After sending off Uncle Ed, the postal inspector, Danny Reagan hopped into the back seat of Jack's Hellcat. He couldn't resist the urge to poke Jack's cheek.
"How the hell did you do that?"
"Just a little disguise trick." Jack turned his head, dodging the poke, and flashed his teeth, revealing the prosthetic inside his cheeks.
He had only slightly altered his facial features and added a fake mustache—enough to fool basic facial recognition software but not great at deceiving the human eye, especially not people who knew him.
Danny wasn't dumb. He had immediately recognized Jack's squared-off jawline and fake mustache but hadn't called him out on it. Instead, he had even gone as far as bribing his uncle with a rare bottle of bourbon to get him to cooperate quickly.
He knew that for Jack to go undercover in his own city, this case had to be serious. Even when Central Park was bombed, Jack had merely avoided the media instead of using a disguise.
As Jack drove, he introduced Danny and Reacher to each other. When Danny heard that this case involved the murder of a former Army CID investigator, his eyes practically sparkled.
Setting aside the complex emotions of a retired Marine getting involved in an Army-related case, the details alone—interrogation, torture, and a body dumped from a helicopter—were enough to fire up his instincts as an NYPD detective.
Meanwhile, Reacher remained silent in the passenger seat, flipping through the stack of mail they had retrieved from the P.O. box. After a while, he found a USB drive hidden inside an envelope. His face finally lit up as he turned to Jack.
"Have I ever told you that you're pretty smart?"
"Some things don't need to be said. Everyone just knows." Jack took the USB drive and inspected it. But his expression quickly darkened.
"This thing's been tampered with."
"What do you mean?" Reacher took it back and examined it under the car's overhead light. Sure enough, he noticed faint adhesive marks where the casing had been resealed.
"We'll check it out at home. I've got someone who can handle it." Jack spun the wheel and merged onto the highway toward Long Island.
—
"You were right. The USB was modified. The circuit board's been altered—most likely rigged to destroy the storage chip if the wrong conditions are met."
Alice studied the dissected USB drive under a magnifying glass before confirming her findings.
"You mean if the wrong password is entered?" Jack, now free of his disguise, leaned against the doorway.
In the kitchen, a pot of beef dumplings was simmering on the stove. The entire fugitive task force, plus Reacher and Danny, had gathered around the dining table.
"That's my guess. I can remove the storage chip and transfer it to a new USB to prevent it from being wiped, but cracking it would be a lot easier if we had the correct password. Otherwise, we'd need a supercomputer."
Alice extended a hand, and Aubrey, who had been watching eagerly, quickly passed her a soldering iron, looking eager to please.
"Damn it. I hate guessing passwords," Reacher grumbled from the couch.
"You've said that before," Jack noted. "But you knew Franz better than anyone here. Think like an investigator and profile him."
With that, Jack returned to the kitchen, lowered the heat on the stove, and added some cold water before covering the pot again.
A short while later, JJ and Hannah brought out two large plates of dumplings, and everyone dove in. Jack made sure to set aside an extra-large portion for Reacher—easily enough for four or five people.
Aubrey stared in disbelief as Reacher devoured his food. "I didn't think I'd ever meet someone who eats more than me."
"I think you'll need this." Jack, noticing Reacher was carefully handling the broken picture frame from Franz's office, disappeared upstairs and returned with a new empty frame.
When they had left the office earlier, Reacher had taken the damaged frame with him.
"Thanks."
Reacher wasn't the type to get sentimental, but he wasn't about to act tough for no reason either. He put down his dumplings, washed his hands, and carefully transferred the photograph into the new frame.
—
"Done."
Alice announced her success, inserting the newly transferred storage chip into her laptop. A password prompt appeared on the screen.
Everyone, still holding their dumplings, crowded around her. All eyes turned to Reacher.
"Are you sure we can try as many times as we want?" Jack casually scooped more dumplings onto his plate before dumping the rest into Reacher's oversized bowl.
Alice, glancing at the seven or eight still steaming dumplings in her own bowl, swallowed hard before answering, "Yeah, I removed the security feature. Originally, you only got three attempts in two minutes before it wiped itself. That's no longer an issue."
Jack gestured toward Reacher.
The big man scowled, suddenly finding his beef dumplings less appetizing. After a long moment, he muttered, "Pittsburgh. Franz's hometown."
Incorrect password.
"Pirates? Steelers?" Jack suggested, referring to the city's Major League Baseball and NFL teams.
Incorrect.
"Primanti Brothers? No, just 'Primanti'."
"What's that?" Danny asked.
Before Reacher could answer, Aubrey jumped in. "It's a famous sandwich shop in Pittsburgh. They put fries inside the sandwich."
Still incorrect.
Reacher groaned in frustration and ran a hand through his hair.
"What kind of guy was Franz? What was his defining trait?" Jubal asked.
"Smart and cautious?" JJ offered. "He must've been to keep something this well hidden."
"The entire 110th CID unit was smart and cautious," Reacher said, his tone carrying a hint of pride.
"No, it's loyalty," Jack interrupted. "Loyalty based on admiration and respect. He even taught his kid your unit's motto. The password is probably a person's name."
Reacher's eyes lit up. "You're right. Roberto Clemente. Try his first or last name."
Clemente was the Pittsburgh Pirates' most famous hitter, a baseball legend who died in a plane crash in 1972 while on a humanitarian mission to Nicaragua.
Incorrect.
"Willie Stargell?" Jubal suggested, naming another Pirates Hall of Famer.
Alice was about to type it in, but Jack stopped her.
"I think it's Jack Reacher—try both first and last names separately."
"That's impossible," Reacher scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm dead serious." Jack picked up the newly framed photo and held it up for everyone.
"Look at Franz in this picture. Who does he remind you of? Same haircut, same scruffy beard, same rolled-up sleeves—even in uniform. He was mimicking someone."
"…"
Reacher opened his mouth to protest, but Alice had already typed in Reacher.
Access granted.
The folder opened.
A heavy silence filled the room.
Jack patted Reacher on the shoulder.
Some truths didn't need to be spoken aloud.
The weight of responsibility was clear enough.
______
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