of national park scenes on both sides it was a good choice of vehicle it was

so  ubiquitous as to be practically invisible the guy walked over to it then reached into  his pocket and pulled out sonia's phone here he handed it to me there's a number in  the memory call it and you can talk to the woman nothing will happen to her nothing bad  not as long as you follow your instructions chapter 44 i opened the phone man sir had just returned  to me and worked my way through the menu i located the memory there was one entry i called  it and after a couple of rings a man answ

ered i hadn't heard his voice before what's up the  new voice said why are you calling so soon i said put fenton on already you gotta be kidding  i was told any time do you have a different understanding of the word fine give me a minute  i heard a sound like a chair being pushed back on a wooden floor then footsteps five not hurried  probably an average length stride a door opened there were more footsteps another eight some  keys jangled another door opened and the guy called out hey phone cal

l make it quick will you  the door didn't close the guy didn't move after 10 seconds i heard a squeak and hop squeak and  hop as fenton crossed the floor with her crutch after another 10 seconds her voice  came on the line yes i said miss me yet i'm learning to live with the disappointment  outstanding hang in there i'll call again soon i ended the call and slid the phone into my pocket  mansour passed me a bundle of twenty dollar bills for food and gas there's five hundred dollars  should be pl

enty the hotels are already paid for i put the money in my pocket  next he gave me a piece of paper there were some directions written on it by  hand first giving the route to i-10 heading east then continuing to a motel near a place called big  spring texas there's a room booked in your name a facts will be waiting when  you check out in the morning tomorrow's instructions will be on it keep your  head down stay out of trouble he handed me a key one last thing if i ever see you again you'll  do

what i walked around to the back of the truck and rolled up the tailgate hand me  your ass so i can give it another kicking there was one item in the load bay an aluminum  container it was on wheels it looked like one that had been in the area marked prep in the school  assembly hall the day before it was the same size six feet long three feet wide four feet tall the  only difference was that it had stenciled words painted in black on its long sides premier event  management i reached in and to

uched the letters the paint was dry above the words in the top right  hand corner there was a line of digits they were in the same font but the size was smaller there  were six of them then a hyphen then four more maybe a serial number or an  inventory reference of some kind the container was large enough to hold a device  with three artillery shells i was sure of that but i couldn't verify that anything was actually  inside the lid was fixed down with padlocks eight of them heavy and shiny and

new a line of  holes had been drilled in the sides near the top an inch and a half in diameter and the  whole thing was secured to anchor points on the floor of the truck with orange  straps six heavy duty cinched down tight it looked like checking the contents  was gonna be someone else's problem you need to get going mansur was  pacing up and down alongside the truck and remember if you stop we'll know you deviate  from the route we'll know you mess with the device we'll know do any of those t

hings  and there'll be a price to pay only you won't pay it the woman will i'll see to  it personally i'll make a video and send it to you i couldn't help wondering how important this guy  was to den donker how he would react if i took a minute to finish what i started the day before i  was tempted to find out very tempted but i forced myself to leave the guy alone for the time being  there was no sense in jeopardizing the mission not with fenton still behind enemy lines and  anyway good things

come to those who wait i rolled down the tailgate and latched it in place  in that case there are two things you need to know first i stop for coffee frequently that's  not negotiable and second i'm taking a detour a short one down the street on the other side of  the house i parked my car there yesterday there's something in it i want what fenton suitcase  why would you need that i don't but she will when i've delivered the package and dendoncker  lets her go we're going to get together mansoor

thought for a moment he must have realized  he was in a bind he couldn't admit that dendoncker had no intention of releasing fenton or he  knew i wouldn't do what they wanted me to he said the street parallel to this one  correct he started towards the passenger door all right i'll come with you the driver's seat  was already pushed all the way back the mirrors were fine the controls seemed straightforward so i  fired up the engine and pulled away from the curb i took it easy on that first stre

et negotiated  my way around the next couple of turns continued to the end lumbered back and  forth across the fishtail until i got the truck turned around then i pulled  in behind the chevy and climbed down i didn't have the keys so i couldn't unlock the  trunk dendoncker had kept them after he searched me so i opened the driver's door and found the  release lever mansor lifted the lid he reached in and already had fenton's case unzipped by the time  i got to the back of the car he rummaged aro

und messing up her neat packing and spilling the odd  item but he seemed satisfied there was nothing in there he needed to worry about nothing i could  use to defuse their bomb or derail their scheme he ran his fingers around the outside of the case  one last time then closed it up lifted it out and set it on the sidewalk he said okay you can take  it better get moving i stepped around the case and opened the car's back door there's one other  thing she's gonna need i picked up the backpack i'd

retrieve from the lincoln after the crash  outside the border inn wait mansour scowled at me what's in there just this i pulled out fenton's  prosthetic leg and shoved it in his face hard for her to walk without it the guy  jumped back fine take that too now get out of here i guess fenton was right when she said  people were freaked out by anything to do with wounds or injuries mansour certainly was enough  not to find out if anything else was in the bag i left mansoor to walk back to the house

and  started out following dendoncker's directions they led me through the final few maisy streets  on the outskirts of the town and on to the long straight road that went past the tree the spot  where i first met fenton no one was staging an ambush there that day no one was there at all  alive or dead i drove slowly and steadily like an old geezer had taken his antique car for its  weekly outing i was mindful of the cargo in the back of the truck i didn't want it blowing up if i  hit a pothole

and i didn't want to get pulled over with it on board i figured it was unlikely there  would be any police patrols around those parts but it's the things you don't expect that [ __ ]  in the ass i kept an eye on my mirrors the whole time i wanted to know if i was being followed  i couldn't see anyone no black lincolns no worn out jeeps so i also scanned the sky for small  planes or helicopters or drones and again i came up blank which wasn't a surprise i believed  mansoor when he said they'd be

monitoring me but it was more likely they'd have put  a gps chip in the bomb or in the truck or both which would be fine that wouldn't  hurt me at all in fact i was relying on it chapter 45 the small roads led me through scrub  and desert for 40 minutes then i merged onto the highway traffic was light i let the truck settle  down to a steady 55 i checked the mirrors i checked the sky no one was following nothing was  watching after 20 minutes i came to a truck stop i pulled in topped off the tru

ck's tank then  headed into the little store to pay i filled a to-go cup with coffee hot this time with no milk  and i asked the clerk for change for the pay phone the guy looked like i'd asked for a date with his  mother he must have been in his early twenties i guess it wasn't a request he heard very often  maybe it was a request he'd never heard at all there were two pay phones both were outside  attached to the end wall of the building they were covered with matching curved  canopies made ou

t of translucent plastic maybe for protection from the weather maybe  for privacy either way i wasn't too concerned it wasn't too hot it wasn't raining and there  was no one around to overhear anything i said i ducked under the nearer canopy the wall beneath  it was plastered with business card sized pieces of paper and cardboard adverts for escort services  mainly some were subtle but most not so much i ignored them picked up the handset and dialed wall  works number nothing happened the phone

was dead so i tried the second one i was unlocked this  time it had a dial tone i tapped the digits in again and wall work answered on the second ring  sorry richa he said the map of the drainage system i've tried but there's nothing don't worry  about it i said the research phase is over i brought him up to speed with how i came to have  the truck it's cargo and my destination for the night my eta is around 2100 local i said can you  meet me there wall work was silent for a moment it won't be e

asy i'll have to pull some strings  but to secure the device sure i'll find a way you'll fly out i have to i'm in the middle of  tennessee too far to drive to texas in time okay when you land make sure the chopper doesn't  leave right away and tell the pilot to refuel fill the tanks to the brim why i'm gonna need  a ride someplace can't do that richa you're a civilian the bureau is not a taxi service i  don't need a taxi i need to get to fenton before dendoncker kills her wall work went silent a

gain  and i need to get dendonker i'm the only one who can unless you'd rather he walks there might  be a way wall works said after a long moment on one condition when you get  dendonka you hand him over to me alive understood now two other things you can't  move the truck until the morning that's critical fenton's life depends on it and there are some  items i need you to bring for me five all together wall work wrote down my list then hung up i  refilled my coffee climbed into the truck and go

t back on the road the truck wasn't fast it wasn't  fancy but it was surprisingly relaxing to drive it just did what it was designed to do ate  up the miles hour after hour no fuss no drama i rolled along nice and steady  arizona gave way to new mexico new mexico gave way to texas the tarmac stretched  away in front of me it seemed to go on forever the sky above was vast mainly blue with  occasional smudges of wispy white clouds an ocean a grey-green scrub extended all around  sometimes flat som

etimes rising up or falling away sometimes with jagged peaks on the horizon  never coming closer never getting further away i stopped for gas whenever the needle dropped  below halfway i kept an eye open for anyone who might take too much interest in me no one did  and i called fenton at random intervals the same guy answered every time and he followed the same  routine when he brought the phone to her his chair scraped back he took five footsteps he opened  a door he took eight footsteps then h

e unlocked fenton's door i figured he had to be coming from  the next room the one at the end of the corridor the only one i hadn't seen the inside of yet i  arrived at the hotel at 2105 it was the first in a line of four it was identical to the others except  for the sign announcing which chain it belonged to the building was rectangular it had two stories  small windows a flat roof the office was at one end a bunch of air conditioning machines was  clustered at the other half hidden behind a l

