Ли Чайлд - The Sentinel

‘Nothing.’

‘Good. Where is the team now?’

‘Watching Rutherford’s building.’

‘Excellent. You know, this may work in our favour. It will be easier to deal with them separately. We know their exact locations, and the drifter will be secure until the morning, at least. OK. Here’s what I propose. Leave two people to watch Rutherford’s building. The remainder of the team should rest. If Rutherford has not appeared by six a.m. they should go to a location I will confirm in due course. They should conceal themselves there and wait. The drifter will be delivered to them. I’ll make the arrangements for that myself. They should subdue him using any means necessary and bring him here. Then the whole team can focus on Rutherford. With the drifter out of the way they shouldn’t have any further problems.’

The next call came through on the burner. It was short. From a man a short distance away. A report. First, facts. Then opinions. Brief and concise. The way Speranski liked it. Only this time Speranski followed up the information he received with a set of instructions. Which meant that when the burner phone rang again a few moments later, Speranski already knew what the caller was going to say: ‘This is Marty. I have something you may be interested in.’

There were four cells in the basement of the courthouse, and no occupants that night aside from Reacher. He didn’t know if that kind of ratio was normal. Maybe the crime rate in the town was low. Maybe the police were bad at catching criminals. Or maybe the current situation gave the cops an incentive to avoid filling in forms and filing reports by hand. But whatever the reason, Reacher was happy with the result. He needed a place to sleep, and here was a solution that didn’t require him to part with any cash. He took off his jacket and rolled it up to make a pillow. Lay down on the metal bench. Closed his eyes and let Howlin’ Wolf loose in his head. Next up was Magic Slim. He gave them a couple of songs each. Then he counted to three and drifted straight off.

Reacher woke himself at 7:00 a.m. so he had been lying awake for an hour weighing his priorities for the day when he heard footsteps approaching. Someone quick and light. Reacher opened his eyes and saw a uniformed cop he didn’t recognize. She was about five foot eight and looked like she could run a marathon before breakfast without thinking twice. She had a thick twist of dark shiny hair knotted at the back of her head and a warm, welcoming smile. Her name plate said Rule. Reacher could only imagine the ribbing that had bought her at the academy.

‘Rise and shine.’ Officer Rule opened the cell door and gestured for Reacher to come out. ‘A detective wants to see you.’

‘Goodyear?’ Reacher didn’t move.

‘Someone new.’ Officer Rule shrugged. ‘I don’t know who he is. He just got here. Must be from another jurisdiction.’

‘Suppose I go see him.’ Reacher stood up. ‘What then?’

‘That’s up to him. And Detective Goodyear.’

‘Any word on the idiots who jumped me?’

‘They– The new detective should have the most up-to-date information.’

‘Any idea why they did it?’

‘You already said it.’ Officer Rule smiled. ‘They’re idiots.’

‘Who are they?’

‘Just a bunch of local yahoos. No one for you to worry about.’ Officer Rule paused and looked more closely at Reacher. ‘Although I’m guessing there aren’t too many people you worry about.’

‘That’s not so.’ Reacher picked up his jacket and came out of the cell. ‘Just the other day I got into a debate over the well-being of a group of up-and-coming musicians.’

‘That’s not what I meant.’ Officer Rule took Reacher’s elbow and guided him towards the corridor. ‘And I think you know it.’

The new detective kept Reacher waiting for half an hour exactly. A minute more than one prime number. A minute short of another. Reacher was disappointed.

The guy was wearing a black suit with a white shirt and a narrow burgundy tie. He was older than Goodyear. That was clear. But how much older was hard to tell. Reacher guessed ten years, minimum, but the guy had the kind of podgy face that resisted wrinkles and didn’t sag. His head was bald, but freshly shaved so there was no indication of where his hairline would naturally be. He was slim. And he looked fit, in an unassuming, middle-of-the-road kind of way.

The guy sat at the table. He took a black notebook from his jacket pocket, then gestured for Reacher to get up from his spot on the floor and join him. ‘My name’s Wallwork. It’s early and I’m not a morning person so let’s get straight to the point. Why did you attack those men last night?’

‘Where’s Detective Goodyear?’ Reacher said.

‘He’s here somewhere,’ Wallwork said. ‘But I’m handling this case. So. Tell me. The fight at the diner. What started it?’

‘Those cretins did.’ Reacher folded his arms. ‘They came after me. I gave them a chance to walk away. It’s not my fault they were too stupid to take it.’

‘Why did they attack you, then?’

‘You’re the detective. You figure it out.’

‘There’s no reason you can think of?’

‘Aside from stupidity?’

‘OK. So I should put this down as a random, unprovoked attack?’

‘Unprovoked, yes. Random, no. They thought I was working with some insurance guy. They tried to warn me off.’

‘Why would they do that?’

‘You’re the detective.’

‘Fine. Don’t help me. But you should certainly help yourself. Listen. I’ve just been to the hospital. You banged those guys up pretty good. They won’t be able to work for quite a while. Won’t be able to do much of anything. They’re not happy about that. They’re looking for some kind of payback. Talking about pressing charges.’

‘Let them. Nothing would stick.’

Wallwork shrugged. ‘Maybe. Maybe not. But it would lead to a trial. There’d be no way around that. The courts are pretty backed up around here. Could be a while before you appear. We’d have to keep you locked up in the interim. And there’s the jury to think about. They’d all be locals. Do you think they’d like the idea of a hooligan blowing into town and beating on their own? And here’s another thing. The guys have already had their photos taken. By a professional. Multiple shots. They have all kinds of swellings. Bruises. Cuts. They look bad.’

‘They didn’t look great to start with.’

‘I’m not disputing that. But get a few mothers on the jury? Get them imagining you doing that kind of damage to their sons? You’d be taking a gamble.’

Reacher said nothing.

‘Of course, there is another path we could take. These are not the smartest of individuals. I could probably change their minds. Get them to drop all this talk of criminal charges. But if I did that for you, I’d need something in return.’

‘Such as?’

‘The previous incident. The one involving Rusty Rutherford. Detective Goodyear was left with the sense that you weren’t being entirely forthcoming. Level with me, and I’ll see you get to walk out of here.’

‘Level with you how? Some guys tried to kidnap Rutherford. I stopped them. There’s nothing more to tell.’

‘You followed Rutherford along the sidewalk for a spell, correct?’

Reacher nodded.

‘Did you see him drop anything? In a trash can, maybe, or down a drain?’

‘No.’

‘After you intervened, before the officers arrived, did he try to hide anything?’

‘No.’

‘It could have been very small. A key, or a flash drive.’

‘He didn’t hide anything.’

‘Did you see him mail anything?’

‘No.’

‘At the diner you two must have talked. Did he say anything about having a storage unit? Or a safety deposit box?’