“Did he have a wife? Kids?”
“No kids. I don’t like his wife. And she’s sick, anyway. Cancer. Metastasized. If Dendoncker looked for her she’d be dead before he found out which hospice she’s in. So. I’ll give you a number for your sidekick to call me on. It’s a direct line. It bypasses 911, which will make things easier.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Now, Dendoncker won’t come until morning. That means you’ll have to sleep here. He may have people watching the place and it wouldn’t do for a dead man to be seen leaving and returning. I’ll come in early and get you ready for the meat locker. You’ll have a companion, I’m afraid, so I can’t raise the temperature. But I can give you a mild sedative so you won’t start shivering. I’ll tape your eyes, too. Just in case. How long can you hold your breath for?”
I’d once gone for a little over a minute without breathing. But that was underwater. Swimming hard. Fighting for my life. This would be different. No exertion. Just the effort of keeping completely still.
“Ninety seconds,” I said. “Two minutes, maximum.”
“All right. I’ll keep an eye on the time. I’ll distract Dendoncker if he drags things out for too long. He’s usually quick so I’m not too worried. Now, tell me. And you can be honest. After you stop him, what are you going to do with him?”
“Hand him over to the police.”
A flash of disappointment crossed Houllier’s face.
I said, “Does Dendoncker usually come alone? Or does he bring bodyguards?”
“Apes, I’d call them. Two. One comes in first to check the room. Then Dendoncker and the second guy follow.”
“Weapons?”
“None visible.”
“That’s good. But even with your brother out of the picture there’s still a risk. To you. You’d be much safer at home. Or out of town.”
Houllier shook his head. “No. Dendoncker’s had the upper hand for too long. I promised myself, if I ever could resist, I would. I only have myself to worry about, with Donald gone. It seems like now is the time.”
“Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate that. But if you change your mind…”
“I won’t.”
“OK. Until this evening, then.”
“One last thing, Mr. Reacher. I’m a doctor. I swore an oath to do no harm. You didn’t. Specifically, where Dendoncker is concerned. I hope you take my meaning.”
Chapter 15
I got into position under the streetlight at 11:00 p.m., as agreed.
The evening was chilly. I’d been in the compound for three hours to make sure I was alone. I wished I had a coat. I only had on a T-shirt. A yellow one. It was huge. It was baggy, even on me. But it needed to be. It needed room to conceal the bag of fake blood I had taped to my chest. I couldn’t risk a coat hanging wrong and ending up with no bullet hole where there should be one.
The car showed up at 11:02. Its lights were on bright so I couldn’t tell the make or model, but I could see enough to know it wasn’t a Jeep. Not what I was expecting Fenton to be driving. If Fenton was driving. I couldn’t see inside, either. A moment later the front doors opened. Both of them. Two men climbed out.
Not what we’d agreed.
Both the car’s back doors opened. Two more men climbed out.
Definitely not what we’d agreed.
* * *
—
I sized the guys up. They were all between maybe six-one and six-three. Each around two hundred pounds. I didn’t see anything to worry me. But I was mainly waiting to see if Fenton appeared from the backseat.
She didn’t.
Either she’d been benched because Dendoncker opted for more firepower after losing two guys the day before. Or she’d been taken out of the game for good, if Dendoncker had seen through our ploy. I doubted any of the guys in front of me would know. Paranoid bosses don’t generally share insights with their wet boys. So I decided on a different approach. Whittle down the numbers and persuade the last man standing it’s in his interests to escort me up the food chain.
The last man standing wasn’t going to be the driver. That was for damn sure. He stepped forward and immediately launched into a dumb routine designed to get me into the car. That wasn’t going to happen. Not then, anyway. The guy realized he couldn’t bluff me so he changed tack. He tried to use force. He pulled a gun. That’s always a mistake when you’re within arm’s length. Or near it. Maybe he mistook size for slow. Maybe he was just stupid. Or overconfident. Either way I closed in fast, grabbed his wrist, and neutralized his weapon. Then I neutralized him with a quick, easy punch.