Ten Two Jack
BY
DIANE CAPRI
Presented By:
AugustBooks
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Praise for
New York Times and USA Today
Bestselling Author
Diane Capri
“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
“[A] welcome surprise… [W]orks from the first page to ‘The End’.”
Larry King
“Swift pacing and ongoing suspense are always present… [L]ikable protagonist who uses her political connections for a good cause…Readers should eagerly anticipate the next [book].”
Top Pick, Romantic Times
“…offers tense legal drama with courtroom overtones, twisty plot, and loads of Florida atmosphere. Recommended.”
Library Journal
“[A] fast-paced legal thriller…energetic prose…an appealing heroine…clever and capable supporting cast…[that will] keep readers waiting for the next [book].”
Publishers Weekly
“Expertise shines on every page.” Margaret Maron,
Edgar, Anthony, Agatha and Macavity Award-Winning MWA Grand Master
Copyright © 2018 Diane Capri, LLC
All Rights Reserved
Excerpt from The Midnight Line © 2017 Lee Child
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Ten Two Jack is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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eISBN: 978-1-942633-09-9
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Reviews
Copyright
Dedication
Dear Friends
THE MIDNIGHT LINE by Lee Child
Cast of Primary Characters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
More from Diane Capri
About the Author
Lee Child: The Reacher Report
DEDICATION
Perpetually, for Lee Child, with unrelenting gratitude.
Dear Friends,
Ten Two Jack is the seventh 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 the amazing #1 worldwide publishing phenomenon Lee Child calls my work, “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!”
Lee also says, “Make some 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.
The second question I often hear is about the source books. As many of you already know, every Hunt for Jack Reacher Series novel uses one of Lee Child’s Reacher novels as its source book. I’m not writing sequels here, though. FBI Special Agents Kim Otto and Carlos Gaspar have a totally new story that spins off from the source book.
Ten Two Jack’s source book is The Midnight Line.
The source books 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 source books and publication order is listed 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. Ten Two Jack is the tenth book in my series of three short reads and seven novels. I’m working on book number eleven 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 here: http://dianecapri.com/books/
I’m always working on a new book. 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/
Meanwhile, thanks so much for reading. It’s an honor and a privilege to write for readers like you!
Caffeinate & Carry On!
THE MIDNIGHT LINE
by Lee Child
2017
The West Point Superintendent, General Simpson, said, “You could put my mind at rest by letting me take your measure.”
Reacher was quiet a beat. “I get uneasy,” he said. “I can’t stay in one place. I’m sure if you gave the VA enough time, they could come up with a name for it. Maybe I could get a check from the government.”
“It’s a medical condition?”
“Some would say.”
“Does it bother you?”
“Turns out I don’t want to stay in one place anyway.”
“How frequently do you move around?”
“Constantly.”
“Do you think that’s a fitting way for a West Pointer to live?”
“I think it’s perfectly fitting.”
“In what sense?”
“We fought for freedom. This is what freedom looks like.”
CAST OF PRIMARY CHARACTERS
Kim L. Otto
Carlos M. Gaspar
Charles Cooper
Lamont Finlay
Kirk Noble
Rex Mackenzie
Tiffany Jane Mackenzie
Serena Rose Sanderson
Arthur Scorpio
Louis Thorn
Terrence Bramall
John Lawton
and
Jack Reacher
CHAPTER ONE
Thursday, February 10
4:20 p.m.
Lake Forest, Illinois
When the mansion came into view, Arthur Scorpio’s smoldering rage burst into white-hot flames, licking his damaged body as if he had burned at the stake. He rubbed his scarred scalp behind his right ear, once again feeling the heat from the tumble dryer as it had seared his flesh.
Jack Reacher had a lot to answer for. Scorpio would make him pay.
The driver, Thorn, rolled the rented SUV into the long driveway and stopped close to the front entrance of the grand old Tudor with ancient bricks, leaded windows and a spectacular view of Lake Michigan.
Much too big for one couple with no children, although the owner had lived here alone until he married.
Concealed by the thick snow blanket, none of the landscaping was visible now, and the dark clouds gave the entire place a Gothic feel. Which suited Scorpio’s mood perfectly.
He had located the mansion easily enough, the internet being what it was. A month ago, only exterior satellite views, shot in the summer, had been posted.
A lush green lawn and a garden to rival an English palace surrounded the house and extended all the way to the street. The photos showed off the back of the house, which was equally grand.
He’d become obsessed by the house. During his time in the hospital and afterward, at the rehab center, he’d spent hours staring at the images. His product was stored in there. Those who helped Reacher to steal what was rightfully his, too. Jane and her sister Rose.
