Page 76 of Bulletproof Jack: Hunting Lee Child's Jack Reacher

But two days ago, Stuart didn’t show up at the meeting place Morin had arranged. He didn’t return the Stiletto 100 prototype, either. Stuart’s actions proved he was unreliable. For Brax, that was the last straw.

“Yes, as you guessed, things have changed in Quan. We have no time to fail.” Brax had inhaled deeply and made the final decision. “Eliminate Stuart. Put Fox on it. We’ll go with Krause.”

Vindication. Just that easy, Stuart gone. Krause reinstated.

Morin resisted the childish urge to grin and fist pump the air.

“Liam is no fool. He’ll guess our next move,” Morin said.

“No excuses,” Brax said. “Make it so.”

Morin disconnected the call and wiped sweaty palms on his pants. He pulled into the lot at Tim Horton’s and parked the Range Rover.

He rubbed his hand across the front of his neck, where an imaginary garotte seemed to extinguish his air supply. He’d withheld critical information. Which was never okay, even if he’d managed to get Brax on the right path again.

Morin had not told Brax that Liam Stuart broke his vows of loyalty and silence. Stuart was a traitor. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut and he couldn’t be trusted.

Liam Stuart had told both his brother and Krause about the Stiletto 100. He might also have told Lucas about the planned FQT.

Lucas had been dealt with already. Liam would be silenced soon.

Which left only Krause. Who knew how to keep his mouth shut.

Murder of a foreign national on US soil by an operative in the US government was not something Brax could publicly defend. If Lucas’s murder by Fox at Morin’s request became known, Brax would throw Morin under the bus in a hot New York second. Without remorse.

It had turned out that Lucas was almost as smart as his brother and twice as savvy about the ways of the world. He had realized the danger Liam had put them both in.

Then Lucas had tried to fix the danger by becoming a self-proclaimed whistleblower.

Which was when Lucas approached the journalist from theLA Timeswith the story.

“Sooner or later, they all make mistakes.” Morin shook his head.

He strolled into Tim Horton’s, visited the men’s room, and then approached the counter to place his order. Half a dozen donuts and two large, black coffees to wash them down.

A smiling young man punched spots on the touch screen and requested the total. Morin paid cash. He stepped to one side to wait.

After Liam told his brother about the Stiletto 100, the situation had rapidly spiraled out of control. There was no way to undo the damage.

Even before the journalist got involved.

Once Lucas came into the picture, keeping the Stiletto 100 out of the public eye at any cost became Morin’s primary objective.

The FQT had been planned weeks ago. Operatives were already in place. Nothing could be rescheduled.

They needed the Stiletto 100.

Krause’s Premium was not ready. Would never be ready if the Stiletto proved worthy.

The Stiletto 100 prototype must be found.

The test must be completed as planned.

Which was why Morin had argued the issue one last time tonight and finally persuaded Brax to agree. They had no choice but to go with the tried-and-true performer. The lesser of two evils. Ira Krause.

Another young man behind the Tim Horton’s counter called the number on Morin’s receipt. He stepped up to collect his order. As he reached the exit, thunder boomed overhead and the sky opened up.

He jogged to the Range Rover and climbed inside with the soggy paper bag. By the time he was settled into his seat, the storm was raging again.

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