Page 19 of Bulletproof Jack: Hunting Lee Child's Jack Reacher

Fox was well aware that even Morin’s invisible fingerprints couldn’t be found on the methods, means, or results. The job was strictly hands off as far as the State Department or Brax were concerned.

That’s why Morin had hired Fox and agreed to his outrageous demands.

Niagara Falls was way too close to New York City for comfort, geographically, diplomatically, and several other ways, too.

Yet, Morin had no choice.

Fox needed support in Niagara.

Without it, the operation would fail.

Failure, Brax had made crystal clear before he left for Quan, was absolutely, positively not an option.

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Chapter 8

Friday, June 3

Cleveland, OH

After staring at the video footage for a while, Kim had nodded off. When she awakened, the laptop had slid off her lap and onto the bed. She closed the lid and stretched her aching muscles.

She’d left the drapes open, and the morning sun filtered weakly through the dirty windows. Diffused lighting didn’t make the decrepit space appear better or cleaner. There was no room service, but a one-cup coffee maker rested on the dresser.

She set the coffee to brew and headed to the shower, wishing she’d brought shower shoes and hoping she wouldn’t catch a fungus.

When she emerged from the shower, drying off with the threadbare towel, the weak and tasteless coffee was ready. One sip was all she could stand. She poured the rest down the bathroom sink.

Kim dressed, packed up, and was ready to head out when hard knuckles rapped twice on her door.

“Room service,” Russell said.

“You’re a lifesaver.” She opened the door and offered a grin, accepting the paper cup of hot coffee he offered with an appreciative whiff of its heavenly aroma.

Russell entered her single room and immediately it became too crowded. He left the door open and retreated to the threshold. “Samuel called. He’s finished the autopsy. Wants to brief us now because he’s headed out of town. Won’t be back for a few days, he said.”

“I can drink coffee and walk at the same time.” Kim nodded as she tossed her hotel room key card onto the dresser. Housekeeping would pick it up later.

He stepped aside as she pulled her travel bag through the door and into the hallway to prove the point.

“You’re grumpy when you don’t get your coffee,” Russell teased as he followed, closing the door behind them.

They walked to the end of the hallway in silence, took the elevator to the first floor.

“I paid the bill already,” Russell said, and they walked outside, retracing the route they’d walked last night.

This area of Cleveland seemed mostly abandoned. The sidewalks were not busy. Nor were the streets. Which was okay because it meant she could easily pull the travel bag along without dodging pedestrians, even in the crosswalks.

As they approached the diner, Russell kept walking. “No time for breakfast, I’m afraid.”

“I’m not much of a breakfast person,” she replied, anxious to reach the private mortuary. “Samuel give you any preview of his findings when he called?”

“He said he’d rather report only once. I didn’t get the feeling that he had a lot to say.” Russell paused briefly at the corner and then crossed the street.

“I reviewed the CCTV videos from my building yesterday.”

“Find anything?”

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