Foreign and Domestic: A Get Reacher Novel (30 page)

He had called Haverly and told him he was already in town and needed to see him immediately. He went to his house, confided in him about his correspondence with Lane, and told him how he had always regretted that they’d turned their backs on a brother. Haverly was taken aback by this. But he let Graine stay the night.

Haverly was sleeping and never felt the needle go into his arm. Graine could’ve let him sleep, but he decided to wake him up and watch him die. He shook Haverly but said nothing. He just watched as Haverly’s eyes opened wide when he realized he couldn’t move. His organs were stopping one by one like a demented game of dominos. His lungs stopped working, but that’s not what killed him. His heart stopped, and in less than a minute, he was dead.

WHEN HIS PHONE RANG,
Graine prayed it was Lane calling to tell him that he no longer needed Claire Rowley and Graine could put a bullet in her head and be off. But he didn’t say that.

Lane said, “The girl has gotten away. We need to move to the backup plan.”

Graine said, “I see, sir. That’s an old case.” He looked at Mrs. Rowley and said, “I’ve got to take this. It’s Karter, my boss. He’s calling about a case I worked on like ten years ago. I’m sorry.”

Mrs. Rowley nodded and said nothing, staring off into space like she did every time Graine left her alone.

He stood up from the couch and walked out of earshot of Mrs. Rowley. He kept walking until he was well down the hallway, past the kitchen. He said, “Where the hell is she?”

Lane said, “We don’t know. Not far from the veterinary clinic. But it doesn’t matter.”

“And why is that?”

“Calm down. If she goes to the police, you can handle it.”

Graine said, “How am I supposed to do that? I’m not a magician!”

“Figure it out! It won’t matter soon anyway. Call Rowley. Tell him he has to do it as soon as they land. Nothing can interfere.”

Lane hung up the phone.

Chapter 43

GRAINE HADN’T BEEN IN THE SECRET SERVICE,
but he’d been around long enough to have some friends in the FBI and on various police forces throughout the country. He had made plenty of friends back when he was in the Army, and one guy came to mind.

He hadn’t talked to him in a couple of years, but Special Agent John Silverti was a longtime FBI agent and close to retirement, so close that he had a retirement party starting at the end of the workday. This was his last week.

Graine searched through the phone contacts on his regular cell phone, found the number, and dialed it. The phone rang, and a husky smoker’s voice answered.

“Doug?”

“John. How are you, old friend?”

“I’m okay. How’s it going? I didn’t expect to hear from you.”

Graine said, “I know. I’m sorry for not calling sooner. And I’m especially sorry for not calling you after Liz died.”

Silence on the other end.

Graine said, “I’m a terrible friend.”

Silverti said, “No, not at all. This is a nice surprise. What’s up?”

“Listen, John, this isn’t a social call. I need a favor. It’s a matter of national security in a way, but not in a tell your boss kind of way. It’s more of an embarrassment.”

“I’m listening.”

“You remember Gibson Rowley?”

“I never met him, but yeah, the director of the Secret Service isn’t a secret in my circles.”

“Well, it involves his daughter.”

Silverti said, “You probably need a different agent. I don’t handle national security. I don’t have the clearance for anything like that.”

Graine said, “Just listen. She ran away from home. She’s not in any danger. Just a rebellious teenager sort of thing. It’s a private matter, and Rowley prefers to keep it that way.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“The word from one of her little friends is that she ran off with this college kid. In a band. You know the type?”

Silverti said, “Sure. I got daughters. Hell, I got a granddaughter now.”

Graine pretended to care, saying, “Seriously, we’ll have to catch up soon. But let me tell you about this. It’s time sensitive.”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

“I need you to put the word out that she’s got some story made up about what really happened to her. But the truth is we already know she was with this guy and they got into a fight and she ran off. The Secret Service has already talked to him.”

“Whoa. The father—the Director of the Secret Service—hauled him in because he ran off with his daughter? That’s a scene I’d pay to see. Bet the kid was scared shitless.”

Graine said, “You’ve no idea. But listen. She’s still out there. We think she’ll go to the cops and tell some bullshit story to explain why she ran away to begin with.”

“What kinda story?”

“You know, teenager stuff.”

“What, like she was kidnapped or something?”

“Yeah, like that.”

“I get it. So you want the cops to act like it’s serious?”

Graine said, “Yeah. Exactly. Just have them bring her home. We’ll handle it here.”

Silverti said, “DC is a big place. I can’t control every cop in the district.”

“No problem. I know exactly what precinct she’ll be near.”

“Well, for an old friend, I can see what I can do.”

Graine smiled and gave him the information.

A minute later, he congratulated Agent Silverti on his retirement and texted Lane. Then he walked outside the house and pulled out his pack of cigarettes. He lit one and took a couple of drags from it. He held it between his lips, pulled his cell phone out, and dialed Rowley.

The phone rang, and Rowley picked up. The quality of the connection was far from good, but it was audible enough.

Rowley said, “You got word about Cameron? Did Lane take the deal?”

Graine said, “He took Cameron.”

Rowley interrupted and said, “That’s a brave kid! I feel bad that we even asked him to go along.”

Graine said, “Gib, I’ve got some bad news.”

Rowley swallowed hard and said, “Doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s not. I’m sorry.”

“What is it?”

“We never really talked about this out loud, but we all thought it. We asked ourselves what if this was an inside job?”

Rowley said, “What happened?”

“It’s Cord. He fooled us.”

“What? What did he do?”

“He’s the inside man. He’s been working with Lane and the other terrorists this whole time.”

Silence fell over the phone line. Rowley said nothing.

