Page 57 of Exit Strategy
James said, ‘Could they have switched it?’
‘No.’ Reacher got back into the passenger seat. ‘It’s a decoy. Arlon, keep the woman here. Nathan, come on. We need to get back to the container.’
THIRTY-TWO
Gilmour pulled a J-turn and hit the gas even harder than before. The workers were ready for him on this run. They got clear in good time then pelted the car with soda cans and pieces of trash as it sped by. Gilmour ignored them. He didn’t slow down until he was close to the gap at the end of the containers they’d climbed on earlier.
‘Stop here,’ Reacher said. ‘Right in the center. No one gets in or out.’
Gilmour hit the brakes, and as they entered the gap they saw that another vehicle had already gotten in. The black panel van Reacher had just seen. It was stopped nearer the red container than the fence. Fumes were streaming out of its exhaust. Its passenger door was open and a guy was on the other side, between it and the container. He was wearing a generic olive-greenmilitary-style uniform, and he was dragging a woman along the ground by her foot. She was dressed all in black. Her hood was up, hiding her face, but strands of graying hair were escaping at one side.
The guy heard the car. He dropped the woman’s foot and went for his gun. Reacher was a beat ahead of him. He had already grabbed the pistol from Gilmour’s waistband and opened his door. The guy turned, lining up on the windshield. Then he hesitated for a second. He was confused. His first thought had been to shoot the driver, Gilmour, but Reacher’s movement threw him.
Reacher did not hesitate. He aimed and pulled the trigger. He’d been going for the guy’s center mass but the car hit a rut in the concrete and sent the shot high. It caught him in the throat rather than the chest. The force knocked him back a pace, then his knees gave way. Gravity took over and dragged him down. He hit the ground legs apart, arms by his sides, blood pulsing and spraying from the tear in his neck like an ornamental fountain.
Gilmour hit the brakes. Reacher jumped out. He took a step toward the van and raised the gun. The van’s rear wheels started to spin. Smoke rose from the concrete. The van was stationary for half a second, then it lurched forward. It was heading straight for the fence. It adjusted slightly to avoid a concrete post, then accelerated and plowed into the rusty mesh. It slowed a little, just for a moment. Then it burst right through. Reacher ran after it. He got to the boundary in time to see the van race away down the narrow street.
Gilmour was standing in front of the car, looking down at the two bodies, when Reacher turned back. He said, ‘What the hell? You just shot a CIA agent. With my gun.’
Reacher shook his head. ‘He wasn’t CIA.’ The arterial spray had dried up. The guy was clearly dead, but Reacher checked for a pulse in the intact part of his neck, anyway. He didn’t find one, so he turned to the woman and pulled back her hood. The left side of her face was pointing upward. There was a fresh cut by her temple and an older scar on her cheek.
Gilmour stepped up alongside Reacher. He said, ‘Kasselwood’s here? Not in the truck. Decoy cargo, decoy driver. So she was just a thief after all. I’ve got to say, I’m a little disappointed.’
Reacher felt Kasselwood’s neck, then he grabbed her zipper and opened the front of her hoodie. She was wearing a Kevlar vest. He said, ‘She’s still breathing. I guess she took a round, it knocked her down, the vest saved her life, but she hit her head when she fell.’
‘Okay, and the guy? If he isn’t CIA, who is he?’
‘One of the original thieves. We screwed things up for Kasselwood, that’s for sure, and the other guys walked away with the prize.’
Gilmour started toward the car. ‘Then let’s not be here when the CIA does show up.’
‘Relax. The CIA’s not coming. It’s not involved. It never was.’
‘How—’
‘I broke my second rule of army life.Never trust the intel. The shipment wasn’t being smuggledbythe CIA. It was being smuggled by someone who wasex-CIA. Someone who’d left recently enough to know the up-to-date shipping codes.’
‘Kasselwood was a Company woman?’
‘We knew she was some kind of veteran. It was the VA that referred her to Dr Martin.’
‘Right. It was. Okay, so what now?’
‘I say we walk away. I was worried about something classified getting into the wrong hands, but what actually happened was some thieves ripped off a smuggler. I don’t care about one set of assholes over the other. Do you?’
‘I guess not.’
‘All right, then. I’ll call 911 once we’re clear. The police can tidy up the mess.’
‘What about the guy you shot? We don’t want the police coming after us on his account.’
‘Is the gun registered?’
Gilmour looked away. ‘No.’
‘Does it have sentimental value?’
‘No. It’s a gun.’
