Page 45 of In Too Deep

Reacher glanced back. “Could be a great combination.”

Silence filled the room for a moment, then Reacher said, “So we agree? This is what Fletcher is planning to hit?”

Knight nodded. “It’s the newest file. The values are ridiculous. Worth sticking around for even if they think the FBI is getting close. And it looks like one of the assets isn’t here yet. The wine. Looks like it’s coming next week. Which shows the operation is still active. Nothing is ever guaranteed but I wouldn’t bet against it. Would you?”

“No. Is there anything to confirm what day they’re planning the hit? What time?”

“Nothing. You don’t trust what Vidic told you?”

“I’d like a way to validate it. That’s for sure. What about location? Can we narrow down the address?”

“We can do better than that. I hope.” Knight scrolled back to the first slide and hit a button on the keyboard. The image shrank and a bunch of words and icons appeared in a band across the top of the screen. Knight put the pointer over the picture of the house and did something with the track pad, but nothing happened. “Don’t worry. Just means this picture wasn’t taken with a phone.” She scrolled to the close-up of the gate and tried again. This time a panel appeared. It showed an address and some technical details about the photograph. Knight clicked on it and a map opened with a blue dot showing the location. She said, “Here it is. It’s less than a mile from here. I’ll send it to your FBI friend if you give me his number. Kane said 4:00a.m.tomorrow, right?”

“Right.”

“Strange time, but OK.”

Reacher paused. He had raided dozens of houses over the years at that kind of time. Nothing about it struck him as unusual. It was when you had the best chance of catching your targets in bed. In the deepest state of sleep. And at their groggiest when they woke up. When they would be least able to think clearly. Or resist effectively. He thought about the research he’d read from armies and secret police forces going all the way back to the Soviets and the Nazis. And how it matched his own experience. Then he said, “Messaging Wallwork can wait. Sanitize the computer. Shut it down. We need to leave.”

Knight checked her watch. “We have plenty of time to get back to the motel.”

“No,” Reacher said. “We don’t.”

Chapter21

The keypad was mounted atthe center of the gate so it appeared at the front of an approaching vehicle, rather than being mounted on a post or wall on the driver’s side, where it would be easy to reach. Fletcher pulled up just shy of the mouth of the driveway and glanced down at the note on his phone to check that he had remembered the code correctly. Then he climbed out, tapped in the digits, and waited. Nothing happened for a moment then the two halves of the gate started to swing open, slowly, without making a sound.

Fletcher got back in behind the wheel, drove through the gap, turned, and backed his Escalade until its tailgate was three feet from the door to the house. Vidic followed him in. He backed his Jeep, keeping Fletcher’s Escalade to his left and leaving room for another vehicle to park on his right. Kane came in last and took the final space in the line.

Fletcher waited for the others to join him then entered the code into the keypad on the door. There was a heavyclunkas the boltsretracted into the frame, then Fletcher leaned on the handle and pushed the door. It didn’t move. Then he remembered it opened outward and pulled it, instead. He held it open, turned to Vidic, and said, “Go ahead.”

Vidic said, “Me? Why?”

“Why do you think? If anyone’s getting trapped in this place, it’s not going to be me.”

Vidic swore under his breath then stepped inside. The door closed behind him. He crossed the hallway and stopped in front of a painting in a gold frame. It was a Turner seascape. Vidic reached for the frame, then corrected himself. He moved over to a painting on the wall to the right. A Van Gogh. He pulled the frame away from the wall. Revealed a keypad that was hidden behind it. Entered a code. And held his breath.

The keypad beeped. The wordsArming—Waitappeared on its LCD display. They were replaced by an asterisk. It flashed four times, then scrolled across the screen from left to right. It did the same thing again, a little faster. And again, faster still.

Vidic said, “What the…?”

He glanced toward the exit. The door was still closed. For a moment he wished he’d asked Fletcher or Kane to hold it open, then realized there would be no point. The door opened outward. The steel mesh was on the inside. It could crash down regardless of the position the door was in. He would get more fresh air. Maybe someone could pass him food and water through the bars so that he wouldn’t starve or die of thirst. But he would still be trapped. There was no way to tell how long for. He’d have no choice. He would have to wait for the Russians to show up. And then he’d no doubt wish he had died.

With the door closed there was no way for Fletcher and Kane to see what was happening. No chance of anyone helping him so Vidictook a gamble. He entered the code again. The asterisk froze, then disappeared. The pad beeped twice. Then the wordDisarmedpopped up in its place.

Vidic breathed out slowly then crossed back to the doorway. He opened it and said, “Guys, you should have seen what happened. The system wasn’t even active. I almost locked myself in here when I entered the code. The last delivery guys must have screwed up. Forgotten to do it when they left.”

Fletcher shrugged. He said, “Not our problem,” and moved into the hallway. Kane followed him. The door closed again behind them. Vidic jumped at the sound it made, then stepped across and joined them in a little huddle. Fletcher pulled three sheets of paper from his jacket pocket. A list of items was printed on each. Some of these were highlighted in yellow. Fletcher handed one page to Kane. One to Vidic. And kept the last one for himself.

Fletcher said, “You know what we’re looking for. Portable. Valuable. In demand. Check the list if you’re not sure. Find everything. Bring it here. Then we’ll load the vehicles together. Questions?”

Kane shook his head.

Vidic said, “Nothing from me.”

—

Fletcher and Vidicheaded up the stairs together. Fletcher took the branch to the left. Vidic went right. Fletcher moved along the corridor and opened the door to the first bedroom he reached. He went inside. There was no furniture in the room. The drapes were closed and only a little light was seeping in around the edges. Most of the floor space was taken up with wooden crates. None were very large and they varied in height and width and depth. A piece of paper was attached to the side of each one. Fletcher could see writing, but thelight was too dim for him to be able to read it or the entries on his sheet of paper. He turned to look for the light switch.

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