Page 88 of In Too Deep

While the driver talked, Knight switched apps and bought plane tickets to Fort Lauderdale. Reacher paid her back in cash. A lot of cash. First class, one way, last minute. They were every airline’s dream customers that day.

At the airport Knight led the way to the airline’s check-in desk and had the agent print paper boarding passes for them both. She didn’t need one but Reacher had no phone and she didn’t want to draw attention to the fact. He had enough strikes against him when it came to security screening.

Knight breezed through pre-check security and went in search of coffee. Reacher dragged through the regular line. When the TSA guy saw Reacher’s expired passport he raised an eyebrow but he knew the rule and waved him through. Reacher caught up with Knight and grabbed a large cup of coffee for himself. Then they made their way to the gate and waited for boarding to begin. Reacher had forgotten how much he disliked airports. There were people everywhere, milling around, stopping for no reason, dawdling aimlessly, dragging unwieldy suitcases. He suspected that if hell exists, it resembles an eternal trek through a departure hall.

Reacher’s pass said he was in boarding group one but four other categories of customers were called before him, which offended his sense of order. Things looked up once he was on board. He had a window seat with sufficient legroom, and once they were airborne the flight attendant brought him regular refills of coffee without needing to be asked.

Knight fell asleep but Reacher used the two and a half hours they were in the air to think. He was basing a lot on one slip from Devine. Her mention of the Department of Energy. He ran back over his conclusion that the Cone Dynamics report was connected to nuclear weapons. He had no reason to believe he was wrong. But no evidence that he was right. That seemed appropriate, in a way. Nuclear weapons always seem to conjure fear and paranoia in people. The rational part of Reacher’s brain found that hard to understand. Only two had ever been used in anger. Fewer people had been killed by both of them combined than had died in many fire bombings during World War II. Or had starved and frozen in Leningrad. Or had been murdered after the siege of Nanjing. Or starved in Stalin’s famines. He figured the reaction came from the unknown. The danger of dying, years later, of some hideous disease you had no idea you were incubating.

Reacher didn’t share that fear, but he did feel some unease. For him it came down to the risk of human error. And the consequences. There weren’t just two bombs now. There were vast arsenals, capable of destroying the world many times over. And they were only a hiccup in an early warning system away from doing just that. Or a tired eye mistaking a blip on a screen somewhere. He thought about all the near misses he’d read about. A Soviet guy named Petrov who had suppressed an early warning report because his gut told him it was false. A miscalibrated upgrade to a radar system that made flocks of birds look like missiles in flight. And error wasn’t the only danger. There was foul play. The Rosenbergs. And after them, the guy who stole the design for a centrifuge that could refine uranium, which doubled the number of nations with nuclear capability. He thought about Vidic, the rogue agent with secrets to sell, and wondered if he’d be remembered in the same way.

—

Knight woke upas the plane started its descent. She switched her phone off airplane mode the moment the wheels touched the ground and checked for texts or voicemails. There was nothing.

Reacher spotted a cluster of empty seats near a gate that was out of service. He steered Knight toward it, borrowed her phone, and tried Wallwork. Again he got no reply.

Knight said, “I hate this not knowing. Should we get a hotel? Or go straight to the hangar?”

Reacher said, “Hangar.”

Knight led the way along another long corridor. They slalomed around the slower-moving travelers and dodged the knots of people spilling out of the little stores and cafés and bars that lined the route. They passed a sign warning them that they were leaving the secure zone, then started down an escalator. It was a long one and it movedslowly. Reacher could see a series of baggage carousels stretching out along the hall at its base and a wall of glass to its right with doors every few yards that led out to an access road.

Reacher had to push his way through a gaggle of people at the bottom of the escalator. They were hanging around a stationary carousel. A monitor suspended above it flashed a message warning passengers to check luggage carefully before removing it in case they were taking someone else’s.

Reacher said, “Does that really happen? Surely people know what their luggage looks like.”

Knight said, “It happens all the time. A lot of bags look similar. Some are identical. That’s why some people attach colored straps, or bright ribbons. To make their things easier to identify. Plus people could be tired after a long flight. Or stupid. Or careless.”

Reacher shrugged. It seemed to him like another reason to avoid getting bogged down by possessions.

—

They continued pastthe last carousel, looking for signs for the taxi area, and Knight’s phone rang. It was Wallwork. Reacher answered.

Wallwork said, “Got a hit.John Austinis due into Fort Lauderdale from Indianapolis in thirty-five minutes.” He paused, then read out a flight number.

Reacher thanked him, then took Knight’s arm to stop her. They moved to the side and Reacher dialed Devine’s number. This time she answered with a curt “Yes?”

Reacher said, “Did you show Gibson’s picture to Albatross’s handler?”

Devine took a moment, then said, “I did.”

“So you know.”

“I know. And I’m not happy.”

“I didn’t think you would be. Did you deploy to Fort Lauderdale?”

“I’m not at liberty to—”

“So, no. Why not?”

“The justification was too thin. And thanks to you I’m standing in the path of a category 5 shitstorm.”

“I’m not to blame. You should be thanking me for finding out before things got any worse. And as for justification, Vidic will be landing in Fort Lauderdale in half an hour. Send the police, at least. Notify TSA. Airport security. Someone.”

“I’ll do what I can. And, Reacher? Stay clear of this. Leave now.”

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