ine of spindly bushes there were parking spots  all along one wall with an overflow lot between the building and the next hotel it was empty so  i took a space at the far end of the last row i climbed out stretched made sure the truck  was locked and made my way back to reception a woman was sitting behind the counter she didn't  notice me for a moment she was too engrossed in a book she was reading her concentration didn't  break until the phone rang on the desk in front of her it was a complic

ated looking  thing all covered with buttons and lights she stretched out to pick up the receiver then  stopped when she realized i was standing there they can call back she smiled at me or leave a  message sorry to keep you waiting can i help i have a reservation name a reacher the woman woke  her computer and tapped on some keys here we are already paid for an online booking just one  night i nodded could i see some id please i handed her my passport she flicked through to  the information pag

e then narrowed her eyes this is expired sir correct no good for  international travel but still valid for identification i'm not sure i pointed to her  computer go online if you don't believe me check with the federal government she paused  with one hand hovering above the keyboard she didn't believe me that was obvious i guess she  was weighing the consequences of proving me wrong the paperwork involved with issuing a refund  explaining to her bosses why she'd turned away a customer the impact

on occupancy statistics  no need mr richard i'm sure you're right she passed the passport back to me how many room  keys will you be needing just one the woman opened a drawer and took out a piece of plastic the size  of a credit card she fed it into a machine on her desk and tapped some more computer keys a  little light turned from red to green she retrieved the card and handed it to me room 222  would you like me to write that down for you no need okay then the breakfast bar is in the  lobby

and it's open from 6 until 8. any questions dial 0 on your room phone i hope you enjoy your  stay with us and visit again soon the woman went back to her book i went back to the truck i sat  in the rear fender leaned my head against the tailgate closed my eyes and felt the cool evening  breeze on my face ten minutes ticked past 15. then i heard a vehicle approaching more than  one i looked up and saw a line of silver sedans five of them all identical chrysler 300s the  lead car swooped into the

parking lot the others followed then fanned out and stopped in a row in  front of me the guy who was driving the nearest car climbed out it was wallwork he hurried across  passed me a white plastic sack then shook my hand reaching good to see him he nodded towards  the truck the device it's in there as promised excellent work while work gave the thumbs up  to the guys in the car next to his thank you we'll take it from here i unlocked the door took  out the backpack and handed the key to wall w

ork i've left the suitcase in there it's  fenton's look after it until tomorrow sure wall work took me by the elbow and led me  away from the other vehicles listen he lowered his voice i think we trust each other so i'm gonna  be totally honest with you after we spoke i called my old supervisor the one who's a tdac now he's  on his way out here we're going to secure the area and he's going to examine the device in situ i  know i said we wouldn't move it until tomorrow but unless he's certain the

re's no risk to the  public i'm gonna have to break that promise i said nothing think about it richa what if the  device explodes if it spews toxic gas into the atmosphere if it's radioactive we have those  risks on one hand and a woman who put herself in harm's way on the other a woman you might not  even be able to save whenever we move the truck chapter 46 impossible the pilot looked at the place i  was pointing to on the map and shook his head no i refuse i can't do it i cannot cross into  m

exican airspace not without authorization it's out of the question it's not gonna happen  not under any circumstances do you understand i was surprised a little disappointed  but not in any way confused so i didn't feel the need to reply a pair of  mechanics was watching us so was the agent who had driven me from the hotel to the airfield  they were hanging around not so close that the pilot might feel inhibited about yelling at me but  not so far away they would miss anything he said the mechan

ics were apparently studying something  on a handheld computer screen that didn't have a keyboard the agent was fiddling with his phone all  of them were over compensating pretending not to be aware of us but clearly listening to every  word and enjoying the confrontation the pilot was belligerent unnecessarily so i thought  the three of them had picked up on that too they were waiting to see where things went from  there whether the pilot would be satisfied with a verbal argument or whether an

escalation  was on the cards to something physical something to spice up their evening i'll take you  as close to the border as you like the pilot said right up to it but we will stay on the u.s side i  will not be party to an illegal border crossing so do not ask me again are we clear i said fine los  hamelos it is the u.s side let's just get going when i came up with this plan i figured i  would have until at least 8 a.m to carry it out maybe 9 00 a.m at a stretch that  would be plenty of time

but if walworx guy insisted on moving the truck before morning  dendonker would know i was certain of that so he would also know that i double-crossed him not  a problem for me but a death sentence for fenton there was no longer a second despair the mechanics  quit gazing at their computer and drifted away towards the only hangar with an open door the  agent put his phone away and jumped in behind the wheel of his silver chrysler the pilot climbed up  into the cockpit of the helicopter its silh

ouette was familiar it was a sikorsky uh-60m the civilian  version of the blackhawk that the army uses this one had more antennae than i remembered  it had wheels rather than skids and it wasn't dusty green it was gloss black long and sleek and  menacing like a predator rather than a workhorse there was an index number on its tail but nothing  to indicate which agency owned it just a discreet united states and gray letters towards the rear  of its fuselage i lifted my backpack into the rear comp

artment climbed in after it slid the door  closed buckled myself into one of the rear-facing jump seats and put on my headset the pilot went  to work on his pre-flight procedures and once the rotors were whirling and the aircraft was  starting to hop on its suspension eager to get off the ground i heard his voice through the  intercom he said sorry about that little show i needed to make sure those guys will remember me  refusing across the border just in case in case of what you getting caught

here's what's gonna happen  i'll attempt a landing right by the barrier just like i said i would but we'll be in the desert the  wind is unpredictable at the last minute i'll get blown off course to the south just a few yards the  thermals happen to be patchy right there so we'll drop to about three feet off the ground then i'll  recover hold position for a couple of seconds my wheels will never touch mexican soil no harm  no foul but if you without my prior knowledge or consent take advantage o

f the situation  and spontaneously jump out of the aircraft there'll be nothing i can do about it will that  work of course it's the way we always do it including the walk through the tunnel it took a  whisker over 12 hours to get from dendoncker's school hq to the hotel in big spring including a  two-mile walk from the illicit drop zone it took a shade under five hours to get back the time in  the air was uneventful the pilot knew what he was doing he flew fast and smooth and straight and  i do

zed as much as the rattling of the fixtures and fittings and the throbbing of the rotors and  engines would allow i woke when we plunged down 20 feet the pilot was something of a method actor  i guess that gave me my cue to unstrap my harness abandon my headset and hauled back the door the  cabin filled with noise the downdraft almost pulled me out i couldn't see the ground three feet  the guy had said the prospect of leaping into the darkness didn't appeal however far there was to  drop then i

felt the helicopter began to rise again there was no more time i stepped out my feet  touched the ground i ducked down and stayed that way until the roaring and the noise and the wind  were no longer directly overhead the next thing i did was check my phone there was nothing from wall  work they must not have moved the truck not yet i took a black hoodie out of my backpack the first  of the things i'd asked wall work to get for me and pulled it on partly for concealment partly  to ward off the c

hill of the desert night then i started to move quickly but carefully  the ground was all sand and grit and gravel hard to cross without making a lot of noise it was  dark and the surface was uneven it rose and fell at unpredictable intervals and it was studded with  holes and channels and cracks the whole place was a broken ankle waiting to happen and i didn't  know what kind of company might be out there snakes scorpions spiders nothing i was  interested in having a close encounter with i was

coming from the west so the glow  of the us half of the town was away to my left i kept moving until i was as close to the school's  outer fence as i could risk due to the cameras the building was dark both halves so were its grounds  everything was wrapped in shadow except the glass corridor it was a blaze with light there was  no way to approach it that wasn't transparent and no other way into dendonker's side of the  building i checked my phone nothing from wall work not yet it was five to tw

o in the morning  normally i would have preferred to find some shelter and lay up for a couple of hours  launch my attack at 4 00 am the time the kgb had always used to stage their raids when people  are at their most vulnerable psychologically that was their scientific conclusion  based on a whole lot of data but that night i didn't have the luxury of waiting  i couldn't hold out until every detail was ideal two hours was plenty of time for the  tdac guy to insist on moving the bomb plenty of t

ime for fenton to run out of luck  i pulled out my phone and called the number in its memory the usual guy answered his voice was  thick and heavy with sleep he just said no i said i haven't asked you to do anything yet you want to  speak to the woman again correct put her on no put her on are you crazy it's the middle of the damn  night go to sleep call back in the morning anytime remember as the word been redefined in the last  24 hours do i need to wake dendonker and ask him the guy grunted t

hen i heard a rustling sound a  bed sheet being flung aside i guess then footsteps seven this time not five then a door being  opened i moved forward until i reached the fence i stopped at the foot of one of the posts with a  camera mounted on it and set my backpack down on the ground the guy continued down the corridor  eight more steps he opened fenton's door and yelled for her to come and take the phone  her voice came on the line after another minute reacher weren't you asleep what's wrong 

nothing's wrong i said i need you to do something it's very important in a  second i'm gonna put the phone down but i'm not gonna hang up i need you to keep  talking like we're having a regular conversation i'll be back in a flash can you do that sure  i guess why don't worry it'll be clear soon chapter 47 i put my phone down on my backpack and began  to climb the post it was easy to grip with my hands i could just hang on to the fence  where it was attached on either side but it was another sto

