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Brill said, “Hennessy has some news.”
Hennessy turned away from the view and said, “My team found Bisley’s wife. She was out for a walk. Which presented a tactical difficulty.”
“How so?” Cameron asked.
“They couldn’t take care of her on the street. Not in Crystal City. Too many witnesses, too many cameras. They couldn’t force her back home. They wouldn’t have gotten past the doorman. There are woods and trails a few miles out, but it’s a beautiful summer’s day and they’ll all be crowded.”
“So where is she now?”
“In their car,” Hennessy said. “Securely in their custody. They’re waiting for my instructions.”
Cameron didn’t answer.
Brill said, “Tell him the extra thing.”
Hennessy said, “She has a baby with her.”
“Let them go,” Cameron said. “We don’t have time. We need everyone in Summertown, right this minute. Turner and Elwood just found our building. We have investors in tonight.”
“It would be foolish to let her go. I told you before, a loose end is a very bad thing to have, going forward.”
“But we’re not going forward,” Brill said. “Not if Turner and Elwood figure it out. We’re going to jail instead, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred billion dollars. We have one chance to beat this. We need everyone en route to Summertown right now. Immediately. That’s an order.”
“Is the big man with them?” Hennessy asked.
“They seem to be joined at the hip.”
“I don’t like that guy.”
“I don’t care who you like, bro. I need you in Summertown, doing your job.”
“OK, the Crystal City team will head directly there. I’ll leave with the other team from here. We’ll need a second jet.”
“No problem,” Cameron said.
“Plus local transportation in Colorado.”
“No problem,” Cameron said again.
“We’ll be in position before nightfall local time. We’ll get the job done.”
“You better,” Brill said.
Cameron said, “What about Mrs. Bisley and the baby?”
“I’ll figure something out,” Hennessy said. “Leave it with me.”
—
Reacher kicked at the gravel with the toe of his shoe. Under it was the high desert, tan colored, caked hard by the wind, baked by the sun, skinned over by the wash of occasional rain. Like cement. Turner and Elwood read their work phones. They said there was nothing urgent to report. No more dawn meetings scheduled. Their arrest team had arrived safely in the Middle East. They were standing by. Their CIA bedfellows were updating intelligence. The Chief of Staff had expressed satisfaction so far.
“Leave your phones switched on,” Reacher said. “I want them to see us transmitting continuously. I want their stress levels high.”
“How soon should we expect them?” Turner asked.
“Depends where they’re coming from. Minimum five hours if they’re getting pulled out of Crystal City, minimum three if they were still in Mountain View. Plenty of time either way. We should go get lunch.”
“You hungry?”
