The Sentinel (Jack Reacher #25)(94)

‘But if the evidence is fake, how can the Bureau figure out the right identity?’ Rutherford said. ‘They’re back at square one.’

‘They’re not,’ Reacher said. ‘They can start with Klostermann. He mentioned having a son. He might have grandkids by now. The angle was never followed up because no one knew his mother was a spy.’

‘That makes sense,’ Sands said. ‘The Bureau wanted the server because the Russians knew it could reveal the spy’s identity. The link in that document is to Klostermann. So Klostermann must be linked to the spy.’

‘Not using the Klostermann name, obviously,’ Reacher said. ‘Or someone would have noticed. Maybe Matusak, since that’s the name they were trying to hide.’

‘OK,’ Rutherford said. ‘I see that. But take a step back. The journalist found the document in the archives. The document showed there was an extra branch to the spy brothers’ family tree. The Russians didn’t want anyone to know about that because it would lead to Klostermann. And his son. And maybe grandchildren. So they destroy the physical archive. Lock up the digital one. And get hold of the server. The wild card. Why not leave it at that? All their tracks were covered. Why set up Agent Fisher with this red-herring ID?’

‘The FBI knew the Russians had a spy at Oak Ridge,’ Reacher said. ‘If the Russians had destroyed the records and left it at that, the FBI would have kept on digging. Maybe found some other clue. If the Russians’ plan had worked the FBI would have thought they’d caught the spy. And stopped digging. There’s no need to search for something you already have.’

Speranski was pacing around his living room when his secure phone rang again.

‘The bait has been swallowed,’ the voice at the end of the line said. ‘The message has been sent. But not to the Bureau itself. To a former agent who is now a cyber security expert. The Americans must believe it’s genuine.’

‘So, Natasha?’

‘She’s outlived her usefulness. The Center says you may do with her as you please.’

Reacher left Sands and Rutherford looking through other random records on the server and went next door to call Wallwork. He told him Fisher’s cover was blown. And about the two possible leads to Oak Ridge. One likely fake. One likely real. Wallwork wasn’t too worried about the difference.

‘We’ll find them both,’ he said. ‘Even if one’s only a decoy. And we’ll nail them both. Then pull Fisher out. Make sure she’s safe.’

‘No, Wallwork,’ Reacher said. ‘You’ve got to pull her out right now.’

‘We can’t do that. If Fisher disappears right after seeing the records on the server, the Russians will be suspicious. They’ll pull their agent out of Oak Ridge. We’ll never know if The Sentinel is compromised. What we have to do is coordinate her exfiltration exactly with the arrests.’

‘You’re wrong. You’re still looking at the mission from your original position – that Fisher’s identity was unknown to the Russians. But they do know about her. They’re using her as a conduit for misinformation. So they’re not going to let her live until their patsy is arrested. Right now Fisher believes what she sent is genuine. She was focused on finding it for months, so when it was dangled in front of her she bit. It was a reflex. But when the heat of the moment has passed? And all the coincidences line up in her head? They won’t run that risk. They’ll kill her as soon as they’re confident you’ve received her information. In other words, now. So you’ve got to act. Immediately.’

Wallwork didn’t reply right away. Reacher could hear him fiddling with a pen. He pictured the guy. The pieces falling into place in his head. Him not liking the picture that was produced.

‘OK,’ Wallwork said after another minute. ‘You’re probably right. We have a small window. But we’re lucky, in a way. How things worked out, with her giving you the phone.’

‘How’s that lucky?’ Reacher said.

‘I think you’re right that they’ll kill her as soon as they know her information has been sent. But how will they know it’s been sent? By monitoring her phone.’

‘Fisher wouldn’t use a Russian-issue phone.’

‘Of course not. She procured a clean one, specially for the purpose. They’ll have cloned it. That’s what I would do, in their shoes. It’s easy, and it will tell them the moment a message is sent. Or a call is made. But we don’t have that problem. You didn’t send me the picture, and you called me from your own phone.’

‘But a message was sent from her phone. Just now.’

‘Why? Who to?’

‘We needed a filename to trace the original document. To compare. The picture was too small to read on the phone. We needed to see it on the computer.’

There was another pause. Reacher heard Wallwork fiddling with his pen again. Then there was the sound of breaking glass.

‘Well, congratulations, Reacher,’ Wallwork said. ‘You just killed Margaret Fisher.’

Sands drove Reacher to the Russians’ motel. Wallwork had warned him not to go. He promised to send in the cavalry himself. But then he mentioned procedures. Levels of classification. Clearance protocols. Reacher knew what words like those added up to. Delays. So he figured it was an outside chance, but if Fisher was still there, and still alive, maybe he could do something more direct. Something that didn’t involve warrants. Or sign-offs. Or permissions of any kind.