by Child, Lee
They carried the groceries to the kitchen door, and tapped on the glass. Heart attack time, potentially, for the Shevicks, but they survived. There was a little gasping and fluttering of fingers and fanning for breath, and a little embarrassment about bathrobes, but they got over it fast enough. They stared at the grocery sacks with a mixture of emotions on their faces. Shame and lost pride and empty stomachs. Reacher got them to make coffee. Abby packed their refrigerator and stacked their shelves.
Maria Shevick said, ‘We’re up because we got a call from the hospital. It’s an around-the-clock operation, obviously. We told them they should call any time, night or day. It’s in our notes, I expect. They called to say they want to do another scan, first thing tomorrow morning. They’re still excited.’
‘If we pay,’ Aaron Shevick said.
‘How much this time?’ Reacher asked.
‘Eleven thousand.’
‘When?’
‘We need it by close of business today.’
‘I guess you already looked under the sofa cushions.’
‘I found a button. From a pair of my pants. It was missing eight years. Maria sewed it back on.’
‘It’s still early in the day,’ Reacher said. ‘There are still a lot of hours to go, before the close of business.’
‘We were going to skip it this time around,’ Aaron said. ‘After all, what will it tell us? If it’s good news, it will make us happy, of course, but that’s self-indulgence, not medicine. If it’s bad news, we don’t want to know anyway. So we weren’t sure exactly what we would be getting, for our eleven thousand dollars. But then the doctors said they need to know the extent of the progress. They said they need to calibrate a new dosage based on what they find. Either up or down. With a certain amount of timing and precision. They said anything else would be perilous.’
‘How do you normally pay them?’
‘With a bank wire.’
‘Do they take cash?’
‘Why?’
‘Cash is usually the quickest thing to rustle up, when time is running short.’
‘From where?’
‘Every day presents different opportunities. Worst case scenario, we could sell their car. Maybe up at the Ford dealer. I heard their used lot needs inventory.’
‘Yes, they take cash,’ Shevick said. ‘Like a casino. They have a line of tellers behind bulletproof glass.’
‘OK,’ Reacher said. ‘Good to know.’
He stepped out to the darkened hallway, and lined up at a distance with a front window. He looked out to the street. The Lincoln was still there. The same one. Big and black, now dewed over and inert. Two vague shapes in it. Heads and shoulders, slumped down in the gloom. Guns under their arms, no doubt. Wallets in their pockets, almost certainly. Probably stuffed with cash, if they were anything like their opposite number from Tirana. Probably hundreds of dollars. But probably not eleven thousand.
He stepped back to the kitchen. Maria Shevick gave him a cup of coffee. His first of the day. She asked them to stay for breakfast. She would fix it. They could all eat together, like a party. Reacher wanted to say no. The food was for the old folks themselves, not random guests. Plus he wanted to get out of there before the sun came up. While it was still dark. It was likely to be a busy day. There was a lot to do. But the breakfast idea seemed to mean something to the Shevicks, and Abby was OK with it, so he said yes. Much later he wondered exactly how much different the day would have turned out, if he hadn’t. But he didn’t think about it for long. Spilled milk. Wasted energy. Move on.
Maria Shevick grilled bacon and fried eggs and made toast and brewed a second pot of coffee. Aaron tottered in with the stool from their bedroom dressing table, to make a fourth seat. Maria was right. In the end the meal turned into a party. Like a secret in the dark. Abby told a joke about a guy with cancer. For a beat it could have gone either way. But her performer’s instinct was sure and true. After a second of silence Aaron and Maria burst out laughing, hard, their shoulders heaving, on and on, some kind of pent-up relief coming out, some kind of catharsis. Maria slapped her hand on the table, so hard her coffee spilled, and Aaron drummed his feet on the floor, so hard he hurt his knee again.
Reacher watched the sun come up. The sky went grey, then gold. The yard outside the window took shape. Vague forms loomed out of the dark. The fence. The distant hump of the back-to-back neighbour’s asphalt roof.