ry for my feet the diamond  shaped gaps in the wire were not big enough for my shoes the toe caps were too wide just a fraction  but enough to be a problem i started with my right and my foot slipped straight out and slapped  down onto the ground i tried again slipped again then i found that if i pushed my toe in extra  hard and pulled my foot up to a steep angle i could just about make it stick i repeated the  process with my left raised my right kept going i didn't fall but progress was slow p

ainfully  slow precious seconds were slipping away i had no idea how long fenton would be able to  keep up the ruse with the phone but then if i was wrong about the guy who brought it to her it would  already be too late i kept climbing until my chest was level with the top of the fence my calves  were burning from supporting my weight at such a weird angle i gripped the wire with my left hand  and stretched up with my right i took hold of the camera i tried to rotate it counterclockwise but  it

wouldn't move it was jam solid i twisted harder and my right foot slipped my left foot followed  i wound up hanging by my left hand i grabbed the fence with my right jammed both feet back into  their gaps straightened up took a fresh hold of the camera twisted again and felt it give just a  little but there was movement i was sure of that i didn't let up on the pressure the  camera shifted an eighth of an inch another eighth i kept going until it had crept  through 20 degrees then i'd climbed d

own slowly i made it to the bottom without falling retrieved  my phone held it to my ear and heard fenton's voice she was mid anecdote something to do with  her aunt a jar of marmalade and a tsa agent i moved to my left until i was halfway across the  section of fence put the backpack on the phone on the ground continued to the next post and began  to climb again it was as awkward as with the first one my right foot slipped twice before i made  it to the top my left once i grabbed the camera twi

sted it this one moved more easily i rotated it  20 degrees clockwise then climbed down moved to my right picked up my phone and heard nothing not  fenton not the guy just silence i put the phone in my pocket and tried to pick up any sound  coming from the building maybe the guy had seen through fenton's act maybe he just got tired  and snatched the phone so he could go back to bed but the important question was when how  long ago did he get back to his room if he'd made it before i was done wit

h  the cameras there would soon be footsteps guys getting into position with their uzis then  the floodlights would come on silhouetting me against the desert like a target at a shooting  range i crouched down legs tensed ready to run nothing happened i took my phone out and checked  for messages there was nothing from wall work not yet if my estimate was accurate i should now  be in a dead zone between the cameras i'd moved just as long as no one had been watching the  monitors when they were t

urning and if not then they didn't pick up on the slightly different  view of the desert they would now be getting i stayed in a crouch and took wall  work second item out of my backpack a pair of bolt cutters i removed a section of  wire a square just broader than my shoulders but i didn't crawl through not right away  i laid down and looked along the surface of the ground between the inner and outer sections  of fence i wanted to see if it was flat or if there were any telltale humps dendonker

had been  selling landmines if he'd kept any for himself this would be an ideal place to use them  the verdict was inconclusive the land wasn't flat it wasn't even close but there was nothing to  say that the undulations weren't natural or random the work of the wind or the rain or the original  construction crew so i took out wall works third item a knife it had a long broad blade  10 inches by two at its widest point i slid the tip into the sandy surface and pushed  it out ahead of me slowly

gently i kept it as horizontal as possible so that no part of the  blade was more than an inch or so underground it didn't come into contact with anything  so i pulled it out and repeated the process six inches to the left nothing obstructed  it so i tried again i kept going until i had defined a two foot wide section i could  be sure was safe i crawled forward placed my knees on the line my test holes had made and  probed the area six inches further forward it was a time consuming procedure i w

as moving  forward at around a foot a minute around fifteen thousand times slower than when i'd been in the  helicopter i was expecting a text from wall work at any second and i was completely exposed in  a fenced in no man's land completely at the mercy of anyone who came out on patrol the only  upside was that i hadn't come across any landmines i was beginning to think i was being over  cautious i made it 10 feet i had 15 to go then the tip of my knife hit something something  hard something m

etal i froze didn't breathe pulled back on the handle the first fraction of an inch  was the most critical when the contact was broken if the thing was a mine whatever the thing was  it didn't explode but i wasn't out of the woods the knife still had to be removed the rest of  the way shock waves could still be transmitted through the dirt the tiniest movement could  still be fatal the thing did not explode i forced myself to take a breath then started  again a foot to the right i moved even mor

e slowly after that found three more potential minds  but made it to the inner fence in one piece i cut a hole crawled through and hurried to the  long wall at the back of dendoncker's side of the building i moved to the boarded up window  belonging to fenton's room i doubted anyone would be inside with her and she was hardly  likely to raise the alarm if she heard me i took wall works fourth item out of my backpack a  weighted hook it had four claws covered in rubber and it was attached to 25 f

eet of rope i stepped  back took hold of the rope three feet from the hook twirled it around a half dozen times to  gauge the way it would fly then launched it up towards the roof it cleared the top of the  wall disappeared and landed with a dull clunk i pulled my end of the rope gently i  teased the hook back towards the wall it kept moving coming closer to the edge  then it caught on something i pulled harder the hook held so i started to climb hands on  the rope feet flat on the wall like rep

elling but in reverse i made it to the top scrambled  up onto the roof pulled the rope up behind me and started towards the far side of the building  the side that the glass corridor joined onto chapter 48 the guys in the suits with the  uzis were there both of them i hoped that meant dendonker was in his office i  hoped they were like the royal standard the queen of england flies above whichever palace she's  at announcing her presence i like efficiency two birds with one stone would suit me fi

ne i  could see the tops of the guys heads through the glass roof they were sitting on their stools  each leaning against one of the double doors they were very still maybe in some kind of exhausted  trance or if i was very lucky asleep at the wheel there was a gun in my backpack two in fact  the berettas i had captured at the border inn it would have been convenient to just shoot these  guys but that was a high risk strategy they were on the other side of a pane of structural grade  glass it wa

s thick strong my first shot would most likely penetrate but its trajectory was bound  to be affected it would almost certainly miss and with it would go my element a surprise all  i would be doing was advertising my presence to two men with oozies i would probably still get  one of them but the other would probably get me not the kind of odds i liked so  i took out wall works final item a pair of wire cutters i gripped the handle in my  teeth and lowered myself down onto the glass roof and stoo

d completely still i checked on the two  guys neither of them stirred so i inched forward kept going until i reached the vent snipped around  the edge of the mesh bug screen checked on the guys again took the mask from my backpack put it  on took the canister of ds gas and pulled the pin the spoon kicked back the  metal skins started to get hot the device was real not a prop which  was fortunate in the circumstances but i still hesitated i didn't know how  fast the guys would react how quickly t

hey would move if they were able to get through the  double doors i'd be left with a major problem five seconds ticked away then wisps of  white gas started to appear i dropped the canister through the vent it clattered  against the floor and started to roll the guys jolted upright jumped to their feet a  moment later they started grabbing their throats and clawing at their eyes one tried to run he  was disoriented and crashed into the glass wall he fell backwards the other guy started to  writh

e and scream i switched the wire cutters for the bolt cutters severed the metal posts  at each corner of the vent's roof pulled it off and flung it away then leaned in through the  hole and shot each of the guys in the head twice for insurance i tucked the gun into my waistband  lowered myself down and dropped the last few inches into the corridor moved across to the  nearer guy's body took his keys and his uzi collected the second guy's uzi slung it over my  shoulder and used the transponder to

unlock the door i pushed it open stepped through and  pushed the mask up onto the top of my head eight seconds had passed since the first  gunshot nine at the most not much time to react and yet there was mansoor in the next corridor  there was a chair outside dendoncker's office door one of the orange ones mansour must  have been stationed there like a guard but now he was coming towards me  charging head down arms wide moving fast already too close for me to bring the uzi  to bear so i steppe

d forward i figured i could grab some part of him move to the side  pivot and use his weight and speed against him launch him into the window or the wall or  at least send him sprawling on the floor but the space was too narrow he was too broad his  shoulder caught me in the chest it was like being hit by a cannonball i was knocked off my feet  i landed on my back half propped up by the pack and slid along the shiny floor one  of the uzis clattered into the glass i lost track of the other all th

e breath was  knocked out of me i couldn't suck any more in my ribs felt like a million volts had been run  through them all i knew was that i had to get up get off the ground before the guy closed in with  his feet or his fists or his overwhelming bulk i clawed my way upright and saw dendonker he  was disappearing into the glass corridor he was wearing a gas mask i realized it was  mine it must have fallen off when i fell mansour was following him with no mask dendoncker  had a way of inspiring

loyalty i had to admit that i retrieved the uzis and started to chase after  them i reached the double doors then i heard a sound behind me a guy had come out of the room  at the far side of fenton's someone i hadn't seen before presumably the guy i'd spoken to on  the phone he had already reached fenton's door he must have tiptoed along while i was reeling  from the impact with mansor the noise was his key working the lock he opened the door stepped  inside with a gun in his hand i turned and

ran back the door swung closed i couldn't see into  the room because of the newspaper over the glass but i could hear sounds from inside a  scream a crash and a shot then silence i kicked the door open and strode inside ready to  empty the uc's magazine into the guy who had just entered and i came face to face with fenton she  was standing near the bed without her crutch she was pointing the guy's gun at me the guy  himself was on the floor he was slumped half on the mattress i'd used the night

