The Sentinel (Jack Reacher #25) - Lee Child Page 0,126

Something was wrong up at the top of the shaft. It was too dark. He continued to the space at the top, gently lowered Fisher down and rested her against the wall. Closed his eyes. And tried the door.

It didn’t move. Not even a fraction of an inch.

Reacher was trapped. Underground. In a small space. The only thing since childhood that could give him nightmares. His worst fear. The only thing he couldn’t fight.

‘I don’t get it,’ Fisher said. ‘Why is there no handle?’

‘It’s on the other side,’ Reacher said. He was focused on continuing to breathe. ‘It’s a kind of airlock. With two doors.’ He paused. ‘They should never be open at once. So the handles are on the same side. Then one guy can control them both.’

‘So someone locked it from the other side? Who?’

‘My money’s on Klostermann’s housekeeper.’ Reacher pressed his back against the door and slid down until he was sitting on the ground. The skin between his shoulder blades was beginning to prickle. He was starting to sweat.

‘The skinny woman? Who ran? But you shot her. I heard it. No. Wait.’ Fisher shook her head, trying to clear the lingering fog. She pressed her fingers against her temples. ‘Her body wasn’t in the corridor. She got away?’

Reacher shrugged.

‘The way she fought?’ Fisher said. ‘The way they let her take part in the torture? She’s not just a housekeeper. She’s one of them. She’ll report what happened. The Russians will pull their agent. We’ve got to warn Wallwork.’

‘He’s on his way,’ Reacher said. ‘He should be. I told him you were here.’

‘We can’t wait. We have to warn him now.’

Reacher took out his phone. It had no signal. They were near the surface, but behind too much concrete. Too much steel. The same things that were keeping them in were keeping the radio waves out. Reacher tried Klostermann’s phones. Neither of those could connect, either.

‘OK,’ Fisher said. ‘Then we have to stop her.’

‘How?’ Reacher said. ‘This door is the only way out. It’s impossible to open.’

‘There must be another way. Where the utilities come in? Some kind of pipe? Or duct?’

Reacher shook his head. ‘These places are self-contained. The water is processed and recirculated. Same with the air.’

‘What about power? The generator. It’s gone now, but there must have been one. This place was built, when? The 1950s?’

Reacher nodded.

‘What kind of generators did they have back then?’ Fisher said.

‘Diesel, probably,’ Reacher said.

‘And diesel engines require air to run. Which would have to come from outside. Come on.’ Fisher struggled to her feet. ‘Back to the generator room. We’ll start looking in there.’

Reacher looked at the mouth of the shaft. It was the last place in the world he wanted to go. But where he was, trapped behind that massive door, was the last place in the world he wanted to stay. And he had the Russian agent to think about. Klostermann’s daughter. Maybe with her hands already on The Sentinel. Maybe already ordered to disappear. Reacher knew Sands would raise the alarm when she didn’t hear from him. Wallwork should be on his way, too. But how long would help take to arrive?

‘I’ll go.’ Reacher handed the SOCOM to Fisher. ‘Someone might come. They might open the door. If they do, make sure they don’t close it again.’

Reacher climbed down the first ladder. One rung at a time. Nice and slow and calm. Then the second ladder. Then he walked down the corridor to the generator room. Went in. Glanced at the bodies on the floor. And turned his attention to the ceiling. He surveyed every inch. There was nothing that looked like it could have been a vent or an air supply. He moved down to the walls. There were two filled-in circles that could have been pipes. In which case they were doomed. They were only nine inches across. Which left two square panels set into the opposite wall. Reacher walked over and knocked on one. It sounded solid. He tried the second.

It was hollow.

He tried to tear it off but couldn’t get any kind of purchase. It had been painted around, sealing up any gap, not even leaving enough space to jam his fingernails into. He went to the metal table. Scanned the top level. The line of ghastly tools. Found a chisel. And a hammer. Tried not to think about why Klostermann had wanted them. Or what he’d used them for. Reacher took them back to the panel. He started at the