Lee Child - A Wanted Man

There was a static click, loud and emphatic through the sound system. Then a voice said, ‘Sorenson?’

Sorenson said, ‘Yes, sir.’

Her special agent in charge. Her supervisor. Her boss. A man called Perry, fifty-four years old, a Bureau lifer, ambitious, first name Anthony, called Tony to his face, called Stony behind his back, because of the mineral lump where his heart should have been.

He said, ‘I called the gas station in Iowa.’

‘ You did, sir?’

‘I’m awake. I might as well do something useful.’

‘And?’

‘They don’t have video.’

‘But?’

‘The night clerk seems like a smart enough kid. He came through with a pretty coherent story.’

‘Which was?’

‘The car was a dark blue Chevy Impala. He didn’t get the plate. Four people in it, three men and a woman. Initially one man and the woman stayed in the car. A second man pumped the gas. First point of interest, he used a credit card we just found out is phony.’

‘Was it related to the card used at the Denver airport?’

‘We don’t think so. Different source, almost certainly. The second point of interest is the car took only three-point-something gallons, which the kid behind the register thought was strange. The average sale at that location is closer to eleven gallons, unless someone’s filling a can for a lawnmower.’

‘So they either part-filled the car, which might mean they’re close to home, or they topped it off, which means they’d stopped before.’

‘We’re checking if the same card has been used anywhere else tonight. No results yet. But anyway, while the gas business was happening the third man entered the store alone and waited until the door closed and then asked for the pay phone.’

‘This was the driver, sir?’

‘Yes. The kid described him as gigantic, with a busted nose, all raw and crusted with blood. The kid admits at first he was a little scared. The guy looked like something out of a slasher movie. Like a wild man. His clothes were dirty and his hair was a mess. But he spoke normally and ultimately he seemed pleasant enough. So the kid pointed him to the phone, which is out of sight near the restrooms. So the kid has no direct knowledge of whether the guy actually used the phone or not. Then the guy who had stayed in the car came in to use the toilet. The slasher movie guy came out and got coffee all around and then the other guy came out and they left together. The car drove away in an orderly fashion and headed south.’

‘Atmosphere? Anything squirrelly?’

‘Nothing to report. It was the middle of the night, so they all looked a little tired and vague, but there were no bad words, no apparent tension, and no real hurry either, as far as I understand it.’

‘Did you listen to the emergency line recording, sir?’

‘Yes, I was copied on it, obviously.’

‘Did anything stand out for you?’

‘The word probably . It makes no sense. If he’s one of them he knows where the crime was committed. In which case he would have said he had information for Omaha, Nebraska, period.’

‘You think he’s not one of them?’

‘I think he’s low-level muscle. He drives, and he fetches coffee. He doesn’t know the details.’

Bullshit, Stony , Sorenson thought. He doesn’t sound low-level to me. He sounds smarter than you, for instance .

She said, ‘Thank you, sir. That’s very useful.’

‘Keep in touch,’ the SAC said, and clicked off.

Sorenson drove on for a mile, thinking, and then she eased back up to ninety miles an hour and went back to e-mail. She turned the sound system’s volume up high and played the recording one more time.

Just connect me, now .

The big guy’s first sentence had been reasonable, patient, and explanatory. I have information, probably for your field office in Omaha, Nebraska . A scene-setter. A preamble. But it hadn’t gotten the desired results. The emergency operator hadn’t jumped right to it. So the big guy had gotten impatient. Just connect me, now . Urgent, breathy, frustrated. Some slight wonder and incomprehension in his voice. Some slight emphasis on the last word. Now . A little desperate. As if to say: I have completed the first step of the ritual dance, and I really, really don’t have time for the second, and I really, really can’t understand why you don’t understand that .

Not a change of heart. The big guy had hung up because he was out of time. Because the other guy had come in to use the bathroom.

The big guy was one of them. But he was a traitor.

REACHER PUT HIS hands flat on the floor and pushed himself up off his knees. He turned and looked at the fat man in the office doorway and said, ‘I need to borrow your car.’

The fat man stared at Reacher’s face.

He said, ‘What?’

‘Your car. Right now.’

‘No way.’ The guy was about thirty, prematurely losing his hair, about five feet four high, and about five feet three wide. He was wearing a white shirt and a red sleeveless V-necked sweater. He said, ‘I told you, I already called the cops. They’re on their way. So don’t try anything stupid.’

Reacher said, ‘How long will it take for the cops to arrive?’

‘Two minutes, max. They’re already rolling.’

‘From where?’

The guy didn’t answer.

Reacher said, ‘County?’

The guy said, ‘At night we rely on the State Police.’

‘They were all on roadblock duty. On the Interstate. A long way west of here. Short notice. No time to organize replacements. I’d say they’re two hours away, minimum. Not two minutes, maximum. If they come at all, that is. No one died here.’

‘A shot was fired.’

‘And that’s a bad thing, right?’

‘Of course it is.’

‘So they’re the bad guys. Because they fired the shot. And they fired it at me. Which makes me the good guy.’

‘Or the even worse guy.’

‘Whichever,’ Reacher said. ‘If I’m the good guy you’ll help me because you’re on my side. If I’m the even worse guy you’ll help me because you’re scared of me. But either way you’ll help me. So you might as well just cut to the chase and give me your keys.’

‘Won’t do you any good.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because I protect myself.’

‘Against what?’

‘Against people like you.’

‘How?’

‘No gas in my car.’

‘There has to be gas in your car. You’re thirty miles from the gas station.’

‘There’s a gallon or so. Good for about forty miles. And forty miles is nothing out here.’

‘Are you serious?’

‘It’s the best anti-theft protection there is. Better than an alarm, better than a tracker, better than a fancy lock.’

‘You’re pretty smart,’ Reacher said. ‘Or completely nuts. One or the other. What about your guests tonight? Who are they? Maybe I could borrow that pick-up truck.’

The fat man just said, ‘Oh, man, please.’

But Reacher didn’t push it. He just stood there, defeated. Because of numbers. Specifically four, and three, and two. Almost four minutes had passed. King and McQueen were about to hit the next road junction. It would be a T-junction, offering two choices, or a crossroads, offering three. Iowa. The chequerboard. The agricultural matrix. To be more than a field’s-length behind a fleeing fugitive meant facing endlessly escalating odds of taking the wrong turn. So far Reacher had seen T-junctions and crossroads in about a two-to-three ratio, spaced an average of about eight miles apart. The fat man’s gallon of gas might last about sixty minutes. And at the end of that hour the odds of being on the right track would have stacked up to around 650 to one against.