Worth Dying For

the delay isn’t really our fault at all. He comes to see that we’re beleaguered, by outside forces, in ways that he’ll readily understand, because no doubt he’s beleaguered too, from time to time, in similar ways. In other words, we make common cause.’
    Silence for a moment.
    Then Jasper Duncan said, ‘I like it.’
    Jacob said, ‘I like it too. Otherwise I wouldn’t be proposing it. The only downside is a slight blow to our self-respect and dignity, in that it won’t be our own hands on the man who transgressed against us, and we’ll be admitting to our friend to the south that there are problems in this world that we can’t solve all by ourselves.’
    ‘No shame in that,’ Jonas said. ‘This is a very complicated business.’
    Seth asked, ‘You figure his boys are better than our boys?’
    ‘Of course they are, son,’ Jacob said. ‘As good as our boys are, his are in a different league. There’s no comparison. Which we need to bear in mind. Our friend to the south needs to remain our friend, because he would make a very unpleasant enemy.’
    ‘But suppose the delay doesn’t go away?’ Jasper asked. ‘Suppose nothing changes? Suppose the stranger gets nailed today and we still can’t deliver for a week? Then our friend to the south knows we were lying to him.’
    ‘I don’t think the stranger will get nailed in one day,’ Jacob said.
    ‘Why not?’
    ‘Because he seems to be a very capable person. All the evidence so far points in that direction. It could take a few days, by which time our truck could well be on its way. And even if it isn’t, we could say that we thought it prudent to keep the merchandise out of the country until the matter was finally resolved. Our friend might believe that. Or, of course, he might not.’
    ‘It’s a gamble, then.’
    ‘Indeed it is. But it’s probably the best we can do. Are we in or out?’
    ‘We should offer assistance,’ Jasper said. ‘And information. We should require compliance from the population.’
    Jacob said, ‘Naturally. Our friend would expect nothing less. Instructions will be issued, and sanctions will be advertised.’
    ‘And our boys should be out there too. Ears and eyes open. We need to feel we made some contribution, at least.’
    ‘Naturally,’ Jacob said again. ‘So are we in or out?’
    No one spoke for a long moment. Then Jasper said, ‘I’m in.’
    ‘Me too,’ Jonas said.
    Jacob Duncan nodded and unfolded his hands.
    ‘That’s a majority, then,’ he said. ‘Which I’m mighty relieved to have, because I took the liberty of calling our friend to the south two hours ago. Our boys and his are already on the hunt.’
    ‘I want to be there,’ Seth said. ‘When the stranger gets it.’

FIFTEEN
    R EACHER WAS HALF EXPECTING SOMETHING NAILED TOGETHER from sod and rotten boards, like a Dust Bowl photograph, but the woman drove him down a long gravel farm track to a neat two-storey dwelling standing alone in the corner of a spread that might have covered a thousand acres. The woman parked behind the house, next to a line of old tumbledown barns and sheds. Reacher could hear chickens in a coop, and he could smell pigs in a sty. And earth, and air, and weather. The countryside, in all its winter glory. The woman said, ‘I don’t mean to be rude, but how much are you planning to pay me?’
    Reacher smiled. ‘Deciding how much food to give me?’
    ‘Something like that.’
    ‘My breakfast average west of the Mississippi is about fifteen bucks with tip.’
    The woman looked surprised. And satisfied.
    ‘That’s a lot of money,’ she said. ‘That’s two hours’ wages. That’s like having a nine-day work week.’
    ‘Not all profit,’ Reacher said. ‘I’m hungry, don’t forget.’
    She led him inside through a door to a back hallway. The housewas what Seth Duncan’s place might have been before the expensive renovations. Low ceilings overhead, small panes of wavy glass in the windows, uneven floors underfoot, the whole place old and antique and outdated in every possible way, but cleaned and tidied and well maintained for a hundred consecutive years. The kitchen was immaculate. The stove was cold.
    ‘You didn’t eat yet?’ Reacher asked.
    ‘I don’t eat,’ the woman said. ‘Not breakfast, at least.’
    ‘Dieting?’
    The woman didn’t answer, and Reacher immediately felt stupid.
    ‘I’m buying,’ he said. ‘Thirty bucks. Let’s both have some fun.’
    ‘I don’t want