opened his eyes. "Then the guy with the squawk box came back on and I agreed to the money. No hesitation. The guy said he would call back in an hour with instructions."
"And did he?"
Lane nodded. "At five o'clock. I was told to wait six hours and put the money in the trunk of the Mercedes you saw and have it driven down to the Village and parked in that spot at eleven-forty exactly. The driver was to lock it up and walk away and put the keys through a mail slot in the front door of a certain building on the southwest corner of Spring Street and West Broadway. Then he was to walk away and keep on walking away, south on West Broadway. Someone would move in behind him and enter the building and collect the keys. If my driver stopped or turned around or even looked back, Kate would die. Likewise if there was a tracking device on the car."
"That was it, word for word?"
Lane nodded.
"Nothing else?"
Lane shook his head.
"Who drove the car down?" Reacher asked.
"Gregory," Lane said.
"I followed the instructions," Gregory said. "To the letter. I couldn't risk anything else."
"How far of a walk was it?" Reacher asked him.
"Six blocks."
"What was the building with the mail slot?"
"Abandoned," Gregory said. "Or awaiting renovations. One or the other. It was empty, anyway. I went back there tonight, before I came to the cafe. No sign of habitation."
"How good was this guy Taylor? Did you know him in Britain?"
Gregory nodded. "SAS is a big family. And Taylor was very good indeed."
"OK," Reacher said.
"OK what?" Lane said.
"There are some obvious early conclusions," Reacher said.
CHAPTER 4
REACHER SAID, "The first conclusion is that Taylor is already dead. These guys clearly know you to some extent, and therefore we should assume they knew who and what Taylor was. Therefore they wouldn't keep him alive. No reason for it. Too dangerous."
Lane asked, "Why do you think they know me?"
"They asked for a specific car," Reacher said. "And they suspected you might have a million dollars in cash lying around. They asked for it after the banks were closed and told you to deliver it before the banks reopened. Not everyone could comply with those conditions. Usually even very rich people take a little time to get a million bucks in cash together. They get temporary loans, wire transfers, they use stock as collateral, stuff like that. But these guys seemed to know that you could just cough it up instantly."
"How do they know me?"
"You tell me."
Nobody spoke.
"And there are three of them," Reacher said. "One to guard Kate and Jade wherever they took them. One to watch Gregory's back while he walked south on West Broadway, on a cell phone to a third who was waiting to move in and pick up the keys as soon as it was safe."
Nobody spoke.
"And they're based a minimum two hundred miles upstate," Reacher said. "Let's assume the initial action went down before about eleven o'clock yesterday morning. But they didn't call for more than five hours. Because they were driving. Then they issued instructions at five o'clock for a ransom drop more than six hours later. Because they needed the six hours because two of them had to drive all the way back. Five, six hours, that's two hundred miles, maybe two fifty, maybe more."
"Why upstate?" Lane said. "They could be anywhere."
"Not south or west," Reacher said. "Or they would have asked for the ransom car south of Canal, so they could head straight for the Holland Tunnel. Not east on Long Island, or they would have wanted to be near the Midtown Tunnel. No, north on Sixth was what they wanted. That implies they were happy to head up toward the George Washington Bridge, or the Henry Hudson and the Saw Mill, or the Triboro and the Major Deegan. Eventually they hit the Thruway, probably. They could be in the Catskills or anywhere. A farm, probably. Certainly somewhere with a big garage block or a barn."
"Why?"
"They just inherited your Mercedes Benz. Right after hijacking whatever Taylor drove
"And did he?"
Lane nodded. "At five o'clock. I was told to wait six hours and put the money in the trunk of the Mercedes you saw and have it driven down to the Village and parked in that spot at eleven-forty exactly. The driver was to lock it up and walk away and put the keys through a mail slot in the front door of a certain building on the southwest corner of Spring Street and West Broadway. Then he was to walk away and keep on walking away, south on West Broadway. Someone would move in behind him and enter the building and collect the keys. If my driver stopped or turned around or even looked back, Kate would die. Likewise if there was a tracking device on the car."
"That was it, word for word?"
Lane nodded.
"Nothing else?"
Lane shook his head.
"Who drove the car down?" Reacher asked.
"Gregory," Lane said.
"I followed the instructions," Gregory said. "To the letter. I couldn't risk anything else."
"How far of a walk was it?" Reacher asked him.
"Six blocks."
"What was the building with the mail slot?"
"Abandoned," Gregory said. "Or awaiting renovations. One or the other. It was empty, anyway. I went back there tonight, before I came to the cafe. No sign of habitation."
"How good was this guy Taylor? Did you know him in Britain?"
Gregory nodded. "SAS is a big family. And Taylor was very good indeed."
"OK," Reacher said.
"OK what?" Lane said.
"There are some obvious early conclusions," Reacher said.
CHAPTER 4
REACHER SAID, "The first conclusion is that Taylor is already dead. These guys clearly know you to some extent, and therefore we should assume they knew who and what Taylor was. Therefore they wouldn't keep him alive. No reason for it. Too dangerous."
Lane asked, "Why do you think they know me?"
"They asked for a specific car," Reacher said. "And they suspected you might have a million dollars in cash lying around. They asked for it after the banks were closed and told you to deliver it before the banks reopened. Not everyone could comply with those conditions. Usually even very rich people take a little time to get a million bucks in cash together. They get temporary loans, wire transfers, they use stock as collateral, stuff like that. But these guys seemed to know that you could just cough it up instantly."
"How do they know me?"
"You tell me."
Nobody spoke.
"And there are three of them," Reacher said. "One to guard Kate and Jade wherever they took them. One to watch Gregory's back while he walked south on West Broadway, on a cell phone to a third who was waiting to move in and pick up the keys as soon as it was safe."
Nobody spoke.
"And they're based a minimum two hundred miles upstate," Reacher said. "Let's assume the initial action went down before about eleven o'clock yesterday morning. But they didn't call for more than five hours. Because they were driving. Then they issued instructions at five o'clock for a ransom drop more than six hours later. Because they needed the six hours because two of them had to drive all the way back. Five, six hours, that's two hundred miles, maybe two fifty, maybe more."
"Why upstate?" Lane said. "They could be anywhere."
"Not south or west," Reacher said. "Or they would have asked for the ransom car south of Canal, so they could head straight for the Holland Tunnel. Not east on Long Island, or they would have wanted to be near the Midtown Tunnel. No, north on Sixth was what they wanted. That implies they were happy to head up toward the George Washington Bridge, or the Henry Hudson and the Saw Mill, or the Triboro and the Major Deegan. Eventually they hit the Thruway, probably. They could be in the Catskills or anywhere. A farm, probably. Certainly somewhere with a big garage block or a barn."
"Why?"
"They just inherited your Mercedes Benz. Right after hijacking whatever Taylor drove
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