But he's going to need to understand that bigger means more dangerous, not less. If Hail finds out someone's been looking, he doesn't know, Jackson said. Not yet, Manny said. The two of them looked at each other in the early morning quiet and both of them understood that the not yet was the most important part of everything that came next. Jackson went back to his room.
He was dressed and had his boots on when his phone rang at 8:10. He looked at the screen. Unknown number he picked up. Is this Jackson Reed? The voice on the other end was male.
Smooth, careful, not aggressive. The opposite. In fact, the particular smoothness of someone who has learned to lead with calm. Who's asking? Jackson said.
My name's Thomas Carver. The voice said, "I work for a man who believes there may be some confusion about a storage unit in Putnam County. He'd like to resolve that confusion quietly before it becomes something that's difficult for anyone." Jackson's entire body went still. He kept his voice exactly level.
I don't know what you're talking about, Mister Reed. Carver said. And there was a shift in the smoothness. Not threatening, but certain. The voice of someone who knows he's holding information the other person hasn't realized he has.
We know about the storage unit. We know about the investigators who visited it yesterday. And we know that you and a young man named Ryan Carter were present. A pause. Mr. Hail is a reasonable person.
He's willing to have a conversation about how this matter can be resolved in a way that's beneficial to everyone. Jackson's hand tightened on the phone. He kept his face completely blank, kept his breathing controlled, kept every physical sign of what was happening inside his chest, the cold fury, the sudden crystallin clarity invisible to the room around him. Danny was asleep in the other bed. He did not wake him.
I'll think about it, Jackson said. Where do I reach you? Carver gave a number. He said, "Mr. Hail would appreciate a response by this afternoon." He said it pleasantly.
The way someone says something pleasant when they want you to understand that the pleasantness has a time limit. Then he hung up. Jackson sat on the edge of the bed for exactly 30 seconds. Then he stood up, crossed to Danny's bed, and shook him awake. Danny was upright and alert in 4 seconds road life and 20 years of club membership produced to a particular quality of wakefulness.
Get everyone up, Jackson said. Right now and call Ryan. Danny looked at his face and didn't ask questions. The room was full in 8 minutes. Jackson told them about the call.
He told it fast and plain. No drama, just the facts because the facts were dramatic enough without any help from him. When he finished, the room was the kind of quiet that has textured the particular silence of people who have just understood that the situation has changed dimensions. Ryan was the first to speak. He knows we found the storage unit.
Ryan said his people tracked the investigators. Manny said he has someone watching that office. He doesn't know the full scope of what's in the boxes, but he knows something surfaced. He called Jackson directly. Ryan said he said it the way someone states a fact.
They are testing for implications. Which means he knows Jackson's name. Which means which means he connected me to you and you to the Carter name, Jackson said. Which means he's traced the lease back to Margaret Carter and he knows what it means. Ryan sat very still.
He had my mother killed, Ryan said. And my father and now he knows I exist and that I've opened the storage unit. Yes, Jackson said. And he called you to try to make a deal. He called me to find out if I can be bought or scared, Jackson said.
Those are the only two tools he knows how to use. Ryan looked at him. What do we do? We call Reyes first, Jackson said. Right now before anything else, she needs to know that Hail is aware something is happening.
If she moves too fast, the case Manny started. I know, Jackson said. But if she doesn't know Hail's been tipped, she's working blind. Emily spent 21 years building that evidence. I'm not going to let it fall apart because we were too proud to make a phone call.
He had his phone out as he said it. He was already dialing. Reyes picked up on the second ring. Jackson told her about the call in under 2 minutes flat and detailed. He gave her the number Carver had provided.
He told her the timeline, the specific language of the conversation, the implied threat wrapped in the reasonable tone. When he finished, there was a brief silence on Reyes's end. How did he get your number? She said, "Same way he got our names," Jackson said. "He has eyes in more places than we thought."
Mister Reed, Reyes said. And her voice had a quality now that hadn't been there. in their storage facility, a focused urgency, the voice of someone who has just moved from deliberate to rapid. Do not respond to that number. Do not contact Carver or Hail through any channel. Do not discuss this call with anyone outside your immediate group.
Can you do that? Already done, Jackson said. We're going to need to accelerate the timeline, she said. I'm going to make some calls. Stay available.