Straight Jack: The Hunt for Jack Reacher

By Diane Capri

The next gripping Hunt for Jack Reacher Thriller!

"Make some coffee. You'll read all night." Lee Child

A wanted man. Wanted...dead.

Four men in a van barrel toward Chicago on a crime spree fueled by greed and vengeance. One man driving, another preoccupied with the sophisticated plan. In the back, a new recruit worried and wary, another angry and hot-headed.

A day behind them, at a lonely motel in an out of the way New Mexico town, an unthinkable murder brings FBI Special Agent Kim Otto to a dead stop.

Soon, Otto realizes the murder is tied to a massive crime wave.

Otto and her new partner pursue Reacher's prey to Chicago and reconnect with his old friend. 

Frances Neagley fills in a few missing pieces and teams up with Otto in a race to stop the killers before a powerful unknown enemy can destroy them all.

"Full of thrills and tension, but smart and human, too. Kim Otto is a great, great character — I love her." Lee Child, #1 World Wide Bestselling Author of Jack Reacher Thrillers including Blue Moon and The Sentinel.

The Hunt for Jack Reacher series enthralls fans of John Grisham, Lee Child, David Baldacci, Michael Connelly, Karin Slaughter, Lisa Gardner, and more:

"Diane writes like the maestro of the jigsaw puzzle. Sit back in your favorite easy chair, pour a glass of crisp white wine, and enter her devilishly clever world." David Hagberg, New York Times Bestselling Author of Kirk McGarvey Thrillers

"Expertise shines on every page." Margaret Maron, Edgar, Anthony, Agatha and Macavity Award Winning MWA Past President and MWA Grand Master

Readers Love the Hunt for Jack Reacher Series and Diane Capri:

"I have been a Reacher fan for years and was excited when I heard of Diane Capri's take on 'Finding Reacher'."

"Diane Capri's series is a good companion to Child's Reacher books and recaptures the flavor of the Reacher mystique. I am waiting anxiously for the next book in the series and the next and the next, and so on." 

"All Child fans should give it a try!" 

Award winning New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author DIANE CAPRI Does It Again in another Blockbuster Hunt for Jack Reacher Series Novel

• Language: English
• Publisher: Diane Capri
• Release date: Nov 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9781942633563

Book preview

DEDICATION

Perpetually, for Lee Child, with unrelenting gratitude.

Dear Friends,

Straight Jack is the thirteenth novel in my Hunt for Jack Reacher Series, and I couldn’t be more excited for you to read it! More than two million readers already love the Hunt for Jack Reacher Series books—including Jack Reacher’s creator, Lee Child. Thank heavens! Whew!

The first question new readers usually ask me is how I’m allowed to write about Jack Reacher. The short answer is that Lee Child and I are friends, and he’s a big fan of my work. I write these books with his full support, for which I’m eternally and unrelentingly grateful. I’ve included his Reacher Report at the end of this novel in case you’re not signed up to receive email from Lee directly (and you can sign up to hear from him on his website if you’d like to).

I hope you’ll see right away why amazing #1 worldwide publishing phenomenon Lee Child calls my books "Full of thrills and tension, but smart and human, too." And why Lee gave the series an enthusiastic two thumbs up when he said, Kim Otto is a great, great character. I love her!

The second question I often hear is about the sourcebooks for my stories. As many of you already know, every Hunt for Jack Reacher Series novel uses one of Lee Child’s Reacher novels as its sourcebook. I’m not writing sequels here, though. FBI Special Agent Kim Otto has a totally new story every time, and that story spins off to a life of its own.

The Straight Jack sourcebook is A Wanted Man.

The sourcebooks are fun to read either before or after my Hunt for Jack Reacher Series books, and readers tell me they love both. Each of my books is a complete story, and, like Lee Child’s original novels, my books do not need to be read in any particular order. (Although many readers enjoy reading the books in publication order.)

