Page 33 of In Too Deep

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Knight finessed apasskey from the guy who had replaced Mary behind the motel reception counter then set off toward the door to room 18.

Reacher caught up and easily kept pace beside her. He said, “These guys are Kane’s known associates, right? So you must have pulled their jackets.”

Knight nodded. “All four are ex-military. Infantry. Dishonorably discharged.”

“Together?”

“Two were. The other two, separately.”

“And they haven’t learned the error of their ways?”

“They have not. They’ve become what I callsecondary players.They don’t initiate anything. Their specialty is providing muscle or backup for anyone who needs it. And can pay for it. Typically they get involved in raids on high-value targets, kidnapping, extortion. Things like that.”

“Is Kane ex-military?”

“No. He crossed paths with one of the guys in jail. Kept in touch on the outside. Then the one introduced Kane to the others. They worked together a half-dozen times, we think, but nothing could ever be proved.”

They stopped talking when they were ten feet from the room. Reacher checked the parking lot and the surrounding area. No one was watching. No one was sitting in any of the nearby vehicles, so he stepped to the handle-side of the door. He took the Glock from his waistband and nodded to Knight. She held the key card to the lock, pressed down on the handle, pushed the door, and spun away to the opposite side. They waited. No shots were fired. No one emerged. No one shouted a challenge. Reacher stepped inside. The Glock was raised in his left hand. He checked that the room was unoccupied, then moved on to the bathroom.

A moment later Reacher called, “Clear.”

Knight joined him and took her time to look around. The décorwas just like Reacher’s room, but this one had a pair of queen beds in place of a king. She said, “There’s nothing left behind. Not even any trash. The place hardly looks used. The beds are even made.”

“Old habits,” Reacher said, then handed her a towel he had picked up in the bathroom. “In more ways than one.”

Knight saw it had a row of black stains across the center. She sniffed it and immediately her nose wrinkled. “Hoppe’s No. 9. They spent their evening cleaning their weapons, and now they’re backing Kane’s play. Great.”

“Want to stand down? Leave this to the Feds?”

“Hell no. We’ll just need to take extra care.”

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Their search ofroom 19 yielded no further information so Knight led the way to the parking lot. She stopped next to a silver sedan. A Toyota Avalon, several generations past current. It was in a space at the end of the front row. She had chosen a good location, Reacher thought. The spot gave her a good view of the motel as well as a clear shot for both of the exits to the highway. He was less sure about the vehicle. It looked ancient. There was a dent in pretty much every body panel. The wheels were all scuffed around the rims. Part of the lip beneath the radiator grille was hanging loose. And there was a foot-long gash in the back of the rear seat like a knife fight had recently broken out in there.

Knight caught the way Reacher was looking at her car. She said, “Meet Trevor. He might not be pretty, but he’ll run forever.”

Reacher said, “Looks like he already has.”

Knight unlocked the doors with her key because the remote wasn’t working, then opened the trunk. There were four plastic tubs inside, with lids. She moved one aside. It was labeledPlastic Cuffs.A metal lockbox was behind it, bolted to the frame of the car. She said, “Feelfree to use it.” Reacher handed her the Sig. She squared it away. He fished the bullets he’d taken from her in his room and handed them back. She dropped them into her purse, slammed the trunk lid, and moved around to the driver’s door. Reacher climbed in on the passenger’s side. He was pleasantly surprised by how much space he had. Knight fired up the engine then slotted her phone into a holder that was hooked onto an air vent. She fiddled with its screen for a moment and a map appeared with two dots superimposed on it. They were close together over a road and moving steadily toward the top of the screen.

“There they are.” Knight shifted into Drive and eased the car forward. “Let’s see where they go.”

Reacher settled back in his seat. He wondered what the odds of the car’s ancient radio being able to pick up a good blues channel were. Not great, he figured. Which was a shame. He could have used a little John Primer or Junior Wells right around then.

Chapter16

Knight was silent for thefirst half mile, then said, “There’s something I don’t understand. I get that you were in an accident. Gibson was driving. And he got killed. But how did you wind up in his car in the first place?”

Reacher said, “I can’t be sure. It’s one of the things I don’t remember. According to Vidic it came from some random encounter. He says he saw me help Gibson out of a bind with some assholes who were trying to steal his car. Apparently he gave me a ride as a thank-you.”

“OK. Back up. First, why did you accept a ride with the guy? Had your car broken down or something?”

“I don’t have a car.”

“You don’t? So how do you get around?”

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