Lamarr and Blake and Poulton were waiting for them in the cafeteria. They were in three of five chairs crowded around a four-place table by the window. They were watching him carefully as he approached. There was a white coffee jug in the center of the table, surrounded by upside-down mugs. A basket of sugar packets and little pots of cream. A pile of spoons. Napkins. A basket of doughnuts. A pile of morning newspapers. Harper took a chair and he squeezed in next to her. Lamarr was watching him, something in her eyes. Poulton looked away. Blake looked amused, in a sardonic kind of a way.
“Ready to go to work?” he asked.
Readier nodded. “Sure, after I’ve had some coffee.”
Poulton turned the mugs over and Harper poured.
“We called Fort Dix last night,” Blake said. “Spoke with Colonel Trent. He said he’ll give you all day today.”
“That should do it.”
“He seems to like you.”
“No, he owes me, which is different.”
Lamarr nodded. “Good. You need to exploit that. You know what you’re looking for, right? Concentrate on the dates. Find somebody whose stand-down weeks match. My guess is he’s doing it late in the week. Maybe not exactly the last day, because he’s got to get back to base and calm down afterward.”
Reacher smiled. “Great deduction, Lamarr. You get paid for this?”
She just looked at him and smiled back, like she knew something he didn’t.
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“What?” he asked.
“Just keep a civil tongue in your head,” Blake said. “You got a problem with what she’s suggesting?”
Reacher shrugged. “We do it by dates alone, we’re going to come up with maybe a thousand names.”
“So narrow it down some. Get Trent to cross-reference against the women. Find somebody who served with one of them.”
“Or served with one of the men who got canned,” Poulton said.
Reacher smiled again. “Awesome brainpower around this table. It could make a guy feel real intimidated.”
“You got better ideas, smart guy?” Blake asked.
“I know what I’m going to do.”
“Well, just remember what’s riding on it, OK? Lots of women in danger, one of them yours.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“So get going.”
Harper took the cue and stood up. Reacher eased out of his seat and followed her. The three at the table watched him go, something in their eyes. Harper was waiting for him at the cafeteria door, looking back at him, watching him approach, smiling at him. He stopped next to her.
“Why’s everybody looking at me?” he asked.
“We checked the tape,” she said. “You know, the surveillance camera.”
“So?”
She wouldn’t answer. He reviewed his time in the room. He’d showered twice, walked around some, pulled the drapes, slept, opened the drapes, walked around some more. That was all.
“I didn’t do anything,” he said.
She smiled again, wider. “No, you didn’t.”
“So what’s the big deal?”
“Well, you know, you don’t seem to have brought any pajamas.”
I J motor pool guy brought a car to the doors and left it there with the motor running. Harper watched Reacher get in and then slid into the driver’s seat. They drove out through the rain, past the checkpoint, through the Marine perimeter, out to 1-95. She blasted north through the spray and a fast forty minutes later turned east across the southern edge of D.C. Cruised hard for ten
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more minutes and made an abrupt right into the north gate of Andrews Air Force Base.
“They assigned us the company plane,” she said.
Two security checks later they were at the foot of an unmarked Learjet’s cabin steps. They left the car on the tarmac and climbed inside. It was taxiing before they had their seat belts fastened.
“Should be a half hour to Dix,” Harper said.
“McGuire,” Reacher corrected. “Dix is a Marine Corps base. We’ll land at McGuire Air Force Base.”
Harper looked worried. “They told me we’re going straight there.”
“We are. It’s the same place. Different names, is all.”
She made a face. “Weird. I guess I don’t understand the military.”
“Well, don’t feel bad about it. We don’t understand you either.”