Never Go Back (46 page)
She said, ‘Ride with me.’
The little red sports car had been down a few days, but it started fine, and it ran steady, if a little loud and throaty, but Reacher figured that might have been dialled in on purpose by the guy who designed the muffler. Turner put the heater dials in the red and unlatched the top, and dropped it down behind the seats.
‘Like a rock-and-roll song on the radio,’ she said.
She backed out of her slot, and she drove out through the gate, and she turned left, and she followed the bus route, past the motel and onward to the mall, where she pulled up in front of the big stucco place with the Greek style of menu.
‘Buy you dinner?’ she said.
There were all kinds of people in the restaurant. Couples, and families, and children. Some of the children were girls, and some of them might have been fourteen. Turner chose a booth at the front window, and they watched a bus go by, and Reacher said, ‘I’m a detective, and I know what you’re going to say.’
She said, ‘Do you?’
‘It was always fifty-fifty. Like flipping a coin.’
‘That easy?’
‘You have no obligation even to think about it. This was my thing, not yours. I came here. You didn’t come to South Dakota.’
‘That’s true. That’s how it started. I wasn’t sure. But it changed. For a time. Starting in that cell, in the Dyer guardhouse. You were taking Temple away, and you looked over your shoulder at me and told me to wait there. And I did.’
‘You had no choice. You were in the guardhouse.’
‘And now I’m not.’
‘I understand,’ Reacher said. ‘The 110th is better.’
‘And I got it back. I can’t just walk away.’
‘I understand,’ Reacher said again. ‘And I can’t stay. Not here. Not anywhere. So it’s not just you. We’re both saying no.’
‘The 110th was your creation. If that makes you feel better.’
‘I wanted to meet you,’ Reacher said. ‘That was all. And I did. Mission accomplished.’
They ate, and paid, and they emptied their pockets on the table. Turner took the wallets, and the credit cards, and Shrago’s phone, for processing, and Reacher took the cash money, for the upcoming weeks, less thirty dollars, which Turner promised to return to Sullivan. Then they walked out to the lot. The air was cold, and a little damp. The middle of the evening, in the middle of winter, in the northeastern corner of Virginia. The lazy Potomac was not far away. Beyond it in the east D.C.’s glow lit up the clouds. The nation’s capital, where all kinds of things were going on. They kissed for the last time, and hugged, and wished each other luck, and then Turner got in her little red car and drove away. Reacher watched her until she was lost to sight. Then he dropped his cell phone in the trash, and he crossed the street, and he walked until he found a bus bench. North, not south. Out, not in. Onward, and away. He sat down, alone.
About the Author
Lee Child
is one of the world’s leading thriller writers. His novels featuring his hero Jack Reacher consistently achieve the number-one slot in hardback and paperback on bestseller lists on both sides of the Atlantic, win prizes, and are translated into over forty languages. All have been optioned for major motion pictures, the first of which,
Jack Reacher
, was based on the novel
One Shot
.
Also by Lee Child
KILLING FLOOR
DIE TRYING
TRIPWIRE
THE VISITOR
ECHO BURNING
WITHOUT FAIL
PERSUADER
THE ENEMY
ONE SHOT
THE HARD WAY
BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE
NOTHING TO LOSE
GONE TOMORROW
61 HOURS
WORTH DYING FOR
THE AFFAIR
A WANTED MAN
For more information on Lee Child and his books, see his website at
www.leechild.com
TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS
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First published in Great Britain
in 2013 by Bantam Press
an imprint of Transworld Publishers
Copyright © Lee Child 2013
Lee Child has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781409030805
ISBNs 9780593065747 (cased)
9780593065754 (tpb)
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