before and  half on the wood his right wrist was twisted around at a crazy angle it was broken that  was clear and the top of his skull was missing guess we'll need new accommodations tonight fenton  lowered the gun guess we will i came further into the room you all right she nodded and sat on the  bed more or less i opened my backpack and handed her the prosthetic leg the one that dendoncker's  guy had brought to the cafe then i turned and headed for the door thanks she said then where  are you

going to get dendoncker if he's still here chapter 49 i paused in front of the double doors took a  couple of deep breaths then went through race to the far end of the glass corridor and burst into  the dining hall there was a breeze blowing over the roof now it was helping to suck the gas out  through the gap left by the vent but dendoncker's formula was potent my eyes were stinging in  raw even after such a tiny exposure i resisted the urge to rub them made myself stay still and  wait until m

y view of the world was less blurred then i started to search i didn't  bother with the kitchen of the offices i figured dendoncker wouldn't want to hide he  would want to get out of the place there were two ways to do that the tunnel or the suvs i crossed  the assembly hall and looked through the window the parking lot was empty there was no sign of  the cadillacs and no sign of dendoncker or mansor i went outside and crossed to the gates both  were still and closed and solid but on the rough r

oad beyond them i could make out four  red pin pricks two pairs the same configuration the cadillac's tail lights the leading vehicle  looked like it was riding lower on its suspension like it was carrying something heavy but  that was just an impression i couldn't be sure not at that distance not with the  way they were bouncing through the gloom it didn't matter anyway they were heading for the  horizon and there was nothing i could do to stop them fenton was in the corridor when i  got back t

o the far side of the building she was moving gingerly as if her refitted  leg was causing her pain she had already passed the door to the next room and she  stopped when she heard me catching up to her someone else is here her voice dropped to a  whisper another prisoner i don't think he's in good shape i said how do you know when you  called me the guy who brought the phone always stood in the doorway while we talked with the door  open one time when we were done i was taking the phone back to

him and i saw two people in the  corridor walking together coming from the right one was dendoncker's sidekick the enormous guy  the other was a stranger he was carrying a bag a black leather one all beat up like doctors use  he was speaking in spanish he said something like you have to dial it down he can't take much more  leave him alone for a while 48 hours at least what was he talking about i don't know how did  dendoncker's guy react he sounded annoyed said den donker would never go for a

delay that he needed  to know where it was and there wasn't much time it fenton shook her head i don't know what they  meant so where are they holding this other guy i thought he would be in the room next to mine  but i just looked no one's there just a bed and a bunch of security monitors nowhere to keep  a prisoner so there must be somewhere else fenton started moving again with some difficulty  i followed keeping to her pace it seemed futile the corridor must be a dead end  like beyond dendon

cker's office the exit was boarded up tight i'd seen it when i  was searching for an alternative way in but as we went further i realized there was a difference  the final classroom's wall didn't run straight not all the way to the perpendicular  wall there was a recess at the very end an alcove of about a foot to draw  attention away from another door a solid wooden one with a sign attached it said  el conserje the janitor the door was locked but not in any serious way it only took one kick  to

open it inside a set of stairs led down to another basement they were wooden painted  white but less worn than the ones running from the kitchen down to the tunnel i turned on  the light and started to descend fenton followed the space at the bottom was divided into two areas  one third was for cleaning equipment and supplies two-thirds were for maintenance and repair or  they had been now the tool benches and equipment lockers had been pushed to one end another army  cod had been set up in the

space that had created there was an intravenous drip stand next to it  a tube ran down from a bag of clear fluid it was hooked up to the arm of a guy on the bed his  body was covered by a sheath so were his legs and his other arm but his head was visible his  face was swollen and cut and covered with scabs and bruises and burns there was a huge lump on  his forehead big chunks of his hair were missing fenton screamed she pushed  past me rushed to the bed she looked like she was gonna pull a guy

  into her arms but she stopped herself took hold of his hand and said one word softly  with a voice full of guilt and pain michael chapter 50. i moved closer to the bed too i thought maybe the  guy in it was dead i was worried about how to get fenton out of there if that was the case but  after a moment one of his eyes flickered open hey his voice was dry and  scratchy and barely audible you got my warning you came then his eye  closed and his head rolled to the side fenton checked his pulse it

's okay  he's still with us help me get him up it was a tough call michael didn't  look in any kind of shape to be moved i would rather have brought the medics to him but  dendoncker was on my mind he couldn't know that fenton had found out about michael and evidently  michael had information that dendoncker wanted so dendonker would come back for him or he would  send some guys either way we were in no position to defend that seller not for any significant  length of time which made evacuation

the lesser of two evils i picked michael up and carried  him to the stairs still wrapped in the sheet fenton followed with the iv bag we moved slowly  and gently trying not to shake or jostle him and we paused when we reached the corridor  we detoured into the room she'd been kept in and i laid michael down on the bed fenton stayed  with him while i went back to the glass corridor i used one of the uzis to blast out the windows half a magazine on each side to allow the gas to  dissipate faster t

hen i went back to the roman called wall work he answered immediately  there was no hint of sleep in his voice i guessed he was with the tdac crew when they were  pulling an all-nighter i told him fenton was safe so they were clear to move the truck whenever they  wanted i told him we had recovered a casualty and asked him how long it would take to send some  agents to the medical center in los amilos when dendoncker discovered michael was  missing he wouldn't take it lying down he would send ou

t a search party and knowing the  condition michael was in the closest hospital was the obvious place to start wall work took a  minute to figure the timing and distances then he said i'll have to make some calls but best guess  a couple agents could be there inside four hours if you're worried about the guy can you babysit  until then unofficially i don't see why not maybe my luck would change i thought maybe  dendoncker would show up in person to look for michael mann's sword too i hated to th

ink of  him walking around free how's it going at your end good just got off the phone with quantico after  what i told them they're putting a major effort together to bring dendoncker in a full-court  press worldwide if necessary and the bomb my guy's done inspecting now he's getting it ready  for transport we're flying it out first thing did you take any flack for dragging him out  there no the opposite actually he's in hog heaven keeps taking photos and videos and emailing them  to his lab sa

ys it's one of the most interesting things he's seen in a long time because of the  gas no he doesn't have a definitive on that yet since it's too dangerous to mess around  with the shells while they're in the field he doesn't think they're harmless he knows they're  not because of what they were coated with vx vx the most deadly nerve agent ever invented  developed in britain in the 50s i don't recall everything about the chemistry  but i remember what the v stands for venom and the names not m

isplaced a few years  back two women wiped a little on kim jong-nam's face while he waited for a flight at kuala  lumpur airport he was kim jong-un's half-brother maybe he was making moves behind the scenes maybe  someone just said he was but either way he was dead before he reached the hospital i said does  your guy think dendoncker added vx to the smoke you'll find out for sure at the lab but look all  the shells had signs of recent tampering and vx isn't like sarin it's not a gas it's a liqui

d like  oil or honey so it would be easy to pour inside then it needs a heat source to vaporize it like  the reaction that would produce the colored smoke and the smoke would then help to dissipate the  poison you couldn't find a system better suited to dispersing vx if you spent the rest of your life  searching is that a coincidence seems unlikely no wonder your guy is excited i can see the cogs  going around in his head he's thinking about the papers he's gonna write the law enforcement  confe

rences he's gonna speak at but that's not all that got his bell ringing he also found  something hidden away in the electronics a third way to detonate the bomb on top of the timer  and the cellular what kind of a third way a transponder a common enough doodad apparently  but not generally used this way i know he's an [ __ ] but this dendoncker must be a hell  of a creative guy and thorough a defensive coating of vx and three systems to do one  job talk about leaving nothing a chance wall work h

ung up leaving me feeling a little  guilty for not telling him that dendoncker didn't build the bomb michael did he was the  thorough creative one ordinarily the tdap guys would have figured that out when they fed  the details into their database aside from the last minute edition of the vx the components and  the construction techniques would match the ones from the first bomb michael had made which also  had a transponder with his fingerprint on it only t deck wouldn't make the connection this

time  because fenton had destroyed the older evidence i guess keeping quiet made me an accessory to some  kind of federal crime i didn't think it mattered too much though michael's bomb-making career was  over and if the fbi followed through dendonkers soon would be too fenton was anxious to get  moving but i convinced her to wait while i made one more call to dr hoolier on his cell i  didn't know if the medical center was staffed 24 7 and i didn't want to show up with michael  and find there w

ere no doctors in the place dr houlier said he would make sure someone was  there he sounded cagey so i pressed him and he admitted he would come and treat michael himself  he confessed he was already back in town and offered to come for us in an ambulance that was  tempting my only concern was the risk involved someone could see him and inform dendoncker  reprisals could follow depending on how long he remained on the loose but a more immediate problem  was that we had no other transport only t

he chevy that should still be parked outside the house  which we had no keys for so i told dr houlier about the place gave him the address and said  i'd call him when we were ready to be picked up dr houlier set us up on the pediatric floor that  was a thoughtful move instead of regular rooms they had a series of little suites the kind of  places that enable parents to stay with their sick kids a couple of nurses helped dr houlier  get michael squared away in the hospital bed they hung extra iv

