Die Trying

the States until I was nine years old. Five minutes later we were in the Philippines. Round and round the world we went. Longest I was ever anywhere was four years at West Point. Then I joined up and it started all over again. Round and round the world.”
    “Where’s your family now?” she asked.
    “Dead,” he said. “The old man died, what? Ten years ago, I guess. My mother died two years later. I buried the Silver Star with her. She won it for me, really. Do what you’re supposed to do, she used to tell me. About a million times a day, in a thick French accent.”
    “Brothers and sisters?” she said.
    “I had a brother,” he said. “He died last year. I’m the last Reacher on earth, far as I know.”
    “When did you muster out?” she said.
    “April last year,” he said. “Fourteen months ago.”
    “Why?” she asked.
    Reacher shrugged.
    “Just lost interest, I guess,” he said. “The defense cuts were happening. Made the Army seem unnecessary, somehow. Like if they didn’t need the biggest and the best, they didn’t need me. Didn’t want to be part of something small and second-rate. So I left. Arrogant, or what?”
    She laughed.
    “So you became a doorman?” she said. “From a decorated Major to a doorman? Isn’t that kind of second-rate?”
    “Wasn’t like that,” he said. “I didn’t set out to be a doorman, like it was a new career move or anything. It’s only temporary. I only got to Chicago on Friday. I was planning to move on, maybe Wednesday. I was thinking about going up to Wisconsin. Supposed to be a nice place, this time of year.”
    “Friday to Wednesday?” Holly said. “You got a problem with commitment or something?”
    “I guess,” he said. “Thirty-six years I was always where somebody else told me to be. Very structured sort of a life. I suppose I’m reacting against it. I love moving around when I feel like it. It’s like a drug. Longest I’ve ever stayed anywhere was ten consecutive days. Last fall, in Georgia. Ten days, out of fourteen months. Apart from that, I’ve been on the road, more or less all the time.”
    “Making a living by working the door at clubs?” she asked.
    “That was unusual,” he said. “Mostly I don’t work at all, just live off my savings. But I came up to Chicago with a singer, one thing led to another, I got asked to work the door at the club the guy was headed for.”
    “So what do you do if you don’t work?” she asked.
    “I look at things,” he said. “You got to remember, I’m a thirty-seven-year-old American, but I’ve never really been in America much. You been up the Empire State Building?”
    “Of course,” she said.
    “I hadn’t,” he said. “Not before last year. You been to the Washington museums?”
    “Sure,” she said.
    “I hadn’t,” he said again. “Not before last year. All that kind of stuff. Boston, New York, Washington, Chicago, New Orleans, Mount Rushmore, the Golden Gate, Niagara. I’m like a tourist. Like I’m catching up, right?”
    “I’m the other way around,” Holly said. “I like to travel overseas.”
    Reacher shrugged.
    “I’ve seen overseas,” he said. “Six continents. I’m going to stay here now.”
    “I’ve seen the States,” she said. “My dad traveled all the time, but we stayed here, apart from two tours to Germany.”
    Reacher nodded. Thought back to the time he’d spent in Germany, man and boy. Many years, in total.
    “You picked up on the soccer in Europe?” he asked.
    “Right,” Holly said. “Really big deal there. We were stationed one time near Munich, right? I was just a kid, eleven maybe. They gave my father tickets to some big game in Rotterdam, Holland. European Cup, the Bayern Munich team against some English team, Aston Villa, you ever heard of them?”
    Reacher nodded.
    “From Birmingham, England,” he said. “I was stationed near a place called Oxford at one point. About an hour away.”
    “I hated the Germans,” Holly said. “So arrogant, so overpowering. They were so sure they were going to cream these Brits. I didn’t want to go and watch it happen. But I had to, right? NATO protocol sort of a thing, would have been a big scandal if I’d refused. So we went. And the Brits creamed the Germans. The Germans were so furious. I loved it. And the Aston Villa guys were so cute. I was in love with soccer from that night on. Still am.”
    Reacher nodded. He enjoyed watching soccer, to an extent. But you had to be exposed early