A list of sourcebooks and publication order can be found in the back of this book here and on my website here: https://dianecapri.com/books/free-book-list-pdf/

The third most frequent question I get is when the next Hunt for Jack Reacher book will be published. Straight Jack is the sixteenth book in my series, consisting of three exciting short reads and now, thirteen novels. I’m working on book number seventeen, novel number fourteen, now. There’s a link to preorder the next novel at the end of this book, so you won’t miss out! You can find a complete list of all of my books here: http://dianecapri.com/books/

Please sign up for my mailing list to receive advance notice of new releases and lots of other exclusive stuff for reading group members only. You can do that here: http://dianecapri.com/get-involved/get-my-newsletter/

While you’re waiting for a new Hunt for Jack Reacher Series book, please give my other books a try. I believe you’ll enjoy them just as much. And either way, let me know what you think. You can write to me anytime, and I hope you will. I’d love to get to know you better. You can always reach me here: http://dianecapri.com/get-involved/message/

Lee Child also suggests that you Make coffee. You’ll read all night. If you enjoy my books, I hope you’ll recommend them to your friends who love to read mystery/thriller/suspense, too.

Meanwhile, thanks so much for reading. It’s an honor and a pleasure to write for readers like you!

Caffeinate & Carry On!

DianeCapri

A WANTED MAN

By Lee Child

There was no point in making a plan. No plan could survive the first exchange of fire. No plan ever did. Except in this case it was impossible to make a plan, anyway. Because there was no information.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Kim Otto

William Burke

Carlos Gaspar

Charles Cooper

Lamont Finlay

Frances Neagley

Marion Morrison (Morrie)

Petey Burns

Doug Jerzekowski (Doug XYZ)

Moe Smith

Ray Vance

Andrew Mitchell

Hugh Sullivan

and

Jack Reacher

CHAPTER 1

Thursday, May 19

Las Vegas, NV

11:05 a.m. (PDT)

FBI Special Agent Kim Otto’s plans for the day were scrapped without notice. She was planning to interview Andrew Mitchell, a Senior Agent in Charge in the FBI’s Chicago field office. Formerly assigned to anti-terrorism in Kansas City, he had tangled with Reacher seven years ago. The Boss believed Mitchell had unreported intel on that operation worth pursuing now.

The meeting was scheduled and confirmed.

Until it wasn’t.

Her partner should have been discharged from the hospital this morning. She’d arrived to collect him and head to the airport, which didn’t happen.

The doctors said Burke needed more intravenous antibiotics. Belly wounds were notorious infection risks, they said.

He’d be released tomorrow.

The situation was far from ideal. She shrugged. Nothing she could do about it. When there’s only one choice, she didn’t bother to struggle against reality. She turned to altering her plans.

Burke, on the other hand, never accepted anything gracefully. He was livid about his forced confinement and wanted to leave the hospital against medical advice.

The Boss won’t like it, Kim said, shaking her head, but she handed over the burner phone that would connect him directly to the man who called the shots where their assignment was concerned.

I’ve had worse injuries before. I’m fine. Reacher’s got a long head start already. We’re losing ground here, Burke argued as he waited for The Boss to pick up. We need to get to Chicago and then wherever we’re going after that.

You tangled with Reacher last night and lost. So you want another chance. I get it. The Boss was not moved. But the docs say you’re not ready. The last thing I need to explain is a dead agent. You’ll stay in the hospital and do what they tell you. End of story. You can hit the ground running tomorrow.

He came at me from my blind side, Burke growled in defense of his failure to succeed against Reacher.

I don’t have time to argue, The Boss said. He’s been in the wind before. Otto can keep working while you’re confined. She doesn’t need you to bloodhound Reacher.

Which was true.

But The Boss’s suggestion that Kim could succeed where Burke had failed ticked him off again. He jabbed the button, ending the call without signing off.

Kim tried to cheer him up for another ten minutes before she gave up. They’d been partnered six days, and she didn’t know him well. But she’d learned that FBI Special Agent William Burke could be one touchy dude, as prickly as any wild beast when his skills were questioned.

She couldn’t really blame him for that. She didn’t tolerate that kind of disrespect, either.

I’ll get busy. We’ll touch base later. And I’ll pick you up in the morning. A twenty-four-hour delay before we hit Chicago won’t matter, just like The Boss said, she told him on her way out, ignoring the thundering anger on his face.

At the hospital parking garage’s exit kiosk she lowered the window, paid five dollars for an hour’s parking, and rolled the big Lincoln Navigator out into the sunlight.