bags took his temperature  blood pressure peered into his eyes and ears with special machines dubbed them with creams  and lotions and prodded and poked him in all kinds of different places eventually dr  ulyer said he was happy he said it might take a while but he was sure michael would be  okay he warned us that someone would come by every hour to do some observations then he left  us to get comfortable fenton took an armchair she shoved it close in at michael's side and  curled up knees to ch

est i took the other bed it was close to 5 am i'd been up for 22 hours i  was exhausted but i was feeling quietly satisfied fenton was safe michael wasn't dead the bomb  was defused and on its way to be studied by the experts i figured that things were basically good  in the world it's funny how wrong a person can be chapter 51 i got woken up at a minute to seven by my phone  i was dead asleep one moment wide awake the next like a switch being thrown some kind of  instinctive response to anythin

g unnatural or threatening i figured the electronic  howl qualified as both i answered the call it was the fbi one of the special agents  who wall work had rounded up to guard michael her team had reached the outskirts of town and  she wanted to know where we should rendezvous i gave her directions then lay back down and closed  my eyes an argument was brewing in my head the thought of taking a shower on one side the appeal  of not moving on the other both were persuasive but neither got the cha

nce to carry the day  because my phone rang again it was wall work this time news he said huge the pictures and  samples my guys sent in from den donker's bomb one already hit the jackpot the transponder there  was a fingerprint on it they have an id the tdag guys say it's solid good enough to survive  any test in court i said michael curtis right i figured the day was about to go downhill  for fenton and her brother fast so i might as well get out ahead of it who no it was not  a khalil i don't

know who that is that was true although i had heard the name dendoncker had  accused me of working for the guy khalil's a big fish very big i'm told the system lit up like  a christmas tree when it came back with his name he's a terrorist out of beirut one of a family of  terrorists his father was one he got killed by the police his brother was one he got killed too a  more notorious death he was driving the truck that carried the marine barracks bomb nada himself  has been linked to a dozen di

fferent atrocities but there was never any evidence until  now it was a strange detail from the past that khalil's brother was driving the barracks  truck bomb he must have died yards away from me but there was something about  the present that didn't add up if michael made the bomb i couldn't see how  someone else's fingerprint wound up on part of it wall work wasn't done a manhunt has started for  him worldwide unlimited resources the guy's toast it's just a question of when maybe khalil had 

supplied the parts michael had used i thought that could be how his fingerprint got to be there  wall work kept going the manhunt is worldwide but there's another concern closer to home the tea dag  guys are worried that khalil is still an estate or maybe dendoncker had stolen the  parts i thought or refused to pay or ripped khalil off in some other way that  could be why he was expecting a reprisal while work continued the tdac guys are scared that  khalil is ramping up a bombing campaign here

and they figured dendonck is helping him his family  was from beirut too remember his mother was anyway they think this on the strength of one fingerprint  and a vague connection to a foreign city no on the strength of this being the second of khalil's  bombs that they found where was the other one i'm not sure where it turned up it was a dud it was  taking a tea dac a few weeks ago it was analyzed and it had enough identical features for them  to be certain it was made by the same person did it

have a transponder no and it didn't emit gas  but the components came from the same source the wiring techniques were the same the architecture  was the same there are enough hallmarks for them to be convinced more than enough this is the  problem when a lie gets too much oxygen it grows even a lie of omission the smoke bomb had been  made by michael so if the tdag guys had connected it with another one made by the same person  it must be the last bomb fenton had worked on the one michael made

and sent to her is an sos  only the tdac guys didn't know there had been a transponder in that one too or that fenton  destroyed it because of michael's fingerprint if they had known they'd have reached a different  conclusion i had no doubt about that i was about to tell wall work ask him to bring the tdac  guys up to speed to correct their misconception but something stopped me the nagging at the  back of my mind it had started when fenton told me about finding michael's message with  the card

and a condom it had grown louder with dendoncker's weird responses now with all the talk  about the khalil guy it was practically deafening wall work was silent for a moment too then he  said so they are worried about what khalil's up to they think dendonka is helping him and you're the  only person who's been in contact with dendoncker richa i might as well just come out and say  it the bosses at tdac want to talk to you i wasn't buying that cooperation angle not when  dendoncker seemed to thi

nk that khalil could have sent me to kill him but there was a connection  between them it was a recipe for nothing good that was for sure and i had seen dendoncker  how he operated where he hung out how much he needed to be taken off the street  so i said all right have him call me they don't want to talk on the phone  richard they want to talk face-to-face i said nothing think about it if this goes  south there's the potential for major casualties major loss of life if that happens and you were

  in their shoes could you live with yourself if you hadn't adequately interviewed the  only guy with first-hand information he had a point they only want you for  an hour two tops so what do you say i don't know when today where tdac it's at  the redstone arsenal near huntsville alabama how am i supposed to get there in a day  it must be more than 1500 miles away they'll send a plane to be honest they've already  sent one it's waiting for you there's an airfield an hour's drive from los ameros

four agents are  on their way to safeguard the guy you rescued one of them will drive you i wondered if it was  one of the airfields dendoncker's crew used to smuggle things through and afterwards they'll take  you wherever you like within the united states san francisco sure if that's what you want it  is okay i'll arrange it oh one other thing this might make you smile a fax came for you at the  hotel at 12 34 a.m from dendoncker he said the operation was on hold you were to stay where  you we

re and not let the item out of your sight the conversation had woken fenton up she  was still in the armchair at michael's side so i went and sat on his bed and  filled her in on developments well then fenton said when i was finished  looks like he'll make it to the ocean after all a private jet sent by the government guess  you're taking hitchhiking to a whole new level i said i hope michael pulls through and i'll  put in a good word for both of you she shook her head just for michael i knew wh

at i was doing i'll  take what's coming to me can you remember a number you're keeping that phone no the number's for  someone else a woman her name's sonya i met her when i was looking for you she helped me and  she was close to michael you should call her let her know he's alive she was close to michael  how close i shrugged very i guess they met in the hospital in germany seems like they've been  together ever since i could see fenton doing the math she hadn't heard about this woman before  t

hat was clear and her own relationship with her brother had started with her right around the time  the two must have hooked up she said would she like this sonia will i like her i hope so could  be your future sister-in-law we're talking about chapter 52 the plane was waiting when i reached the airport  it was sitting near the end of the runway alone and aloof from the handful of crop dusters  and two-seater trainers that were dotted around it was some kind of gulf stream all sharp angles  and

gloss black paint so that it looked like it was going fast even when it wasn't moving it had  a tail number but like the sikorsky i had flown back from texas in there was no agency designation  just the words united states the agent flashed her badge at the video camera on the intercom at  the gate and then drove right up to the plane its engines were turning over and when we looped  around its tail i saw that the steps were down thirty seconds later i was on board and  strapped into a seat a co

uple of minutes after that we were in the air no safety briefings  no lining up to take off and no other passengers the vibe inside was more mobile office than  luxury club there was plenty of blonde wood with all kinds of plugs and ports and connectors for  computers there were 12 seats they were finished in navy leather and could be swiveled around  tables could be folded out from under the windows there was a projector on the ceiling a display  screen and a coffee machine i helped myself to a

mug and then settled down to doze the flight  was smooth and quiet the pilot flew high and fast we were in the air for less than three hours  i woke up when she began our final descent the landing was gentle the taxi was short and a car  was waiting for me when i climbed down the steps the army airfield is in the northwest corner of  the redstone arsenal complex the tdac buildings are at the southeast more than a mile away the  bureau driver who collected me didn't say a word as he zigzagged th

rough the warren of nasa  laboratories and army facilities and other kinds of fbi operations i guess getting sent to fairy  scruffy civilians around wasn't the plum choice of duty around there he finally pulled up alongside  a line of shiny knee-high security bollards and pointed towards a glass-fronted building on  the far side he said in there ask for agent lane inside there were three security guards  all in private contractor's uniform the first was sitting behind a reception  desk she asked

to see my id i handed her my passport she didn't care that it had expired  she just laid it on a scanner and a minute later a machine to its side spat out a laminated  pass with my photo the date and a two-hour validity period i clipped it to my shirt and the  next guy held out a bin for my other possessions i dropped in my cash and my phone and he fed them  through an x-ray machine he asked for my shoes i slipped them off and dumped them on the  conveyor belt the third guy then directed me thr

ough an arch-shaped metal detector it didn't  buzz or beep and by the time i had replaced my shoes and retrieved my things a fourth guy had  shown up he looked like he was in his early 40s he was wearing a dark gray suit with a tie and  he had an id badge on a chain around his neck he said i'm supervisory special agent james lane  he held out his hand quite a mouthful i know i'm heading up the team we're putting together in  response to these new developments i appreciate you taking the time to

talk to me i hope you'll be  able to help come on this way i'll show you what's what a stone path stretched away from the exit  to the security building it lit up two sets of matching stone steps to a broad flat area that was  full of wooden picnic tables with gray umbrellas there were two neighboring buildings  lane pointed to the one on the left it was big gray rectangular and featureless  he said we call that one the building never tell me g-men have no imagination huh  anyway ever seen that

indiana jones movie about the ark of the covenant the scene at the  end where they hide its crate in a warehouse that's what it's like inside shelves floor  to ceiling end to end more than a hundred thousand containers every piece of every  device we've analyzed over the last 18 years the place is almost full we've already broken  ground on another one but that's not where we're going lane started walking towards the hand  building this one had two distinct sections a single story part with a fl

