Get Back Jack Read Free Page A

too little. He had never been popular with his peers. As a military policeman, Reacher was in trouble often and he’d made enemies.
    But he’d been discharged fifteen long years ago and a lot of those enemies were dead or not interested in Reacher anymore. Unlikely Reacher would hide from anyone out to hurt him, anyway, based on the little Kim knew of the man. He was more of a confront-me-if-you-dare type.
    So why was he living so far off the grid not even a sniffing bloodhound could find him? There had to be a reason, and the one she’d reluctantly reached was as good a working hypothesis as any.
    Gaspar shrugged, wagged his head back and forth. “It bothers me that I’m starting to understand you. You’re actually thinking Reacher killed four members of his own unit? Oh, and maybe five while we’re at it, counting Jorge Sanchez, who hasn’t been found yet.” His tone conveyed precisely how preposterous he thought her suspicion was. “The Boss sure as hell didn’t tell me that. Can you prove it?”
    She said nothing.
    “That’s what I figured, Susie Wong.” He grinned. “And what about the remaining three? It’s inconvenient for your theory that psycho-killer Reacher didn’t off them, too, isn’t it?”
    She replied, “We haven’t actually laid eyes on them yet, have we?”
    Kim wasn’t joking. She’d believe they still walked the earth when she actually saw and spoke to them. All she could say for sure at this point was that she hadn’t located death certificates for them. Where Reacher was concerned, the absence of records proved nothing.
    Dave O’Donnell was first on today’s interview list because he was located right in Washington DC. The other two, Karla Dixon and Frances Neagley, resided in New York and Chicago, respectively. Kim and Gaspar would be visiting Dixon as soon as they finished with O’Donnell, then back here tonight and head to Chicago for Neagley in the morning.
    Gaspar turned from his window-gazing. “Don’t worry so much. Mucking around with 15-year-old contacts will probably be another waste of time. But I get it. Interrogating the last three unit members is the only plan we’ve got. Let’s just waste our time with O’Donnell and then we can move on wasting it with the last two. Have I mentioned lately how much I love this job?”
    Kim didn’t expect to get much help out of O’Donnell or the others in tracking Reacher down, either, but she didn’t have any other ideas. They’d finish the interviews in forty-eight hours or less. At that point, she’d demand that the Boss give her the resources they needed to accomplish the job or relieve her of the Reacher assignment. She had better things to do with her time and Gaspar was practically desperate to get back to Miami. This was bullshit.
    She glanced at her Seiko. 9:43 a.m. They’d booked a 3:30 flight out of National to New York City to interview Dixon. That gave them plenty of time to interview O’Donnell and get to the airport. She grabbed her overcoat and headed toward the door. “Come on, Cheech. Let’s get this show on the road.”
    “Yes, Ma’am, Boss Dragon Lady,” Gaspar said. His tone was light, but Kim noticed his limp was more pronounced this morning, which too often meant he hadn’t slept enough.
    She was worried, even if Gaspar wasn’t. She didn’t for a moment believe the Boss had called this morning to warn her about provoking Reacher because he was concerned for their safety. Whatever the Boss was up to, her experience proved she’d need to keep her wits about her to deal with it. And she’d need a full-bodied partner, too.
    She reached into her pocket for another antacid and held it in her mouth as the elevator dropped forty floors in twenty seconds.

 
    CHAPTER THREE
     
    Thursday, November 11
    10:30 a.m.
    Washington, DC
     
    A small, square sign on the wall to the left of the doorknob proclaimed, “David O’Donnell, Discreet Inquiries by appointment only.”
    Everything seemed quiet