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I cah the dog-leg alley between the pharmacy and the hardware store and came out the other end between the loan office and Brannan&039;s bar Where Janice May Chapman&039;s body had been found The sand pile was still there, dry and crusted and powdery and a little redistributed by the breeze I stepped around it and checked activity on the one-sided street Noton Some of the bars were closed, because the base was closed No point in opening without customers A simple economic calculation

But Brannan&039;s bar was open Defiantly opti tradition I went in and found nobody there except two si with stuff in the drinks well They looked like brothers Middle thirties, maybe two years apart, like Joe and ive e Their place was like a thousand base-town bars I had seen before, a coned to turn boredouessed it had been a s bars The decor was maybe a little better than most There were travel posters on the walls, of the world&039;s great cities photographed at night No local stuff, which was smart If you&039;re stuck for six months in the back of beyond, you don&039;t want to be reminded of it at every turn

"Got coffee?" I asked

They said no, which didn&039;t surprise me very much

I said, "My name is Jack Reacher and I&039; up"

They didn&039;t follow

I said, "Which ht and weasel stuff out of you in the normal course of conversation, but I don&039;t have time for that on this occasion, so we&039;ll have to rely on a straightforward question-and-answer session, OK?"

They got thein the world to put a particular establisho list, for a week, or a month Or forever They introduced themselves as Jonathan and Hunter Brannan, brothers, inheritors of a business started by their grandmother back in the railroad days She had sold tea and fancy cakes, and she hadTheir father had switched to alcohol when the trains stopped and the aruys And realistic They ran the best bar in town, so they couldn&039;t deny they saw everybody from time to time

"Janice Chapot killed"

They agreed that yes, she did No evasion Everyone couy every recent tireed that yes, that was the case

I asked, "Who was he?"

Hunter Brannan said, "His name was Reed Don&039;t knowYou can always tell, by the way the others react"

"Was he a regular customer?"

"They all are"

"Was he in here that night?"

"That&039;s a tough question This place is usually packed"

"Try to remember"

"I would say he was For the early part of the evening, at least I don&039;t recall seeing him later"

"What car does he drive?"

"So has he been couess But he&039;s one of the in-and-out guys"

"What does that ot a couple of squads over there They go somewhere, and then they come back A month on, a irlfriends?"

Jonathan Brannan said, "A guy like that, he always has arm candy"

"Who in particular?"

"Whoever was the prettiest Whoever illing to put out, I guess"

"Black or white?"

"Both He&039;s pretty uy"

"Remember any names?"

"No," Hunter Brannan said "But I re pretty jealous a couple of times"

I went back to the hotel Two hours until dinner I spent the first hour taking a nap, because I was tired, and because I was figuring I wouldn&039;t be sleeping again too soon Hoping I wouldn&039;t be, anyway Hope springs eternal I woke ht o&039;clock and unpacked u hot shower, plenty of soap, plenty of shampoo

I put on my new shirt and rolled the sleeves level with ht across the shoulders, so I left the top two buttons undone I tucked the tails into ainst the backs of my calves

I checked the uy ants to get laid Which I was There was nothing to be done about it

I dumped my old shirts in the trash can and left my room and went down the stairs and stepped out to the darkness of the street A voice froain, soldier boy"

41

Ahead of me across the street were three pick-up trucks parked at the curb Two that I recognized, and one that I didn&039;t All the doors were open Legs were dangling Cigarettes were glowing S I stepped left and half-turned and saw the alpha dog The McKinney cousin His face was still aunder one of the hotel&039;s busted lamps His arms were down by his sides, and his hands were away froers He was all fired up and ready

Across the street five guys slipped out of the pick-up trucks They started toward uy, and the biker with the bad back, and two guys I hadn&039;t seen before, each of theion, same family, or both

I stayed on the sidewalk With six guys, I didn&039;t want any of the stepped off the sidewalk into the gutter and ht-hand iteht or ten feet fromthe ape thing with their aruns

"Six of you?" I said "Is that it?"

