Reacher shook his head. "You can't. You do that, you'll be seeing shadows every day and he'll be in hiding for the next four years. Just stay calm and tough it out."
"Easy to say."
"Easy to do. Just take a deep breath."
Froelich was still and silent for a spell. Then she nodded.
"OK," she said. "I'll get you a driver. Be back here at nine in the morning. There'll be another strategy meeting. Exactly a week after the last one."
The morning was damp and very cold, like nature wanted to be done with fall and get started with winter. Exhaust fumes drifted down the streets in low white clouds and pedestrians hurried by on the sidewalks with their faces ducked deep into scarves. Neagley and Reacher met at eight-forty at the cab line outside the hotel and found a Secret Service Town Car waiting for them. It was double-parked with the engine running and the driver standing next to it. He was maybe thirty years old, dressed in a dark overcoat and gloves, and he was up on his toes, scanning the crowd anxiously. He was breathing hard and his breath was pluming in the air.
"He looks worried," Neagley said.
The inside of the car was hot. The driver didn't speak once during the journey. Didn't even say his name. Just bulled through the morning traffic and squealed into the underground garage. Led them at a fast walk into the interior lobby and into the elevator. Up three floors and across to the reception desk. It was manned by a different guy. He pointed down the corridor toward the conference room.
"Started without you," he said. "You better hurry."
The conference room was empty apart from Froelich and Stuyvesant sitting face-to-face across the width of the table. They were both still and silent. Both pale. On the polished wood between them lay two photographs. One was the official FBI crime scene eight-by-ten of the previous day's ten-word message: The day upon which Armstrong will die is fast approaching. The other was a hasty Polaroid of another sheet of paper. Reacher stepped close and bent to look.
"Shit," he said.
The Polaroid showed a single sheet of letter-sized paper, exactly like the first three in every detail. It followed the same format, a printed message neatly centered near the middle of the page. Nine words: A demonstration of your vulnerability will be staged today.
"When did it come?" he asked.
"This morning," Froelich said. "In the mail. Addressed to Armstrong at his office. But we're bringing all his mail through here now."
"Where is it from?"
"Orlando, Florida, postmarked Friday."
"Another popular tourist destination," Stuyvesant said.
Reacher nodded. "Forensics on yesterday's?"
"Just got a heads-up by phone," Froelich said. "Everything's identical, thumbprint and all. I'm sure this one will be the same. They're working on it now."
Reacher stared at the pictures. The thumbprints were completely invisible, but he felt he could just about see them there, like they were glowing in the dark.
"I had the cleaners arrested," Stuyvesant said.
Nobody spoke.
"Gut call?" Stuyvesant said. "Joke or real?"
"Real," Neagley said. "I think."
"Doesn't matter yet," Reacher said. "Because nothing's happened yet. But we act like it's for real until we know otherwise."
Stuyvesant nodded. "That was Froelich's recommendation. She quoted Karl Marx at me. The Communist Manifesto."
"Das Kapital, actually," Reacher said. He picked up the Polaroid and looked at it again. The focus was a little soft and the paper was very white from the strobe, but there was no mistaking what the message meant.
"Two questions," he said. "First, how secure are his movements today?"
"As good as it gets," Froelich said. "I've doubled his detail. He's scheduled to leave home at eleven. I'm using the armored stretch again instead of the Town Car. Full motorcade. We're using awnings across the sidewalks at both ends. He won't see open air at any point. We'll tell him it's another rehearsal procedure."
Stuyvesant nodded. "Exactly. Most of them are background noise. We wait until we're absolutely sure. And even then, we don't always make a big point out of it. They've got better things to do. It's our job to worry."
"OK, second question," Reacher said. "Where's his wife? And he has a grown-up kid, right? We have to assume that messing with his family would be a pretty good demonstration of his vulnerability."