No Plan B (Jack Reacher, #27)(82)

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—

Jed Starmer wanted the bike to be safe until it was time to return it to the messenger so he lifted it over a little stone wall at the side of the road, a hundred yards short of the prison, and covered the rest of the ground on foot.

Jed had never seen a place like the prison before. He didn’t like it. Not one bit. The metal fence with its rolls of razor wire scared him. He imagined being trapped behind it. He imagined the guards in the watchtowers shooting at him. The cameras panning from side to side on their poles, tracking him if he tried to run. The floodlights shining on him if he tried to hide. He shivered, despite the warmth of the morning sun.

Jed threaded his way through a bunch of folding chairs and wandered across to a temporary fence. It had been set up with a semicircle of sawhorses around the edge of the curved road that bulged out from the front of the prison. He picked a spot in line with a little outdoor stage. He guessed that was where the action would be. It was to the side of a building he thought might be the prison’s main entrance. It was hard to be sure because a kind of tent had been set up around it. On the other side of the stage there was a car. A BMW. Black, and very shiny. It was the only vehicle he could see. It was facing a platform with two TV cameras on it. A large one on a tripod, and a small one that someone had set on the floor. The only other people who were around were wearing uniforms. They were gray with yellow trim and peaked caps, like the private cops Jed had once seen at a mall.

Jed was tired and his mind started to drift. He thought about his dad. Inside the prison. Stuck there for years even though he had done nothing wrong. Desperate to get out. Jed couldn’t imagine how awful that would feel. How badly it could mess a person up. He began to wonder if the woman in the old VW had been right. Maybe it was a mistake to just show up.



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—

Reacher said, “I found a book in the garage where Danny kept records of car things. The handwriting was the same as the address on the envelope I saw in Angela’s purse.”

Hannah said, “So Danny sent that letter to himself?”

Reacher nodded.

“Why?”

“To keep it safe. He found something out that he shouldn’t have. He realized he was in danger. Maybe he went to the police and picked up the same vibe you did, yesterday. Anyway, he figured if the proof was in the mail no one could find it. And take it. I bet it was a constant recurring thing. Every time it was delivered, I bet he mailed it straight back out.”

“Then one day he gave it to Angela? Why change his routine?”

“He didn’t give it to her. She found it.”

“Where?”

“In Danny’s mailbox. On Saturday morning. She heard about the fire and came by when he didn’t answer his phone. I looked, myself, just now. There’s some junk mail, loose, and an elastic band. The whole bunch came bundled together. Someone separated it. Took something. I thought it was Minerva, taking the letter we just opened. I was wrong. It was Angela.”

“Why would Angela look in Danny’s mailbox?”

“The same reason you looked in Sam’s. A friend was gone. She was checking to see if there was anything important that needed to be handled. She recognized his handwriting. Figured there was something fishy. Maybe he’d mentioned finding something out to her, before. Maybe she made the connection herself. We’ll never know.”

Hannah was quiet for a moment. Then she said, “The timing fits, I guess. She got the envelope Saturday morning. Emailed Sam Saturday afternoon. Left Winson Sunday, because she needed to find someone to watch her kid. It was maybe late-ish in the day when she got on the road. And because she was one person, traveling on her own with no one to share the driving, she needed an extra overnight stop. Which got her to Gerrardsville Tuesday morning.”

Reacher nodded. “It fits.”

“And someone from Minerva knew you looked in the envelope Angela had before they got it back. They tried to stop you getting here. They failed. So they used another envelope addressed to Danny to trick you into leaving again. They probably figured if you looked in one, you’d look in another.”

“It almost worked.”

“That part’s fine. But here’s what I don’t get. The first envelope was full of stuff about this Begovic guy’s successful appeal. Which appears to be legit. Now, Angela told Sam the thing she was into had to do with accounting. What’s the connection between accounting and Begovic?”

“I don’t know. Yet.”

“Maybe we should try and figure that out instead of going to the ceremony.”

“I’m going to the ceremony. You don’t have to.”

“What could we possibly learn there? And it could be dangerous. Minerva people are bound to recognize us.”

“That would be dangerous. For them.”

“How about this? We could watch it online. Minerva has its own YouTube channel. There’s no need to go in person.”

“There is.”

“What?”

“Someone tried very hard to stop me.”





Chapter 41


Reacher counted thirty-nine people outside the prison, aside from Hannah and himself.

He knew why eleven of them were there. Jed Starmer had come to see his dad get released. The two camera operators and six security guards were getting paid. Bruno Hix, who had introduced himself as Minerva’s founder and CEO, was enjoying the sound of his own voice. And Damon Brockman, who also claimed to be a founder, was standing on the stage, looking smug. Reacher was less sure about the other twenty-eight. He couldn’t understand what kind of carrot or stick would make it worth the waste of their time.