The Hard Way

marriages are concerned. Among other things.”
    “Kate’s alive?” Groom said.
    Reacher nodded. “Jade too.”
    “Where?”
    “Somewhere in the States, I guess.”
    “So why is Taylor here?”
    “He wants a showdown with Lane on his own turf.”
    “He’s going to get one.”
    Reacher shook his head. “I’m here to tell you that’s a bad idea. He’s on a farm, and it’s surrounded by ditches too deep to drive through. So you’d be going in on foot. And he’s got a lot of help there. He’s got eight of his old SAS buddies with him, and his brother-in-law was a kind of Green Beret for the Brits, and he’s brought in six of his guys, too. They’ve got Claymores on a hundred-yard perimeter and heavy machine guns in every window. They’ve got night vision and grenade launchers.”
    “They can’t possibly use them. Not here. This is England, not Lebanon.”
    “He’s prepared to use them. Believe it. But actually he won’t have to. Because four of the SAS guys are snipers. They’ve got PSG1s. Heckler and Koch sniper rifles, from the black market in Belgium. They’ll drop you all three hundred yards out. With their eyes shut. Seven rounds, game over. They’re miles from anywhere. Nobody will hear. And if they do, they won’t care. This is the back of beyond. Farm country. Somebody’s always shooting something. Foxes, road signs, burglars, each other.”
    The room went quiet. Kowalski picked up his drink and sipped. Then Burke did, and then Groom. Kowalski was left-handed. Burke and Groom were right-handed. Reacher said, “So your best play is to just forget it and go home now. Lane is going to die. There’s no doubt about that. But there’s no reason why you should die with him. This isn’t your fight. This is all about Lane’s ego. It’s between him and Kate and Taylor. Don’t get yourselves killed for that kind of bullshit.”
    Burke said, “We can’t just walk away.”
    “You walked away in Africa,” Reacher said. “You left Hobart and Knight behind, to save the unit. So now you should leave Lane behind, to save yourselves. You can’t win here. Taylor’s good. You know that. And his buddies are just as good. You’re outnumbered more than two to one. Which is totally upside down. You know that, too. A situation like this, you need to outnumber the defenders. You’re going to get your asses kicked.”
    Nobody spoke.
    “You should go home,” Reacher said again. “Hook up somewhere else. Maybe start up on your own.”
    Groom asked, “Are you with Taylor?”
    Reacher nodded. “And I’m good with a rifle. Back in the day, I won the Marine sniper trophy. I showed up in army green and I beat all of you miserable jarheads hands down. So maybe I’ll grab one of the PSGs. Maybe I’ll drop you all six hundred yards out, just for the fun of it. Or eight hundred, or a thousand.”
    Silence in the room. No sound at all, except the shift and crackle of logs in the fire. Reacher looked straight at Kowalski.
    “Five, seven, one, three,” he lied. “That’s the combination for Lane’s closet door. There’s still more than nine million dollars behind it. In cash. You should go get it, right now.”
    No response.
    “Walk away,” Reacher said. “Live to fight another day.”
    “They stole all that money,” Burke said.
    “Alimony. Easier than asking for it straight up. Asking for alimony is what got Anne Lane killed. Kate found that out.”
    “That
was
a kidnap.”
    Reacher shook his head. “Knight offed her. For Lane, because Anne wanted out. That’s why you all abandoned Knight in Africa. Lane was covering his ass. He sacrificed Hobart too, because he was in the same OP.”
    “That’s bullshit.”
    “I found Hobart. Knight told him all about it. While they were busy getting their hands and feet cut off.”
    Silence.
    Reacher said, “Don’t get killed for this kind of crap.”
    Burke looked at Groom. Groom looked at Burke. They both looked at Kowalski. There was a long pause. Then Burke looked up.
    “OK,” he said. “I guess we could sit this one out.”
    Groom nodded. Kowalski shrugged. Reacher stood up.
    “Smart decision,” he said. He moved toward the door. Stopped at the hearth and kicked his shoes against the stone again. Asked, “Where are Lane and the others?”
    Quiet for a beat. Then Groom said, “There was no room here. They went up to Norwich. The city. Some hotel up there. The guy here recommended it.”
    Reacher nodded. “And when is he locking and