Never Go Back

paperwork.’
    ‘But?’
    ‘He must have signed off on Zadran. That’s the way the protocol works. No way did a suspected grenade smuggler go home to the mountains without a say-so from Intelligence. So that question you asked before, about why didn’t they just shoot him anyway? Basically because Montague told them not to, that’s why. So Zadran owed Montague, big time.’
    ‘Or Zadran had something on Montague, big time.’
    ‘Whichever, we can trace the relationship back at least seven years.’
    Reacher said, ‘I should have asked you to look at Morgan seven years ago.’
    Edmonds said, ‘I was surprised you didn’t. So I used my own initiative. Morgan has been in and out of everywhere, basically. He’s the go-to guy for filling a gap. But we live in a random universe, and he’s been in more logistics battalions than randomness alone would predict. None of them supplying Iraq, and all of them supplying Afghanistan. Which is not entirely random either.’
    ‘Was it always Scully who moved him?’
    ‘Every single time.’
    ‘Thank you, captain.’
    ‘What side of history are we on right now?’
    But Reacher hung up without answering, because another phone was ringing. Not Turner’s, but Shrago’s. Like Rickard’s had, with the crazy birdsong. The same kind of phone. Shrago’s was on the hotel dresser, loud and piercing, grinding away like a mechanical toy. The window on the front said: Incoming Call . Which was superfluous information. But then directly below it said: Home .
    The phone rang eight times, and then it stopped.
    Reacher said nothing.
    Turner said, ‘That was anxiety. Simple as that. We haven’t spent any more money, so we haven’t generated any new leads. So they’ve got nothing to tell him.’
    ‘I wonder how long they’ll stay anxious. Before they get real.’
    ‘Denial is a wonderful thing.’ Turner walked over to the window, and peered out between the drapes. She said, ‘When I get back I’m going to have my office steam-cleaned. I don’t want any trace of Morgan left behind.’
    ‘Why did Montague let Zadran go home to the mountains?’
    ‘You would want to say either political reasons or legal reasons.’
    ‘Both of which are possible. But what if it was something else?’
    ‘I can’t see what else. The guy was in his middle thirties at the time, and the youngest of five, which was two strikes against in a very hierarchical culture, and he was a screw-up and a failure, which was strike three, so the guy had no status and no value, and clearly no real talent either. So he was nobody’s number-one draft pick. This was not about recruiting an asset, either for the day job or the personal enthusiasm.’
    Then Shrago’s phone rang again. Same birdsong, same grinding, same words on the screen. It rang eight times, and then it stopped.
    Juliet came back into the room, and sat down on a daybed. From a second daybed six feet away Romeo said, ‘Well?’
    Juliet said, ‘I tried twice.’
    ‘Gut feeling?’
    ‘He might have been busy. If he gets within a hundred feet of them he’s going to turn his phone off. I think that’s pretty obvious.’
    ‘How long would he remain in close proximity to them?’
    ‘Could be hours, theoretically.’
    ‘So we just wait for his call?’
    ‘I think we have to.’
    ‘Suppose it doesn’t come?’
    ‘Then we’re finished.’
    Romeo breathed out, long and slow. He said, ‘Win or lose, it’s been a good ride.’
    Turner’s phone rang a minute after Shrago’s stopped for the second time. She put it on speaker and Leach said, ‘It’s a prepaid burner probably bought at a Wal-Mart. If it was bought for cash it’s about as traceable as my sister’s ex-husband.’
    Turner said, ‘Any details at all?’
    ‘Plenty. The only thing we don’t know is who owns it. We can see everything else. That phone has called only two numbers in its life, and it’s been called by only two numbers in its life, both of which are the same two numbers.’
    ‘Equally divided?’
    ‘Very lopsided.’
    ‘In favour of?’
    Leach read out a number, and it wasn’t Shrago’s.
    ‘That’s got to be Romeo,’ Reacher said. ‘Sergeant, we need you to check that number next.’
    ‘I already took that liberty, major. It’s the same deal. A prepaid burner from Wal-Mart, but this one is even more lonely. The only number it ever called, and the only number that ever called it, is its mate. This is a very compartmentalized communications network.