Page 79 of Bulletproof Jack: Hunting Lee Child's Jack Reacher

To get the conversation moving again, Kim said, “Lucas wanted Westwood to find his brother?”

Chang nodded. “Before the brother did something stupid. Or someone less…friendly…found him and took the weapon from him by force.”

“I see,” Kim said, nodding, drawing her along like leading a stubborn donkey.

“Westwood ignored Lucas’s calls. He always did a thorough background check before he agreed to meet with a potential whistleblower,” Chang said.

Kim nodded again.

“As I said, most of them were cranks and kooks. Meaning they were often unstable and unpredictable. Something about Lucas raised Westwood’s threat meter into the red zone,” Chang stopped to draw a long breath. “Westwood was super wary. Careful.”

“And then?” Russell prompted.

“What do you mean?”

“Clearly something changed and Westwood decided to get involved. What was it?”

“I told you.” Chang shot another glare toward him. “Reacher called Westwood. Out of the blue. After five years of no contact.”

“Why?” Russell asked, brow furrowed, bewildered.

Chang shook her head. She did the thing with her hair again, drawing it back from her face with both hands and letting it fall across her shoulders like a black curtain.

“Reacher had heard rumblings about this new weapon. Said the weapon was being discussed in the wrong circles. Mentioned on the dark web by the wrong people,” Chang said. “Reacher asked Westwood to check it out.”

Kim cocked her head. Until this moment she’d have bet money that Reacher had never heard of the dark web and had no clue what it was.

He was tech-adverse. Guy didn’t even own a cell phone, let alone a laptop.

Reacher wasn’t into porn or fetishes or drugs or any of that. Why would he care about the dark web?

“What kind ofwrong circles?” Kim asked.

“He didn’t say.”

“What’s Reacher’s interest in all this?” Russell asked.

“Don’t know.” Chang shook her head.

“Westwood didn’t tell you?” Kim asked.

“He said Reacher didn’t give him much intel, either. Just said the new weapon could be a big problem,” Chang replied. “Reacher didn’t like it.”

“Didn’t like what?” Russell asked.

“The weapon? The missing scientist? The dark web rumors?” Chang shrugged and did the thing with her hair again. Some sort of nervous habit, for sure. “I don’t know. Could be all of the above.”

“We’ll come back to that,” Kim said, head cocked, eyes narrowed, thinking things through.

She was sure Chang and Reacher had been lovers at some point.

Reacher liked strong, independent women who worked in law enforcement. It was a thing for him.

Chang was exactly Reacher’s type, although she was more substantial physically than some of his exes Kim had met.

His prior relationship with Chang probably informed his decision to get her involved this time. Like she said, he knew her from before. He trusted her.

But history was not the present. Kim wanted the discussion to stay on track. “What did Westwood want you to do?”

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