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I hung up and called Garber&039;s office He wasn&039;t in So I left aI would be out for seventy-two hours I didn&039;t give a reason Then I hung up and sat at my desk, numb Five minutes later Sumuess she planned on coht in front of o to Paris," I said

"Paris, Texas?" she said "Or Paris, Kentucky, or Paris, Tennessee?"

"Paris, France," I said

"Why?"

"My mother is sick"

"Your mother lives in France?"

"Paris," I said

"Why?"

"Because she&039;s French"

"Is it serious?"

"Being French?"

"No, whatever she&039;s sick with"

I shrugged "I don&039;t really know But I think so"

"I&039;m very sorry"

"I need a car," I said "I need to get to Dulles, right now"

"I&039;ll drive you," she said "I like driving"

She left the paperwork on my desk and went to retrieve the Chevrolet we had used before I went tofro coat It was cold, and I didn&039;t expect Europe was going to be any warht the car to my door She kept it at thirty until ere off-post Then she lit it up like a rocket and headed north She was quiet for a spell She was thinking Her eyelids were

"We should tell the Green Valley cops," she said "If we think Mrs Kramer was killed because of the briefcase"

I shookher back And if she was killed because of the briefcase we&039;ll find whoever did it from our end"

"What do you want one?"

"Work the lists," I said "Check the gate log Find the woenda in a very safe place Then check on who Vassell and Coomer called froht"

"You think that&039;s possible?"

"Anything&039;s possible"

"But they didn&039;t knohere Kra place"

"Who would they have sent?"

"Bound to be someone who has their interests close to his heart"

"OK," she said

"And find out as driving them just now"

"OK," she said

We didn&039;t speak again, all the way to Dulles

I met my brother Joe in the line at the Air France ticket desk He had booked seats for both of us on the firstup to pay for them I hadn&039;t seen hiether was at our father&039;s funeral Since then we had gone our separate ways

"Goodan overcoat and a suit and a tie, and he looked pretty good in them He o years older than me, and he always had been, and he alould be As a kid I used to study hirow up Now I found ain From a distance we could have beenside by side it was obvious that he was an inch taller and a little slighter than me But mostly it was obvious that he was a little older than ether, but he had seen the future first, and it had aged him, and worn him down

"How are you, Joe?" I said

"Can&039;t complain"

"Busy?"

"Like you wouldn&039;t believe"

I nodded and said nothing Truth is, I didn&039;t know exactly what he did for a living He had probably toldIt was so to do with the Treasury Department He had probably told me all the details and I probably hadn&039;t listened Now it seemed too late to ask

"You were in Panaht?"

"Operation Just Because," I said "That&039;s e called it"

"Just because what?"

"Just because we could Just because we all had to have soot a new Coh"

"Is it going well?"

"It&039;s like Notre Dao?"

"You got Noriega yet?"

"Not yet"

"So why did they post you back here?"

"We took twenty-seven thousand guys," I said "It wasn&039;t down to ot that narrow-eyed look I re out soot to the head of the line before he had time to tell hts Maybe he expected me to pay him back for mine, maybe he didn&039;t He didn&039;t et coffee now," he said

Joe was probably the only other human on the planet who liked coffee asit when he was six I copied him immediately I was four Neither of us has stopped since The Reacher brothers&039; need for caffeinelittle take-it-or-leave-it sideline

We found a place with a W-shaped counter snaking through it It was three-quarters empty It was harshly lit with fluorescent tubes and the vinyl on the stools was sticky We sat side by side and rested our forear travelers everywhere A guy in an apron putThen he filled them with coffee fro over frogs frying

"What happened in Pana"

"What were your orders there?"

"Supervision"

"Of what?"

"Of the process," I said "The Noriega thing is supposed to look judicial He&039;s supposed to stand trial here in the States So we&039;re supposed to grab him up with some kind of foret hi to read hihts?"

"Not exactly But it had to be better than so"

"Did you screw up?"

"I don&039;t think so"

"Who replaced you?"

"Souy"

"Rank?"

"Sa star?"

I sipped my coffee Shook my head "I never met him before But he seemed like a bit of an asshole toSaid nothing

"What?" I said

"Bird&039;s not a sht? What are you working on?"

"Right now? Some two-star died and I can&039;t find his briefcase"

"Homicide?"

I shook my head "Heart attack"

"When?"

"Last night"

"After you got there?"

I said nothing

"You sure you didn&039;t screw up?" Joe said

"I don&039;t think so," I said again

"So why did they pull you out of Panaa process, and the next day you&039;re in North Carolina with nothing to do? And you&039;d still have nothing to do if the general hadn&039;t died"

"I got orders," I said "You kno it is You have to assuned the orders?"

"I don&039;t know"