at roof stone walls  and tall windows and a part with a higher angled roof white walls and no windows the way they were  buttered up together made it look like the second half was trying to swallow the first this is  where the magic happens lane paused at the door the labs are here plus the less interesting  things like admin and the meeting rooms that's where we're going sorry lane used his id to unlock  the door then led the way along the main corridor until we reached a room labeled conferenc

e one  inside there was a space about 15 feet by 20 there was a wooden top table in the center it  was rectangular surrounded by 11 chairs they were angled towards the far wall which was plain  white i guess it doubled as a projection screen there were three closets built into the  wall on the right windows to the left and a carpet that looked like a kind of muted  textile version of a jackson pollock painting lane took the chair at the head of the table  facing the wall he said i'm sorry to be

treating you like a regular visitor i've read your record  i know all about your service i would like to give you a full tour but you know regulations there was  no time to get clearance and at the end of the day more than 200 people work here we have a lot of  equipment that would be extremely hard to replace and a trove of evidence from all over the  world that's vital in the war on terror this place might not be the most glamorous target  but it's near the top of the list strategically it's w

hat i'd hit if i were on the other side  so we have to take precautions and we can't make exceptions i hope you understand of course so  down to business khalil's fingerprint finding it is a two-sided coin the good thing is he can be  arrested now if anyone can find him but the bad thing is that if he's active here currently we  must stop him fast the problem is figuring out where to look there are so many potential targets  available to him we need to narrow them down the bomb you helped us sec

ure will be arriving in  the next 30 minutes or so that may give us some pointers or it may not we won't know until we try  either way it will take time in the interim we're looking for all the help we can get the angle  i'd like to start with is the delivery mechanism khalil could be working on a bomb to be carried  in a car for example or a truck or a plane or worn as a vest or even sent in the mail did  anything you saw or heard give any kind of a clue dendoncker was running a smuggling opera

tion  he was piggybacking it on a catering service for private planes out of small airfields but  that's pretty much been shut down he seemed unconcerned about it strangely so like he'd  already planned to move on to something else the question is what i'm not convinced  dendoncker's working with khalil i think he was terrified of him these guys they're weird  paranoid most of them they start out as introverts then live their whole lives doubly desperate not  to draw attention to themselves tryi

ng not to visit the same electronics store too often or to  buy from the same websites over and over they wind up running from shadows it's probably nothing but  even if they have fallen out already there could still be useful clues from when they did work  together the flight thing is all i can think of okay then the second angle is materials is  he using precursors for example things like ammonium nitrate or fuel oil or nitromethane or  specialist compounds like tatp or ethylene glycol dye nit

rate or even military-grade explosives like  c4 lane paused for a moment and looked right at me as an aside the beirut barracks bomb used  precursors you were there well we recently recovered new evidence after all these  years we should have good news on that soon there was something strange about the way lane  spoke those words how he said you were there it sounded half like a question half like a statement  it caused an echo at the back of my mind i'd heard something similar recently but i co

uldn't put  my finger on what lane said mr reacher materials artillery shells i said dendoncker had a bunch of  them at least 300 they were locked in a shed at the abandoned school he was camped out in any idea  what was in them no you didn't see a code book if they were recovered from an enemy they're often  deliberately mislabeled the code book is needed to confirm the contents i shook my head okay let  me have the location i'll arrange collection now the third angle is the method of detonatio

n we  know khalil used two kinds in his first device a timer and cellular those are quite normal and  three kinds in the device that's incoming a timer cellular and a transponder that's unusual  but whether he was looking for another level of backup or whether he's messing with  us i don't know not yet i said nothing do you know how transponders work i said i have  an idea what they do not so much how they do it a good example is a car's ignition try  to start the engine and a chip in the car se

nds out a radio signal a transponder in  the key automatically bounces back a reply if the reply is correct the chip completes the  circuit that's why you can't hotwire modern cars even if you join the right wires there's  no transponder to reply to the car's chip so the circuit remains open and the same thing  could happen with his bomb i assume so i haven't seen it yet obviously i need to examine it to be  sure but if it's a technique khalil has perfected it could be a massive problem imagine

you  have a target with an unpredictable schedule you plant a bomb somewhere along his route sneak  a transponder onto his keychain or into his pocket anyone else could go by without a  problem but when he approaches boom okay but you said the transponder's in the key not  the car correct the chip in the car initiates the communication the key responds so the chip  and the bomb would be like the chip in the car correct i'll verify that once the bomb is  here but i don't see another way it could

work what kind of range do these things have they  vary depends on the application planes use them for automatic identification in which  case the signal can travel many kilometers if you use one to unlock a door in place of a key  you'd want the signal to only go a few millimeters you put one in a bomb you'd want it to be similar  i guess or your target would be out of the blast zone when it detonated unless it was a giant  bomb and you didn't care about collateral damage lane had done it again

the way he spoke i couldn't  tell if you put one in a bomb was a question or a statement and i suddenly realized who he reminded  me of michael when he briefly spoke to fenton right after we first found him he either said  you came or you came and that was right after something else weird he said you got my warning  fenton had described it as a cry for help an sos that was nothing like the same thing  i thought about what she had found what she had based her conclusion on and stood up  i said e

xcuse me i have to make a call now lane checked his watch the bomb will be here any minute  i'll have to step out can't you do it then no i moved to the corner of the room and dialed  dr houlier's number this can't wait dr houlier answered and i asked to speak to michael he said  not possible sorry he's unconscious again again correct he was awake for a while earlier though  he wasn't saying much nothing coherent anyway just rambling about finding a goal or something  like that i thank dr houlie

r and hung up then immediately called him back and asked for fenton  i said please hurry this is important fenton came on the line after 30 seconds what's up make it  quick i want to get back to michael i said i need you to think very carefully about a question  don't guess only answer if you are 100 sure okay sure fire away the condom you found in the message  michael sent what brand was it trojan you sure 100 chapter 53 a condom and a business card a trojan and the red  roan michael had been t

rying to tell his sister that the device she was given to analyze  at tdac was a trojan horse but fenton had misunderstood from the start she had made two  false assumptions that the bomb containing michael's message had been intended to explode  and that the transponder inside it was the trigger i was betting that neither thing was  true the bomb was just a vehicle its job was to deliver the transponder to a place where  only a bomb could go and the transponder's job was not to trigger the bomb

it was  in it was to trigger something else which hadn't happened because fenton had fixated  on michael's fingerprint she hadn't realized it was to ensure that the bomb reached her desk  or that it doubled as a way to sign the warning she hated puzzles after all she was too pedantic  she'd taken it at face value as damning evidence so she destroyed it fenton destroyed the first  transponder but now another one was coming in the smoke bomb it was minutes away heading for the  building i was in

where 200 people worked which was full of irreplaceable machines and priceless  evidence no wonder dendoncker had been so desperate to push me into transporting the device  for him he had wanted it at tdac from the start lane was scowling you broke off this meeting  to talk about condoms what's wrong with you michael's original bomb arrived at tdac weeks  ago initially with its transponder intact but the place didn't blow up so the thing it  was supposed to trigger wasn't here at that time it mu

st have come in later i said the last  three weeks have any new devices been brought in lane checked his watch again of course anything  particularly large i can't share that kind of information it's too sensitive come on lane  this is important why it's a long story a guy with a liking for cryptic messages  sent a warning that the transponder in the device that's about to arrive is supposed to  trigger something else not be triggered itself lane smiled and shook his head no that  theory doesn't

hold water for it to be right the device already here would need to have  the corresponding transponder and no such devices have been brought in fact are you sure you said  some evidence waits a while before you get to it we prioritize some evidence does have to  wait for full analysis that's true but we don't just throw it in a closet when it shows  up it doesn't slip down the back of the couch every piece that's wait listed is examined  on delivery photographs are taken components are listed

transponders are highly unusual if  anything had arrived containing one i would know these inspections they're done without exception  priority cases go straight to analysis planning who handle the documentation and record  keeping it's integrated into their process everything else gets an initial inspection  without exception lane paused for a second actually there was one exception a truck bomb  a city destroyer it came in from overseas the vehicle was too large to fit into a work bay here  so

the minute it arrived we sent it away again to our old premises at quantico a huge place you  could fit dozens of trucks in it what if something arrived while we were talking hmm that's possible  i suppose lane took out his phone and had a brief conversation no there was nothing new today  the prickling at the back of my neck was worse when khalil's bomb arrives you should stop it  don't let it in impossible why you didn't let the big truck bomb in no but it came by road it  already had an esco

rt khalil's is being flown in it doesn't have an escort it can't go on the  public roads without one what if there was an accident and it's full of chemical weapons  and people die because we sent it away against procedure and with no good reason based entirely  on your whim it's there was a knock on the door and another agent stepped into the room a much  younger guy he looked freshly pressed and eager it's here sir the device from texas excellent  lane stood and made for the door you stay here

keep mr reacher company i'll be back as  soon as the device has been processed i thought about the truck bomb lane had called  it a city destroyer that didn't sound good not good at all i was happy it was no longer here and  i figured it must be the one michael's bomb was supposed to trigger it had to be it was the  only one that hadn't been inspected and all the others had been free of transponders then i  realized something else the truck being sent away could explain dendoncker's sudden chan

