One Shot

an enraged six-foot-five, two-hundred-fifty-pound ex-soldier might be provoked to. But Vladimir was a different matter. Vladimir might well be able to do the job with a single blow, which might be convincing on the postmortem slab. A refusal, an objection, a sexual taunt, a big man might lash out once in frustration, a little harder than he intended.
    They were both familiar with the girl. They had met her before, because of her connection to Jeb Oliver. They had even all worked together once. They knew where she lived, which was in a rented garden apartment that nestled on a barren patch of land in the shadow of the state highway, where it first rose on its stilts, south and west of downtown. And they knew that she lived there alone.

    Reacher walked a long aimless three-block circle before approaching the motor court. He kept his own footsteps light and listened hard for the gritty crunch of a shadow behind him. He heard nothing. Saw nothing. He was alone.
    The motor court was practically an antique. At one time it must have been the latest thing and consequently fairly upmarket. But since then the relentless march of time and fashion had left it behind. It was well maintained but not updated. It was exactly the kind of place he liked.
    He roused the clerk and paid cash for one night only. He used the name Don Heffner, who had played second base and hit .261 during the Yankees’ lean year of 1934. The clerk gave him a big brass key and pointed him down the row to room number eight. The room was faded and a little damp. The counterpane on the bed and the drapes at the window looked original. So did the bathroom. But everything worked and the door locked tight.
    He took a short shower and folded his pants and his shirt very carefully and put them flat under the mattress. That was as close as he ever got to ironing. They would look OK in the morning. He would shave and shower very carefully and go to the barbershop after breakfast. He didn’t want to devalue whatever memories Hutton might have retained. Assuming she had retained any at all.

    Chenko parked east of the highway and he and Vladimir walked under it and approached the girl’s apartment building from the back, unseen. They kept close to the wall and walked around to her door. Chenko told Vladimir to keep out of sight. Then he knocked gently. There was no response, which wasn’t entirely unexpected. It was late, and she was probably already in bed. So Chenko knocked again, a little louder. And again, as loud as he dared. He saw a light come on in a window. Heard the quiet shuffle of feet inside. Heard her voice through the crack where the door met the jamb.
    “Who’s there?” she asked.
    “It’s me,” he said.
    “What do you want?”
    “We need to talk.”
    “I was asleep.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “It’s awful late.”
    “I know,” Chenko said. “But it’s very urgent.”
    There was a pause.
    “Wait a minute,” she said.
    Chenko heard her shuffle back toward her bedroom. Then silence. Then she came back. The door opened. She was standing there, clutching a blue robe around her.
    “What?” she said.
    “You need to come with us,” Chenko said.
    Vladimir stepped out of the shadow.
    “Why is
he
here?” Sandy asked.
    “He’s helping me tonight,” Chenko said.
    “What do you want?”
    “You need to go out.”
    “Like this? I can’t.”
    “I agree,” Chenko said. “You need to get dressed. Like for a date.”
    “A date?”
    “You need to look really good.”
    “But I’ll have to shower. Do my hair.”
    “We have time.”
    “A date with who?”
    “You just have to be seen. Like you were ready for a date.”
    “At this time of night? The whole town is asleep.”
    “Not the whole town. We’re awake, for instance.”
    “How much do I get?”
    “Two hundred,” Chenko said. “Because it’s so late.”
    “How long will it take?”
    “Just a minute. You just have to be seen walking somewhere.”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Two hundred for a minute’s work isn’t bad.”
    “It isn’t a minute’s work. It’ll take me an hour to get ready.”
    “Two-fifty, then,” Chenko said.
    “OK,” Sandy said.

    Chenko and Vladimir waited in her living room, listening through the thin walls, hearing the shower running, hearing the hair dryer, the held breaths as she put on her makeup, the elastic snap of undergarments, the whisper of fabric on skin. Chenko saw that Vladimir was restless and sweating. Not because of the task