Lee Child - Deep Down

A Jack Reacher short story, 2012

REACHERS DESIGNATED HANDLER told him it wasnt going to be easy. There were going to be difficulties. Numerous and various. A real challenge. The guy had no kind of a bedside manner. Normally handlers started with the good news.

Maybe there isnt any, Reacher thought.

The handler was an Intelligence colonel named Cornelius Christopher, but that was the only thing wrong with him. He looked like a decent guy. Despite the fancy name he seemed to have turned out fairly plain and pragmatic. Reacher would have liked him, except he had never met him before. Going undercover with a handler you never met before led to inefficiency. Or worse.

Christopher asked, How much did they tell you yesterday?

Reacher said, I was in Frankfurt yesterday. Which is in Germany. No one told me anything. Except to get on a plane to Dulles, and then report to this office.

I see, Christopher said.

What should they have told me?

You really know nothing about this?

Some local trouble with staff officers.

So they did tell you something.

No one told me anything. But Im an investigator. I do this stuff for a living. And some things are fairly obvious. Im a relatively new guy who has so far been posted almost exclusively overseas. Therefore Im almost certainly unknown to the kind of staff officer who doesnt get out much.

Out of where?

The Beltway, for instance. Call it a two-mile radius from this very office. Maybe they also have a fishing cottage on a lake somewhere. But thats not the kind of place Im likely to have been.

Youre not very happy, are you?

Ive had more promising days.

Whats your problem?

When does this thing start?

This afternoon.

Well, thats my problem, right there. Ive got a handler I never met before and a situation I know nothing about.

Scared?

Its bad workmanship. Its shoddy and confused. It shows no pride. Because you guys are always the same. Theres a clue in the title, remember?

What title?

Your title. Military Intelligence. Ideally both of those words should mean something to you. But surely at least one of them does. One at a time, if you wish. On alternate days, if you prefer.

Feel free to give me your honest opinion.

Reacher said, So what do I need to know?

And at that same minute a car backed out of a driveway, in a distant location, slowly, a front-wheel-drive car, with a yelp as the tyres turned. Not the shriek of speed. The opposite. A suburban sound, rubber on a tended blacktop driveway, like the smell of the sprinkler on the summer air.

Then the car paused and the driver selected a forward gear and the car rolled south, gently over the speed bumps that the driver himself had argued should be put in, for the safety of the children.

Then the car turned a little west, towards the highway, ready to join the mighty flow towards the capital.

Colonel Cornelius Christopher sat forward and made a space on his desk, paired hands coming together back to back, and then sweeping apart, pushing clutter aside. The move was emphatic. But purely metaphorical. There was nothing on the desk. No clutter. A good man-manager, Reacher thought. He let me have my say, and now were moving right along.

Christopher said, Theres no danger. Its going to be all talking.

Reacher said, Talking about what?

You were right, its about staff officers. There are four of them. One of them is bad. Theyre all political liaison people. To the House and the Senate. They practically live there. You know the type. Going places, fast track, better not to get in their way.

Specifically?

The army is asking for a new sniper rifle. Were giving evidence to some new pre-committee. Begging, basically. Our legislative overseers. Well, not really. They sent senior staffers instead. Were not even talking to elected officials.

Now you dont sound very happy.

Im not here to be happy. The liaison officers are sitting in on these hearings, obviously. And one of them is leaking. Design criteria, load, range, size, shape, weight and budget.

Leaking to who?

A likely bidder located overseas, we assume. A foreign manufacturer, in other words. Someone that wants the business. Someone that likes a rigged game.

Is the business worth it? How many sniper rifles do we buy? And how much do we pay for them?

Its the implied endorsement. They can sell copies for five grand each to the freak market. The price of a decent used car. As many as they want. Like selling crack.

Who else is at these hearings?

Theres our four liaison and the four staffers were pitching to, plus our procurement guy and the Marine procurement guy, plus a Ranger sniper and a Marine sniper for colour commentary.

The Marines are involved?

In a minority way. They didnt bring their own liaison, for instance. But its definitely a joint project. No other way of doing a thing like this.

So why wouldnt it be the Marines leaking? Their procurement guy or their sniper? Why assume its our guys?

The leaks are via a fax machine inside the Capitol Building. Which is where our liaison guys have their offices.

How certain are you of that?

Completely.

Could be the staffers. Theyre in the Capitol Building, presumably.

Different phone network. Our legislative overseers are on some new super-duper thing. Our offices are still steam-powered.

OK, Reacher said. So its one of our guys.

Im afraid so, Christopher said.

Motive?

Money, Christopher said. Got to be. I cant see anyone forming a deep ideological attachment to a European firearms manufacturer. Can you? And money is always a factor for officers like these. Theyre mixing with corporate lawyers and lobbyists all the time. Easy to feel like the poor relation.

Cant we just watch their fax machine?

Not inside the Capitol Building. Our legislative overseers dont like surveillance. Too many unintended consequences.

Are they sending to an overseas fax number?

No, its a local number. But these guys hire local people. As agents and lobbyists.

So my job is what?

To find out which one of our guys is the bad apple. By talking to them.

Where?

In the committee, at first. The Ranger sniper has been recalled. Personal reasons. Youre going to take his place.

As what?

Another Ranger sniper.

With a real Marine sniper in the room? Ill be asked for opinions. Hell nail me in a second.

So be Delta Force, not Rangers. Be mysterious. Dont say anything. Be all weird and silent. Grow a beard.

Before this afternoon?

Dont worry about it. Weve seen your file. You know which end of a rifle is which. We have confidence in you.

Thank you.

Theres one other thing.

Which is?

Our liaison guys are not guys. Theyre women.

All of them?

All four.

Does that make a difference?

I sincerely hope so. Some of the talking is going to have to be social. Thats easier with women. You can do it one on one. Men always want to drink in groups.

So Im here to take women to bars, and ask them what they want to drink, and by the way are they leaking military secrets overseas? Is that the idea?

Youll have to be more subtle than that. But yes, its a kind of interrogation. Thats all. Which youre supposed to be good at. Youre supposed to do this stuff for a living.

In which case why not arrest them all and interrogate them properly?

Because three of the four are innocent. Where theres smoke theres fire, and so on. Their careers would be hurt.

That never stopped you before.