‘Who lives there?’ he asked. ‘Whose yard did we walk through?’
‘Actually it’s the woman who told us about Fisnik,’ Aaron said. ‘She told us the story about the other neighbour’s nephew’s wife’s cousin borrowing money from a gangster in a bar. I have a feeling she went to see him herself, a little later. She got her car fixed all of a sudden. No other visible means of support.’
Maria made a third pot of coffee. Reacher thought, what the hell. The sun was already over the horizon. He stayed in his seat and drank his share. Then somehow the conversation came back to money, and suddenly everyone seemed to hear the same clock ticking. The close of business, getting nearer.
‘Except cash is good all night long,’ Reacher said. ‘Right? The close of business thing is about the bank wires only. As long as they have a teller open, we’re good until the moment they put her on the gurney.’
‘From where?’ Aaron said again. ‘Eleven thousand is a lot of sofa cushions.’
‘Hope for the best,’ Reacher said.
He and Abby left the way they had come, this time with empty hands, and in the late dawn light, therefore faster, but not much easier. The fence was still difficult. The fold-back section was still stiff and noisy.
Their car was gone.
THIRTY-THREE
The black Chrysler, with its low roof, and its high waistline, and its shallow windows, and its closed trunk lid. No longer there. The space at the kerb was empty.
Abby said, ‘The guy got out.’
‘I don’t see how he could,’ Reacher said.
‘Then what happened?’
‘My fault,’ Reacher said. ‘I got it ass backward. About the public response. The woman looked out the window and saw a gangster car and didn’t get nervous. She called gangster HQ instead. Maybe she’s obliged to. Maybe it was part of her deal with Fisnik. When she got her car fixed. They claim to have eyes everywhere. Maybe that’s how. So she called them and they came right over, and they checked it out.’
‘Did they open the trunk?’
‘Operationally we have to assume they did. Equally we have to assume the guy is still functioning. Which puts Barton and Hogan in immediate danger. They’re probably fast asleep right now. You better call them.’
‘If they’re asleep their phones will be off.’
‘Try anyway.’
She did.
Their phones were off.
‘That language guy,’ Reacher said. ‘The tanker. Did you get his number?’
‘Vantresca?’
‘Yes.’
‘No.’
‘OK,’ Reacher said. ‘We’re leaving here on foot. No choice. The small slender woman, and the big ugly man. Broad daylight. Eyes everywhere. Probably not a walk in the park any more. Probably your second thing of the day.’
‘Back to Frank Barton’s house?’
‘We need to warn them somehow.’
‘I’ll keep trying the phone. But they’ll sleep till ten. You know how it is. Their gig starts at twelve.’
‘Wait,’ Reacher said. ‘You can find Vantresca on your phone. He said he had a private security licence, and his number was listed in the national directories.’
Abby searched. She typed and swiped and tapped and scrolled.
She said, ‘Got him.’
Then she said, ‘It looks like it’s just an office landline. He won’t be in yet.’
‘Try anyway.’
She did. She put the phone on speaker and held it balanced on her palm. They heard a series of clicks, as if the call was being bounced from one place to
another.
She said, ‘Maybe out of hours it forwards to his house.’
It did exactly that. Vantresca answered. He sounded all squared away. He sounded crisp, and alert, and cheerful. And corporate. He said, ‘Vantresca Security, how may I help you?’
Reacher said, ‘Guy, this is Reacher. The MP. Abby and I got your number from a directory. On that thing everyone talks about.’
‘The internet?’
‘That’s it. But this is not official, OK? Not for the after-action report.’
‘OK.’
‘Also it’s a shoot-first kind of thing. Just do it, right now, and ask questions later.’
‘Do what right now?’
‘Go check your pal Joe Hogan is OK. And Frank Barton.’
‘Why wouldn’t they be?’
‘I said questions later.’
‘That one now.’
‘The Albanians may be close to confirming where we were last night. May already have confirmed. Hogan and Barton aren’t answering their phones. We hope because they’re asleep.’
‘OK, on my way.’
‘Get them out of there, even if they’re OK so far. Could go south any time.’
