Echo Burning

You know there are experts who only appear for the defense? Normally we wouldn’t go near them. Normally we want to know how much we can get out of a thing, not how little. But I hired a defense guy, the exact same guy Alice Aaron would hire if she could afford him. Because I want somebody who can persuade me there’s a faint possibility Carmen’s telling the truth, so I can let her go without looking like I’m crazy.”
    “So relax,” Reacher said. “It’ll be over tomorrow.”
    “I hope so,” Walker said. “And it might be. Al Eugene’s office is sending over some financial stuff. Al did all that kind of work for Sloop. So if there’s no financial motive, and the medical reports are good, maybe I can relax.”
    “She had no money at all,” Reacher said. “It was one of her big problems.”
    Walker nodded. “Good,” he said. “Because her big problems solve my big problems.”
    The office went quiet underneath the drone of the air conditioners. The back of Reacher’s neck felt cold and wet.
    “You should be more proactive,” he said. “With the election.”
    “Yeah, how?”
    “Do something popular.”
    “Like what?”
    “Like reopen something about the border patrol. Peoplewould like that. I just met a family whose son was murdered by them.”
    Walker went quiet again for a second, then just shook his head.
    “Ancient history,” he said.
    “Not to those families,” Reacher said. “There were twenty-some homicides in a year. Most of the survivors live around here, probably. And most of them will be voters by now.”
    “The border patrol was investigated,” Walker said. “Before my time, but it was pretty damn thorough. I went through the files years ago.”
    “You have the files?”
    “Sure. Mostly happened down in Echo, and all that stuff comes here. It was clearly a bunch of rogue officers on a jag of their own, and the investigation most likely served to warn them off. They probably quit. Border patrol has a pretty good turnover of staff. The bad guys could be anywhere by now, literally. Probably left the state altogether. It’s not just the immigrants who flow north.”
    “It would make you look good.”
    Walker shrugged. “I’m sure it would. A lot of things would make me look good. But I do have some standards, Reacher. It would be a total waste of public money. Grandstanding, pure and simple. It wouldn’t get anywhere. Nowhere at all. They’re long gone. It’s ancient history.”
    “Twelve years ago isn’t ancient history.”
    “It is around here. Things change fast. Right now I’m concentrating on what happened in Echo last night, not twelve years ago.”
    “O.K.,” Reacher said. “Your decision.”
    “I’ll call Alice in the morning. When we get the material we need. Could be all over by lunchtime.”
    “Let’s hope so.”
    “Yeah, let’s,” Walker said.

    Reacher went out through the hot trapped air in the stairwell and stepped outside. It was hotter still on the sidewalk.So hot, it was difficult to breathe properly. It felt like all the oxygen molecules had been burned out of the air. He made it across the street and down to the mission with sweat running into his eyes. He pushed in through the door and found Alice sitting alone at her desk.
    “You back already?” he asked, surprised.
    She just nodded.
    “Did you see her?”
    She nodded again.
    “What did she say?”
    “Nothing at all,” Alice said. “Except she doesn’t want me to represent her.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “What I said. Literally the only words I got out of her were, and I quote, ‘I refuse to be represented by you.’”
    “Why?”
    “She didn’t say. She said nothing at all. I just told you that. Except she doesn’t want me on the case.”
    “Why the hell not?”
    Alice just shrugged and said nothing.
    “Has this kind of a thing ever happened before?”
    Alice shook her head. “Not to me. Not to anybody within living memory in this place. Normally they can’t make their minds up whether to bite your hand off or smother you with hugs and kisses.”
    “So what the hell happened?”
    “I don’t know. She was fairly calm, fairly rational.”
    “Did you try to persuade her?”
    “Of course I did. To a point. But I wanted to get out of there before she lost it and started hollering. A witness hears her say it, I lose all standing. And then she’s really in trouble. I plan to go back and try again later.”
    “Did you tell her I sent you?”
    “Sure I did. I