The Hard Way

“I’m Susan Jackson,” she said.

Reacher shook his head. “You’re not, but I’m very glad to meet you anyway. And Jade, too. You’ll never know how glad I am.”

“I’m Susan Jackson,” she said again. “That’s Melody.”

“We don’t have time for that, Kate. And your accent isn’t real convincing anyway.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Reacher.”

“What do you want?”

“Where’s Taylor?”

“Who?”

Reacher glanced back at Jade and then took a step toward Kate. “Can we talk? Maybe a little ways down the track?”

“Why?”

“For privacy.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t want to upset your daughter.”

“She knows what’s going on.”

“OK,” Reacher said. “We’re here to warn you.”

“About what?”

“Edward Lane is an hour behind us. Maybe less.”

“Edward is here?” Kate said. For the first time, real fear in her face. “Edward is here in England? Already?”

Reacher nodded. “Heading this way.”

“Who are you?”

“He paid me to find Taylor.”

“So why warn us?”

“Because I just figured out it wasn’t for real.”

Kate said nothing.

“Where’s Taylor?” Reacher asked again.

“He’s out,” Kate said. “With Tony.”

“Anthony Jackson? The brother-in-law?”

Kate nodded. “This is his farm.”

“Where did they go?”

“To Norwich. For a part for the backhoe. They said we need to dredge some ditches.”

“When did they leave?”

“About two hours ago.”

Reacher nodded again. Norwich. The big city. Thirty miles there, thirty miles back. About a two-hour trip. He glanced south at the road. Nothing moving on it.

“Let’s all go inside,” he said.

“I don’t even know who you are.”

“You do,” Reacher said. “Right now I’m your best friend.”

Kate stared at Pauling for a moment and seemed reassured by the presence of another woman. She blinked once and opened the front door. Led them all in. The farmhouse itself was dark and cold inside. It had low beamed ceilings and irregular stone floors. Thick walls and flowered wallpaper and small leaded windows. The kitchen was the hub of the home. That was clear. It was a large rectangular room. There were bright copper pans hanging from hooks and sofas and armchairs and a fireplace big enough to live in and a huge old-fashioned range. There was a massive oak dining table with twelve chairs around it and a separate pine desk with a phone and stacks of papers and envelopes and jars of pens and pencils and postage stamps and rubber bands. All the furniture was old and worn and comfortable and smelled of dogs, even though there were no dogs in the house. They had belonged to the previous owners, maybe. Maybe the furniture had been included in the sale. Maybe there had been bankruptcy problems.

Reacher said, “I think you should get out, Kate. Right now. You and Jade. Until we see what happens.”

“How?” Kate asked. “The truck isn’t here.”

“Take our car.”

“I’ve never driven here before. I’ve never even been here before.”

Pauling said, “I’ll drive you.”

“Where to?”

“Anywhere you want to go. Until we see what happens.”

“Is he really here already?”

Pauling nodded. “He left London at least an hour ago.”

“Does he know?”

“That it was all a sham? Not yet.”

“OK,” Kate said. “Take us somewhere. Anywhere. Now. Please.”

She stood up and grabbed Jade’s hand. No purse, no coat. She was ready to go, right there and then. No pause, no hesitation. Just panic. Reacher tossed Pauling the Mini’s keys and followed them all outside again. Jade climbed through to the tiny car’s rear bench and Kate got in next to Pauling. Pauling adjusted the seat and the mirror and clipped her belt and started the engine.

“Wait,” Reacher said.

On the road a mile to the west he could see a dark green shape moving fast behind a stand of trees. Green paint. Glinting in the watery sun. Clean and polished and shiny, not filthy like the farm truck.

A mile away. Ninety seconds. No time.

“Everybody back in the house,” he said. “Right now.”

CHAPTER 67

KATE AND JADE and Pauling ran straight upstairs and Reacher headed for the southeast corner of the house. Flattened himself against the wall and crept around to where he could get a look at the bridge over the ditch. He got there just in time to see a truck turn in. It was an old-style Land Rover Defender, bluff and square, an appliance more than a car, mud-and-snow tires, a brown canvas back. Two guys in it, rocking and bouncing behind the sparkling windshield. One of them was the vague shape Reacher had seen early that morning. Tony Jackson. The farmer. The other was Taylor. The truck was the Grange Farm Land Rover, newly cleaned and polished. Unrecognizable from the night before. Clearly the Norwich itinerary had included a stop at the car wash as well as the backhoe dealership.

Reacher ducked into the kitchen and shouted an all clear up the stairs. Then he went back outside to wait. The Land Rover pulled left and right through the driveway curves and paused a second as Jackson and Taylor took a long hard look at the Mini from fifty yards away. Then it sped up again and skidded to a halt in its parking spot between the back of the house and the barns. The doors opened and Jackson and Taylor climbed out. Reacher stayed where he was and Jackson walked right up to him and said, “You’re trespassing. Dave Kemp told me what you want. You talked to him this morning. In the shop? And the answer is no. I’m not selling.”

“I’m not buying,” Reacher said.

“So why are you here?”

Jackson was a lean and compact guy, not unlike Taylor himself. Same kind of height, same kind of weight. Same kind of generic English features. Similar accent. Better teeth, and lighter hair worn a little longer. But overall they could have been brothers, not just brothers-in-law.

Reacher said, “I’m here to see Taylor.”

Taylor stepped up and said, “What for?”

“To apologize to you,” Reacher said. “And to warn you.”

Taylor paused a beat. Blinked once. Then his eyes flicked left, flicked right, full of intelligence and calculation.

“Lane?” he asked.

“He’s less than an hour away.”

“OK,” Taylor said. He sounded calm. Composed. Not surprised. But Reacher didn’t expect him to be surprised. Surprise was for amateurs. And Taylor was a professional. A Special Forces veteran, and a smart and a capable one. Precious seconds spent being surprised were precious seconds wasted, and Taylor was spending the precious seconds exactly like he had been trained to: thinking, pla

“My fault,” Reacher said. “I’m sorry.”

“I saw you on Sixth Avenue,” Taylor said. “When I was getting in the Jaguar. Didn’t think much of it, but I saw you again last night. In the pub. So then I knew. I thought you’d be heading up to your room to call Lane. But it looks like he mobilized himself faster than I thought he would.”

“He was already en route.”

“Good of you to stop by and let me know.”

“Least I could do. Under the circumstances.”

“Does he have this precise location?”

“More or less. I said Grange Farm. I stopped myself saying Bishops Pargeter. I said Fenchurch Saint Mary instead.”

“He’ll find us in the phone book. There’s no Grange Farm in Fenchurch. We’re the nearest.”

“I’m sorry,” Reacher said again.

“When did you figure it all out?”

“Just a little bit too late.”

“What tipped you off?”

“Toys. Jade packed her best toys.”

“Did you meet her yet?”

“Five minutes ago.”

Taylor smiled. Bad teeth, but a lot of warmth there. “She’s a great kid, isn’t she?”

“Seems to be.”

“What are you, a private cop?”

“I was a U.S. Army MP.”

“What’s your name?”

“Reacher.”

“How much did Lane pay you?”