Away from downtown and the tourists who flocked there, traffic on the boulevard was lighter and moved along at the speed limit.

She’d already chosen a solid investigatory target. To make the most of the unexpected free time, she needed a good place to start. The Boss had access to all the resources and she had none.

Kim punched the call button on The Boss’s burner phone and turned left on the boulevard toward her hotel on the Las Vegas strip.

The phone’s ringing echoed through the speakers in the empty cabin.

Kim slowed behind a line of traffic stopped at a red light ahead. The suburban Las Vegas boulevard was lined on either side with business establishments of all sorts. She counted eight of the usual fast-food joints on one corner alone.

Burgers, chicken, Chinese, Mexican, noodles, sandwiches, frozen yogurt, and pizza.

The shapes and sizes were familiar because fast-food spots populated the country these days, the way diners once did. Recurring repetitive brands made most suburbs in America seem more homogenous than they actually were.

They also made grabbing a quick lunch a lot more predictable.

Kim noticed a drugstore chain on the far corner of a strip center, anchored on the other end by a Walmart. Both were good places to pick up new burner phones and a few other things, like maybe snacks for her room back at the hotel.

She grinned. Kim didn’t mind giving The Boss a heart attack when she presented her outrageous minibar bill. But the selection of junk food and drinks in the room was too limited for an extended stay.

The Boss’s phone had been ringing for a solid five minutes at least. She gave up and disconnected. He’d call back when he felt like it.

Meanwhile, she was on her own here. Again.

When the red light changed, she rolled through the intersection and turned into the parking lot of the strip center on her right. The shopping center filled the whole block. The open lot was about half full of vehicles and a few people heading into and out of the stores.

Smaller eateries perched on the corners at the strip mall’s entrances. There was a drive-up ATM located in the center of the pavement, about halfway between the boulevard and the stores. On one side of the lot was a row of six electric vehicle charging stations, three of which were in use.

Kim shook her head and murmured, If you’ve seen one strip mall in America, you’ve seen them all.

She didn’t often agree with him, but The Boss had made the right decision back at the hospital. Right for Burke and right for her, too.

Reacher had bested Burke last night when her partner was at full strength and well-armed. He’d left Burke writhing in pain, bleeding after a knife fight.

If they tangled again before Burke was fully recovered, Reacher could easily kill him.

She cocked her head as one true thing ran through her mind again.

Reacher could have killed Burke last night. But he hadn’t. Kim wanted to know why.

So far, the answer to that question and several more had eluded her. She turned her attention to locating a parking spot for the big Navigator.

It’s like driving a bus, she murmured, seeking a place to park with plenty of room on all sides.

For convenience, shoppers had left their vehicles near the various stores in the strip center. Most were parked at the other end, near the Walmart.

Kim turned toward the drugstore, hoping she could complete her shopping faster there. Those big box stores usually had busy checkout lines of shoppers longer than the never-ending queue of screaming fans at a Beyoncé concert.

The burner phone rang, startling her. It was The Boss, returning her earlier call.

Otto. She picked up, then added a little snark to her reply. Nice of you to call me back.

I’m busy, he snapped in return. What do you want?

She shook her head as the SUV rolled past an elderly Asian couple standing at the ATM. They must have been dropped off or left their car parked nearby and walked up. Both were tiny and bent almost double with age. A strong wind might have blown them over.

The old guy was facing the ATM’s screen, peering through his bifocals, slowly and deliberately punching the buttons, holding a deposit envelope in one hand. The old woman peered over his shoulder, coaching him through the process.

Kim’s attention was diverted from the couple when she spied a parking spot near the drugstore entrance and headed in that direction.

She replied to The Boss, Petey Burns is the best lead I’ve had for a long time. We know he was traveling with Reacher. I might gather some useful intel if I had a solid place to start.

Before he had a chance to reply, she glanced into the rearview mirror and caught an odd movement in her periphery. She turned her head to get a better look.

CHAPTER 2

Thursday, May 19

Las Vegas, NV

11:25 a.m. (PDT)

A man wearing a surgical mask, sunglasses, and a ball cap that shaded his face ran up behind the old man at the ATM. He snatched the envelope and shoved the old man to the ground.

