on the sidewalk. Raised her hand and spoke into her wrist
microphone. After a long moment a Metro cruiser came round
the corner and pulled up behind the Suburban. Armstrong
stood up straight and watched the two agents with the guns put the guy in the back of the cop car. The cop car drove away
and Froelich went back to her Suburban and Armstrong regrouped
with his escort and walked on towards the Department
of Labor. The helicopter drifted above them. As they finally
crossed Louisiana Avenue one way Reacher crossed it the other
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and jogged down to Froelich in her car. She was sitting in the
driver’s seat with her head turned to watch Armstrong walk
away. Reacher tapped on the window and she whirled round in
surprise. Saw who it was and buzzed the glass down.
‘You OK?’ he asked her.
She turned back again to watch Armstrong. ‘I must be nuts.’
‘Who was the guy?’
‘Just some street person. We’ll follow it up, but I can tell you
right now it’s not connected. No way. If that guy had sent the
messages we’d still be smelling the bourbon on the paper.
Armstrong wanted to talk to him. Said he felt sorry for him. And
then he insisted on sticking with the walkabout. He’s nuts.
And I’m nuts for allowing it.’
‘Is he going to walk back?’
‘Probably. I need it to rain, Reacher. Why doesn’t it ever rain
when you want it to? A real downpour an hour from now would
help me out.’
He glanced up at the sky. It was grey and cold, but all the
cloud was high and unthreatening. It wasn’t going to rain.
‘You should tell him,’ he said.
She shook her head and turned to face front. ‘We just don’t
do that.’
‘Then you should get one of his staff to call him back in a
hurry. Like something’s real urgent. Then he’d have to ride.’
She shook her head again. ‘He’s running the transition. He
sets the pace. Nothing’s urgent unless he says it is.’
‘So tell him it’s another rehearsal. A new tactic or something.’
Froelich glanced across at him. ‘I guess I could do that. It’s
still the pre-game period. We’re entitled to rehearse with him.
Maybe.’
ff’ry it,’ he said. ‘The walk back is more dangerous than the
walk there. There’ll be a couple of hours for somebody to find
out he’s going to do it.’
‘Get in,’ she said. ‘Youlook cold.’
He walked round the Suburban’s hood and climbed in on the
passenger side. Unzipped his jacket and held it open to allow
the warm air from the heater to funnel up inside it. They sat and
watched until Armstrong and his minders disappeared inside
the Labor building. Froelich immediately called her office. Left
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instructions that she was to be informed before Armstrong
moved again. Then she put the car in gear and took off south
and west towards the East Wing of the National Gallery. She
made a left and drove past the Capitol Building’s reflecting pool.
Then a right onto Independence Avenue.
‘Where are we going?’ Reacher asked.
‘Nowhere in particular,’ she said. ‘I’m just killing time. And
trying to decide if I should resign today or keep on beating my
brains out.’
She drove past all the museums and made a left onto 14th
Street. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing rose up on their
right, between them and the Tidal Basin. It was a big grey
building. She pulled up at the kerb opposite its main entrance.
Kept the engine running and her foot on the brake. Gazed up at
one of the high office windows.
‘Joe spent time in there,’ she said. ‘Back when they were
designing the new hundred-dollar bill. He figured if he was
going to have to protect it, he should have some input on it. A
long time ago, now.’
Her head was tilted up. Reacher could see the curve of her
throat. He could see the way it met the opening of her shirt. He
said nothing.
‘I used to meet him here sometimes,’ she said. ‘Or on the
steps of the Jefferson Memorial. We’d walk around the Basin,