“Right. I saw what happens to people he doesn’t like. In Colorado. So here’s what I’m going to do. I will go to Winson. I will cause some trouble for Mr. Brockman. Maybe a little more than he’s expecting. And when I’m done I’ll make sure he knows how much you helped me.”
“No. Please. Don’t do that. He’ll kill me.”
“Sorry. My mind’s made up. Unless…”
“Unless what? What do you want? Money? ’Cause that’s no problem. I can get you—”
“Not money. Information. There’s something weird going on with the accounting at Minerva. I want to know what.”
The guy’s eyes stretched wide. “Accounting? I don’t know anything about that. How would I?”
Reacher looked at the guy for a long moment. Over the years he had gotten pretty good at sensing when people were telling the truth. Normally he encouraged that kind of response. But on this occasion he was disappointed to be given an honest answer. It meant the guy was no more use to him. So he punched him in the face and watched him crumple and collapse onto the ground.
* * *
—
“Was that necessary?” Hannah was standing with her hands on her hips. “He was no threat. You’d already taken his gun.”
Reacher said, “What about the backup piece in his ankle holster? And the knife in his sock?”
“He has another gun? And a knife?”
“He might have. You wait to find out, you’ll be the one who winds up on the ground. And you won’t be getting up again. These guys are working with the people who killed Sam. Who killed Angela. And they didn’t bring us out here for coffee and cakes.”
Hannah was quiet for more than a minute then she moved closer to the first guy Reacher had knocked down. “Is this one dead?”
Reacher shrugged. “Could have broken his neck, I guess.”
“Don’t you care?”
“Would you care if you stepped on a cockroach?”
“He’s not a cockroach.”
“No. He’s worse. He’s human. He had a choice.”
“You know something? You’re right.” Hannah took another step then kicked the guy in the ribs. “He did choose this. He chose to help the people who murdered Sam. Not just killed him. Killed could be an accident. They took Sam’s life on purpose. For some sort of gain. They’re assholes. I hate them. I think we should get every last one of them.”
“You’ll get no argument from me.”
“Good. So what do we do next?”
Chapter 26
It was a question of balance.
The question arose because the spectators at the next day’s ceremony would be divided into two groups. Those who showed up in person. And those who would watch remotely. On TV. Or online. The problem was how to look good to both sets of people. If he remained too static he would appear stiff and wooden to the live crowd. But if he was too animated he would come across as a maniac on the screen. The cameras would have to jerk around to keep him in the frame. It would look like he was having a fit. No one told him to his face—everyone said his speech was a triumph—but that’s what Bruno Hix believed had happened the last time an innocent man was released. Because he had gotten carried away. He had been feeding off the energy from his audience. Lapping it up. He had overindulged. Like with any great feast, it felt good in the moment. But the aftermath was no fun at all. And thanks to the likes of YouTube, the aftermath would live forever online.
The solution lay in better preparation. Hix knew that. He had already memorized his words. He was going to knock the content right out of the park. He had no doubt about that. He just needed to work on the delivery. To make sure he hit both targets simultaneously. The real and the virtual. That would be no mean feat. So he had devised a new system. A combination of old technology and new. He had started by getting the prison’s maintenance crew to install giant mirrors on one wall of the conference room. He had them build a mock-up of the stage at the opposite end. Then he had two small video cameras delivered. They were designed for people who did active sports. Things like skiing and mountain biking and kayaking. Hix didn’t care about how shockproof they were. He wasn’t interested in their underwater performance. But there was one feature he figured would be essential. They were voice activated. So he set one on a regular tripod by his side and aimed it at the mirror to capture the kind of distant view the crowd would get. He set the other on a mini tripod sitting right on his lectern. It was pointing straight at his face. Cropped in tight, the way the news guys would do it. His plan was to give the command to record, which would set both cameras going simultaneously. Run through his speech, several times, with different expressions and gestures and degrees of movement. Then he would play the footage back, both feeds side by side on his computer screen, and settle on the best combination.