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Elizabeth Deveraux aiting exactly where she had left ht next to her car, six feet froht in front of her and she juathered herself pretty quickly I guessed she didn&039;t want to insultsurprised I had made it Or she didn&039;t want to show she had been anxious Or both I kissed her on the lips and handed back the Winchester and she asked, "What happened?"

I said, "They&039;re some kind of a citizens&039; council from Tennessee Some kind of a half-assed a now"

"I heard a handgun"

"One of theret he coret?"

"More than ht the question, isn&039;t it?"

I returned her spare shotgun ammunition from my pockets She made me put it in the trunkinto h the black half of Carter Crossing, and then we thumped over the railroad track, and then we pulled into the Sheriff&039;s Department&039;s lot Hoet a cup of coffee I&039;ll be back soon"

"Where are you going?"

"I have to give Mrs Lindsay the news about her son"

"That won&039;t be easy"

"No, it won&039;t"

"Want me to come with you?"

"No," she said "That wouldn&039;t be appropriate"

I watched her drive away, and then I headed to the diner for coffee And for the phone I keptclose at hand on the hostess station and dialed Stan Lowrey&039;s office He picked up hiot a job I don&039;t believe it"

He said, "That stuff is getting old, Reacher"

"You&039;ll look back on it like the dying embers of a happy time"

"What do you want?"

"Fro question"

"Fros from you," I said "Specifically I want you to check some names for me In every database you can find Mostly civilian, if you can, including governet them to help The FBI too, if there&039;s anyone over there still speaking to you"

"On the up and up or on the quiet?"

"On the very quiet"

"What names?"

"Janice May Chapht?"

"One of several"

"And?"

"Audrey Shaw," I said

"Who is she?"

"I don&039;t know That&039;s why I want you to check her out"

"In connection hat?"

"She&039;s a loose end connected to another loose end"

"Audrey Shaw," he said, slowly, as if he riting it down

Then he said, "What else?"

I asked, "How far away is Garber&039;s office from yours?"

"It&039;s on the other side of the stairwell"

"I need hi hiedy old neck"

"Why not just call him direct?"

"Because I want him on your line, not his"

No answer, except a plastic thurunt as he stood up, and a hiss as his chair cushion recovered its shape Then silence, which was expensive, because I was on a pay phone I fed it another quarter and waited Whole ht Refusing to come But then I heard the phone lift up off the desk and the familiar voice asked, "What the hell do you want now?"

"I want to talk to you," I said

"So call me We have switchboards now And extensions"

"They&039;re listening to your line I think that&039;s pretty obvious, isn&039;t it? You&039;re a pawn here, the same as me Therefore someone else&039;s line is safer"

Garber was quiet for a beat

"Possible," he said "What have you got for round outside of Kelham were an unofficial force A local citizens&039; militia Evidently part of some weirdo network of true patriots Apparently they were here to defend the army from unjustified harassment"

"Well, Mississippi," he said "What do you expect?"

"They were fro the point They didn&039;t just happen to be here They weren&039;t just passing by on a whim They weren&039;t here for a vacation They were deployed here They have a contact somewhere, who knew exactly when, and exactly where, and exactly how, and exactly why they would be needed Who would have that kind of information?"

"Soo"

"And where would we find such a person?"

"Soree," I said "Any idea who?"

"None at all"

"You sure? You need to put me in the loop here if you can"

"I&039;m sure You&039;re already in the loop as o back to your office Five nore what I say, because it won&039;t h to let the tape recorders roll"

"Wait," Garber said "There&039;s so I have to tell you"

"Like what?"

"News from the Marine Corps"

"What kind of news?"

"There&039;s some kind of issue with Elizabeth Deveraux"

"What kind of issue?"

"I don&039;t know yet They&039;re playing hard to get They&039;redeal about access The file she&039;s in is apparently soest deal in the world, and si scandal about five years ago The story is Deveraux got soood reason Rumors say it was personal jealousy"

"Five years ago is three years before she quit Was she honorably discharged?"

"Yes, she was"

"Voluntary separation or involuntary?"

"Voluntary"

"Then there&039;s nothing there," I said "Don&039;t worry about it"

"You&039;re thinking with the wrong part of your body, Reacher"

"Five minutes," I said "Be back at your desk"