The Sentinel (Jack Reacher #25) - Lee Child Page 0,57

worse. The main team, four people, went into the garage. They read the situation, planted a tracker on Rutherford’s car, and got out unscathed. The drifter got the two guys who stayed outside.’

‘Are they dead?’

‘No. But they’ll be out of the game for a while. He knocked them around pretty good. And one of them got bitten by a rat before he was found. They were left in a couple of dumpsters.’

‘Does the Center know?’

‘Yes. But don’t worry. The police didn’t get involved. No members of the public saw anything. No attention was drawn. They’re not pulling the plug. But they are making a change.’

‘What kind of change?’

‘They’re bringing someone in. Denisov. The rest of the team is stood down to surveillance only until he arrives.’

Speranski paused. He had never worked with Denisov. But he had heard of him. Denisov had started out as an interrogator. The human polygraph, he was called. Due to his appearance. And his temper. His ability to loosen tongues. And bowels.

‘I thought Denisov wasn’t used in the field any more,’ Speranski said. ‘Too many unfavourable outcomes.’

‘No, he is,’ the voice said. ‘He’s been in Chechnya for the last five years. Broadening his repertoire. Working on his self-discipline. He’s rehabilitated now. Back in favour with the people who count.’

‘And they’re letting him loose on Rutherford? Isn’t that overkill?’

‘On the drifter. The rest of the team can proceed with Rutherford, as before.’

‘Wait a minute.’ Sands moved over to the window, then turned back to face Rutherford. ‘How could you have thrown an entire server array in the trash? How many were you using?’

‘Eight.’ Rutherford looked at the floor. ‘I guess I didn’t literally throw them in the trash. But I did kind of trash them.’

‘What did you do to them?’

‘Well, first off the glass in the cabinet door broke when I slammed it. I did that when I realized the backup hadn’t worked. Then I ripped out all the cables. I wanted to fling the whole thing in the dumpster outside but when I tried to drag it to the door the foot of the cabinet got wedged where part of the raised floor had come loose so I left it. Then I went back and stuck on a Post-it note saying it was for the trash.’

‘This was before you got fired?’

‘Right. On the day of the attack.’

‘Was the cabinet still there the day you left?’

Rutherford shrugged. ‘No idea. I didn’t go back to the equipment room after the first day. There was no point. Nothing was working. I actually thought about checking on my last day but I was only there ten minutes before they gave me the letter.’

‘No one’s replaced you?’

‘Not yet.’ Rutherford hung his head. ‘The job’s hardly a big draw. Nothing works. The title is Head of Department but there’s barely a department to head. There are only two other staff. One’s part time. And both are furloughed until the network is fixed.’

‘So what are the odds that anyone saw the note saying to trash the equipment? And then did anything about it?’

‘Probably pretty low.’

‘So it might still be there?’

‘It might be.’

‘Come on then. What are we waiting for? Let’s go see.’

‘There’s no point. We can’t get in. They made me leave my key.’

‘Rusty. Seriously. Think about this. What did I spend the last decade doing? There’s no such thing as a locked door as far as an FBI agent is concerned. And there’ll be no one else there. The security system’s down. The cabinet may as well be sitting on the sidewalk waiting for us to pick it up.’

‘How will we move it?’

‘Between us it’ll be no problem. There must be dollies in the receiving room. How else did it get brought in when it was first delivered?’

‘I mean how will we get it back here? It won’t fit in my car.’

‘That’s why I rented a minivan. But we won’t bring it here. Not with people watching the building and doormen reporting your every move. We’ll get a storage unit for tonight. Hide it there. And tomorrow we’ll rent some office space. Or even a motel room. We’ll need power. And space to work. And privacy.’

The plan was straightforward. Sands would leave first and pause in the lobby. She’d apologize to the doorman for her previous abruptness and mention that her friend was feeling much better. So much better that he was about to go out for a drive. Reacher and Rutherford would give him time to send his text. Then they