Page 9 of In Too Deep

“He offered you a ride.”

“Why would he do that?”

“To thank you, I guess.”

“Thank me? For what?”

“Two punks tried to steal his Lincoln. You stopped them. Laid one of them out. He was leaving the motel room. Saw what happened. He offered you some money. Looked like you turned it down and asked for a ride instead.”

“How do you know all that?”

“I was watching. From the diner. I was waiting to see him leave. You came in half an hour before. I heard you talking to the waitress.”

“What did I order?”

“A burger. A slice of pie. And black coffee. You had three refills.”

Reacher shrugged. He couldn’t remember doing that, but it sounded about right. He said, “So we drove off. What did you do?”

“Waited to see what Gibson’s handler did.”

“And?”

“She hung back in the room for a couple of minutes. Maybe she was giving him time to get clear so no one saw them together. Maybe she was sanitizing the room. Or sending in some kind of report. I don’t know for sure. Maybe all three things.”

“Then what?”

“She came out. Checked that the door was locked. Walked to her car. Drove away, too.”

“She didn’t check out? Return the room key?”

Vidic shook his head. “Just left.”

“What was she wearing?”

“She was dressed kind of casual. Jeans, white blouse, suit coat, flat shoes. Necklace, no earrings.”

“Hair?”

“Blond. Shoulder length. Tied back in a ponytail.”

“Age?”

Vidic shrugged. “Thirties?”

“Was she carrying anything?”

“A purse. Big enough to conceal a weapon. And a briefcase. Black leather. Slim.”

“What kind of car?”

“A Charger. It was flat blue. Poverty spec. Two extra antennas. Parked on the opposite side of the lot, well away from the room they were using.”

“What did you do after she left?”

“Got in my own car and headed to the house. Gibson’s a slow driver. I’m not. I put my foot down, hoping to get there before him, knowing what I knew. But I caught up with him at the worst possible place. A switchback. A bad one. I startled him, I guess, and he lost control. The accident was my fault, if I’m honest. I stopped. Tried to help. But it was no good. Gibson was dead. I was able to pull you out alive, at least. That’s something, right?”

Chapter6

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