ge of heart  why he told me to keep the smoke bomb at the hotel if he had someone watching tdac he would know  there was no point sending a second transponder i turned to the new agent the city destroyer the one  that wouldn't fit in the workshop when did it get refused i need to know exactly to the minute let  me find out for you sir the agent called someone there was a lot of nodding and gesticulating and  changing the facial expressions before he hung up the destroyer's still here sir it actu

ally  never left one of its escort vehicles broke down and they still haven't sent a replacement  where is it exactly parked between this building and the building when did it arrive  around midnight last night i believe okay call agent lane tell them not to let the new  device onto the site not under any circumstances if you're worried about the destroyer being here  sir then please don't be it's been made safe emergency procedure it had three detonation  systems and they've all been disconnect

ed was one a transponder no sir it had  cellular magnetic and photosensitive call lane right now no time to explain the  agent dialed the number held the phone to his ear then shook his head lion's busy call the  driver okay what's his number no idea his name i shrugged no problem the agent started tapping  and swiping at his phone's screen i'll go on the internet see if i can find a roster no  time what kind of truck is a destroyer it's x military an m35 deuce and a half i think  which is furth

er the truck of the gate the gate then you take the gate go now run keep trying  lane's number one way or the other stop them chapter 54 i rushed into the corridor sprinted to the  exit burst through ran to the space between the two buildings and saw the truck tried not to  think about its cargo ran to the driver's door tugged on the handle and couldn't get  it to move which was weird that kind of truck doesn't have locking doors then i  noticed the problem a padlock had been added the hasp went

through a hole in the door skin it  must have been attached to the inner body work i looked around there was a border running along  the bottom of the wall of the building filled with rocks some white decorative kind i grabbed  the biggest one i could see smashed it down on the padlock hit it again and the lock sprang  open i pulled it free tossed it aside dropped the rock climbed up jammed myself into the seat  which wasn't easy because there's no adjustment i pushed down on the clutch then tr

ied to remember  how to get the motor started it was years since i'd been in a truck like this one i knew there was  no key there were three steps to follow instead i scanned all the knobs and levers and gauges  most had no markings the few that had labels were in arabic which didn't help me i spotted a lever  near the center of the dash that looked familiar i turned it about 20 degrees counterclockwise  which was as far as it would go i found a knob on the left with a spade handle it was sticki

ng out  i pushed it in then hit a red button low down on the right the heavy old diesel cranked and coughed  into life i found first gear which is where second is on most vehicles release the parking brake  lifted the clutch and the truck shuttered forward ahead there was a road that led to a roll-up  door at the back of the laboratory building there was no point taking it or i'd wind up  closer to the vehicle i was trying to avoid so when i reached the end i swung left continued  around the bui

lding swung left again and drove back along the far side i came to the picnic area  the place was full of tables and umbrellas there was no way through they were too close together so  i drove over a bunch of them i saw a dirt road to the right it ran along the rear of eight buildings  adjacent to the tdax site they were new the road was probably left over from the construction phase  and there were no vehicles its whole length it was on the far side of a fence so i smashed through  straightened

up and pressed harder on the gas i heard sirens behind me i checked my door mirror  it was shaking horribly all i could make out was a pair of black sedans with flashing light bars  on their roofs they were catching me easily but catching me wouldn't do them any good they needed  to stop me i didn't know how they were planning to do that whether they knew what the truck was  carrying how reckless they were prepared to be or how stupid i figured i was about a thousand feet  away from the laborat

ory at that point roughly the width of the whole tdac campus probably far  enough from the smoke bombs transponder the sedans were almost behind me one disappeared from  view trying to sneak up on the passenger side then two more sedans appeared directly ahead i decided  that would have to do i took my foot off the gas shifted down a couple of gears hit the brake and  coasted to as gentle as stop as possible i took my shirt off hung it out of my window it wasn't white  but i hope the guys got th

e message all the same i spent the next hour in conference  one with two guys with guns neither of them spoke which suited me fine i  sat in the same chair as before leaned forward cushioned my head and my arms ran through some  magic slim and followed up with a little sean holt i didn't sit up until lane came into the room  he walked to the head of the table and set down a small box it was black dusty and a bunch of  colored wires were sticking out of one corner mr reacher i owe you thanks and

an apology today  was a bad day for terrorists because of you he pointed to the box this was found in the city  destroyer it transmits and receives and it's coded to the transponder in the smoke bomb if they'd  come within range of each other there'd be no more redstone arsenal no more us and maybe thousands  of other casualties i said nothing one question lane sat down how did you know michael's warning  had been the key along with dendonker's desperate behavior but those were all things i didn

't want  to get into they'd only raise more questions ones i didn't feel like answering so i said  no biggie just a lucky guess and motive khalil trying to destroy some evidence that's stored  here trying to destroy evidence yes khalil no i had no proof of that only a hunch which meant  the west coast was going to have to wait after all chapter 55 he won't come fenton said again she first said it  when she met me at the small airfield an hour from los amilos she said it right after she climbed i

n  behind the wheel of dr houlier's cadillac she said it three more times as the huge car wafted and  wallowed along the long straight roads into town she said it as she parked outside the house  she said it as we walked through the tunnel she said it as we checked that the  money and the narcotics were still there she said it as we confirmed that the final smoke  bomb had been removed from michael's workshop she said it as we sat down against the  back wall of the old school's assembly hall and

every time she said it i gave the  same reply he will how can you be sure he has no choice his plan failed that means  he can't stay in the united states he can't return to beirut he'll be on watch lists  everywhere so he'll have to go to ground forever so he'll need every penny he can put his  hands on and every valuable thing he can sell what if the fbi has already caught him he tried  to destroy tdac they have a hard-on form like you wouldn't believe the bureau wants to find  him sure but th

ey don't know where to look you didn't tell them i said nothing outstanding  gold star for you but what if they found him on their own or if you're wrong about his plan  what if you misunderstood if it didn't fail then he won't come fenton elbowed me  in the ribs and we settled in to wait it was pushing 7pm 12 hours since i was woken  up by the phone six hours since i broke into the city destroyer the sun was low everything  its dipping rays touched turned orange or pink the view was magnificent

if it  only happened once a century everyone would gather to watch then  rave about what they saw the colors changed by the minute the shadows shifted and  lengthened the sky began its final fade to gray then two brighter points appeared low down  unsteady but growing bigger coming our way headlights fenton and i moved into the dining  hall we left the doors open just to crack we peered through five minutes passed ten then  the tall windows lit up like giant mirrors they went dark again the out

er doors opened and  man sore walked in he was followed by dendoncker they went straight for the aluminum containers  the ones that were full of cash and pills fenton went first she was carrying one  of the captured oozies she raised it and lined it up on dendoncker's chest she  said you against the wall hands in the air dendoncker didn't hesitate he was a smart  man he did exactly what she told him to i took a step towards mansoor he grinned held out  his hand and gestured for me to keep on com

ing i said you don't have to do this you know  you're gonna lose you should go sit in the car i'll send your boss out when we're done talking  assuming he can still walk mansour stretched both arms straight above his head then started to  bring him down slowly out to each side in a broad circle his fingers were arrowed it looked like  the start of some kind of martial arts ritual maybe it was supposed to symbolize something  maybe it was supposed to impress or intimidate but whatever the purpose

i saw no advantage in letting  him finish so i darted forward and kicked him in the right knee viciously hard enough to shatter  most people's patellas he grunted and threw a wild roundhouse punch at my head i ducked under it and  jabbed him in the kidney i brought my other fist up under his chin i put all my strength into it  pushed up onto my tiptoes at just the right moment timed it perfectly against a normal guy the  fight would have been over there and then it almost was with him he rocked

onto his  heels his neck snapped back he started to fall if he'd hit the ground he would have been toast  there was no way i would have let him get up again but the wall saved him or the climbing  bars that were attached to it did he slammed into the center of a section of  the frame it was ten feet tall by six wide there was plenty of spring to it which cushioned  the impact allowed him to stay on his feet he staggered forward the bars swung after him they  were hinged at the right side the fo

rce of the impact had unhooked their latch they continued  through 90 degrees then stopped sticking straight out into the hall i guess they all did that to  form a series of obstacles for the kids to climb when they were doing circuit training the guy held  up his hands in surrender okay you win i'm done he took a step towards me his legs were unsteady  his breathing was ragged he took another slow step then a fast one he curled his fingers into  fists and launched a punch straight at my face wi

th his right i deflected it and danced  away to the side which was just what he wanted he was already swinging his left i saw it late  twisted and ducked and caught the brunt on my shoulder it felt like i'd been hit by a train  i saw him lining up another shot with his right i planted my foot twisted back in the opposite  direction raised my arm and drove my elbow into the side of his head it was the kind of  contact that would have split most guys skulls his mouth opened his arms slumped down t

o his  sides i reversed direction again and smashed my fist into his other temple he staggered to the  side his legs were turned into jelly for real this time it was my opportunity i had no intention  of wasting it there was no one to intervene i jabbed him in the face three times  in quick succession with my left he reeled back i switched to my right and  drove a huge reverse punch into his gut he doubled over i stood him up straight again  with the knee to the face he staggered back further i

