Page 24 of Exit Strategy
‘I think he’s in the storeroom, sir.’
‘Bullshit. That’s not possible.’
‘I think it is, sir.’
‘How? Explain.’
‘He’s always been fascinated by what could be inside there, sir. He keeps going over and putting his hand against the door like he can commune with the contents. I told him not to, over and over. But he always ignored me. He was doing that, pressing the door, when the power went out just now. I heard a click, like the lock had released. A squeak, like the hinge was moving. Then the lights came back, the door was closed, and Jacklin was gone. So either he’s in there, sir, or he disappeared into thin air.’
Strickland paused for a moment to think about what he’d been told. Then he heard a sound coming from inside the storeroom. Someone was tugging at the door and rattling it against its lock. A futile effort. There was no doubt about that. Then Strickland heard Jacklin’s voice. It called out, ‘Walker, where are you, man? Get me out of here.’
Walker turned to Strickland and said, ‘Do you want me to get him out, sir?’
Strickland put out his hand and said, ‘Give me your cuffs.’
Walker unclipped the holster on his belt and passed his handcuffs to Strickland.
‘Key.’
He dug in his pants pocket, pulled out a small silver key, and handed it over.
‘You’re dismissed.’
‘Sir.’ Walker double-timed it toward the exit. He knew better than to slow down or look back.
Strickland tucked the cuffs into his waistband and drew his sidearm. He crossed to the storeroom door, extended his trigger finger far enough sideways to work the keypad, entered his code, then stepped to the side. The door burst open. Jacklin rushed out. He was shivering hard. His face was pale and his eyes were wide.
Strickland said, ‘Stop. Do not turn around.’
Jacklin stopped. He was panting.
Strickland said, ‘Put your hands behind your back, wrists together.’
Jacklin was almost sobbing. He said, ‘I’m sorry, sir. I’ll forget what I saw. And I swear I won’t ever go back in that place.’
Strickland raised his voice. ‘Hands behind your back. Wrists touching.’
Jacklin did as he was told. Strickland swapped the gun for the cuffs. He stepped forward, secured Jacklin’s hands, and said, ‘Never say never.’
Reacher figured that if you could power a car with nervous energy, Gilmour’s rental would run forever. He was practically vibrating when Reacher got back into the passenger seat. He couldn’t sit still. Couldn’t focus. Reacher had dealt with meth heads who were more composed.
Reacher started to fasten his seat belt, then paused and said, ‘Are you okay to drive?’
‘Of course I am.’ Gilmour tried to start the engine. He got it going on the second attempt. ‘So? Did you get a name?’
‘No.’
Gilmour slammed the steering wheel with his palm. ‘So it was a waste of time.’
‘Not entirely. The guy who came to you with the proposition did pay your debt. He did it himself. That’s confirmed. Horner didn’t sell your details to anybody.’
‘But we don’t know who the guy is?’ Gilmour pulled away from the curb. ‘You couldn’t make Horner tell you?’
‘Horner didn’t know. The guy delivered a bag of cash. No names were required. But here’s the weird thing. He knew how much you owed. Independently. Horner didn’t have to tell him.’
‘That’s impossible.’ Gilmour slowed for a truck to pass in the opposite direction, then pulled a tight U-turn. ‘I’m telling you, there’s no way he could have known.’
‘He knew.’
