Page 22 of Bulletproof Jack: Hunting Lee Child's Jack Reacher

“Nothing yet. Both bullets came from the same gun. But we’ll need a weapon to compare them to. Find me one to test and I’ll put a rush on it,” Samuel shook his head, glancing at the clock. “I have a plane to catch. I’ll call you as soon as we know anything more.”

They followed him out of the mortuary, slid the PPE into a hamper near the exit door, and left Dr. Samuels alone in his office.

“How about I eat some eggs and you tell me what you know so far. Maybe I can help with whatever this is,” Russell said after he’d pushed the button to call the elevator car. “If you’re worried about Cooper, and you feel he’s tracking Finlay, we can avoid both of them for a couple of days. Although it’s easier to do this sort of thing when we have some resources.”

Kim hesitated. She liked Russell. He’d already proven he was capable and could be trusted.

But he was Finlay’s right-hand man. For now, her instincts were to keep both Finlay and Cooper out of the loop. Could she trust Russell to do that?

They walked out into the sunlight again. Russell stopped at the bottom of the stairs, hands at his side, waiting for her decision. “Eggs? Or not?”

“I hate eggs. But the coffee was damned good at that place last night.” Kim grinned and headed toward the diner. Russell fell into step beside her.

“Two things I haven’t told you,” Kim said as they walked.

He smiled. “Only two?”

Kim shrugged. “I found the key card that he used to enter my building in Mr. X’s pocket. It’s a generic gray plastic electronic card about the size of a credit card. It has no markings on it of any kind. I didn’t have a chance to test my theory, but the video surveillance suggests he used that card to bypass the exterior door locks.”

“Finlay could probably find out where it came from and who cloned it,” Russell said as he held open the door to the diner.

Kim flashed him a warning look on her way to the table they’d occupied a few hours ago. They were the only two customers in the diner, which suited her just fine.

The same cook who had served them before brought coffee and quizzed them for their orders. Russell asked for eggs, bacon, and pancakes. Kim ordered wheat toast and more coffee.

When the cook went back to the griddle, Russell said, “What was the second thing you haven’t told me?”

“I found this in his pocket, too.” Kim pulled out the special encrypted burner phone that had only been used to communicate with one number. She placed it on the table between them.

Russell did the same quick checks Kim had completed last night. He picked up the phone and ran through the call log. He checked the voicemail and the texts screen, which were both empty. Then he handed the phone back to her and she returned it to her pocket.

“You know Carlos Gaspar, right?” Kim asked.

“Your former partner. Now working with Michael Flint and Scarlett Investigations out of Houston. Solid team. Well trained. Reliable. Committed,” Russell replied, sipping the coffee.

Kim nodded, draining her coffee and refilling the plastic mug from the plastic thermal carafe. “I asked Gaspar to run down the guy’s phone and the number he’s been communicating with.”

“What did he find out?”

Just as Russell asked the question, the cook brought the food. After the usual plate shuffling and refill questions, he retreated to the griddle again where the loud exhaust fans would make it impossible for him to hear their conversation.

“Gaspar’s only been working on it for a few hours. No results yet,” Kim replied, munching her toast. “I wanted to know more about whoever Mr. X was calling before I went any further. But now that we are where we are with the card and the phone and the body…”

She allowed her voice to trail off and waited to see whether Russell might have a better idea.

He shoveled the eggs and bacon into his mouth like a stevedore. The pancakes disappeared with the flourish of a magic act.

Kim smiled. Gaspar ate like that. As if he were starving and every meal would be his last and he only had thirty seconds to finish it.

Russell swallowed hard and gulped coffee. “So why don’t we just call the number and see what we get?”

“That’s what I thought, too. Gaspar can trace my call. See where it goes, possibly,” she said. “So even if the guy doesn’t pick up, we might be able to locate him.”

“And go from there,” Russell nodded. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

“Okay. But not here,” Kim said. “The Harrison Hotel is a safe zone, isn’t it? Operatives can use it securely, without the usual concerns.”

“Can’t get anything past you.” Russell smirked.

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