No Plan B (Jack Reacher, #27)(55)

“How long would that take?”

Hannah pulled her phone out of her purse. “I’ll see who has a car available. Then we can figure out the quickest option.” The screen lit up and her phone unlocked itself. “And there’s something else. When I was waiting for you to change, before those guys showed up, I checked the map to see what the rest of the route to Winson was like. And look.” She held out the phone so that Reacher could see the screen. “See that red line? It means stationary traffic. I googled it, and it turns out that’s because of a construction zone. The road’s down to a single lane. So this is where the ambush will be. Not the hill you found on the paper map. This is a much better place. We’ll be stationary. So we’ll be a sitting duck. There’s no way they could miss us. Not in a recognizable vehicle. And there’s no other route we could take.”

Reacher thought for a moment. “Does Google say what kind of traffic management they have there? Lights? A guy with a stop/go board?”

“Google didn’t. But I also found a couple of online message boards for inmates’ families. There’s a lot of talk about the problems people have when they go visit. One woman mentioned they’re using a pilot vehicle. You know the kind of thing? Usually a pickup with a big illuminated sign in the load bed. It shuttles back and forth. Drivers have to wait until it comes and follow it to the other end. This woman said the driver was a jackass. She claimed he dawdled along extra slow and let the lines back up so much she missed half her visiting time.”

Reacher said, “Can your phone show the view from a satellite?”

“Sure.” Hannah hit a button at the corner of the screen and flipped it around for Reacher to see. “It’s not a live feed, you know. You’re not going to see the pilot vehicle moving around.”

“Don’t need to.” Reacher studied the phone for a moment. “I just need to see the terrain.” He nodded. “We can make this work for us. We could get a rental car but it would be better to use the truck. We can get a replacement vehicle delivered to the hotel, later, if you want.”

“Sticking with the truck for now is the best way? You’re sure?”

“One hundred percent.”

“It’s not about the cost? Because I’m happy to pay.”

“It’s not the cost. Trust me.”

Hannah pointed to the truck’s rear door. “What about the window? We can’t drive with it in that state.”

“Duct tape will fix it.”

“Duct tape?”

“You can fix anything with duct tape.”

“Are you serious?”

“Absolutely. Look—the tinting film is holding on to all the glass. All we need is something to secure it around the frame. Duct tape.”

“And do you have any? In your extensive selection of luggage, maybe? Because oddly enough it’s not something I carry in my purse.”

“They sell it in the store here. I saw it earlier.”

“Oh. Good. I guess.”

“I’ll go grab some. And some emergency road flares. We’re going to need those, too.”

“We are? Why?”

“We’re going to do some traffic management of our own.”



* * *



—

Bruno Hix was back on his practice stage. The cameras were running. And this time he made it to the end of his speech in one take. Pretty good, he thought. But could be better.

Hix had just started his second run-through when the conference room door opened. It was Brockman.

Hix said, “What now?”

Brockman was silent for a moment. Then he shook his head and said, “You were right again.”

“About what this time?”

“The truck stop. Something is wrong up there.”

“Explain.”

“Harold just called. He arrived and there was no sign of our other guys. He looked in all the places it would be logical for them to use on a stakeout. Nada. So he cast his net wider. He checked the parking lot. He cruised up and down every aisle. In the corner, the farthest one away from the building, by some charity donation thing, he found Nick’s car. His Marauder. His pride and joy. Harold took a closer look. The doors were unlocked and the keys were on the driver’s seat. He thought it looked low at the back. So he popped the trunk. And he was right.”

“Nick was in there? Hell and damnation. Was he alone? Or with whoever he was partnered up with? Steve, wasn’t it? Were they alive? Or dead?”

“They were alive. But it wasn’t Nick and Steve. Get this. It was Pep and Tony. The guys we sent over from the intersection.”

“How did they get in Nick’s trunk?”

“No idea.”

“Where are Nick and Steve?”

“No idea. There was no sign of them anywhere.”

“What about the truck Pep found? The one Reacher was using.”

“It was gone. Harold thought he saw a red truck leaving when he arrived but he couldn’t be sure it was the same one.”

Hix was silent for a moment. “OK. No point worrying about what’s already happened. Call the guys at the construction zone. Give them the description of Reacher’s truck. Make sure they know the plates.”

Brockman said, “Already done.”