There was the sound of a keyboard pattering.
“O.K.,” Rodriguez said. “What can you tell me?”
“I have a client here who says Eugene was abducted from his car and killed very near the scene.”
“What’s your client’s name, sir?”
“Can’t tell you that,” Reacher said. “Privileged information. And the fact is I’m not sure I even believe him. I need you to check his story from your end. If he’s making sense, then maybe I can persuade him to come forward.”
“What is he telling you?”
“He says Eugene was flagged down and put in another car. He was driven north to a concealed location on the lefthand side of the road, and then he was shot and his body was hidden.”
Alice had stopped her conversation and was staring sideways at him.
“So I want you to search the area,” Reacher said.
“We already searched the area.”
“What kind of a radius?”
“Immediate surroundings.”
“No, my guy says a mile or two north. You need to look under vegetation, in the cracks in the rock, pumping houses, anything there is. Some spot near where a vehicle could have pulled off the road.”
“A mile or two north of the abandoned car?”
“My guy says not less than one, not more than two.”
“On the left?”
“He’s pretty sure,” Reacher said.
“You got a phone number?”
“I’ll call you back,” Reacher said. “An hour from now.”
He hung up. The woman with the baby was gone. Alice was still staring at him.
“What?” she said.
“We should have focused on Eugene before.”
“Why?”
“Because what’s the one solid fact we’ve got here?”
“What?”
“Carmen didn’t shoot Sloop, that’s what.”
“That’s an opinion, not a fact.”
“No, it’s a fact, Alice. Believe me, I know these things.”
She shrugged. “O.K., so?”
“So somebody else shot him. Which raises the question, why? We know Eugene is missing, and we know Sloop is dead. They were connected, lawyer and client. So let’s assume Eugene is dead, too, not just missing. For the sake of argument. They were working together on a deal that sprung Sloop from jail. Some kind of a big deal, because that isn’t easy. They don’t hand out remissions like candy. So it must have involved some heavy-duty information. Something valuable. Big trouble for somebody. Suppose that somebody took them both out, for revenge, or to stop the flow of information?”
“Where did you get this idea?”
“From Carmen, actually,” he said. “She suggested that’s how I should do it. Off Sloop and make like stopping the deal was the pretext.”
“So Carmen took her own advice.”
“No, Carmen’s parallel,” Reacher said. “She hated him, she had a motive, she’s all kinds of a liar, but she didn’t kill him. Somebody else did.”
“Yes, for her.”
“No,” Reacher said. “It didn’t happen that way. She just got lucky. It was a parallel event. Like he was run over by a truck someplace else. Maybe she’s thrilled with the result, but she didn’t cause it.”
“How sure are you?”
“Very sure. Any other way is ridiculous. Think about it, Alice. Anybody who shoots that well is a professional. Professionals plan ahead, at least a few days. And if she had hired a professional a few days ahead, why would she trawl around Texas looking for guys like me hitching rides? And why would she allow Sloop to be killed in her own bedroom, where she would be the number-one suspect? With her own gun?”
“So what do you think happened?”
“I think some hit team took Eugene out on Friday and covered their ass by hiding the body so it won’t be found until the trail is completely cold. Then they took Sloop out on Sunday and covered their ass by making it look like Carmen did it. In her bedroom, with her own gun.”
“But she was with him. Wouldn’t she have noticed? Wouldn’t she have said?”
He paused. “Maybe she was with Ellie at the time. Maybe she walked back into the bedroom and found it done. Or maybe she was in the shower. Her hair was wet when they arrested her.”
“Then she’d have heard the shots.”
“Not with that shower. It’s like Niagara Falls. And a .22 pistol is quiet.”