Page 59 of Exit Strategy
Gilmour shook his head. ‘Probably assholes.’
‘You think?’
They had closed to within ten feet of Kasselwood. Gilmour cruised past her, then coasted to a stop in the center of the channel between the stacks of containers. Reacher leaned back and opened the rear door. Kasselwood dodged around it and kept on walking, still clutching her ribs.
Reacher lowered his window and called after her. ‘Let us give you a ride to the exit, at least. It’ll be quicker. You’re in pain. That’s clear. Then you can hook up with your buddy, collect your pickup, and go from there.’
Kasselwood stopped. She stood still for a second, then turned and stalked back to the car. She climbed into the back seat, brushed her fingertips across the scar on her cheek, shut the door, and said, ‘Fine. Let’s go.’
Gilmour hit the switch that locked all the doors, then cut the engine. He took the gun from his waistband, turned to look at Kasselwood, and said, ‘I have a question first. Don’t lie, because I’ll know. And what you should know is that this is a rental. It’s under a false name. I could blow your head off right now and not even have to clean it up.’
Kasselwood looked straight back at him. She said, ‘You have a question? Let’s have it.’
‘All right. Did you kill my coworker?’
Kasselwood held his gaze. Her voice was low and steady. She said, ‘No. I did not.’
‘You came to our office. You were looking for him. You were mad. Next thing, he’s dead. Explain that.’
‘I was frustrated, not mad. Someone had been snooping for information about the shipment I was bringing in. Obviously that was part of an attempt to steal it. I assumed he was the spy. But really it was you, using his ID?’
Gilmour nodded. ‘You killed him because you thought he was spying on you.’
‘No. I wanted to talk to him. I knew I had a leak. I assumed it was Dr Martin. I figured she’d gotten Zack Weaver to recruit the guy and they’d somehow planted him in the scheduling office. I wanted confirmation. So think about it. Killing him before I spoke to him would make no sense.’
‘You already knew about Dr Martin and Weaver?’
‘Only Dr Martin. I figured she must have been hooked up with some muscle, though. I didn’t see her doing the dirty work herself.’
‘You were a patient of hers?’
Kasselwood took a moment to reply. ‘I was. Were you?’
Gilmour said, ‘Briefly.’
‘For long enough, evidently.’ Kasselwood looked at Reacher. ‘And you?’
Reacher said, ‘What do you think?’
Kasselwood said, ‘I’m guessing not. I’m not sensing much openness for personal growth. So, who are you? How are you involved?’
Reacher said, ‘Stick to the topic. You killed Dr Martin. Why?’
Kasselwood was silent for a moment. ‘That was an accident. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not sorry she’s dead. In other circumstances I would have been happy to put a bullet in her head. But yesterday was all about information gathering. I figured she had pieced together what I was planning and passed the details to a partner. I was pressing for that partner’s name, but she wouldn’t give him up. Not even when I threatened her. And believe me, after what I told her in our sessions, she knew what I was capable of. I worked for the Agency in Iraq, remember. I’ve done things I’m not proud of. If she could keep quiet in light of all that, I figured some kind of emotional connection must have been in play. A husband or a live-in lover or a kid. Someone she shared a home with, maybe. So I asked for her address. She freaked out, so I was obviously on the money. She tried to strangle me. And when that didn’t work, she tried to run.’
‘You couldn’t allow that.’
‘It would only have taken a second for her to warn him, if she’d gotten out of that office. He could have disappeared. I couldn’t risk that. So I shot her. I didn’t meanto kill her. I was trying to wing her, but hey. This isn’t Hollywood.’
‘So you went to her house.’
Kasselwood nodded.
‘You found her partner. Weaver. And you shot him, too.’
‘He shot himself, actually. I made him believe his wife was alive, to make him cooperate. I got what I needed. Then he figured out that I’d been lying to him. He had a hidden weapon that I’d missed. That was stupid of me. He got to it and used it.’
‘What you neededbeing the name of the guy they sold you out to?’
