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The kid showed me his sister&039;s room It was clean and tidy Not preserved as a shrine, but not yet cleared out, either It spoke of loss, and bewildery The bed was made and small piles of clothes were neatly folded No decision had been taken about its future fate

There was none of Shawna Lindsay&039;s personality on display She had been a grooer There were no posters on the walls, no souvenirs of anything, no breathless diary No keepsakes She had owned some clothes, some shoes, and two books That was all One book was a thin thing explaining how to becouide to Los Angeles

"Did she want to be in the movies?" I asked

"No," the kid said "She wanted to travel, that&039;s all"

"To LA specifically?"

"Anywhere"

"Did she have a job?"

"She worked part time at the loan office Next to Brannan&039;s bar She could do her nuood"

"What did she tell you that she couldn&039;t tell your moet out"

"Your mom didn&039;t want to hear that stuff?"

"She wanted to keep Shawna safe My mom is afraid of the world"

"Where does your mom work?"

"She&039;s a cleaner At the bars in town She gets them ready for happy hour"

"What else do you know about Shawna?"

The kid started to say soed and said nothing He moved toward the center of the plain square space and stood there, as if he was soaking so he had rarely been in that room Not often before Shawna&039;s death, and not often since

He said, "I know I really miss her"

We went back to the kitchen and I asked, "If I left money, do you think your mom would mind if I used her phone?"

"You need to make a call?" the kid asked back, as if that was an extraordinary thing

"Two calls," I said "One I need to make, and one I want to make"

"I don&039;t kno much it costs"

"Pay phones cost a quarter," I said "Suppose I left a dollar a call?"

"That would be toodistance," I said

"Whatever you think is right I&039;ain"

I waited until I saw hie in the front yard He took up a position near the fence, just standing there, watching the street, infinitely patient Soil I tucked a dollar bill between the phone&039;s plastic casing and the wall and took the receiver off the hook I dialed the call I needed to h his sergeant and a minute later he came on the line

I said, "Well, there&039;s a surprise You&039;re still there You&039;ve still got a job"

He said, "I think I&039;ley just reported back"

"She worries too h"

"Is Karla Dixon still working financial stuff?"

"I could find out"

"Ask her a question forin fro bales of cash That kind of a thing"

"Doesn&039;t sound very likely That&039;s the Balkans, right? They&039;re oat Rich, if they oo Not like America"

I looked out theand said, "Not so very different from parts of it"

Lowrey said, "I wish I orking financial stuff I ht have picked up sos"

"Don&039;t worry," I said "You&039;ll get unemployment For a spell, at least"

"You sound cheerful"

"I&039;ve got a lot to be cheerful about"

"Why? What&039;s going on down there?"

"All kinds of wonderful things," I said, and hung up Then I trapped a second dollar bill between the phone and the wall and dialed the call I wanted to make I used the Treasury Departot a woant She asked, "How may I direct your inquiry?"

I said, "Joe Reacher, please"

There was so and a minute of dead air No hold music at Treasury, either, back in 1997 Then a woman picked up and said, "Mr Reacher&039;s office" She sounded young and bright Probably a e, full of shining eyes and idealis a short plaid skirt and a white turtleneck sweater My brother kne to pick them

I asked, "Is Mr Reacher there?"

"I&039;m afraid he&039;s out of the office for a few days He had to go to Georgia" She said it like she would have said Saturn or Neptune An incoot there She asked, "May I take a e?"

"Tell hi He never mentioned he had brothers But actually, you sound just like him, did you know that?"

"So people say There&039;s no e Tell him I just wanted to say hello To touch base, you know To see how he is"

"Will he knohich brother?"

"I hope so," I said "He&039;s only got one"

I left immediately after that Shawna&039;s brother did not break his lonely vigil I waved and he waved back, but he didn&039;tthe far horizon I hiked back to the Kelhaot some of the way toward the railroad and heard a car behind me, and a blip of a siren, like a courtesy I turned and Deveraux pulled up right alongside me, neat and ser seat, with nothing between us except her holstered shotgun

34

The first thing I said was, "Long lunch" Which was supposed to be just a descriptive comment, but she took it as more She said, "Jealous?"

"Depends what you ate I had a cheeseburger"

"We had rare roast beef and horseradish sauce With roast potatoes It was very good But you must know that You must eat in the OC all the time"

"Hoas the conversation?"

"Challenging"

"In ay?"

"First tell "

"Me? I&039;ve been eating humble pie Metaphorically, at least"

"How so?"

"I went back to the wrecked car I was under orders to destroy the license plate But it was already gone The debris field had been picked clean, veryforce out there at soht There are boots on the ground outside Kelha an exclusion zone They were diverted to the clean up because soon didn&039;t trust me to do it"

Deveraux didn&039;t answer

"Then I took a long walk," I said

Deveraux asked, "Did you see the gravel pile?"