followed in and crashed the heel of  my right hand into his chin the back of his head cannon into the wall his eyes rolled up his knees  buckled he flopped down into a kneeling position he balanced like that for a moment and before he  could fall the rest of the way i kicked him in the side of the head with my left foot he spun around  and down and wound up with his chest on the floor his arms out to the sides and his face jammed  into a gap near the base of the climbing bars i was pretty sure h

e was down and out but  i never take that kind of thing for granted i stepped in close and stamped on the base of his  skull i felt his spine snap i was sure about that chapter 56 dendoncker was standing still staring at the body  his face was pale and completely expressionless fenton was covering him with the uzi i  moved in close and felt his jacket pocket he had a tiny revolver another naa-22s i  took it and slipped it into my waistband i offered mansur the chance  to walk out of here i said

now i'm gonna offer you the same with one  condition which is you tell me the truth dendoncker wetted his lips with his tongue what  do you want to know how did you get hold of a transponder with nader khalil's fingerprint on  it i didn't michael and khalil they tricked me they were working together but i didn't know i  bought michael's story about a protest with smoke i had no idea there was anything more going  on fenton raised the uzi shall i shoot him dendonker lifted his arms like they  cou

ld shield him from her bullets i grabbed his wrist and dragged him around to the  other side of the climbing bars i forced him onto his knees held the back of his head and pushed his  face to within an inch of man's sores i said think carefully is this how you want to go i bought the  fingerprint dendonker squirmed away from the body it took years and lots of money but finally i  found someone who was ready to betray khalil i let dendonker stand up how'd you get your hands  on it i used one of t

he women who worked for my catering company i sent her to beirut with  the money she brought the fingerprint back it was fixed in sticky tape lifted from a drinking  glass was easy to transfer it onto the transponder when was this a few weeks ago dendoncker pointed  at fenton it's why i hired her i actually had to send two women one stayed behind in beirut she  was part of the price did she know in advance the one who stayed of course not neither did the one  who returned she thought there'd bee

n an accident what happened to the other women you had six on  your crew from what i heard five excluding fenton one was plotting with michael she ran away two  are coming with me the other two are gonna retire i caught movement out of the corner of my eye  it was fenton heading for the exit as planned i said you used the fingerprint to frame khalil  he was never actually involved dendoncker nodded he was trying to kill you there was some kind  of feud going on dendoncker nodded again which is w

hy you always check the bodies of anyone  who came after you you're not just paranoid he sent others to kill me many times i  hoped one day he'd try and person and fail then i would be free what was the  feud about dendoncker wetted his lips khalil's father blamed me for his other son's  death khalil carried it on when his father died khalil's brother was killed he was driving  a truck bomb his father and i we were rivals i was young ambitious looking for a shortcut  to the top of our group he s

tood in my way i thought if he lost his son it would break his  spirit he would fade away i could fill the void dendonker shrugged i was wrong it only made him  stronger harder you made his son drive the bomb not made led him to the decision not a  distinction his father was impressed by i guess dendoncker shook his head so you saw the  opportunity to get khalil off your back that's what this is all about correct it  was the only way i could buy my freedom the way i see it you planned on three s

teps first  you had michael make you a bomb a dud it was left where it would be found it had a gps chip so  you could confirm it wound up a tdac it also had a transponder you knew the components would  be studied the details recorded the pieces stored then donker nodded step two involved the  city destroyer it was supposed to arrive at tdac and get triggered by the transponder  from michael's bomb i felt my phone buzz in my pocket that told me fenton had found  what she was looking for in dendon

kar's suv dendoncker nodded again one question how  do you get your hands on a city destroyer dendoncker shrugged same way you get anything  money so the city destroyer detonates takes tdac with it then step three the smoke bomb  is found it has the same technology inside it plus khalil's fingerprint that's the way  it was supposed to happen but the first transponder didn't trigger the city destroyer no  it should have done i have no idea why it failed i smiled i was tempted to tell him  that th

e transponder didn't fail that it didn't have the chance to because  fenton had destroyed it weeks ago but i resisted i needed to keep him focused he had some big  questions coming up so instead i said then why try to stop the smoke bomb why not make sure it  went to t deck so its transponder could finish a job the smoke bomb had the same transponder it  would have triggered the truck bomb that's true but i didn't want to risk wasting the fingerprint wasting it right it was damn expensive  two m

illion dollars in a fair employee it might have survived but a blast that size it  could easily have been destroyed and think of the scene a hundred thousand pieces of evidence are  already there the fingerprint could have survived then got mixed up with the rest and got lost  okay tell me what you did after the demonstration i watched what you added to the smoke bomb  before you put it in the truck for me to drive i added nothing why would i because you didn't  want the fingerprint to be wasted

the tnt deck stands for terrorists not protester not attention  seeker those agents are specialists they don't get out of bed for a pretty puff of smoke so unless  you spiced the bomb up a little it would have gone to a local field office at best maybe just  the police department where it would have sat on the shelves in the evidence room gathering  dust until long after you're dead i disagree tdac would have taken it because of all the press  coverage i didn't add a thing you didn't smear the

outside of the shells with vx where would i  get vx from you didn't pour vx into the shells fenton came back inside she stayed near the exit  door she peeled off a pair of latex surgeons gloves and jammed them into her pocket dendonker  said vx is a weapon of mass destruction i wouldn't touch it and the third smoke bomb the last one  left in your workshop you didn't fill it with vx i don't even know where it is dendoncker pointed  at mansoor he disposed of it he didn't say where or how you didn'

t add anything to either bomb  you don't know where the third bomb is that's the story you're going with it's not a story i waited  a moment to give him one last chance to come clean he didn't take it so i said okay i choose to  believe you then i can go in a minute there's still one thing i don't understand you want to  blow some place up and let khalil take the fall but why does that place have to be tdac  there are plenty of softer targets out there dendoncker was silent for a moment i though

t if  i hit part of the fbi they'd take it personally leave no stone unturned make sure the fingerprint  was found and no i shook my head here's what i think you learned that there was some evidence  against you at tdac something that hadn't come to light yet but that would soon then you were  offered khalil's fingerprint and you saw your chance two birds one bomb dendoncker didn't reply  i know what that evidence is i've joined the dots but i need to hear you admit it and i want you to  apologi

ze do those two things then you can walk dendoncker stayed silent i pointed at mansoor's  body do those two things or that's how you'll leave this world your choice then donker took  a deep breath okay the beirut barracks bomb i didn't build it but i taught the guys who did  they used parts i touched you were an instructor that's how you were in a position to pick the  driver correct and it's why i recognized your name when we first met at the morgue you won the  purple heart that day i read abo

ut it afterwards okay and and i'm sorry i apologize to everyone  who got hurt for everyone who got killed i looked at fenton she nodded okay i stepped back  you free to go dendonker was frozen to the spot his eyes were darting around wildly looking  for a trap he stayed still for 20 seconds then he started towards the door first walking  then scuttling as fast as he could go he kept moving until he reached the cadillac he  jumped in fired it up and steered for the gate i pulled out my phone ther

e was a message saying  i'd missed a call i'd never seen the number before but i knew exactly who it was from or rather what  it was from thanks to fenton's fishing expedition i hit the button to call the number back  fenton said are you sure you want to do this why wouldn't i if dendoncker's telling  the truth he'll be okay he lied about not knowing where the third bomb is i doubt he's  telling the truth about the vx then that's his problem i'm still giving him more of a chance  than he gave 24

1 marines in beirut that day dendoncker's cadillac stopped at the inner gate  my phone showed that my call had been answered the gates started to crawl to the side  the gap grew wide enough to drive through the cadillac stayed still the gate opened the  rest of the way the cadillac didn't move then its brake lights went out it rolled forward barely  above walking pace its horn blared it trundled on slewed slightly to the left and ran into  a fence post its horn continued to blare fenn said wanna

check to be sure  confirm he added vx to the smoke i shook my head no chance  that car's not airtight den donker's right where he deserves to be  and i have no intention of joining him chapter 57 i last encountered michaela fenton half a day  later we met on the road outside the town i was on foot she was in her jeep she roared past me  then swung hard to her left she blocked my path her front fender was a hair's breath away from  the trunk of a tree a stunted twisted ugly thing with hardly any

leaves but the only thing  growing taller than knee height for miles in either direction fenton said you left without  saying goodbye i shrugged everyone was asleep i tried to call you i don't have that phone  anymore i dropped it in the trash i figured that's why i came to look for you i  thought i might find you on this road it's the only one leading out of town still  heading for the ocean won't stop till i get there any chance you'll change your mind i shook my  head in that case i want to

thank you and so does michael he's awake he is he's weak but he's  talking did he say what he had that den donker was so desperate to get he called it his insurance  it was a code book it showed what was inside all the shells dendoncker had stockpiled he needed  it to make the maximum money when he sold them where'd he hide it he said he rolled it up and  shoved it inside the crossbar of a soccer goal at the school outstanding and there's something  else i called sonia she came back and you know

what i do like her maybe she is my future  sister-in-law and if she is that's fine by me i said nothing fenton tipped her head to the  side you won't stay even another day no point you'd be sick of me in 10 minutes  you'd be begging me to leave i doubt it that's right i turned and started  walking again you'd probably shoot me instead you