Chapter 32

Reacher and Knight selected a picnic table that was well away from any other pedestrians. Reacher faced north. Knight faced south and they sat slightly offset so that they could make sure no one crept up on them and eavesdropped. Neither of them spoke for a moment, then Knight said, "So what was that all about? The cab from the airport and the walk in the park."

Reacher said, "I like to find patterns in things. Harmonies. If something is out of whack it rings alarm bells."

"What's out of whack about taking an Uber? Covering the last part on foot when there isn't a road for it to drive on?"

"Nothing. Not in itself. But take the broader view. Vidic drove the wrong way, then flew. He used an alias. Either that was an attempt to elude the FBI, or to get their attention. Either way it was a ruse. Then he picked up a tail in the airport. Let himself be followed to the pavilion. Performed some incredibly clumsy pseudo fieldcraft with the memory stick. Waited until it had been intercepted. Then disappeared into thin air. Look at this place. Losing a tail here would not be easy."

"So he's better at some things than others. That's not a crime. Especially if he's self-taught."

"I think he's good at all these things. And I think he's been very well trained."

"I don't follow."

"I think Vidic is an FBI agent."

"He can't be. The Bureau's not incompetent. They wouldn't have infiltrated two agents into the same team."

"I'm not saying they did."

—

Knight stood up and took a step away from the table. She said, "What the hell is wrong with me? I should have gone to Chicago to make sure the man who killed my father gets hauled away in handcuffs. Instead I stayed here with a crazy person. We know that Vidic isn't an agent."

Reacher said, "Do we?"

"We just agreed, there can't be two. We know Gibson was an agent. Therefore, Vidic isn't one."

"Are you sure about Gibson?"

"Your friend Wallwork confirmed it."

Reacher shook his head. "Wallwork confirmed there was an agent. Not who it was. And Devine told me the agent's cover name was omitted from the file. That's a breach of procedure, but too common to raise any eyebrows before it was too late."

"Who cares about the cover name? Gibson's prints proved it. They were pulled from the wreck of his car and matched with FBI personnel records. You can't fake that."

"Walk it back. Vidic pulled Gibson and me out of Gibson's Lincoln. Then he was alone with it before he pushed it through the guardrail. He could have wiped Gibson's prints and planted his own. Some DNA, too. A drop of blood, something like that. Easily accounted for by the accident. And he knew they'd be found. Devine told me that modern cars have a thing that shuts off the fuel supply in an accident to stop them from catching on fire or exploding. If Vidic is an agent, he'll know that, too. So it was a calculated risk, not a fluke."

Knight was silent for a moment, then she sat back down. "There's a way the pieces could fit, I guess."

"There is. Start at the motel. Who was there?"

"Gibson. Vidic. The agent's handler. And the hooker."

"Right. Vidic said he saw Gibson leaving a meeting with the handler in room 1. But that can't be true because Gibson was with the hooker in room 2."

"You think it was Vidic with the handler in room 1. And Gibson who saw him leave."

Reacher nodded. "They were both going to regular meetings at the motel. Both were flying under the radar, but for different reasons. The hooker always had the same room. The handler switched hers up. It was only a matter of time before they wound up next door to each other."

Knight said, "That's how Vidic was able to describe the handler so well."

"And her car. And why he lied about when he left the motel. He needed a plausible explanation for knowing those things so he claimed to have hung back and watched."

"So Vidic was scared that Gibson was onto him. He probably followed him to the parking lot. But he couldn't confront him because you were there, dealing with the wannabe car thieves and hitching a ride. Can you remember how Gibson seemed at that moment? Was he freaked out? Angry?"

Reacher paused. He closed his eyes, then nodded. "Yes. I can remember. He was pissed about the car thieves, but not scared or agitated or impatient."

"Doesn't sound like someone who just discovered a spy in his camp."

"And it explains why he gave me a ride. The idea of an agent doing that never sat right."

"Remember what you said about people projecting their own actions onto others? That goes for thoughts, too. And fears. Vidic would have assumed that Gibson would be suspicious when he saw him leaving a woman in a motel room. But Gibson would have thought Vidic was just there for some hanky-panky of his own. This whole thing could have been caused by a horrible misunderstanding."

"A lot of tragedies are. Gibson's behavior at the switchback fits that theory, too. He hit the gas when he saw Vidic closing in, sure. But in a regular macho, not-wanting-to-be-seen-as-a-slow-driver type way. Not in a serious attempt to run for his life."

"So the crash was an unfortunate accident?"

"Unfortunate for Gibson. A godsend for Vidic."

"How so? A civilian was dead."

"Vidic wanted to get away and start over with Paris. Ditching Fletcher and Kane was one thing. Killing them, even, so that they couldn't describe him to anyone if they ever got busted in the future. But the Bureau? If they knew he was MIA they'd never stop looking. He had to make them believe he was dead."

"Hence the fire. We assumed it was to make sure the body couldn't be identified as an agent's. But we had it backward. It was to make sure the body couldn't be identified as a civilian's. So the Bureau would have to go with the circumstantial evidence and order a new star for the Wall of Honor."

"It all fits."

"Not quite. There's one piece missing. The most important piece. This all depends on Vidic not only being an agent, but also deciding to turn his back on the Bureau. On the law. On what's right. That's a lot to accuse a person of when you don't have a shred of real evidence. We need to know more about his state of mind."

"I don't think we do. Here's the clincher. If Vidic isn't an agent, how did he know the code name Albatross ?"

Knight didn't reply.

Reacher said, "In a way revealing it was a smart play. He apparently watched me intervene when I saw some guys trying to steal a car so it was a decent bet that I'd drop a dime to let the Bureau know about a dead agent. Using the real code name made it more likely they'd take it seriously and follow up, which he wanted them to do, so that he'd be officially recorded as DOA. But how did he know the real name?"

