The Sentinel (Jack Reacher #25)(86)

‘OK. And what was your role going to be?’

‘Security. I was going to pick a team. Be on duty at all times, in case Antifa found out and tried to shut us down.’

‘I have some news for you, Zach. You’re getting shut down anyway. You can count on it. Only not by Antifa. I know some other people who will be happy to do it. People who work for Uncle Sam.’

Reacher left Zach for a moment and went to drag the unconscious bodies into a pile near the road. He picked up Zach and put him on top of the heap, writhing and screaming. He checked the trucks. The key was in each one so he moved them over to the building and parked them as close to the walls as possible. Then he went back to talk to Zach.

‘Have you got a phone?’

‘Yes.’

‘Does it record video?’

‘Yes. Why? What are you going to do?’

Reacher tore the T-shirt off the nearest guy’s inert body.

‘Go ahead,’ he said. ‘Start filming. Because you’re officially resigning from your Brotherhood. Any time you think about rejoining, watch the movie. And remember. Next time it’ll be your house. With you in it. Tell your friends when they wake up. The same goes for them. And everyone else you know.’

Reacher went back to the workshop. He poked the T-shirt into the orange car’s fuel pipe. Pushed it further in with a screwdriver. Waited for some gas to be soaked up. Lit it. And walked away.





TWENTY-SIX





Reacher put a couple of fast miles between him and the blazing workshop, then pulled over and dialled Wallwork’s number.

‘Nothing from Fisher, right?’ Reacher said when his call was picked up.

‘Not yet,’ Wallwork said.

‘There won’t be.’

‘Don’t give up hope, Reacher. It’s only been a few hours. You know how cautious the Russians are.’

‘Klostermann isn’t a Russian. He’s a Nazi.’

‘There’s something wrong with the line. It sounded like you said Klostermann’s a Nazi.’

‘I did. Talk about the ultimate bait and switch.’

‘Run it for me.’

‘I just talked to the biker. Seems Klostermann’s father was a war criminal. That’s why Klostermann wanted the server. There must be some kind of incriminating record on there. And the event he’s organizing? With the guys he met this morning? Are you ready for this? Because you’re going to make some serious headlines when you stop it. He’s reenacting the Nuremberg Rallies. Complete with his own Cathedral of Light.’

‘If you’re joking, Reacher, stop now.’

‘This is no joke.’

‘Where does the biker fit in?’

‘Klostermann sold him on providing security. Just in case Antifa shows up.’

‘OK. So Klostermann’s organizing a little off-piste violence.’

‘That’s my guess. You know how those guys love violence. Especially when it has an us versus them flavour to it. They need their demons.’

‘Thanks, Reacher. I’ll get some people on to it.’

‘The biker and his asshole buddies had tattoos on their chests. Eagles with swastikas. They said they were part of a brotherhood. That might help track the rest of them down. But there’s no immediate rush. The rally’s not until April twentieth. Hitler’s birthday.’

‘They love their symbolism, too.’

‘The Sentinel is much more urgent right now. Klostermann’s not Russian, so the Russians don’t have a copy of the server. They’ll still come after Rutherford. And they could still panic and pull their agent out of Oak Ridge.’

‘We have the server, at least.’

‘Have the pointy heads got anywhere with it yet?’

‘No.’

‘Then we need a new Plan B. Their new guy from Moscow is due here in under twenty-four hours.’

‘I know. Leave it with me. I’ll think of something. And if inspiration strikes you, don’t be shy.’

‘I won’t be. And in the meantime I’ll get Rutherford to try to find whatever Klostermann could be embarrassed about in the town records.’

‘That reminds me. We have a name for Klostermann’s mother. Natalia Matusak. We’re thin on detail. She may have been married once before. We’re still checking. Not that it probably matters now.’

Sands was asleep when Reacher got back to the motel. She was lying on top of the duvet on the bed Reacher hadn’t used. Reacher could see her eyes moving behind her lids. She was dreaming. About boats, he hoped. He crept outside and went to the office to fetch coffee and cinnamon rolls. Sands didn’t wake up when he came back into the room. But she did a minute after he placed a cup and a plate on the nightstand.

They ate and drank and Reacher brought Sands up to speed on what he’d found out. She had a tough time processing it. With her ex-FBI hat on she was thrilled at the prospect of smashing a neo-Nazi network. Particularly one that was trying to recreate Hitler’s Cathedral of Light in rural Tennessee. But she was also worried about the implications of losing The Sentinel to the Russians. And scared for Rutherford. And Fisher. She’d developed some kind of bond with the agent even though they’d never met. In the end she slid off the bed and made for the connecting door.