The Jack Reacher Cases_A Man Made For Killing

by Dan Ames

  “More or less,” Pauling answered.

  “Some of us are going up to the Salty Crab tonight to grab a drink if you want to come,” Janey said.

  “Sure. Sounds good.” Pauling was anxious to see it. Reacher wasn’t exactly a sit-at-the-bar kind of guy, but there weren’t any diners on the island, as far as she could tell.

  “It’s the only bar on the island,” Dr. Sirrine added. “The military guys are there all the time so consider yourself warned.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “There she is,” Gabe said. “The world’s hottest computer repair person.”

  They were all standing by the front door, ready to go to the Salty Crab.

  “Who was the runner-up?” Pauling asked.

  Gabe didn’t have a comeback and Ted laughed under his breath.

  “Let’s go,” Janey said in the silence.

  “Thanks for waiting,” Pauling said.

  “No problem,” Janey answered and she led the way out the door. They climbed into the same dirty white jeep Dr. Sirrine had picked her up in.

  “Is Dr. Sirrine coming?” Pauling asked.

  The others chuckled.

  “You really have to start calling him Abner,” Ted said. “It’s throwing me.”

  “He might join us later,” Janey said.

  “No, he won’t,” Gabe answered, shaking his head. “He hardly ever goes there anymore. He doesn’t like the clientele.”

  Gabe’s voice became sarcastic at the word.

  “The military guys?” Pauling guessed.

  “And girls,” Ted said. “There are a few women but not many. They can be just as obnoxious as the guys. Abner prefers quiet when he drinks.”

  Janey visibly stiffened at the way Ted worded the phrase and Pauling wondered if there was more to the story. She would have to figure that out.

  It took them less than ten minutes to get to the Salty Crab. From the outside, it looked just like every other structure on the island. A utilitarian, single-story building made with aluminum siding and off-the-rack windows and doors.

  There were a half-dozen vehicles in the parking lot, most of them pickup trucks emblazoned with some sort of military emblem or another.

  When they exited the jeep, Pauling could hear the music inside.

  Gabe paused and turned to Pauling.

  “Needless to say, this isn’t your average dive bar,” he said. “Since this is your first time here all I’ll say is to be careful. Some of these guys might be just back from overseas and if they’ve seen some of the really bad stuff, they aren’t necessarily in a great frame of mind.”

  “And the ones who have been on the island for awhile are generally as aggressive as hell,” Janey said.

  “She means horny,” Gabe countered.

  “Got it,” Pauling said.

  Ted led the way inside.

  The door opened into a large room that featured a dozen long wooden tables flanked by heavy wooden chairs. There was a bar with a single bartender manning the operation. A short row of bar stools faced the bar, only one of them occupied.

  There was a jukebox in one corner, and a few pinball machines in the other.

  Across from the jukebox were two pool tables, one of them being used by two young men in t-shirts and jeans. They stared openly at Pauling.

  “They smell fresh blood,” Ted said, his voice dry.

  A waitress brought a pitcher of beer and four glasses. Ted did the honors and poured everyone a glass.

  “To Pauling. May her stay on the island be memorable and productive,” Gabe said.

  “Cheers,” Janey agreed.

  They all drank. The beer was cold and tasted fresh. She figured if there was one thing the military guys demanded, it was good booze.

  “So what do you think of the Crab?” Janey asked. She peered at Pauling over the rim of her glass.

  “It reminds me of a bowling alley,” she answered honestly. It really did. The wood floor, scratched and marred. The basic tables. The beer signs, the juke box, the pinball machines.

  “Circa twenty years ago,” she quickly added.

  Gabe laughed. “It really is a place stuck a couple of decades in the past.”

  “Well, that didn’t take long,” Janey said.

  Pauling heard a voice speak behind her.

  “Do we have a new birdie in the nest?”

  It was one of the pool players. Up close, Pauling realized he was huge. At least six foot five, two-fifty, with giant shoulders and a narrow waist. He had a tattoo of barbed wire around one of his biceps.

  “Clever,” Gabe said.

  “You want to play some pool?” the big guy said to Pauling. His partner was waiting back at the table.

  “No thanks,” Pauling said. “Just going to have a drink with my friends. But have you seen Jack Reacher around?”

  The big guy looked at her with an odd expression.

  “Who?” he asked.

  “Never mind,” Pauling answered.

  The big guy nodded his head and looked at the rest of them like Pauling had just said she was going to dive into a trash dumpster.

  “Suit yourself,” he said.

  He sauntered away.

  “Who’s Jack Reacher?” Janey asked her.

  “Some guy I know who’s supposedly working out here on the island.”

  There was a brief moment of silence and then Ted said, “Get used to it. The attention.” Ted lifted his chin toward the military guys.

  “At least they didn’t use their favorite line,” Janey said. “When you turn them down.”

  “Yeah? What’s that?”

  Janey smiled.

  “Well, here on the island, the men outnumber the women something like fifty to one. So the guys hit on every woman here, pretty much. But when you reject them, they like to remind you that if it weren’t for the scarcity of available women, they probably wouldn’t be interested in you.”