The old woman screamed a torrent of words in a language Kim didn’t understand and grabbed the mugger’s arm. She held on, refusing to let go as the two engaged in a savage tug of war.

The mugger attempted to shove the old woman aside, but she didn’t release her hold on his arm. She kept screaming while her husband struggled to stand.

If the mugger managed to break free of her hold, he’d fling her to the ground. Her fragile old bones would easily shatter when she hit the pavement.

When he couldn’t shake her off, the attacker reached behind his back with his free hand and pulled a pistol from his belt.

The old woman continued the stream of incomprehensible words and turned her face away. But she didn’t release her two-fisted grip on his arm.

When the old man looked up from the pavement and saw the gun, he began to yell, too.

Conditions were evolving quickly. The situation had turned from a simple snatch-and-go assault toward a possible double homicide.

Kim steered the big SUV out of the driving lane, slammed on the brakes, and slid the transmission into park.

What’s going on? The Boss demanded.

Attempted robbery. The victims aren’t capitulating. He’s got a gun. Call for help. She unlatched her seatbelt, opened the door, and slid onto the pavement, running the moment her feet hit the ground.

The old man had managed to get up onto one knee, struggling to push up with his cane. The robber kicked him viciously, knocking him to the ground again, while the scrawny woman continued her valiant tussle.

Kim shook her head. The old girl was stronger than she’d first appeared. Which was escalating this thing well beyond reason.

The mugger moved the pistol around his torso and brandished it close to the old woman’s terrified eyes. He snarled something, but Kim couldn’t hear the words.

Stop! Kim yelled.

She sprinted to reduce the gap between her SUV and the mugger, but she wasn’t close enough to stop him. Nor did she have a clean shot from here. The three were engaged in a deadly dance, tangled and inseparable.

The attacker pointed his gun directly at the old woman’s face. He couldn’t possibly miss her if he fired from that distance.

Kim attempted to distract him long enough to save the old woman’s life.

Stop! she yelled again as she poured on more speed. Leave her alone!

This time, the mugger heard. He glanced up, startled.

He saw Kim running straight at him.

He shook his head, confused, trying to sort out the situation. He seemed to realize he had precious few seconds to make up his mind.

Not enough time to kill all three.

Should he shoot the screaming crazy old woman or apply his gunfire to the interfering young one rushing toward him?

His instant of indecision proved disastrous.

While he was distracted by Kim’s approach, the old woman lunged forward, bent her head, and chomped a huge bite from his cheek. She held a patch of his bloody skin in her teeth.

The mugger howled and shook the old woman’s hold from his forearm, slapping the envelope he still held in his left hand toward his face to stop the blood that gushed from her bite.

The old woman fell on top of her husband. They were piled in a heap of fragile, tangled limbs on the hot pavement under the glaring sun.

The outraged robber roared and raised the pistol to shoot them both.

A moment before he squeezed the trigger, Kim leapt forward and kicked his torso swift and hard.

He bent over and grabbed his belly as she rushed to capture his gun.

Faster than she’d expected, his body flooded with adrenaline, the attacker raised his gun and struck Kim’s left clavicle a solid blow.

When the strike landed, her momentum caused her to stumble.

Intense pain shot through her shoulder, running down her arm to her fingertips.

She staggered to keep upright, giving him the brief opportunity he needed to dash away.

Kim regained her balance and gave chase, ignoring the pain in her shoulder.

The attacker ran ahead of her, five strides out of reach. His legs were longer, but she was a faster runner. She was in better shape, too.

She narrowed the distance between them just as a black sedan came speeding up and slammed to a stop a few feet ahead of the mugger.

An accomplice.

For the first time, Kim realized the attacker was not operating alone.

The sedan’s passenger door flung open. The driver yelled, Get in! Get in! Let’s go!

The robber pumped his arms and ran the last distance flat out, with everything he had, desperate to reach his getaway.

He was almost there.

He slowed to place the hand still holding the bloody envelope atop the sedan’s door to steady himself.

He lifted one leg, preparing to jump inside, gasping for breath.

It was all the advantage Kim needed to close the space between them. She jumped forward and landed a strong shove on his ass with the force of her full weight and knocked him to the ground.

