Ли Чайлд - The Sentinel

Здесь есть возможность читать онлайн «Ли Чайлд - The Sentinel» весь текст электронной книги совершенно бесплатно (целиком полную версию без сокращений). В некоторых случаях можно слушать аудио, скачать через торрент в формате fb2 и присутствует краткое содержание. Год выпуска: 2020, ISBN: 2020, Издательство: Transworld, Жанр: Крутой детектив, на английском языке. Описание произведения, (предисловие) а так же отзывы посетителей доступны на портале библиотеки ЛибКат.

The Sentinel: краткое содержание, описание и аннотация

Предлагаем к чтению аннотацию, описание, краткое содержание или предисловие (зависит от того, что написал сам автор книги «The Sentinel»). Если вы не нашли необходимую информацию о книге — напишите в комментариях, мы постараемся отыскать её.

A Jack Reacher Novel – #25
Jack Reacher is back! The “utterly addictive” (The New York Times) series continues as acclaimed author Lee Child teams up with his brother, Andrew Child, fellow thriller writer extraordinaire. As always, Reacher has no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there. One morning he ends up in a town near Pleasantville, Tennessee. But there’s nothing pleasant about the place. In broad daylight Reacher spots a hapless soul walking into an ambush. “It was four against one” . . . so Reacher intervenes, with his own trademark brand of conflict resolution. The man he saves is Rusty Rutherford, an unassuming IT manager, recently fired after a cyberattack locked up the town’s data, records, information . . . and secrets. Rutherford wants to stay put, look innocent, and clear his name. Reacher is intrigued. There’s more to the story. The bad guys who jumped Rutherford are part of something serious and deadly, involving a conspiracy, a cover-up, and murder – all centered on a mousy little guy in a coffee-stained shirt who has no idea what he’s up against. Rule one: if you don’t know the trouble you’re in, keep Reacher by your side.

The Sentinel — читать онлайн бесплатно полную книгу (весь текст) целиком

Ниже представлен текст книги, разбитый по страницам. Система сохранения места последней прочитанной страницы, позволяет с удобством читать онлайн бесплатно книгу «The Sentinel», без необходимости каждый раз заново искать на чём Вы остановились. Поставьте закладку, и сможете в любой момент перейти на страницу, на которой закончили чтение.

Тёмная тема
Сбросить

Интервал:

Закладка:

Сделать

‘No.’

‘Did he mention having been anywhere recently?’

‘No. But he did say he’s leaving in a couple of days for a fishing cabin he has in Nova Scotia. But when he pulled out his pocketbook to pay for dinner I saw he had a Mexican passport in there. A plane ticket. And a bunch of pesos.’

Wallwork closed his notebook and set it down. ‘Are you messing with me, Mr Reacher?’

‘Why shouldn’t I be? You’re messing with me, detective. Or should I say agent?’

Wallwork didn’t respond.

‘It’s a little bit about the suit,’ Reacher said. ‘A little bit about your questions. But mainly about your shoes.’

Wallwork instinctively looked down at his feet.

‘I bet they set you back three times what Detective Goodyear’s cost,’ Reacher said. ‘And I bet a thousand bucks he wouldn’t swap. Not even if they were his size and brand new. Look at them. There’s no cushioning in the sole. No room around the toes. No thickness to the leather. No cop in the world would wear them.’

Wallwork let out a long, slow breath. ‘I knew this was a mistake. I read your service record. I wanted to be straight with you from the start but my boss wouldn’t go for it. She insisted on the subterfuge. I know it’s a stretch to ask you to trust me now, but look at it this way. I could just leave. Deny everything. Say this interview never happened. But I’m not going to do that. I’m going to tell you the truth.’

Wallwork took out his wallet, removed a laminated card, and set it on the table next to his notebook. There was a blue and white eagle in the centre. It was clutching a bunch of thirteen arrows in one talon. An olive branch with thirteen leaves and berries in the other. There was a shield with mountains on the left and water on the right. The words US Department of Homeland Security were in a ring around the outside. And beneath that, Jefferson Wallwork, Special Agent, Infrastructure Security Agency .

‘This is who I really am,’ he said.

‘So what do you really want to know?’ Reacher said.

‘The ransomware attack on the town. You heard about it?’

Reacher nodded.

‘There are two ways ransomware can get into a computer network. Over the internet. Or from something that’s physically connected. A thumb drive. A disc drive. Something like that.’

‘Rutherford didn’t do it.’

‘You know that for a fact?’

‘You’ve read my service record. I was an investigator. And an investigator develops a sense for people. I’ve talked to Rutherford. Spent time with him. He didn’t do it.’

‘Maybe you’re right. I kind of hope you are. But without proof it remains a possibility. I have to rule it in. Or rule it out.’

‘Then talk to Rutherford. Ask him to his face. Catch him in a lie, or let him clear his name.’

‘I wish I could.’

‘Why can’t you?’

‘What if he is involved? We bring him in, he gets word to his buddies, they cut off negotiations with the insurance company. Lock the town’s data for ever. And crawl back into their dung heap. We’d have no chance of catching them. Or if his buddies are watching and they see us bring him in, same result.’

‘So what are you going to do?’

