Page 36 of Cold Target

Then he looked at Simmons.

"All right," Joe said. "Eat something. Then we figure out our next move."

Simmons picked up the menu, but Joe already knew what he wanted. In a place like this, the most popular item was your best bet.

Cheeseburger. Coffee. A slice of pie.

He placed the order. Simmons followed with one of his own.

The moment the waitress left, Joe slid out of the booth.

"Where you going?" Simmons asked.

"Two minutes," Joe said. "Make a list of everything that doesn't make sense so far."

Simmons frowned. "That's a long list."

"Start at the top."

Joe pointed toward the back hallway.

"I'm making a call."

Joe left the table and headed for the back hallway. The restrooms were down a short corridor that held only a payphone bolted to the wall. Chrome handset. Yellowed keypad. A taped sign above it: OUTGOING CALLS ONLY.

Perfect.

Reacher checked the hallway once, then picked up the receiver. The dial tone buzzed with static. He fed coins into the slot and dialed a number he still knew by heart.

Two rings. Then a clipped voice answered.

"Pentagon directory."

"Major Sorenson, Army G-2," Reacher said.

A pause. Then: "One moment."

Clicks. More static. Then another voice came on—older, rasped from too much coffee and too many nights on duty.

"Reacher?" Sorenson said. "Jesus, I haven't heard from you since Berlin."

"Yeah," Joe said. "Sorry for calling like this."

"When a guy like you calls out of the blue, there's no 'sorry.' Just a problem. So what is it?"

Reacher kept his voice low. "I need information on someone we both knew. Bill Kinsman."

Sorenson exhaled slowly, like he was looking around his office before talking. "What do you want to know?"

"Anything you can find. After-action assignments. Last known address. Family, if he's got any. Travel orders. Redactions. Suspicious transfers. Anything in his record that doesn't add up. I need a trail."

"You trying to find him?"

"Yes."

Sorenson muttered something under his breath Reacher couldn't quite catch. Then: "Why now?"

"Let’s just say his name came up in a room where it shouldn't."