The Sentinel (Jack Reacher #25) - Lee Child Page 0,96

killed the golden goose as an example. Have you heard that one?’

‘Forty bucks. I can’t go any lower. I’ll have to split the dough with the housekeeper, remember.’

‘That won’t be necessary. I won’t make any mess. I won’t even sit on the bed.’

‘What do you even want the room for, then?’

Reacher said nothing.

‘Thirty bucks,’ Carmichael offered.

Reacher said nothing.

‘Twenty.’

‘That’s better.’ Reacher took two tens out of his pocket. ‘Pass me a key. And make sure it’s in the same section as the other two. Near them. But not adjacent.’

Reacher stepped outside and called Wallwork back. He gave him the motel’s name and address and specified room fourteen for their meeting. Then he returned to room eighteen. Sands was sitting in the armchair. Reacher smiled at her and lay down on one of the beds.

‘Your pizza will be cold,’ Sands said after a few moments of silence. ‘Want me to go to the office? Heat it up for you?’

‘No thanks,’ Reacher said. ‘Cold pizza doesn’t bother me. Unless you want to heat yours?’

‘Cold pizza doesn’t bother me, either. And anyway, I ate while you were gone.’

Reacher took a bite. Sands smiled.

‘Cold pizza,’ she said. ‘Cheap motel. It’s like I’m back at the Bureau.’

‘Do you miss it?’

‘I don’t miss the backache from all the crappy mattresses I had to sleep on when I was on the road. That’s for sure. But hearing you talk about the agent you met. What she’s doing. Protecting our elections. Stopping the Russians’ sabotage. Things like that, they make you think.’

‘Did you work undercover much?’

‘No. A few sting ops when they needed someone who could talk the talk. Other than that I was too specialized. Spent most of my time getting loaned out to different field offices. Wherever they had a cyber crime problem. Same shit, different desk. Staring at a screen.’

‘Is that why you left?’

‘No. It wasn’t the work. I actually enjoyed that. But as the years rolled by I came to realize, as much as I liked it there, the FBI was never going to give me what I want in life.’

‘Which is what? Your own corporation?’

She shook her head. ‘No. That’s just a means to an end. A way to generate more cash. Which is why Cerberus is so important. If it pays off big enough, I’ll be one and done. See you. And goodbye.’

‘What do you need the cash for?’

‘I can’t tell you. You’ll laugh at me.’

‘Try me.’

Sands closed her eyes and took a deep breath. ‘I want to have enough in the bank that I can quit working. Sell my home. And most of my stuff. And buy a houseboat.’ She opened her eyes. ‘You think I’m crazy, right?’

‘That depends,’ Reacher said. ‘This houseboat. Would you keep it moored in one place?’

‘Of course not. That would defeat the whole purpose. I’d go where I want. When I want.’

‘I’m the last person in the world who would think the freedom to move around is crazy. I’d say it was essential.’

Reacher was about to add that he was less enthusiastic about the idea of swapping a home on dry land for one floating in the water. He had never been personally involved with a boat, but it struck him that owning one could be even more problematic than a regular house. Aside from being able to move, it would have all the same disadvantages. There would be repairs to make. Maintenance schedules to follow. All kinds of expenses to meet. And on top of those it might sink. It might get run into by a bigger boat. It might grow barnacles. Who knew what other pitfalls there could be. But before he could speak again the connecting door opened and Rutherford appeared.

‘All right,’ Rutherford said. ‘All done. Two copies, as requested.’

Rutherford had stacked the pair of cloned servers on the bed, next to his laptop. Reacher picked them up and carried them back to room eighteen. He put one in the closet. And took the other one outside. He held it flat against his chest with his right hand, kept his left arm slightly forward, and angled his body away from the courtyard. It wouldn’t have fooled anyone up close, but no one behind him or at a distance would have realized he was carrying anything. He had plenty of time before Wallwork was due to arrive but he wanted to be already set up in room fourteen when the agent got there. He wanted to give the impression he had driven to the motel