CHAPTER 1
Thursday, June 2
Detroit, Michigan
Lucas Stuart sauntered along Woodward Avenue toward the crowd leaving the Fox Theater. Dressed in charcoal gray silk blazer, slacks, and a silk polo shirt, he blended easily with the theatergoers. No one gave him a second glance as the crowd moved toward the Detroit Athletic Club where Kim Otto was dining tonight with a friend.
Lucas remained acutely aware of his surroundings during the seven-minute walk. Valets ran to the parking lots to collect vehicles. Limo drivers waited halfway down the block. Patrons entered and exited businesses along the route.
He paid close attention to faces, clothes, and especially, behavior.
Which convinced him that he wasn’t being followed. No one seemed the least interested in him. Exactly as planned.
Lucas kept a steady pace until he completed the left turn onto East Adams Avenue. Two groups were walking behind him, chatting about the Broadway touring company’s performance.
At Witherell Street, Lucas turned right. So did the theatergoers behind him, seeming never to stop for breath as they chatted endlessly, comparing one actor to another in this role and the last.
Lucas turned left onto Aretha Franklin Way, a short walkway named after the Detroit native and musical powerhouse.
Straight ahead, the classic Italianate Detroit Athletic Club welcomed members and guests under a royal blue awning, just as it had done for more than a century.
The new entrance on the side of the building had been added during a renovation a few years back. Most evenings, visitors were funneled through what was once called the side door. But Lucas had confirmed the main door was open for a special event inside tonight.
He noticed no one paying particular attention to him, but he took another quick look across the street toward Detroit’s historic Music Hall to confirm.
No one was hiding in the shadows or sauntering nonchalantly out front.
Satisfied, he turned back and stepped inside with a group of others entering at the same time.
Lucas had never visited the Detroit Athletic Club building before, but he’d studied online images and read articles about the structure. He’d soaked up enough knowledge to pass as the guest of a legacy member.
Which should be good enough.
But he didn’t need to test that theory.
No one questioned him as he sauntered inside past the grand old entry.
He rode the elevator to the fourth floor with another group of visitors and approached the open double doors leading to the Grill, one of the building’s smaller dining rooms.
Lucas stopped at the entrance to scan the tables looking for Otto among the diners. The room was almost full.
No children present. Diners were adults only, males and females, mostly middle-aged, dressed casually but expensively.
Pricey baubles glittered from earlobes, wrists, and around slack-skinned throats. Had he been a thief, he could have lived several years on the proceeds from sale of the jewelry in the room.
He spotted Otto quickly. She was seated facing him. Another woman was seated on her left. A woman Lucas didn’t recognize or concern himself with.
Reacher said to convey the information to Otto alone.
Lucas had hoped to do that here surrounded by people she wouldn’t want to offend or alarm. Safety in numbers and all that.
But he couldn’t approach Otto as long as the other woman was there.
The two had finished their meal and seemed to be wrapping things up. Otto should be available soon enough.
Lucas retreated into a booth at the end of the hallway to wait amid Detroit’s glitterati. He’d barely settled into his seat when the burner phone began to vibrate.
He fished the phone from his jacket pocket and quietly murmured, “Yeah.”
“Any luck?”
“On track, so far,” Lucas replied. “You?”
“Your brother is still missing, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Lucas heard the frustration in his voice. Nothing he could do about it. “Right.”
“You haven’t heard from him.”
“Not yet.” He saw Otto and her companion as they exited the dining room. “I’ll need to call you back.”
Lucas disconnected and dropped the phone into his pocket as they strolled casually past him.
Otto’s eyes met his briefly. He stood and stepped into the light to give her a clear view of his face.
Lucas wanted her to recognize him when he approached her. His goal was to talk with her alone and gain her confidence. Reacher said she’d help him. Maybe she would. But not if he provoked her into defensive action.
Lucas smiled and nodded toward her.
Otto nodded in return, but she didn’t stop to chat.
Lucas followed the two women discreetly all the way to the valet stand where the companion collected her car. Lucas overheard her.
“Are you sure I can’t give you a lift home?”
The two chatted back and forth, briefly debating Otto’s desire for a pleasant evening walk or a quick, safe ride.
Lucas held his breath awaiting Otto’s decision. He crossed his fingers by his side, as if the childish gesture would make a difference.
If she rejected the ride, he could still approach her outside the club, where people socialized easily with strangers.
If she accepted the ride, he’d be required to risk approaching her at home. Her apartment building was a fortress. It would be more difficult to get in and get out.
All of which was why he’d chosen to meet her at the club.
Lucas preferred the easy way. Plan A was always easier than plan B.
“Dammit,” he said, under his breath a moment later, when his crossed fingers failed to produce the desired result.
Otto accepted the ride and slid easily into the woman’s midnight blue BMW sedan. They pulled away from the curb, leaving Lucas behind on foot.
He memorized the BMW’s license plate number. He’d check ownership later, should it become necessary.