Knight said, "He claimed he'd heard the handler say it to Gibson. But she couldn't have. Gibson wasn't with her. He was with the hooker in the next room."

"There's no other explanation. Vidic turned."

"I was wrong before," Knight said. "Vidic wasn't under too long. He was in too deep. He couldn't get back to the light. It's kind of tragic, honestly."

—

Knight handed her phone to Reacher and he dialed Devine's number. She picked up after five rings. She said, "Detective?"

"It's Reacher."

"Oh. What do you need?"

"After we spoke back in the Ozarks, Knight sent you the picture she'd taken of Gibson's face. I'm guessing you haven't passed that on to his handler yet?"

"I'm not…I'd need to check on that. Lots of plates spinning here, Reacher."

"You need to show it to her. Immediately."

"Why?"

"Show her. Then pull the CCTV from the Oklahoma City or St.Louis airport. Find some footage of Vidic. Show that to the handler as well."

"I don't see where you're going with this."

"You will."

"OK. Then I'll get right on it."

"Why don't I believe you?"

Devine didn't answer.

Reacher said, "I'm not going on record as having drawn any kind of conclusion here. Or as having any knowledge of this situation. But you asked for my advice in that meeting. And my advice is that every investigation needs a solid foundation. You need to be sure of the identities of your principals. You should look to that. Right now. You have the tools. Knight sent them to you. Use them. Don't waste any more time."

"OK. Well, thanks for your advice. Now, if there isn't anything—"

"There are four other things. First, the document you recovered in St. Louis isn't all of Vidic's material. He split the report, let you retrieve part of it to buy himself room to operate, and is going to sell the rest."

The line went silent for a moment, then Devine said, "That's a mighty big claim. Can you back it up?"

Reacher said, "Think about it. How hard was it to get wind of the sale? To track Vidic to St. Louis, and then the park? Why did he fly when he could have driven? How did he disappear so easily as soon as the memory stick was intercepted? And here's the key. The report was supposed to be worth a fortune. You know what's in it. I don't. So tell me, is two million a fair price?"

"He was short of time and—"

"The price was two million because that's all they could put their hands on. They stole it from the safe at the cave."

"How can you be sure?"

"If I'm wrong, so what? You throw more resources at catching Vidic, who needs to be caught, anyway. You save a little time. If I'm right, he's out there right now hawking the rest of that report. You can stop that from happening."

Devine didn't respond.

Reacher said, "Second, forget about the flight from Chicago to Alaska. Forget about those aliases I gave you for Vidic. They're junk. He wants you to think he'll be on that plane. He wants you on a wild-goose chase."

"What makes you—"

"Send Gibson's picture to Albatross's handler. Pull the airport CCTV. Then you'll understand."

"Damn it, Reacher, just tell me."

"You wouldn't believe me. You need to join the dots for yourself. Third, I think Vidic is using a different alias. John none Austin. You should check flights, car rentals, hotels. You know the drill."

"Where did—"

"Finally, someone has shipped a bunch of gold to an airplane hangar in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I'll send you the address. It's possible that another section of the Bureau is watching it. You should tell them to be on the lookout for Vidic. It's a long shot, but we know from past deals he has a preference for gold and is selling something very valuable."

"What other section?"

"Counterintelligence."

"I can't just butt into their investigation, out of the blue, and start making requests."

"Why not? What's more important? Retrieving the report or following protocol?"

"Fine. I'll think about it."

"Don't think. Do."

"Reacher, you've done the right thing bringing these issues to me. Don't think I'm not appreciative. It's just that there are a lot of moving parts here. I need to keep the machine working efficiently. Not stick a spanner in the works, even if it's with the best of intentions. Which brings me to a very important point. You need to let me run with it from here. I get that these kinds of things used to be in your wheelhouse. They're not anymore. Don't go meddling in areas that are beyond your sphere. Understood?"

Reacher said nothing. He hung up and dialed Wallwork's number. He wanted to check on flight records for John Austin but got dumped straight into voicemail.

—

Knight took her phone back and said, "What does your gut tell you? Is Devine going to act?"

Reacher shrugged. He said, "It's fifty/fifty. If she shows Gibson's picture to the handler, then the dominoes will fall pretty fast. If she soft pedals that, maybe nothing will happen."

"No luck with Vidic's plane tickets?"

"No. And we don't know if he's planning on flying, anyway. Hey, you had tags in Kane's guys' cars that you could track on your phone. Are they still in place?"

"You think those guys are still around? I bet Kane stood them down. He must be trying not to draw attention. The smaller the group, the better in this situation."

"I'm sure he stood them down. He sent them away in the van full of contraband from the cave. As a reward. As a cover. Who knows. But I think he kept their cars. Vidic needed to get to Oklahoma City so that he could fly here. Kane and Paris needed to drive here with the two million. I want to know where those cars are now."

"The guys could have found the tags by now and ditched them." Knight opened her phone then swiped and tapped the screen. "Vidic might be more observant. Wait. No. Here they are. Both of them. The first is at…the Oklahoma City airport. Just as you thought. And the second is…OK. Interesting. It's at the Indianapolis airport."

"Pass me your phone? We need Wallwork to factor Indy into his search as the point of origin."

Reacher got Wallwork's voicemail again. He left a message then turned back to Knight. He said, "So. Decision time. Stay here and wait for intel, or roll the dice and head to Florida?"

Knight shrugged. "This is a good location. Reasonably central. But I hate sitting still. What do you think?"

"An investigation needs momentum. We should go."