Free Night School by Lee Child Page B

questions do you have?”
    Reacher said, “You picked the wrong day to go missing, colonel.”
    “I have nothing to say about that.”
    “Not even if the commander in chief is asking?”
    “It’s a matter of privacy. That day has nothing to do with my professional performance. Nothing to do with my duties.”
    “That’s good to know. But I think that’s the point. They want to know what you do in your spare time. You’re a senior officer. There are implications. These things can be either good or bad. You should tell us about it. You risk our imaginations running riot.”
    “I have nothing to say.”
    “That’s a tactical error. You’re drawing attention. Where there’s smoke there’s fire. This is an event horizon, colonel. This is where it all goes wrong. Possibly for nothing. Possibly for some little thing other guys have gotten away with. But you’re going to crash and burn. Best case, you’re going to stall. Best case, you’re going to get an asterisk against your name forever. As in, we can’t be sure about that guy.”
    Bartley rubbed his palms against his pants legs and said nothing.
    Reacher said, “I don’t care what you did. Except if it was one particular thing. But I don’t think it was. I mean, what are the odds?”
    “I’m sure it wasn’t that thing.”
    “There you go.”
    “There’s no reason for you to be interested in me.”
    “I’m sure you’re right. But I have to look people in the eye and give them an honest opinion. If it wasn’t that thing, then I’m happy to say so, and nothing more. I’m happy to say don’t ask, it was something else altogether. Your secret stays here. But first I need to know what kind of something else it was. Because I need to be convincing. I need to speak with the kind of confidence and authority that comes from a solid foundation of facts.”
    “It was nothing of importance.”
    “This is make or break, colonel. When you’re in a hole, you should stop digging. I truly don’t care what it is. I won’t even report it. Sex, drugs, or rock and roll, I don’t give a damn. As long as it’s not that one particular thing. Which we agree is unlikely. All I really want is to ask you a completely different question. Something else entirely.”
    “What question?”
    “This is not it, OK? This is just a little supplementary first. A minor inquiry. Like batting practice. Do you go to Zurich every week?”
    The guy said nothing.
    Reacher said, “It’s a simple answer, colonel. The truth can set you free. One little word, and you can move on up without a stain on your character. Or not.”
    Bartley said, “I go most weeks.”
    “Including the day they’re asking about?”
    “Yes.”
    “Still got the plane ticket?”
    “Yes.”
    “Arrive after lunch, leave after dinner?”
    “Yes.”
    “You go to a bank?”
    “Yes.”
    “With what?”
    “Money, of course. But all of it mine. All of it legal.”
    “Care to explain?”
    “What happens if I do?”
    “Depends what it is. Depends if it disrespects the uniform.”
    “What if it does?”
    “You take your chances.”
    Bartley said nothing.
    Reacher said, “You figure it out, colonel. You’re a smart guy. I’m sure you have a postgraduate degree. This is not splitting the atom. The order to get in this car came from the White House through the Joint Chiefs. Therefore who are we working for?”
    “The National Security Council.”
    “How bad can they hurt you?”
    “Very bad.”
    “Worse than you can imagine. A million times worse than a scandal about carrying money to Switzerland. If it is a scandal. Which it might not be. Not if it’s all yours, and it’s all legal. Which you said it was.”
    “I’m hiding it from my wife. I’m going to divorce her.”
    “She done you wrong?”
    “No.”
    “But you’re taking the money anyway.”
    “I earned it.”
    “Earned what? You’re an O-5. I know what you get. With all due respect, I doubt if your life savings keep Swiss bankers