Chapter 38

Reacher and Chang slip through the Lairs’ backyard wedding-week event and identify Lydia Lair and her family. Lydia greets them, and Chang avoids revealing McCann’s fate. When Lydia asks if Peter is in trouble, Chang says they are private investigators and requests a private discussion.

In a study, Lydia recounts Peter’s meticulous process hiring Keever to find Michael, Peter’s adult son. She describes frequent, lengthy calls with Peter. Lydia explains Michael’s condition: intelligent but born without the capacity for happiness—an unvarying zero across emotions—leaving him quiet, compliant, and socially draining; he now is missing.

The bride briefly interrupts, and after Lydia steps out, Chang and Reacher call Westwood. He names the condition anhedonia and questions how it connects to the Deep Web and the two hundred deaths. Reacher posits Michael’s heavy computer and phone use could link to secret online groups; Westwood prepares to fly out.

Lydia returns, and Reacher asks how Michael went missing, which she says is a long story, setting up further disclosure.

Meanwhile, twenty miles south of Mother’s Rest, a well-groomed man and his contact discuss setbacks. The contact lost Hackett to arrest and reveals Chang’s Phoenix call, deducing Reacher and Chang are with Lydia, who likely knows everything Peter shared. They agree to act fast and split costs to stop Lydia from talking. The contact confirms Hackett executed McCann with a silenced shot in a park and vows to do whatever works against Reacher and Chang.