Lucas stood for a moment on the sidewalk. He was in good physical condition. He could hurry along to Otto’s apartment and arrive in less than twenty minutes, but rushing would draw attention he wanted to avoid.
Oh, well. It was a lovely night for a walk, after all.
He slid his hands into his front pockets and sauntered along the sidewalk as the BMW increased the distance between them.
The cell phone in his right front pocket bounced against his leg. He carried only one other item.
Lucas hit the redial button on the phone.
He answered right away, slightly breathless, as if he were hustling somewhere. “I’ve got a lead. It’s not solid. But promising.”
“Okay. What is it?” Lucas asked.
“Let me check it out first. If it pans out, you can join and maybe even bring Otto with you,” he said.
Lucas heard an announcement in the background. “Are you at a train station?”
“Airport. And they’re calling my flight. I’ll call you as soon as I know something.”
“Okay, but—” Lucas stopped speaking when he realized he was talking to dead air.
He disconnected and returned the phone to his pocket, picking up his pace. He wanted to believe he was closer to locating his brother. Which wasn’t likely.
His brother was a genius. But he could also be incredibly stupid about normal risks of daily living. Such as protecting his personal safety from those who would harm him.
Lucas had been defending his brother against physical attacks since they were boys. Some things never changed.
As he approached the entrance to Otto’s building, Lucas considered hiding the burner phone behind a bush in one of the oversized flowerpots near the front door. He could pick it up again on his way out.
But after he told Otto everything, she’d want to talk privately to his contact. Reacher had spoken directly to him, not to Lucas.
Thus, the phone’s sophisticated encryption and the extreme care with which Lucas handled the burner. This one couldn’t be lost or stolen or damaged before Otto had a chance to use it. His brother’s life depended on Lucas’s particular skill set, and it was ever thus.
Lucas stood across the street from Otto’s building, watching those who entered and departed. He noted nothing of concern.
He crossed the street in the crosswalk at the traffic light on the corner along with half a dozen pedestrians. He followed along behind them past the front entry door.
He looked through the glass.
A long reception desk was opposite the door. A doorman was normally posted there, but right now, the desk was unmanned. The doorman wouldn’t be away very long.
Lucas seized his chance.
He turned his back to the security cameras, neutralized the locking mechanism using the cloned key card in his pocket, and ducked through.
Inside, CCTV cameras were strategically placed and continuously recording. Lucas turned up his collar and dipped his chin, avoiding the cameras as much as possible to conceal his identity.
He hurried toward the elevators.
He’d studied the building’s blueprints and property records. Otto’s apartment was on one of the higher floors, with a north-facing panoramic view of the city.
The elevator would be easier than the stairs, but more dangerous, too. The doorman was more likely to notice the elevator’s movements on one of the screens at his desk. And Lucas could be trapped inside an elevator with no easy escape routes.
He’d lived a good long time in this business precisely because he didn’t take unnecessary risks.
Lucas slipped into the stairwell and skipped up the stairs two at a time.
When he reached Otto’s floor, his heartbeat was barely elevated, breathing easily.
Lucas adjusted his clothing, patted the burner and the counterfeit key card still resting in his front pocket, opened the heavy fire door, and exited from the stairwell into the hallway.
Otto’s apartment was four doors down on his right.
He moved purposefully. As if the doorman had called the resident for permission and he’d stepped out of the elevator on the correct floor. Should nosy neighbors be watching through their peepholes.
Lucas approached Otto’s door. It was recessed slightly. There was a doorbell on the right and a wide-angle peephole in the center of the door, fifty-six inches from the floor. Which meant at or near Otto’s eye level. She could easily see him by looking through it.
Of course, she’d check first since the doorman hadn’t buzzed him up.
Seeing Lucas there, she might not open the door at all. Perhaps she’d call the police or her friends at the FBI allowing him no chance to explain.
Lucas had considered all of the ways this could go wrong. But he’d missed her at her club, and she was in for the night now. Nothing else he could do at this point. Only one choice. Plan B it was.
He stood in the center of the doorway, facing forward, allowing Otto to see him clearly. He wanted her to believe he was no threat to her.
He raised his hand and pressed the doorbell and dropped both hands to his sides.
Lucas heard the bell ringing inside her apartment.
Then he heard a squeaky hinge somewhere behind him on the opposite side of the hallway. Probably a nosy nelly checking on Otto’s late-night visitor. An older woman with nothing better to do than watch out for her neighbors, perhaps.
Lucas turned to his left, facing the doorway behind him, intending to reassure the old woman.
He never made it.
The first bullet hit him above his left cheekbone.
His body slumped against Otto’s door with a solid thump before he slid down to the carpet, landing on his right side.
The second bullet entered his left temple and exited onto the thick carpet.
Lucas never felt anything again.
We hope you are enjoying the book so far. To continue reading...
Copyright © 2024 All Rights Reserved
Please log in to recommend or discuss...