  “Wow, that was nicely put,” Gabe said.

  “That’s not what they say,” Ted explained. “They have a phrase they love to use.”

  “Spit it out, guys,” Pauling said.

  Janey turned to her.

  “They like to say, ‘You’re only a plane ride from ugly.’”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Pauling swung out of bed, made her way to the shower and let the hot water beat down on her. She toweled off, dressed in jeans, a sweatshirt and hiking boots and went into the kitchen area.

  The giant coffee pot had already worked its magic and Pauling poured herself a cup. She carried it outside and walked along the edge of the property’s border, stopping occasionally to look out at the ocean. It was a cool morning with a gauzy layer of clouds hovering above the sapphire blue water. A bird flew overhead, followed by the sound of an automatic weapon firing off rounds.

  Morning on San Clemente Island.

  So far, not a single person had heard of Jack Reacher. Pauling wondered about Nathan Jones and his motivation for bringing her out here.

  Ultimately, it didn’t matter. Pauling was hooked. She wanted to find out what had happened to Paige Jones on this weird, mysterious island.

  One way or another, she would get answers.

  With or without Reacher.

  Eventually, she finished her coffee and headed back to the Nest.

  She walked inside and saw Dr. Sirrine – Abner – sitting at the table with a short, squat fireplug of a man with a head of steel cut hair and a face that looked like a slab of cement.

  The man had on a dark blue t-shirt with a gold crest over the breast pocket and a pair of khaki pants with multiple pockets. He had on camouflage hunting boots.

  “Pauling,” Abner said. “Someone here would like to meet you.”

  She put her cup of coffee on the counter and walked over to them. Both men stood and the short one stuck out his hand.

  “Ma’am, I’m Commander Wilkins,” he said. His voice perfectly fit his gravelly appearance. “But you can call me Bill.”
/>   “Hi Bill, I’m Lauren Pauling.”

  The man smiled, but he did it more with his eyes than his mouth. His face was leathery with deep creases. He had blue eyes and Pauling could see the lively sense of humor behind them.

  “The boys up at the Crab didn’t know your name,” Wilkins said. “But you sure fit the description.”

  Ordinarily, a statement like that would be followed by a leer. But somehow, Wilkins pulled it off and Pauling didn’t sense any creepiness.

  Now it was her turn to smile.

  “So are you Commander of San Clemente or something else?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Abner stepped in. He sounded nervous, as if Pauling might say something to upset Wilkins.

  “Bill is in charge of everything, and everyone, on the island. Technically.” Abner added that qualifier at the end, probably referencing the bird personnel. Wilkins wasn’t in charge of them. Of course, being in charge of someone and having power over them are two different things.

  “Great,” Pauling said. “Do you have any idea where I can find Jack Reacher?” she asked.

  “Jack Reacher? I don’t know anyone by that name,” he answered.

  And Pauling felt like she finally had her answer.

  They all sat down at the table.

  “I like to come out and catch up with Abner whenever he’s got someone new on his team,” Wilkins explained. “Communication is the key to everything we do. So if something ever comes up, I know we’re all on the same playing field and I know who the players are.”

  “Do things come up often?” Pauling asked, making sure her voice sounded as innocent as possible.

  “What do you mean?” Abner interjected.

  Wilkins just smiled at her. He knew exactly what she meant.

  “Well,” Pauling said, “It sounded like you were saying that if there’s a problem between the bird people and the military, you like to know who everyone is ahead of time.”

  It was a guess, but Pauling figured that’s why the commander was here.

  She had no doubt that the men from the bar last night had talked about her. And at his age, she figured Wilkins wasn’t here to ask her out on a date.

  “No, not much comes up out here,” Wilkins said. “No real problems between the two groups of people. Unless you count my two divorces,” he said, followed by a wink.

  “You’re serious, aren’t you?” she asked, knowing he was.

  “Afraid so,” Wilkins answered. “I could never keep my hands off of those pretty birdies. Should’ve known better,” he shook his grizzled head.

  Pauling wasn’t taken in by his aw shucks attitude. He looked like the kind of guy who wasn’t really an administrator. In his day, he’d probably conquered some territories all by himself. A Special Ops guys for sure.

  “It really is an interesting dynamic,” Pauling ventured. “Some of the deadliest military personnel in the world cuddled up with a group of scientists. I’m sure it could make for some unique issues.”

  “Over the years all of the bugs have been worked out,” Abner said. “Everything has always run very smoothly, at least since I’ve been here.”

  Wilkins nodded. “Abner keeps his folks in line, and I do the same with mine. We’re all professionals.”

  Wilkins got to his feet.

  “Well, I’ve got to get going,” he said. “Pauling, if you ever want to come up to my HQ I’d love to give you the cook’s tour of the island and show you what we do here. That is, if Abner ever stops working you like a dog. He’s a real slave driver, I hear.”

  Abner chuckled and shook his head.

  “I would like that, Bill,” Pauling said.

  And she meant it.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “Has there?”

  Dr. Sirrine had just started to get up but Pauling stopped him with the tone of her voice. She was at the coffee pot and she raised her head at him to see if he wanted some. He held up his hand to say no. She filled her own and sat down across from him.

