Page 74 of In Too Deep

“No. Just remember that I’m here for you twenty-four seven. I gave you my card…which won’t help much if you can’t call. Anyway, you’ll see me around. And if you need anything out of hours, I’m in room 4.”

Devine got up and made for the door, then turned back with one hand on the handle. She said, “There is one other thing, actually. Nothing official. Just investigator to investigator. What did you think of the report?”

“My days of report writing are long gone.”

“I’m talking about the Cone Dynamics thing.”

“I don’t know anything about that.”

“That’s not what you told Wallwork.”

“I just told him what I heard. That Paris and Vidic had stolen a report from Cone Dynamics—whatever that is—and that Bowery was trying to use it to trade for his life after a previous blackmail target—Nechells Property—hired some fixers to make an example out of the three of them. I’ve never seen the report, or read it, and I know nothing about its subject or its contents. I just told Wallwork because if Paris and her buddies are segueing into some kind ofcyber-crime organization, I figured the Bureau should know about it. And stop it.”

“Absolutely we should. I would have done the same thing, passing on the information. Do you know how Paris targeted Cone Dynamics? How she even heard of it?”

“She didn’t target them. It was random. She was just fishing.”

“It’s intriguing though, isn’t it? Cone Dynamics. That’s a weird name. Did Bowery or whoever say anything about what it does?”

“No.”

“Any theories?”

“Why would I care?”

“Once an investigator, always an investigator. And investigators are inquisitive. It’s in our natures. You hear about some obscure thing that’s supposed to be super valuable and it’s just been stolen, and that doesn’t pique your interest?”

“I was in an apartment one time where there was a plant that looked like a dead twig. The owner had paid fifty grand for it. So I’ve long since given up trying to understand why people think certain things are valuable.”

“That’s fair, I guess. Still, if you think of anything…”

“There is one thing. A detail that might help you track down Vidic. Although I did come by the information in an…unconventional way. I don’t want to push you into any suboptimal choices.”

“Don’t worry. Go ahead. Any records that need to be massaged, we can do that.”

“I looked in Vidic’s wallet yesterday. He had a bunch of spare IDs in there. Pro quality, I’d say. If he’s flying, or renting a car, or booking a hotel, he might be using one of them.”

“Can you remember the names? The states where they were issued?”

“Have you got paper and a pen?”

Chapter29

The “army” cot that Reacherfound in room 6 was not genuine. He was pretty sure of that. The standard issue item was designed to provide enhanced stability when assembled and optimum storage when folded down. This object pitched and rolled like a hammock when Reacher lay on it. But it didn’t collapse, so he figured it might be good for a night or two if Devine was slow coming through with a replacement.

Reacher had been lying down for fifteen minutes when there was a light tap on the door. It was Knight. He sat up and she came in.

Knight said, “You OK?”

“Fine. You?”

“I feel like I’m getting cabin fever already. Did they question you yet?”

“An agent pretended to. She was basically laying out a bogus justification for keeping me here. When that didn’t hold water she switched to emotional blackmail. Suggested that if I left they would hang Wallwork out to dry for keeping me in the loop.”

“That sucks. It was the same kind of story in my interview.”

“What carrot did they use? What stick?”

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