The Sentinel (Jack Reacher #25) - Lee Child Page 0,109
building. I need him there at six a.m., with the server in a car parked outside. Any questions?’
‘You’re resurrecting the original ambush idea?’
‘I’m adapting it. I know what the objective is now. And where it will be. But I have to truncate the timescale. I need it done and dusted, including Rutherford’s apparent suicide, before noon. That’s still the Moscow guy’s ETA in town.’
‘It won’t work.’
‘It has to. Time will be tight. And it’s not without risk. Mainly for me. I have to go against orders. Try to pass it off as initiative, combined with the desire to redeem myself in the eyes of my superiors. The fact that I will get the server this time ought to be enough to save my bacon. It better be. All Rutherford has to do is play along. He’ll be fine. And it’s better than the alternative.’
‘No. It’s not possible. Rutherford’s down with a migraine. He couldn’t copy a shopping list, let alone a server. And he can’t move.’
‘That’s not funny, Reacher. Tell me you’re joking.’
‘It’s no joke.’
‘Then we’re screwed. The whole operation’s shot to hell. There’s no way to save it.’
‘Don’t panic. The fat lady’s not singing yet. Let’s say I have another way to get the copying done.’
‘How?’
‘Doesn’t matter. There’s no security risk. That’s all you need to know.’
‘How will I get my hands on it? And make that look convincing?’
‘I’ll give it to you. In place of Rutherford.’
‘Reacher. You already stopped a kidnapping by me and five other people. I couldn’t grab you now with the three I have left. It wouldn’t be believable.’
‘You’re right. You couldn’t take it from me. But you could buy it.’
‘How would you come to be selling it?’
‘Here’s the story. It all began with the journalist. Convince your people I was working with her. She told me about the server. Not what was on it, specifically. Just that it was valuable. I came to town to get it from Rutherford because I’m greedy. I saved him from getting kidnapped. Buddied up to him until he let slip where it was. I stole it, thinking I could sell it to the newspaper. Only they hit me with a load of bull about being public-spirited and giving it to them for free. So I put it on the market. Via the dark web. Which you were monitoring because you’re so thorough. We set up a meet at the diner, because I insisted on a public place. At, say, 0800. Four hours before the new guy shows his face. You’re the hero, and he’s on the next plane back to Moscow.’
‘I don’t see it. Aside from foiling the last kidnap attempt you left two of my men unconscious in a dumpster and attacked the rest of us with improvised chemical weapons. No one’s going to believe you’re a journalist’s assistant.’
‘So sprinkle in some of the truth. Say I’m a former soldier, now working as an occasional bodyguard. Say the journalist hired me to look after her in Nashville. Where she was investigating those mob guys. The ones Klostermann warned her to stay away from.’
‘That could work. I guess. I might need to embellish it a little more. But it’s the best we’ve got so let’s try to make it happen. You get to work on the copying. Wallwork will call you at 0600 with a go / no go.’
‘Sounds good. See you at the diner. I hope.’
‘I hope so too. Oh, and Reacher? One other thing. Before 0600 – charge your damn phone.’
Fisher let herself out, then Reacher switched off the light and lay back down. He was annoyed with himself. He had just broken the soldier’s most basic rule. Never volunteer. He should have known better. But on the other hand, what choice did he have? It was either go himself, or leave Rutherford’s mother in the firing line. He didn’t know anything about her. Maybe she could handle herself. Maybe she was a former Marine, ready to teach this Moscow guy what happened to anyone who messed with her son. It was possible. But he didn’t know. So the safest thing was to take care of business himself.
Reacher turned the light back on, slid out of bed, and let himself into room nineteen to search for the bag with the phone charger in it. He tried to be quiet but Sands woke up anyway. He talked her through the developments and she agreed to take care of copying the server. She made a start right away.