Page 22 of Cold Target

This time, there was something.

A plastic bag, taped to the back of the panel. Reacher pulled it free and opened it. Inside was a folded piece of paper and a small stack of cash—maybe two hundred dollars in twenties.

He unfolded the paper. It bore writing that was cramped and uneven.

Volkov. 235 Ashland Ave, Cadillac.

Reacher read it twice, then handed it to Simmons.

“What’s a Volkov?" Simmons asked. “Some kind of gun he sold for $200?"

"Maybe," Reacher said.

Cadillac was a town about an hour west of here. Grayling was where they were now.

"Next stop is Cadillac," Reacher said.

Simmons looked at the note again, then at Reacher. "Okay."

Reacher looked around the trailer one more time.

Simmons glanced at Koshak's body, still on the bed, still staring at the ceiling with empty eyes. "We need to call this in,” he said.

"Not yet," Reacher said.

"Why not?"

"Because the second we call it in, this becomes a crime scene," Reacher said. "Local cops, state police, FBI. Everyone shows up, and everything stops while they process it. We lose time."

"We can't just leave him here."

"We're not," Reacher said. "We'll call it in. But not until we're clear. We need to get to Cadillac first."

Simmons looked uncomfortable, but he didn't argue. He understood the logic. Time mattered.

They walked back to the truck.

Simmons pulled onto the dirt road and headed back toward the highway. The woods were dark now, the trees black against the gray sky.

They drove in silence for a while. Reacher wondered if Kinsman had played a part in the murder and torture of Koshak.

He wasn’t that kind of man, Reacher thought.

Unless he wasn’t the same man anymore.

10

The drive from Grayling to Cadillac took forty minutes. Neither of them spoke for the first twenty.

Reacher watched the landscape roll past—dense pine forests broken by the occasional clearing. Michigan's north country. Hard winters.

Simmons drove with both hands on the wheel, his jaw tight.

"You okay?" Reacher asked.

"Yeah." Simmons didn't look at him. "I've seen bodies before."

Reacher doubted he’d seen anything quite like that, but he stayed silent.