No answer

"That&039;s kind of incre a little more radical Like the difference between an airborne co different lines I have to say, I&039;m kind of disappointed"

No answer

I said, "Anyway, guys, I&039;m sorry, but I have a dinner date"

They all took a step forward, bringing them closer to each other and closer to ht there was

I said, "I&039; a brand new shirt"

No answer

Basic rule of thuuys: you have to be quick You can&039;t spend more than the bare minimum of time on any one individual Which means you have to hit each of them one time only Because that&039;s the uy less than once

I rehearsed ured I would start in theThe third hit would be the hardest The third guy would beThe first touldn&039;t They would be rooted to the spot Shock and surprise They would go down easy But the third guy would be reacting by the tiht have a coherent plan in mind, but it wouldn&039;t be inaround with uncontrolled reflex panic

So I was prepared to ht to the fourth The third guy ht run Certainly at least one of theether after the first few heads hit the pavement

I said, "Guys, please, I just took a shower"

There was no anshich hat I had privately predicted They all stepped forward again, which is what I expected them to do So Istrides, the second of thee of the curbstone, two hundred and fifty pounds of uy froht that would have taken his teeth out if he&039;d had any to start with As it was it snapped his head back and turned his spine and shoulders to jelly and he was gone, froht and fro left and scything uy, horizontal across the bridge of his nose, a colossal blow full of torque from my waist and full of force fro into him I saw blood in the air and stamped down hard and reversed uy I sensed behindaway and I had caught hiht need ain and changed the angle of attack by kicking the fourth guy full-on in the groin, a satisfying bone-and-flesh crunch that simultaneously folded him in half and lifted him off his feet

Three seconds, three down, one taking an eight count

Nobody ran

Another ans are made of sterner stuff than most Or else they&039;re just plain du at my shoulder So for a choke hold Maybe he planned to keep uy landed some blows I couldn&039;t tell But whatever, he was sorely disappointed in his a, ht him in the cheek, and then I used the bounce to jam forward once ht his heel on the curb and his arms came up like a scarecrohich I took as an invitation to pop higing him into an electrical outlet He hopped and danced and went down in a heap

The guy I had hit on the ear was pawing at it like it was co off His eyes were closed, which ht, but those are always my favorite kind I lined up and smacked a left hook into his chin

He went down like a dropped marionette

I breathed out

Six for six

End of story

I coughed twice and spat on the ground Then I hustled north I had a block to go and the clock in my head said it was already one minute past nine

42

I pushed in through the diner door and found the place empty apart from the waitress and the old couple froh their nightly marathon The woman had a book, the man had a paper Deveraux wasn&039;t there yet

I told the waitress I was expecting coured the tables for tould be craement She set me up in a spot near the front and I headed for the bathroom

I rinsed my face and washed my hands and forearers through my hair I breathed in and breathed out Adrenaline is a bitch It doesn&039;t knohen to quit I flapped my hands and rolled my shoulders I took a look in the mirror My hair was OK My face was clean

There was blood on my shirt

On the pocket And above And below Not much, but some A definite co at me Or like I had walked into a e of his nose His nose had bled like a flushing toilet

I said, "Shit," quietly, to myself

My old shirts were in the trash in my rooed closer to the sink and took another look in thebrown Maybe they would end up looking deliberate Like a logo Or a pattern Like a single eles I wasn&039;t sure what they were called Paisley?

I breathed in, breathed out

Nothing to be done

I headed back to the dining rooh the door

She wasn&039;t in unifor a silver silk shirt and a black knee-length skirt High heeled shoes A silver necklace The shirt was thin and tight and tiny It was open at the top The skirt sat at her waist I could have spanned her waist withHer hair et fro down her back No ponytail No elastic band She was s eyes

I showed her to our table and we sat down facing each other She was s perfu faint and subtle I liked it

She said, "I&039;m sorry I&039;m late"

I said, "No problem"

She said, "You have blood on your shirt"

I said, "Is that what it is?"

"Where did you get it?"

"Across the street from the hotel There&039;s a store"

"Not the shirt," she said "The blood You didn&039;t cut yourself shaving"

"You told me not to"

"I know," she said "I like you like that"

"You look great too"

"Thank you I decided to quit early I went hoe"

"I see that"

"I live in the hotel"

"I know"

"Room seventeen"

"I know"

"Which has a balcony overlooking the street"