Ли Чайлд: No Middle Name

In the painting, and in real life too.

He said, ‘What have I walked into?’

The woman said, ‘You’re to stand still, right where you are, and don’t move until I tell you to.’

‘Or what?’

‘Or you’ll go to prison for interfering with a national security operation.’

‘Or you’ll get fired for continuing with a national security operation after it suddenly got a civilian in the way.’

‘The operation isn’t here. It’s in the park.’

She looked diagonally across the wide junction, three major thoroughfares all meeting, at the mass of trees beyond.

He said, ‘What have I walked into?’

She said, ‘I can’t tell you.’

‘I’m sure I’ve heard worse.’

‘Military police, right?’

‘Like the FBI, but on a much lower budget.’

‘We have a target in the park. Sitting on a bench all alone. Waiting for a contact who isn’t coming.’

‘Who is he?’

‘A bad apple.’

‘From your barrel?’

She nodded. ‘One of us.’

‘Is he armed?’

‘He’s never armed.’

‘Why isn’t his contact coming?’

‘He died an hour ago in a hit and run accident. The driver didn’t stop. No one got the plate.’

‘There’s a big surprise.’

‘He turned out to be Russian. The State Department had to inform their consulate. Which turned out to be where the guy worked. Purely by coincidence.’

‘Your guy was talking to the Russians? Do people still do that?’

‘More and more. And it’s getting more and more important all the time. People say we’re headed back to the 1980s. But they’re wrong. We’re headed back to the 1930s.’

‘So your guy ain’t going to win employee of the month.’

She didn’t answer.

He said, ‘Where are you going to take him?’

She paused a beat. She said, ‘All that’s classified.’

‘All that? All what? He can’t be going to multiple destinations.’

She didn’t answer.

Now he paused a beat.

He said, ‘Is he headed for the destination you want?’ She didn’t answer.

‘Is he?’

She said, ‘No.’

‘Because of suits higher up?’

‘As always.’

‘Are you married?’

‘What’s that got to do with anything?’

‘Are you?’

‘I’m hanging in there.’

‘So you’re the redhead.’

‘And?’

‘I’m the guy in the hat with his back to us, all alone.’

‘Meaning what?’

‘Meaning I’m going to take a walk. Like a First Amendment thing. Meaning you’re going to stay here. Like a smart tactical thing.’

And he turned and moved away, before she had a chance to object. He rounded the tip of the cowcatcher and headed diagonally across the heart of the complex junction, moving fast, not breaking stride at the kerbs and the painted lines, ignoring the Don’t Walk signs, not slowing at all, and finally straight into the park itself, by its southwest gate. Ahead was a dry fountain and a closed-up burger stall. Curving left was the main centre path, clearly following some kind of a design scheme that featured large ovals, like running tracks.

There were dim fancy lights on poles, and the Times Square glow was bouncing off the clouds like a magnesium flare. Reacher could see pretty well, but all he saw were empty benches, at least at the start of the curve. More came into sight as he walked, but they too stayed empty, all the way to the far tip of the oval, where there was another dry fountain, and a children’s playground, and finally the continuation of the path itself, curving down the other side of the oval, back towards the near tip. And it had benches too.

And one of them was occupied.

By a big guy, all pink and fleshy, maybe fifty years old, in a dark suit. A pouchy face, and thinning hair. A guy who looked like his life had passed him by.

Reacher stepped close and the guy looked up, and then he looked away, but Reacher sat down next to him anyway. He said, ‘Boris or Vladimir or whatever his name was isn’t coming. You’re busted. They know you’re not armed, but they’ve gone ahead and cleared about twenty square blocks, which means they’re going to shoot you. You’re about to be executed. But not while I’m here. Not with witnesses. And as it happens the SAC isn’t happy with it. But she’s getting pressure from above.’

The guy said, ‘So?’

Reacher said, ‘So here’s my good deed of the day. If you want to turn yourself in to her, I’ll walk with you. Every step of the way. You can tell her what you know, and you can get three squares a day in prison the rest of your life.’

The guy didn’t answer.

Reacher said, ‘But maybe you don’t want to go to prison the rest of your life. Maybe you’re ashamed. Maybe suicide by cop is better. Who am I to judge? So my super-good deed of the day is to walk away if you tell me to. Your choice.’

The guy said, ‘Then walk away.’

‘You sure?’

‘I can’t face it.’

‘Why did you do it?’

‘To be somebody.’

‘What kind of stuff could you tell the SAC?’

‘Nothing important. Damage assessment is their main priority. But they already know what I had access to, so they already know what I told them.’

‘And you’ve got nothing worthwhile to add?’

‘Not a thing. I don’t know anything. My contacts aren’t stupid. They know this can happen.’

‘OK,’ Reacher said. ‘I’ll walk away.’

And he did, out of the park in its northeast corner, where he heard faint radio chatter in the shadows announcing his departure, and a deserted block up Madison Avenue, where he waited against the limestone base of a substantial building. Four minutes later he heard suppressed handguns, eleven or twelve rounds expended, a volley of thudding percussions like phone books slammed on desks.

Then he heard nothing more. He pushed off the wall, and walked north on Madison, imagining himself back at the lunch counter, his hat in place, his elbows drawn in, nursing a new secret in a life already full of old secrets.

Lee Child is one of the world’s leading thriller writers. He was born in Coventry, raised in Birmingham, and now lives in New York. It is said one of his novels featuring his hero Jack Reacher is sold somewhere in the world every nine seconds. His books consistently achieve the number-one slot on bestseller lists around the world, and have sold over one hundred million copies. Two blockbusting Jack Reacher movies have been made so far. He is the recipient of many awards, most recently Author of the Year at the 2019 British Book Awards. He was appointed CBE in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

www.leechild.com