17 A Wanted Man

out and start looking for me.’
    ‘Call them and tell them you’re broken down on the shoulder somewhere. Tell them you got a flat tyre. Tell them we’re still in Iowa. Or tell them we took a wrong turn and went to Wisconsin by mistake.’
    ‘They’ll track my cell. Maybe they already are.’
    ‘Keep on going,’ Reacher said.
    Sorenson accelerated gently. They passed the side of the white building. It was about a hundred yards away. It had a wide looping driveway in front of it. Its facade was modern and impressive. There was a lot of plate glass. There was no obvious activity going on. All was quiet. Reacher turned his head and watched as the building fell away behind them.
    ‘Thank you,’ he said.
    ‘Where do you want to go now?’ Sorenson asked.
    ‘A mile away will do it.’
    ‘And then what?’
    ‘Then we say goodbye.’
    But they didn’t get a mile away, and they didn’t say goodbye. Because Sorenson’s phone rang in its cradle and she answered and Reacher heard a man’s voice, urgent and loud and panicked. It said, ‘Ms Sorenson? This is Sheriff Victor Goodman. Karen Delfuenso’s daughter is gone. She was taken away by some men.’

FORTY-FIVE
    SORENSON HIT THE brakes and hauled on the wheel and U-turned immediately and headed back towards the highway, fast, past the FBI building again, past its front, past its side, past its rear lot, and onward, the same way they had come minutes before. The voice on the phone told the whole long story. County Sheriff Victor Goodman, Reacher gathered, about eighty miles away. The local guy. The first responder, the night before. He sounded like a competent man, but tired and stressed and way out of his depth. He said, ‘I told the kid her mom was missing first thing this morning. I figured it was best to break it gently. You know, the first step, and then the second step. I told the neighbour she should keep both kids home from school today. I asked her to stay home with them. But she didn’t. She was worried about her job. She left them there alone. Which she thought would be OK. But it wasn’t OK. I dropped by again to touch base and only the neighbour’s kid was there. All by herself. She said some men came and took Delfuenso’s kid away.’
    Sorenson asked, ‘When?’
    Goodman said, ‘This is a ten-year-old girl we’re talking about here. She’s pretty vague. Best guess is about an hour ago.’
    ‘How many men?’
    ‘She doesn’t really know.’
    ‘One? Two? A dozen?’
    ‘More than one. She said men, not a man.’
    ‘Descriptions?’
    ‘Just men.’
    ‘Black? White? Young? Old?’
    ‘White, I’m sure, or she’d have said. This is Nebraska, after all. No idea about age. All adults look old to a ten-year-old.’
    ‘Clothing?’
    ‘She doesn’t remember.’
    ‘Vehicle?’
    ‘She can’t describe it. I’m not certain she even saw a vehicle. She claims she did, and she’s calling it a car, but it could have been anything. A pick-up, or an SUV.’
    ‘Colour?’
    ‘She can’t recall. If she saw it at all, that is. She might have just assumed it. She’s probably never seen a pedestrian in her life. Not out there.’
    ‘Does she remember what was said?’
    ‘She wasn’t really paying attention. The doorbell rang, and Lucy Delfuenso went to answer it. The neighbour’s kid says she saw men at the door, and she heard some talking, but basically she stayed in the back room. She was busy playing with something. She was really into it. About five minutes later she realized Lucy hadn’t come back from the door.’
    ‘Why would Delfuenso’s kid answer the door in someone else’s house?’
    ‘It doesn’t feel like that to them. It’s like both of them treat both places like home. They’re in and out all the time.’
    ‘Have you searched the area? Including Delfuenso’s own house?’
    ‘I’ve got everyone on it. No sign of Lucy anywhere.’
    ‘Did you canvass the other neighbour? That grey-haired guy?’
    ‘He wasn’t there. He leaves for work at six in the morning. The fourth house didn’t see anything either.’
    ‘Did you call the state troopers?’
    ‘Sure, but I have nothing to give them.’
    ‘Missing kids get an instant response, right?’
    ‘But what can they do? It’s a small department. And it’s a big state. They can’t stop everyone everywhere.’
    ‘OK, we’ll figure it out,’ Sorenson said. ‘I’m on my way. But in the meantime you should keep on looking.’
    ‘Of course I will. But they