Contents
Chapter 15
Overview
Reacher and Chang pull off for coffee and chase leads as cell service resumes. Chang reaches the Los Angeles number: Westwood, a science editor, says Keever never called and he’s writing about wheat’s origins. The note’s relevance remains ambiguous, but Reacher frames a plausible lone-obsessive narrative tying it together.
Summary
Reacher and Michelle Chang exit the highway for coffee and to safely review the messages that downloaded as they neared Oklahoma City. In the café, Chang confirms there’s still nothing from Keever and calls his numbers again, getting no response.
She then dials the Los Angeles 323 number from the motel-room note. A man answers: Westwood, science editor at the LA Times. He explains he logs all incoming calls in a secure database and finds no record of Keever, insisting Keever never called. Westwood mentions his current assignment is a feature on the origins and cross-breeding of wheat.
Chang argues the note might be unrelated, possibly left by another guest long ago. Reacher counters that, while a defense could dismiss it, a troubling alternative remains: a cash-carrying, squirrelly client on a lone, obsessive quest about “200 deaths,” pointing them to a journalist’s number scraped from the internet.
With uncertainty unresolved and no confirmation that Westwood is client or source, they decide to get back on the road, carrying forward the possibility that the note fits a coherent but unnerving obsession that could suddenly become dangerous.
Who Appears
- Jack ReacherPushes to pursue leads; interprets Westwood’s denial as fitting a lone-obsessive theory; urges returning to the road.
- Michelle ChangChecks messages, calls Keever and the LA number; speaks with Westwood; weighs whether the note is unrelated.
- WestwoodLA Times science editor; denies any call from Keever; currently writing about wheat’s origins.