What kept him going, all those long days after he survived Reacher’s effort to kill him, was planning to get his property back, leaving nothing but corpses behind.
When the mansion popped up on a real estate site about a week ago, his pulse quickened, and his eyes popped. Selling the house? Odd. Very odd. Why would they do that?
Scorpio would find Reacher again. He had scores to settle. But first things first. Because the mansion was for sale. When it sold, they’d all be in the wind, taking his product with them, no doubt. He had to act fast, even though he wasn’t ready.
The first order of business became the twin sisters. The real estate agency had posted videos of the interior, the way they do these days. He’d studied every room carefully, repeatedly, until he was sure.
Rose had moved into one of the guest suites on the second floor a while back.
He only wanted what was rightfully his. He knew precisely where to look.
“Wait here,” he said. “I’ll call you if I need you.”
“Ten-four, boss,” Thorn replied, like some idiot who spent his days watching cop shows on television.
Scorpio plopped a hat on his scarred head. He unfolded his skinny length as he crawled out of the SUV, left hand resting uselessly in his pocket. His recovery from his last encounter with Reacher was not complete. Rehab was exhausting. Rage and determination, in equal parts, fueled him on that score, too.
He stumbled awkwardly up the steps to the massive dark wood door. He lifted and dropped the door knocker against the strike plate, twice. He stepped back and leaned on the head of his cane to wait.
The agent was expecting him.
An attractive, smiling woman with expensively messy blonde hair and perfect skin opened the door. If he’d never seen photos of the sisters, he might have mistaken her for one of the twins. The twin sisters were spectacular. This woman’s facial features were pretty enough, but not spectacular.
She stepped aside to let him enter and started her prattling motor running.
“Mr. Scorpio, right? I’m Brooke Malone. Please come inside. It’s unbelievably cold out there, isn’t it? I hate February. It seems to go on forever. All that lake effect snow. And the wind! It can blow you right over sometimes…” She closed the door behind him and continued babbling like a running brook.
He tuned her out as if he’d flipped a switch in his head.
The foyer was enormous and tastefully appointed. Entire families lived in smaller spaces. A wide staircase wound up the right side of the room to a bridge on the second floor. The online videos showed two wings of the house with guest suites on each side of the center.
Rose’s rooms were in the back of the house overlooking the lake and the lawn, according to the house plans on file with the Lake Forest property tax assessor.
Scorpio cleared his throat and pounded the metal tip of his cane on the marble floor.
Babbling Brooke’s eyes widened, and her mouth briefly opened into a perfect “O” before she recovered. “Was there something, in particular, you wanted to see, Mr. Scorpio?”
He cleared his throat of the near-constant phlegm that settled there. His voice was raspy, and he struggled to produce enough volume to be heard. “I’d like to see the guest suites overlooking the lake. My daughter fell in love with the online videos of those corner rooms,” he croaked.
Mentioning the fictitious daughter seemed to solve the woman’s problem. Her frown smoothed instantly as if an airbrush had erased it. She glanced at his cane pointedly. “Would you prefer to use the elevator?” She turned to lead the way.
Bile rose in his throat. Elevators were for decrepit, weak-boned old women and broken men in wheelchairs with warm shawls covering their hunched shoulders. He glared a hole into the back of her perky sweater. Reacher would pay for reducing him to this.
Scorpio followed as she pointed out features of the house that didn’t interest him in the slightest. He was exhausted and breathing heavily long before they reached the elevator door under the stairs.
Babbling Brooke’s travelogue continued all the way to the second-floor suite, where she opened the double doors with a flourish, like a magician revealing the grand finale.
Scorpio hobbled into the suite, consisting of a generously sized sitting room, larger bedroom, and private bath.
“How many closets?” he asked, mainly for the brief respite in the constant babbling. “I can’t abide clutter, and my daughter seems to have an endless
supply of stuff.”
“I know what you mean. All kids are like that these days, aren’t they?” She nodded and smiled and continued talking as she pointed out all the features of the rooms, opening closets, doors, and drawers. She mentioned not a single thing that interested him.
Scorpio scanned for his property in every closet, cabinet, dresser, and bedside table she displayed. Rose lived here. Her coats and shoes and clothes were stored in the closets and dressers. Her toiletries filled the bathroom shelves.
He saw no room safe anywhere in the closets. He would have checked behind the artwork on the walls and knelt and searched under the bed. Two things stopped him. Babbling Brooke would have asked too many questions. And if he got down on all fours to search under the bed, he might need her help to get up again.