‘Where will they go?’
‘They can go crash at my house,’ Abby said. ‘No one is watching it any more.’
‘How long do they need to be gone?’
‘A day,’ Reacher said. ‘That seems to be the way the wind is blowing. No need to pack a big suitcase.’
Vantresca clicked off. Abby put her phone away. Reacher redistributed the things in his pockets, to balance his load. Abby buttoned her coat. They set out walking. A small woman and a big man. Broad daylight. Eyes everywhere.
Gregory had said he would go talk to Dino again, first thing in the morning, and what Gregory said, Gregory meant. He got up early, and dressed the same way he had before, on his previous visit. Tight pants, tight shirt. Nothing to hide. No gun, no knife, no wire, no bomb. Necessary, but not comfortable. The dawn air was too cold for single layers. He waited for a little warmth, and until there were shadows. He wanted daylight hours to be visibly under way. It was a matter of presentation. He was a man of energy and vigour, as fresh as the new day, taking charge, taking action, bright and early. Not a mistimed nightcrawler coming in out of the gloom.
Once again he drove to the garage on Center Street. Then he walked. Once again he was followed all the way. Once again calls were made ahead. When he got where he was going he found the same six figures, in the same half circle between the sidewalk and the lumber yard’s gate. Like chess pieces. The same defensive formation.
Once again one of the six figures stepped up. It was Jetmir. Once again partly a blocking manoeuvre, and partly ready to listen.
Gregory told him, ‘I need to speak with Dino.’
Jetmir asked, ‘Why?’
‘I have a proposal.’
‘What kind?’
‘At this point it’s for his ears only.’
‘On what general subject?’
‘A matter of urgent mutual interest.’
‘Mutual,’ Jetmir said. ‘A concept in short supply recently.’
An impertinence, given their disparity in rank. Only one step apart, but it was the biggest step of all.
But Gregory didn’t react.
He said, ‘I believe we were both deceived.’
Jetmir paused a beat.
‘In what way?’ he said.
‘The fox got the blame, but really it was the dog who did it. You probably have a folk tale in your culture. Or a similar saying.’
‘Who is the dog?’ Jetmir asked.
Gregory didn’t answer directly.
Instead he said, ‘That’s for Dino’s ears only.’
‘No,’ Jetmir said. ‘Given the history of recent days, you’ll understand that Dino will not feel well disposed towards taking a meeting with you at this time. Not without an extensive preview of the issue at hand, and a good word, both from me. I’m sure you would operate in the same manner, under the same circumstances. You have a staff for a reason. So does Dino.’
Gregory said, ‘Tell him we didn’t start killing your guys, and I don’t believe you started killing our guys. Ask him if he could get on board with that theory.’
‘And if he can?’
‘Ask him what it means.’
‘What does it mean?’
‘That’s enough of a preview. Now I’m requesting the courtesy of a meeting.’
‘Then who killed our guys? And yours? You’re saying someone was running a false-flag operation against both of us at once?’
Gregory said nothing.
‘Yes or no answer,’ Jetmir said. ‘Do you believe there was outside interference?’
‘Yes,’ Gregory said.
‘Then we should talk. Dino delegated the matter to me.’
‘This is above your pay grade. With respect. There’s a reason staffs have bosses.’
‘Dino isn’t here,’ Jetmir said.
‘When will he get in?’
‘He was in early. He already left again.’
‘I’m serious,’ Gregory said. ‘This is very urgent.’
‘Then talk to me. Dino will tell you to anyway. Right now you’re wasting time.’
Gregory said, ‘Did they take phones from you?’
Jetmir paused a long moment.
He said, ‘You ask because clearly they took phones from you, which would indicate an imminent data attack, which narrows the field, when it comes to potential opponents.’
‘We think it narrows it all the way down to the only one who would dare.’
‘Dino will say you Ukrainians are always obsessed with the Russians. It’s a well-known fact. You would accuse them of anything.’
‘Suppose this time it’s true?’
‘Neither one of us can beat the Russians.’