‘The other possibility is online transmission. We’re hunting that down, too. Fingers crossed something breaks. Meantime, I have to ask you not to mention this to Rutherford. Or anyone else. It could have extremely serious consequences if you did.’

‘Rutherford lost his job. Everyone in the town hates him. He was almost kidnapped. I’m not going to dump anything else on him.’

‘Good. Thank you. Now before I go, I have a message from Detective Goodyear. The thing about the quid pro quo for getting those men to drop the assault charges? That was his idea. I kind of piggybacked on it. And there is something he needs you to do.’

‘What?’

‘Leave town. This morning. Right now, in fact. He has a car waiting outside to take you to the highway. And he wants your word you won’t come back.’

‘What if I don’t want to leave town?’

‘Come on, Reacher. Work with me here. Yesterday you asked him for a ride.’

‘That was yesterday. The town has grown on me since then.’

‘He’s making you a fair offer, Reacher. You’ve been in town less than twenty-four hours and already you’ve been in two major brawls.’

Reacher took a moment to weigh Goodyear’s offer. There was Rutherford’s well-being to think about. And in an ideal world he would root out whoever was behind sending those thugs after him at the diner. It wasn’t fair for the foot soldiers to pay the price on their own. But on the other hand the town had no bus station. No sign of much truck traffic, either, which was the best bet when it came to hitching a ride. People were becoming increasingly leery about letting strangers into their cars, these days. Especially strangers who looked like him.

‘OK,’ Reacher said. ‘I will leave. This morning. But I have two conditions.’

‘There’s no money in this for you. Let’s be clear about that.’

‘I’m not talking about money. This is about something else. Those idiots attacked me because they thought I worked for an insurance agent. That must be the guy who gave me a ride yesterday. He’ll be staying in a hotel somewhere in town. Some New York dude. Young. In his twenties. He can’t be hard to find. I need you to make sure that with me gone they don’t transfer their attention to him. That means warning them to leave him alone. In language they can understand. You know what I mean?’

Wallwork smiled. ‘I think I do.’

‘And you need to warn him to watch his back in case whoever sent the chuckle brothers sends someone else. Someone better.’

Wallwork nodded. ‘I can do that.’

‘And then there’s Rutherford. If you need to investigate him, so be it. But you also need to keep him safe. He’s certainly not equipped to do it himself.’

The car Goodyear had arranged was waiting in the courthouse lot when Reacher stepped out through the metal door at the top of the steps. It was long and sleek and German, metallic black, and it was shining in the morning sun like it had just been detailed. Technically it was a regular sedan with four doors and a trunk, but to Reacher’s eye it looked too low at the back. It seemed to be squatting on the asphalt rather than sitting on its wheels, like it had been squashed before leaving the factory.

The driver saw Reacher emerge. He hit a button to open the trunk, climbed out, and walked stiffly to the rear of the car. He’d be in his mid to late fifties, Reacher thought, with silver hair buzzed short and the tanned, leathery skin of a guy who spent plenty of time outdoors. He wasn’t tall – maybe five ten at most – and he was wearing pale chinos and a white shirt. The shirt was tight across his shoulders, and also around his gut. It was like he’d once been in shape but was struggling to stay that way and wasn’t ready to admit he might not make it. He looked at Reacher and sneered, making plain his displeasure at the prospect of someone so unkempt being allowed to travel in his pristine vehicle.

‘I’m Marty. You’re Jack Reacher?’

Reacher nodded. ‘You can close the trunk, Marty. No luggage. Just the clothes on my back.’

This revelation didn’t make Marty appear any more enthusiastic. He shook his head, prodded a button on the edge of the trunk lid which caused it to slowly close, and stalked around to the passenger side. He opened the rear door and stood back as Reacher folded himself into the cramped space. Then he went to his side of the car and climbed in behind the wheel. He fastened his seat belt, fired up the engine, and pulled out of the lot. He turned past the front of the building, jinked left and right along a couple of streets lined with single family homes that grew larger and further apart as they went until they settled into a straight wide road with fields full of low dark green plants on either side. The position of the sun told Reacher they were heading due south.

Читать дальше
Тёмная тема
Сбросить

Интервал:

Закладка:

Сделать

Похожие книги на «The Sentinel»

Представляем Вашему вниманию похожие книги на «The Sentinel» списком для выбора. Мы отобрали схожую по названию и смыслу литературу в надежде предоставить читателям больше вариантов отыскать новые, интересные, ещё непрочитанные произведения.


Линкольн Чайлд - Меч карающий
Линкольн Чайлд
Troy Denning - The Sentinel
Troy Denning
Jennifer Armentrout - Sentinel
Jennifer Armentrout
Matthew Dunn - Sentinel
Matthew Dunn
Arthur Clarke - The Sentinel
Arthur Clarke
Ли Чайлд - The Christmas Scorpion
Ли Чайлд
Ли Чайлд - The Midnight Line
Ли Чайлд
Ли Чайлд - The Fourth Man
Ли Чайлд
Линкольн Чайлд - Verses for the Dead
Линкольн Чайлд
Отзывы о книге «The Sentinel»

Обсуждение, отзывы о книге «The Sentinel» и просто собственные мнения читателей. Оставьте ваши комментарии, напишите, что Вы думаете о произведении, его смысле или главных героях. Укажите что конкретно понравилось, а что нет, и почему Вы так считаете.

x