Worth Dying For

damage without breaking the bone, and the second had been hard enough to draw blood without smashing her teeth.
    Two blows, carefully aimed, carefully calculated, carefully delivered.
    Expert blows.
    Reacher said, ‘It wasn’t Seth, was it?’
    She said, ‘No, it wasn’t.’
    ‘So who was it?’
    ‘I’ll quote your earlier conclusion. It seems we have a couple of tough guys in town.’
    ‘They were here?’
    ‘Twice.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘I don’t know.’
    ‘Who are they?’
    ‘I don’t know.’
    ‘They’ve been saying they represent the Duncans.’
    ‘Well, they don’t. The Duncans don’t need to hire people to beat me. They’re perfectly capable of doing that themselves.’
    ‘How many times has Seth hit you?’
    ‘A thousand, maybe.’
    ‘That’s good. Not from your point of view, of course.’
    ‘But good from the point of view of your own clear conscience?’
    ‘Something like that.’
    She said, ‘Have at Seth all you like. All day, every day. Beathim to a pulp. Break every bone in his body. Be my guest. I mean it.’
    ‘Why do you stay?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘Whole books have been written on that subject. I’ve read most of them. Ultimately, where else would I go?’
    ‘Anywhere else.’
    ‘It’s not that simple. It never is.’
    ‘Why not?’
    ‘Trust me, OK?’
    ‘So what happened?’
    She said, ‘Four days ago two men showed up here. They had East Coast accents. They were kind of Italian. They were wearing expensive suits and cashmere overcoats. Seth took them into his den. I didn’t hear any of the discussion. But I knew we were in trouble. There was a real animal stink in the house. After twenty minutes they all trooped out. Seth was looking sheepish. One of the men said their instructions were to hurt Seth, but Seth had bargained it down to hurting me. At first I thought I was going to be raped in front of my husband. That was what the atmosphere was like. The animal stink. But, no. Seth held me in front of him and they took turns hitting me. Once each. Nose, and then mouth. Then yesterday evening they came back and did all the same things over again. Then Seth went out for a steak. That’s what happened.’
    ‘I’m very sorry,’ Reacher said.
    ‘So am I.’
    ‘Seth didn’t tell you who they were? Or what they wanted?’
    ‘No. Seth tells me nothing.’
    ‘Any ideas?’
    ‘They were investors,’ she said. ‘I mean, they were here on behalf of investors. That’s the only sense I can make out of it.’
    ‘Duncan Transportation has investors?’
    ‘I suppose so. I imagine it’s not a wonderfully profitable business. Gas is very expensive right now, isn’t it? Or diesel, or whatever it is they use. And it’s wintertime, which must hurt their cash flow. There’s nothing to haul. Although, really, what do Iknow? Except that they’re always complaining about something. And I see on the news that apparently ordinary banks are difficult right now, for small businesses. So maybe they had to find a loan through unconventional sources.’
    ‘Very unconventional,’ Reacher said. ‘But if this is all about some financial issue with Duncan Transportation, why are those guys looking for me?’
    ‘Are they looking for you?’
    ‘Yes,’ the doctor said. ‘They are. They were at my house this morning. They hit me four times and threatened to do much worse to my wife. And all they ever asked was where Reacher was. It was the same at the motel, apparently. Mr Vincent was visited. And Dorothy, the woman who works for him. His housekeeper.’
    ‘That’s awful,’ Eleanor said. ‘Is she OK?’
    ‘She survived.’
    ‘Is your wife OK?’
    ‘A little shaken.’
    ‘I can’t explain it,’ Eleanor said. ‘I know nothing about Seth’s business.’
    Reacher asked, ‘Do you know anything about Seth himself?’
    ‘Like what?’
    ‘Like who he is, and where he came from.’
    ‘Do you guys want a drink?’
    ‘No, thank you,’ Reacher said. ‘Tell me where Seth came from.’
    ‘That old question? He’s adopted, like a lot of people.’
    ‘Where from?’
    ‘He doesn’t know, and I don’t think his father knows for sure, either. It was some kind of charity network. There was a degree of anonymity involved.’
    ‘No stories at all?’
    ‘None.’
    ‘Doesn’t Seth remember anything? People say he was ready for kindergarten when he got here. He should have some memories of where he was before.’
    ‘He won’t talk about it.’
    ‘What