Graine said, “It was Cord who told us about Cameron. Remember? He was just trying to get a bonus for his pal. And it gets worse.”

Rowley remained silent.

Graine said, “Because we trusted him, we let him deliver this innocent kid to his death.”

Rowley made a noise on the other end, stunned.

“And Lucas is dead. Cord killed him at the meeting, and then he handed Cameron over like he was nothing.” Graine said. “I know. I was there. I saw the whole thing. I barely got away with my life.”

Rowley said, “
No! No!
It can’t be.”

“I’m sorry, Gib. I’m so very sorry, but if you don’t put a bullet in the president as soon as you land, they’ll kill Raggie.”

Rowley didn’t respond with words. He threw the phone against the wall of the cabin. The glass screen cracked and the plastic fragmented with the impact.

The president looked up along with everyone else.

Rowley got up and headed to the bathroom. He spoke to no one.

All Graine heard through the speaker of his phone was the repeated alert sound from the cell phone company saying that the connection had been lost, and then the line went dead. The screen on his phone said,
Call Dropped
.

He pocketed the phone and smiled.

Chapter 44

CAMERON HAD MADE IT BACK WITH CORD’S SUV.
He helped the agent into the passenger seat and buckled him in.

Cameron said, “They moved Lucas. I’m not sure where.”

“Bastards! We gotta get back at them!”

“First, let’s make sure that Raggie is home safe. Did you call Rowley?”

“I tried, but the line’s busy,” Cord said.

“Try again.”

“I will. Let’s get going.”

Cameron nodded and got in the driver seat. He put the SUV in drive and hit the gas. They sped off through the subdivision and out onto the main road. They drove through a small strip with stores, gas stations, and some light traffic. They found the interstate and pulled onto it.

Cord said, “I’ll call the house. We’ve got to warn Mrs. Rowley.”

Cameron said, “No! Graine is there. Call the cops. Ask for an APB. We better have them pick Raggie up first.”

Cord nodded and dialed.

He got the local cops. He gave them his Secret Service badge number and told them it was an emergency. Cops were trained to keep their mouths shut when they heard that. Secret Service calls were treated as national security orders.

The officer took a minute to check out Cord’s name and badge number. After that, he confirmed Cord’s identity and connected him to his watch commander, who took his instructions. Cord told him to put out the APB for Raggie. He told him she was important and should be brought straight to a police station. She was to wait and not leave with anyone until he got there.

When Cord got off of the phone, he said, “Okay, done. At least we don’t have to worry about her.”

Cameron said, “You forgot to give them this number.”

“Shit! I don’t know what it is anyway. We’ll call them back later and check. We know she’ll be safe and out of their hands. I’ve got to get through to Rowley now. The president is scheduled to land in twenty minutes.”

Cameron said, “Call him again.”

Cord dialed Rowley’s cell again and waited. No one answered. He put the phone down and stared out the windshield at the freeway. He said, “Hit that switch on the other side of the steering.” He pointed at a black switch.

Cameron hit it, and the SUV’s emergency lights flashed on. Bright blue rays flashed across the blacktop.

“Hit the gas. We need to get to the Rowley’s house!”

Cameron said, “Call someone else in the Secret Service. Tell them about Rowley.”

“He won’t hurt the president. Don’t worry.”

“Sean! Don’t be an idiot! He still thinks his daughter’s life is in danger! You’ve got to warn your guys! Tell them to take him into custody!”

Cord stayed quiet and stared ahead.

Cameron said, “Sean!”

“I can’t. What if he knows about her already? He won’t do it! He’d never do it!”

Cameron stayed quiet.

Cord looked torn and desperate. He looked as much like a man stuck between a rock and a hard place as any man Cameron had ever seen before in his life.

Cameron said, “I know he’s your friend, but you gotta do the right thing.”

“Even if I had someone to call, how do we know we can trust them?”

“There’s no one else.”

“How can you be sure?”

Cameron said, “You can’t have that many corrupt agents. That’s a damn impossibility. I bet that one hundred percent of your guys are on the straight and narrow. And zero percent are corrupt.”

Cord said, “How can you be sure?”

“Trust me. Graine isn’t an agent. He’s a lowly detective somewhere in the middle of Missouri—not a state known for its honest police departments. Police corruption is a part of life. And that’s a failure of the executive branch as much as it is for the local counties who hire these guys. But if I know anything about politicians, you can bet your ass they’ll take care of themselves first. And you don’t get better politicians than presidents.” He paused. “The Secret Service is clean. Besides, I know a little something about how hard it is to even pass the entrance exam.”

Cord nodded then said, “I can’t call anyone. There’s no one to call. Not on Air Force One. Only two people have working cell phones because of security—the Chief of Staff, and he isn’t on Air Force One, and the Director of the United States Secret Service.”

Cameron said, “What about the president? Surely, he has a cell phone?”

“I don’t have that number. I don’t rank high enough for that privilege.”

“What about the pilot? Have him turn the plane around. Rowley can’t shoot the president if they don’t land.”

Cord said, “The pilot? Do you know who the pilot of Air Force One is?”

Cameron shook his head and checked his side mirrors. He moved over into the left lane and around an ambulance that was driving slow in the right.

Cars turned their blinkers on and moved to the shoulder. Some faster than others. Some of them drove slowly, trying to give the appearance of driving safely. From his experience as a sheriff’s son, Cameron knew that about ninety percent of drivers did this when they saw a police vehicle flashing its lights behind them because they didn’t want to get in trouble. This was something that pissed off a lot of officers on duty. They were trying to get to a crime scene as fast as possible, and the rules of the road were eating away at their time.