Page 16 (1/2)

46

I padded downstairs barefoot, wearing only my pants I took the call alone in the back office behind the reception counter, as before It was Karla Dixon on the line My old colleague The financial wizard She had been a founding inal 110th Special Unit My second pick, after Frances Neagley I guessed Stan Lowrey had passed onback direct, to save time

I asked, "Why did you have to say you were my fiancee?"

She asked back, "Why, did I interrupt so?"

"Not exactly But she heard"

"Elizabeth Deveraux? Neagley told us about her You two are getting it on already?"

"And now I&039;ve got so to do"

"You need to take care there, Reacher"

"Neagley always thinks that"

"This tieants&039; network is all lit up Red hot Deveraux is being checked out, big time"

"I know that," I said "Garber already told me Waste of time"

"I don&039;t think so It all suddenly went quiet"

"Because there&039;s nothing there"

"No, because there is You kno bureaucracy works It&039;s easy to say no Silence means yes"

"What would they find if they checked you out?"

"Plenty"

"Or me?"

"I hate to think"

"So there you go," I said "Nothing to worry about"

"Believethere, Reacher IMy advice would be to stay away from her"

"Too late for that I don&039;t buy it, anyway She was a good little jarhead"

"Who told you that?"

"She did"

Silence on the line

I said, "What else?"

Dixon said, "There&039;s noout of Kosovo None at all Whoever&039;s worrying about that is on a wild goose chase It&039;s not a factor"

"You sure?"

"Co if Joe is telling ain "Treasury wouldn&039;t know, anyway Unless it was billions and billions Which it isn&039;t It isn&039;t even dollars and cents It&039;s nothing So, that&039;s all They&039;re thrashing around They&039;re looking for soood to know," I said "Thanks"

"That was the good news," she said

"What&039;s the bad news?"

"Related inforot into the Kosovo files, and they&039;re plenty thick right now"

"With what?"

"As, two local women disappeared without a trace"

Dixon told me that over the last year two Kosovan women had simply vanished There was no local explanation No fae of the US Army&039;s local footprint Both had fraternized

"Girlfriend ?" I asked

"I didn&039;t see photographs"

I asked, "Was there an investigation?"

"Under the radar," Dixon said "We&039;re not there at all, remember, as far as the rest of the world is concerned So they flew a guy in from Germany Supposedly on his way to Italy for some NATO crap, but Kosovo was the real destination The travel arrangements are still on file"

"And?"

"As a patriotic Alad to hear that every last member of the US armed forces was as innocent as a newborn baby No crimes were committed by anyone in uniforhter than a trout&039;s asshole"

"Who was the investigator?"

"Major Duncan Munro"

I finished the call with Dixon and went back upstairs Deveraux wasn&039;t in my room I padded back to hers and found the door locked I heard the shower running I knocked but got no response So I showered and dressed and went back fifteenbut silence I walked up to the diner, but she wasn&039;t there either Her car was not in the department lot So I just stood there on the sidewalk, with nowhere to go, and no one to talk to, and nothing to do, co had just ticked down from sixty minutes to fifty-nine

47

I loitered on the sidewalk for half of that hour Mostly I leaned on a wall and didn&039;t move A professional skill Necessary in ood at it But I know people who are better I know people who have waited hours or days or weeks for souy with the tape measure to show up and open the shirt shop Which he did, eventually I pushed off my wall and crossed the street and followed hiht for his pile of button-downs I found the sa and took it to the counter

The old guy said, "Stocking up?"

I said, "No, the first one got dirty"

He leaned in and peered at my pocket I saw his eyes trace the curl of blood Down and up He said, "I&039;m sure that would wash out Cold water, maybe a little salt"

"Salt?"

"Salt helps with bloodstains With cold water Hot water sets them"

"I don&039;t think the Toussaint&039;s hotel offers a very sophisticated laundry service," I said "Actually I don&039;t think they offer any kind of laundry service at all They don&039;t even offer coffee in the lounge"

"You could take the shirt home with you, sir"