Lee Child - Gone Tomorrow

I looked at Theresa Lee and asked, ‘What happened to me?’

‘You don’t remember?’

‘Of course I remember. But what’s the official version?’

‘You were found on the street in the east Village. Unexplained knife wound. Happens all the time. They ran a tox screen and found traces of barbiturate. They put you down as a dope deal gone bad.’

‘Did they tell the cops?’

‘I am the cops.’

‘How did I get to the east Village?’

‘You didn’t. We brought you straight here.’

‘We?’

‘Me and Mr Springfield.’

‘How did you find me?’

‘We triangulated the cell phone. Which led us to the general area. The exact address was Mr Springfield’s idea.’

Springfield said, ‘A certain mujahideen leader told us all about doubling back to abandoned hideouts twenty-five years ago.’

I asked, ‘Is there going to be any comeback?’

John Sansom said, ‘No.’

Simple as that.

I said, ‘Are you sure? There are nine corpses in that house.’

‘The DoD guys are there right now. They’ll issue a loud no comment. With a knowing smirk. Designed to make everyone give them the credit.’

‘Suppose the wind changes direction? That happens from time to time. As you know.’

‘As a crime scene, it’s a mess.’

‘I left blood there.’

‘There’s a lot of blood there. It’s an old building. If anyone runs tests they’ll come up with rat DNA, mostly.’

‘There’s blood on my clothes.

Theresa Lee said, ‘The hospital burned your clothes.’

‘Why?’

‘Biohazard.’

‘They were brand new.’

‘They were soaked with blood. No one takes a risk with blood any more.’

‘Right-hand fingerprints,’ I said. ‘Inside the window handles and on the trapdoor.’

‘Old building,’ Sansom said. ‘It will be torn down and redeveloped before the wind changes.’

‘Shell cases,’ I said.

Springfield said, ‘Standard DoD issue. I’m sure they’re delighted. They’ll probably leak one to the media.’

‘Are they still looking for me?’

‘They can’t. It would confuse the narrative.’

‘Turf wars,’ I said.

‘Which they just won, apparently.’

I nodded.

Sansom asked, ‘Where is the memory stick?’

I looked at Jacob Mark. ‘You OK?’

He said, ‘Not really.’

I said, ‘You’re going to have to hear some stuff.’

He said, ‘OK.’

I hauled myself into a sitting position. Didn’t hurt at all. I guessed I was full of painkiller. I pulled my knees up and tented the sheet and moved the hem of my paper gown and took a peek at the cut. Couldn’t see it. I was wrapped with bandages from my hips to my rib cage.

Sansom said, ‘You told us you could get us within fifteen feet.’

I shook my head. ‘Not any more. Time has moved on. We’re going to have to do it by dead reckoning.’

‘Great. You were bullshitting all along. You don’t know where it is.’

‘We know the general shape of it,’ I said. ‘They planned for the best part of three months and then executed during the final week. They coerced Susan by using Peter as leverage. She drove up from Annandale, got stuck in a four-hour traffic jam, say from nine in the evening until one in the morning, and then she arrived in Manhattan just before two in the morning. I assume we know exactly when she came out of the Holland Tunnel. So what we have to do is work backwards and figure out exactly where her car was jammed up at midnight.’

‘How does that help us?’

‘Because at midnight she threw the memory stick out her car window.’

‘How can you possibly know that?’

‘Because when she arrived she didn’t have a cell phone with her.’

Sansom glanced at Lee. Lee nodded. Said, ‘Keys and a wallet. That was all. Not in her car, either. The FBI inventoried the contents.’

Sansom said, ‘Not everyone uses a cell phone.’

‘True,’ I said. ‘And I’m that guy. The only guy in the world without a cell phone. Certainly a person like Susan would have had one.’

Jacob Mark said, ‘She had one.’

Sansom said, ‘So?’

‘The Hoths set a deadline. Almost certainly midnight. Susan didn’t show, the Hoths went to work. They made a threat, and they carried it out. And they proved it. They phoned through a cell phone picture. Maybe a live video clip. Peter on the slab, that long first cut. Susan’s life changed, effectively, on the stroke of midnight. She was helpless in a traffic jam. The phone in her hand was suddenly appalling and repugnant. She threw it out the window. Followed it with the memory stick, which was the symbol of all her troubles. They’re both still there, in the trash on the side of I-95. No other explanation.’

Nobody spoke.

I said, ‘The median, probably. Subconsciously Susan would have put herself in the overtaking lane, because she was in a hurry. We could have triangulated the cell phone, but I think it’s too late now. The battery will be dead.’

Silence in the room. A whole minute. Just the hum and beep of medical equipment.

Sansom said, ‘That’s insane. The Hoths must have known they were losing control of the stick as soon as they phoned the picture through. They were giving up their leverage. Susan could have driven straight to the police.’

‘Two answers,’ I said. ‘The Hoths were insane, in a way. They were fundamentalists. They could act the part in public, but underneath it was all black and white for them. No nuance. A threat was a threat. Midnight was midnight. But anyway, their risk was minimal. They had a guy tailing Susan all the way. He could have stopped her going off message.’

‘Who?’

‘The twentieth guy. I don’t think going to Washington was a mistake. It wasn’t a missed connection in Istanbul. It was a last-minute change of plan. They suddenly realized that for a thing like this they needed someone on the ground in D.C. Or across the river, more likely, in one of the Pentagon dormitories. So the twentieth guy went straight there. Then he followed Susan all the way up. Five or ten cars back, like you do. Which was fine, until the traffic jammed up. Five or ten cars back in a traffic jam is as bad as a mile. All boxed in, maybe a big SUV in front of you, blocking the view. He didn’t see what happened. But he stayed with her. He was on the train, wearing an NBA shirt. I thought he looked familiar, when I saw him again. But I couldn’t confirm it, because I shot him in the face a split second later. He got all messed up.’

More silence. Then Sansom asked, ‘So where was Susan at midnight?’

I said, ‘You figure it out. Time, distance, average speed. Get a map and a ruler and paper and pencil.’

Jacob Mark was from Jersey. He started talking about Troopers he knew. About how the Troopers could help. They patrolled I-95 night and day. They knew it like the backs of their hands. They had traffic cameras. Their recorded pictures could calibrate the paper calculations. The highway department would cooperate. Everyone got into a big conversation. They paid me no more attention. I lay back on my pillow and they all started edging out of the room. Last out was Springfield. He paused in the doorway and looked back and asked, ‘How do you feel about Lila Hoth?’

I said, ‘I feel fine.’

‘Really? I wouldn’t. You nearly got taken down by two girls. It was sloppy work. Things like that, you do them properly or not at all.’

‘I didn’t have much ammunition.

‘You had thirty rounds. You should have used single shots. Those triple taps were all about anger. You let emotion get in the way. I warned you about that.’

He looked at me for a long second with nothing in his face. Then he stepped out to the corridor and I never saw him again.