The driver of the sedan realized his buddy wasn’t getting up. He peeled out, tires squealing and smoking.

The sedan sped toward the exit while Kim caught her breath.

She pulled her phone from her pocket and snapped a few photos of the escaping sedan and its rear license plate.

Kim heard sirens in the distance, coming closer, moving fast. At least one police cruiser and one ambulance. Maybe more.

Between big gulps of air, she directed him, Stay put, pal. You’re not going anywhere.

He drooped and laid his undamaged cheek against the pavement.

She flipped his cap off his head and jerked the mask and sunglasses away to snap a few shots of his face before she slipped her phone into her pocket.

Kim didn’t have a set of handcuffs. Which was okay because less than a minute later, the first police cruiser pulled up and two officers got out to take charge of the scumbag.

While the first officer dealt with the mugger, the second asked for her ID. She supplied it, along with a brief statement about the incident.

The officer nodded and thanked her. She shrugged off his appreciation.

ATM robberies have been a problem all over the Vegas area lately, the officer said. Seems like we might have a theft ring going on. This is the first one we’ve caught. So thank you for that.

I guess it’s easier than robbing a bank, Kim nodded, dusting the parking lot grime from her clothes. But ATMs usually have all kinds of security and sensors and cameras. How do the thieves get away with it?

The officer shrugged. Around here, ATM robberies tend to fall into two camps. They take the whole machine, cart it off, and bust into it somewhere to steal the cash that’s inside. Or they attack the customers, either before they make a deposit or after they get their cash out.

Do they get enough money to make the thefts worthwhile? she asked, straightening her clothes. She tucked a stray lock of hair into the tight bun she wore at the base of her neck.

Each ATM can hold about two hundred grand when they’re full, he said, nodding. And people make sizeable deposits sometimes.

Well, maybe you can break this guy and figure out how to put a stop to it. He doesn’t seem like a criminal genius.

The officer shook his head. We don’t catch the smart ones.

Burke had said something similar to her not long ago. She’d argued with Burke but didn’t bother explaining to this patrolman just how successful law enforcement could be against the smart ones.

These sorts of theft rings tend to hang together, Kim said, nodding toward the attacker. You’ll have solid DNA from this guy, thanks to the woman’s quick thinking. Run the DNA before he lawyers up. Could help find the driver of that sedan. He could be listed as a known associate in the databases.

She went over to check on the old couple. The paramedics were already well into triage. They would be okay, he said. Cuts and bruises and injured pride, mostly.

They’re lucky it wasn’t a lot worse. That guy could have killed them, Kim replied.

These folks own the Chinese restaurant over there, the EMT nodded, pointing to one of the restaurants on the corner. The robber tried to take the week’s deposit. To them, the money to pay their employees and their other bills was worth dying for, I guess.

Kim shook her head and watched a few moments more as the first responders did their jobs before she turned and made her way back to the Navigator. She still needed her supplies.

She was headed back to her room when her phone rang. She recognized the number. Only one man ever called from that number, and he rarely called.

Lamont Finlay, Special Assistant to the President for Strategy, the highest-ranking civilian responsible for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. One heartbeat away from the US Commander in Chief.

No watchdog kept tabs on him. He reported seldom and only through verbal briefings. No paper trail so much as named the missions he’d undertaken.

Everything she’d learned about Finlay marked him as dangerous. He deployed unspecified unique skills in service to her country on unidentified missions. Like nuclear power, when properly harnessed he might be useful. But she’d found nothing restraining him, not even his own word.

Was he friend or foe? Wiser to assume the worst, Gaspar always said.

She answered the call. Otto.

He chuckled as if he was mocking her business-like attitude. I heard you had a bad night. How’s your partner?

Thanks for checking in, she replied, meaning it. He’ll be okay. They’re examining him now. He’ll be released tomorrow morning. Then we’re headed to Chicago.

She found it oddly comforting that Finlay kept tabs on her, even though Gaspar was suspicious and didn’t trust him. Before this assignment was over, she had the unsettling feeling that she would need all the friends in high places she could muster.

"Why Chicago? Does Cooper think Reacher is likely on his way to meet up