  “Has there what?” he answered, without conviction. Pauling could see his reticence a mile away.

  “Has there ever been any problems between the naturalists and the military people?” she said, spelling it out for both of their benefit.

  Dr. Sirrine let out a long sigh.

  “Yes and no,” he finally said.

  “What does that mean?”

  He sat back and folded his hands across his stomach, and seemed to look past Pauling out toward the island beyond.

  “As far as the military folks see it, this is their island,” he explained. “They only humor us because they have to and they don’t want the bad press back home to talk about them destroying an endangered species.”

  “That makes sense.”

  “But make no mistake,” he continued. “They feel the work they do is the only work that matters here. They think what we do, running around taking care of these little birds and the little trees and shrubs they depend on is a big joke.”

  Pauling nodded. She’d worked with a lot of military guys and knew that what Dr. Sirrine was saying was true.

  “As far as the military thinks, the work they do keeps the country safe,” he continued. “They’re providing us with the freedom we need to live our lives. It’s the most important job in the world and they believe we take it all for granted.”

  There was some truth in that belief, Pauling thought.

  “And because of that,” Dr. Sirrine said. “We ought to get down on our knees and thank the Lord every day for the guys with guns who take care of us.”

  “So they think they’re better than us?” Pauling asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Above the law?” Pauling probed. She knew the answer, but wanted to hear what Dr. Sirrine thought. After all, he had worked closely with Paige and any insight into his view of the world would help her investigation. If nothing else, it would help point her in the right direction.

  Dr. Sirrine shrugged his shoulders.

  Pauling was surprised that there wasn’t any anger in his voice, considering the net of what he was saying.

  “On the one hand, as an American, I believe what they do is essential to our survival as a country. Our peace, our prosperity, our very way of life. Absolutely,” Dr. Sirrine said. “On the other hand, losing a species, any species, for eternity, is a pretty big deal, too.”

  “In other words,” Pauling said, “It doesn’t have to be one is more important than the other. They both can co-exist.”

  “Yes, that’s how I see it,” he said. “But they don’t.”

  Pauling considered what he was saying.

  “So I asked you if there had ever been any problems between us and them. You said yes and no. What did you mean by that?”

  “My point is that if there is a problem, whoever from our side that’s involved is usually promptly escorted off the island,” Dr. Sirrine said. “End of problem.”

  “I see.”

  “Luckily, I’ve been here for a number of years and the biggest problems tend to be when people drink too much and they get into arguments. Even then it usually doesn’t get physical because we’re obviously overmatched.”

  Pauling thought of the huge guy from last night. He could have pulverized Ted, Gabe and Dr. Sirrine with one hand tied behind his back.

  “What about problems between men and women?” Pauling asked. “Whenever you have a shortage of women and some hot-blooded young men who may or may not be returning or going to a battlefield, you could have some pretty big problems.”

  “Like I said, it hasn’t happened yet,” Dr. Sirrine said. “Or at least recently. Because everyone is very careful, especially on my team. I’ve made it a priority for everyone who works for me to understand that with absolute clarity. And you should be, too.”

  “Was Paige careful?” she asked.

  It looked like Dr. Sirrine had been punched in the solar plexus.

  “What kind of question is that?” he asked. His face was pale and she
could see the anger in his eyes.

  “I’m asking you if Paige ever had any problems with people in the military here on the island.”

  He looked at her a long time and finally let out a deep breath.

  “No,” he said. “Not to my knowledge.” Which, for some reason, struck Pauling as something someone would say in a court of law. As if they were on trial. And it was a phrase a lot of people used when they weren’t really telling the whole truth.

  Dr. Sirrine got up and walked to his hallway, shutting the door behind him.

  From what she understood, Dr. Abner Sirrine was one of the world’s leading experts on Loggerhead Shrikes and, in particular, the San Clemente Shrike.

  Which was a good thing.

  Pauling got up and dumped the rest of her coffee into the sink.

  Because he was one of the worst liars she’d ever seen.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Pauling went back to her room, changed out of her jeans and hiking boots into a pair of sweatpants and trail-running shoes. She grabbed a map of the island and found Janey in the herbarium.

  “Is this a good place to run?“ she asked, using her finger to trace a route on the map. She had done some research on the plane and knew that the trail ran along the beach where Paige’s body had been found. Any evidence was long gone, of course, but she wanted to see the place with her own eyes.

  She watched as Janey appraised the route.

  “Yeah, that’s fine,” she said and tapped a finger, one with dirt packed beneath the fingernail, toward a horizontal line on the trail.

  “Just do NOT cross that line,” she said. A speck of dirt remained on the map where Janey’s finger had been.

  “That’s where they do their private training, the endurance testing and some live fire trial exercises,” Janey explained. “Some of the guys they occasionally get in are young. Most are seasoned but it always seems like someone’s either a bad shot or there’s the occasional ricochet.”

  Janey’s eyes seemed to linger on the area of the trail where Paige had been found.

  “I’ll look at it as an adrenaline boost,” Pauling said. “Who knows, maybe I’ll run faster.”