Page 53 of In Too Deep

Paris was silent for a moment. Then she said, “Kane’s guys. They were watching the other houses. Two minutes away.”

“Kane’s guys? Then why did they leave Kane?”

“OK. Not Kane’s guys. Someone else.”

“Not possible. How would anyone else have known Vidic neededto be rescued? This plan only came together minutes before I showed up here.”

Paris went quiet again. Then she nodded her head, vigorously, like she’d come upon an absolute certainty. “I know. It was Bowery.”

“You said you didn’t know where Bowery was.”

“I didn’t. I still don’t. I just know he rescued Ivan. Who else could have gotten into this house? Bowery knew the code for the gate. For the door. And he knew about the cage that slams down.”

“How would he have known Vidic was here? He’d have had to be watching the house.”

“He was. I went to our place, yesterday, to collect something. But I didn’t go in. Because I could feel someone watching me. I didn’t know who, at the time. I thought it must be the FBI because that’s all anyone was talking about. But now it’s obvious. It was Bowery.”

“You could feel someone watching?”

“Get off my back. Ivan didn’t believe me, either. I bet he feels stupid now. And lucky.”

“You say you felt someone watching, I believe you. But why do you think it was Bowery?”

“There are things you don’t know about.”

“So tell me.”

“No.” Paris started toward the door again. “Why should I? You’re not an agent. You said so. And you’re not a cop. You can’t keep me here.”

“Can’t I?”

Paris reached for the handle. “Why would you? You said you wanted Fletcher and Kane. You have them. You’ve got no quarrel with me. I’ve done nothing to you.”

“If you’re wrong, then Vidic is in trouble. And not just him. A woman was here. She’s missing, too.”

“Why was another woman here? Who is she?”

“Her name is Knight. She’s working with me.”

“Working with you? So you didn’t tie her up?”

Reacher shook his head.

Paris said, “Then it’s obvious. She took Ivan.”

Reacher said, “No. She’s involved because Kane killed her father. If Kane was missing, I’d agree. But she has nothing against Vidic. And what you need to understand is that I like her. So I’m not playing games here. Tell me what you know.”

“Then you’ll let me go?”

“When you give me what I need.”

“Fine. It’s like this. It’s true, what I said. Ivan and I, and Bowery, were planning to split. Even before we found out about Gibson and Fletcher hit the panic button, we were going to start again, on our own, asshole free. But here’s what you have to understand. Businesses change. Things move on. Like Henry Ford said, what gets you to the top doesn’t keep you there. So we weren’t going to do the same thing over again. We evolved. Found a new model.”

“Hacking. Like you did here.”

“Not exactly. We’re taking it a stage further. Here, we only hacked the basic details. What was here. What it was worth. How it was secured. The same kind of information we used to buy from art dealers and insurance agents. Which meant we still had to do the physical stealing. The dangerous part. As you demonstrated. The new model is different. It’s better. I hack information that has value in itself. Then we sell it back to its original owner. It’s quicker. It’s lower risk. And it’s more efficient because you don’t need the manpower that’s involved in a heist.”

“Sounds like old-fashioned blackmail.”

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