Page 16 of In Too Deep

“Most definitely. So here’s the problem. If this group is the target of a sting, I’m happy to back off. I don’t want to blow a bunch of undercover work. Especially if it cost one of your guys his life. But if the Bureau’s not involved—”

“Stop right there. I know how you operate. Any plans, keep them to yourself. I don’t want to hear them.”

“Fine. But there’s another problem. Say my guy’s telling the truth. An agent had infiltrated this group, and now he’s dead. What happens next? Some kind of lost contact procedure, presumably. Which would take a set amount of time. Then a rescue team would have to be mobilized. When the net finally closes at least one of the assholes would be in the wind. Maybe all of them would be.”

“Which we don’t want. I’ll start digging. What’s your guy’s name?”

“Ivan Vidic. Could be an alias. I don’t know.”

“Any tattoos? Distinguishing features?”

“He has a weird, square head, but no tattoos. Nothing else that stands out.”

“OK. I’ll run his background, too.”

“Good. But there’s one more thing. Vidic said he heard the handler use the agent’s code name.”

“Really? Why would she do that? Doesn’t make sense.”

“I know. But if it somehow is legit…”

“It could speed up the verification process. What name did she use?”

“Albatross.”

“Got that. OK. Got to go. Where can I catch you if I need you? Have you got a cellphone yet?”

“No cell. You can call this number. Leave a message if I’m not here.”

Chapter9

Vidic sat behind the wheelof his Jeep with one eye on the door to Reacher’s motel room and the other on his phone. He dialed Fletcher’s number but before he hit Call his phone began to ring. It was Fletcher calling him. Vidic smiled. He loved coincidences like that. He took them to be signs that the universe was winking at him. Letting him know he was on the right track. He hit the answer button.

Fletcher said, “Where are you?”

Vidic said, “At the diner by the highway.”

“What are you doing there?”

“Getting something to eat. I missed dinner.”

“Seriously? Gibson’s dead and all you can think about is your stomach?”

“If I starve myself, will that bring Gibson back to life?”

Fletcher didn’t reply.

Vidic said, “I’m sorry. Scratch that. I know you guys were close. But listen, I was about to call you. Losing Gibson, the strangershowing up the way he did, I’ve been doing some thinking. We need to talk. About what we do next. And when. We have some decisions to make. Urgent decisions.”

“Damn right we do. Meet me at the cave in an hour. We’ll figure everything out then.”

“The cave? Why there?”

“You’ll see.”

“OK. I guess.”

“One other thing. The stranger. Something weird happened. He got away.”

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