Contents
Chapter 47
Overview
Reacher, Chang, and Westwood access Mother’s Rest’s hidden website, confirming retail Nembutal sales and a high-fee concierge euthanasia service. The findings raise doubts about what happened to Michael McCann and Exit, who likely couldn’t afford it. Reacher then collapses and is diagnosed with a brain contusion but refuses hospital admission.
Summary
In Palo Alto, the hacker tests an unusual external link, retrieving only a cryptic chat-room comment from “Blood” praising Mother’s Rest, then pivots to the main site. He penetrates the layers to a polished homepage framed as a serene final journey.
They review the About Us promise of end-of-life choices, then reach merchandise: three Nembutal options with prices, dosages, shipping and payment via Western Union/MoneyGram. The page confirms sales but not Merchenko’s payoff mechanism, prompting a push to reach level five.
At level five, they find a concierge service: clients arrive by train, stay in a luxury motel, and in a private suite receive either a Nembutal drink or a sleeping pill followed by lethal car exhaust piped from a distant Chevy V-8. Westwood frames it as a provocative story about future normalization; Reacher and Chang note Keever had sensed something wrong.
Reacher questions affordability: he doubts Michael McCann and Exit could pay for such a premium service, sharpening the mystery of their whereabouts. They thank the hacker and prepare to leave.
Suddenly the floor lurches under Reacher; he falls and shows confusion and headache. Chang insists on the ER. Claiming coder status for speed, they obtain a CT scan. A doctor diagnoses coup and contrecoup cerebral contusions from a blunt right-side head blow and recommends overnight observation. Reacher refuses, signs out, and they head for the hotel as Chang remains concerned.
Who Appears
- Jack ReacherLeads the inquiry online; questions the concierge model’s affordability; collapses and is diagnosed with a brain contusion but refuses admission.
- Michelle ChangPartners in the search; insists Reacher visit the ER and stays with him through the diagnosis.
- WestwoodJournalist observing; frames the concierge euthanasia as a societal trend and plans to report it.
- Unnamed Palo Alto hackerFinds Mother’s Rest site; navigates to merchandise and concierge pages; arranges transport.
- ER doctorReads the CT scan, diagnoses coup/contrecoup brain contusions, recommends observation; allows Reacher to sign out.