The better place was tucked in close to the tracks out the back of Union Station. It was better in the sense it had an actual bar. It was worse in every other way. In particular it was in a lousy neighbourhood, full of ugly brick and ramshackle buildings, with dark streets and all kinds of alleyways and yards all over the place, with more wires overhead than trees. The bar itself felt like a waterfront establishment, mysteriously landlocked, low and wide and made a warren by subdivision into many different room-sized areas. Reacher sat with his back to a corner, where he could see both front and rear doors at once. Vaz sat next to him, not close, but not far away, either. She looked good. Better than she had a right to. Class A uniform, female officer, was generally no kind of a flattering outfit. It was essentially tubular. Maybe Vaz’s was tailored. It had to be. The jacket was waisted. It went in and out properly. The skirt was tight. And a little short. Just a fraction, but detectable by the human eye unaided.
Vaz said, ‘I hope not to be in this shop much longer.’
‘Where next?’
‘War Plans, I hope.’
‘Do they cash this shop’s cheques?’
‘You mean, can I take my credits with me? Absolutely. Politics and War Plans? They’re practically the same thing.’
‘So when?’
‘As soon as possible.’
‘But you’re worried this business with Colonel Richardson will slow things down. No one likes a fuss, right? And the shop is understaffed now. Maybe they can’t let you go.’
‘You’re pretty smart, for a sergeant.’
‘Rank has nothing to do with being smart, ma’am.’
‘Tell me about yourself.’
‘You first.’
‘Nothing to tell,’ Vaz said. ‘California girl, West Point cadet, first I wanted to see the world, and then I wanted to control it. You?’
‘Marine Corps boy, West Point cadet, first I wanted to see the world, and then I wanted to survive it.’
‘I don’t remember many West Point cadets who became sergeants afterwards.’
‘Some did. From time to time. In a way.’
‘I see.’
‘Do you?’
‘You’re an undercover operator,’ Vaz said. ‘I always knew the day would come.’
‘When what?’
‘When you finally figured it out. As in, your procurement office is riddled with corruption, and has been for years. As in, you don’t need a new sniper rifle. You know that. But those guys have already sold stock in the new model. Maybe the money is already spent. So they have to make it happen. Any way they can. I mean, did you hear some of the arguments they were making?’
‘Where is their office?’
‘Who? Procurement is a big department.’
‘The guy I saw today, for instance.’
‘His office is in the Capitol Building.’
‘With a fax machine?’
‘Of course.’
‘Did any of the others know this?’
‘In the political shop? We all did. Why do you think Walker made them go through the whole thing again today? Because she wanted to generate a third fax.’
‘Why?’
‘An extra piece of evidence for you. We knew you’d catch up with it eventually.’
‘Why didn’t one of you drop a dime before?’
‘Not our place.’
‘You mean the cost-benefit ratio wasn’t right. One of you would have to step up, and it’s conceivable she could lose. Because anything can happen in a military court. In which case she’s out of the running right from that moment. Because she was once on the losing side. You couldn’t risk that kind of mistake. Not having come so far.’
‘The running for what?’
‘For whatever it is you all plan to be.’
‘For a spell we thought the previous sniper could be the undercover guy. The one you replaced. Like entrapment. He was letting the officer push him to want more and more. But in the end we thought he was just a sniper. So we’d have nailed you for the real undercover guy in about a minute, except no one was really paying attention this afternoon.’
‘Because of Richardson? What did she think was happening?’
‘The same as we all did. Procurement is a swamp and you’d notice sooner or later.’
‘What is it you plan to be?’
‘Respected. Perhaps within a closed community, but by someone.’
‘Has your life lacked respect so far?’
‘You have no idea,’ Vaz said. She turneds toward him, moving on the bench, her knees coming close to his, dark nylon over dark skin. She said, ‘I’m proceeding on the assumption that I can trust my impression that you’re younger than me. And in a branch with much less generous and accelerated promotion. And that therefore I outrank you.’
‘I’m a captain,’ Reacher said. ‘Ma’am.’
‘Therefore if our chains of command were in any way related, it would be inappropriate for us to have a close relationship. Therefore the question is, are our chains of command in any way related?’
‘I think they’re about as far apart as chains of command can be.’
‘Wait there,’ she said. ‘I’ll be right back.’
And she got up and threaded her way through the cluttered space, heading for the restroom corridor in back. Five minutes, minimum, Reacher thought. He followed her as far as a pay phone on the wall. The phone was a scratched old item and the wall behind it was dark with smoke and grime.
He dialled, and said his name.
Cornelius Christopher said, ‘Yes?’
Reacher said, ‘I’m done.’
‘What does that mean? You’re quitting?’
‘No, it means the job is done.’
‘What do you know?’
‘Walker must be back at the Capitol by now. Any faxes yet?’
‘No.’
‘You were wrong. No one is leaking to a foreign firearms manufacturer. No one ever was. Why would anyone need to? Everyone knows what a good sniper rifle should be. It’s self-explanatory. It’s obvious. The basic principles have been understood for a century. No one needs to gather secret intelligence. Because they already know.’
‘So what’s the story?’
‘I’m waiting for the final proof. I should have it in five minutes or less.’
‘Proof of what?’
‘It’s Alice Vaz,’ Reacher said. ‘Think about the transcripts. Her big-picture questions. She asked a couple more this afternoon. She wanted it spelled out exactly where this new rifle will be used. She asked what new environments it might face.’
‘So?’
‘She was trying to get into War Plans through the back door. And the procurement guy fell for it. No details, but he gave plenty of weather clues. Anyone could reverse-engineer our entire slate of global intentions from what he said.’
‘Like what?’
‘He said high altitude plus freezing mist.’
‘Afghanistan,’ Christopher said. ‘We’re going to have to go there sooner or later.’
‘And extreme dry heat with sand infiltration.’