‘Not separately.’
‘Is that your proposal? I’ll make sure Dino gets it.’
‘I’m serious,’ Gregory said again. ‘This is very urgent.’
‘I’m taking it seriously. Dino will get back to you as soon as he can. Maybe he’ll walk over to see you himself. To the taxi office.’
‘Where he will be treated with the same courtesy I have enjoyed here.’
‘Perhaps we’ll become accustomed to trusting each other,’ Jetmir said.
‘Time alone will tell,’ Gregory said.
‘Perhaps we’ll become friends.’
Gregory had no answer to that. He walked away. Out of the scoop, on to the sidewalk, and west, towards Center. Jetmir stood and watched him go. Then he turned away and ducked back inside, through the judas gate, to the low corrugated shed, with the smell of pine and the whine of saws.
Where his cell phone rang. With bad news. A made man from the night watch by the name of Gezim Hoxha had been found half dead in the trunk of his own car, abandoned way out on the edge of a ticky-tack old housing development. A tip had been called in by one of their old moneylending customers, hoping for points off her next loan. At that time no suspects had yet been identified. But a careful search of the area was already under way. There were extra cars on the streets. There were plenty of eyes wide open.
Reacher and Abby threaded their way out of the Shevicks’ development by following their inward route in reverse, keeping well out of sight of the parked Ukrainian car, staying on side streets wherever possible, until the very last moment, when they had to make a right and join the main drag, that led past the gas station with the deli counter, and on towards downtown. Up until then they felt pretty good. But from that point onward the exposure was pitiless. The sun was bright. The air was clear. There was no possibility of concealment. It was a standard urban streetscape. On the left, a three-storey brick façade, with dusty windows and mean doors. Then a brick sidewalk, and a stone kerb, and a blacktop street, and a stone kerb, and a brick sidewalk. On the right, a three-storey brick façade, with dusty windows and mean doors. No cover anywhere taller tha
n a hydrant, or wider than a light pole.
Only a matter of time.
Abby’s phone rang. She answered. Vantresca. She put him on speaker. She walked with her phone out in front of her, carried flat on her hand. She looked like a carving from an old Egyptian tomb.
Vantresca said, ‘I got Barton and Hogan. They’re OK. They’re right here in the car with me. They told me what happened last night. No one has been to their house since then.’
Reacher asked, ‘Where are you now?’
‘We’re setting out over to Abby’s, like she said. Barton knows where it is.’
‘No, come pick us up first.’
‘They told me you had a car.’
‘Unfortunately it just got repossessed. With the guy still in the trunk. Which is why I was worried about Barton’s address.’
‘No one has been to the house,’ Vantresca said again. ‘Not so far. Clearly the guy isn’t talking yet. Maybe he can’t. Barton told me about the Precision bass.’
‘A blunt instrument,’ Reacher said. ‘But the point is right now we’re walking. Right now our asses are hanging out in the breeze. We need a rendezvous for an emergency evacuation.’
‘Where are you exactly?’
Which was a difficult question. There were no legible street signs. They were either faded or rusted out or missing altogether. Maybe hit by a streetcar, the year the Titanic went down. The year Fenway Park opened for business. Abby did something with her phone. She kept Vantresca on the line, and came up with a map. There were pointers and arrows and pulsing blue spheres. She read out the street and the cross street.
‘Five minutes,’ Vantresca said. ‘Maybe ten. Morning rush hour is coming. What is the exact location for the pick-up?’
Another good question. They couldn’t stand on the corner like they were hailing a taxi. Not if exposure was their main concern. Reacher looked all around. Unpromising. Small commercial enterprises, not yet open. All faintly seedy. The kind of places where grey-faced individuals weaselled in about ten o’clock, after a last furtive backward glance. Reacher knew cities. On the next block he could see a waist-high double-sided chalkboard tented on the sidewalk, which probably meant a coffee shop, which would be open at that hour, but maybe hostile. No man on the door, in such a place on such a street, but maybe a sympathizer at the espresso machine, hoping for points off his loan.
