The hero of Gregg Hurwitz’s Orphan X series, Evan Smoak, has been compared to Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. Here, Gregg imagines the meeting between Evan and Jack.
“Evan Smoak stepped onto the curb and approached the diner. He was average size, average build. Just a regular guy, not too handsome.
On this crisp spring morning he approached the diner invisibly, eyes locked on the big guy sitting at the end of the counter. Around 6’6” or just a hair under, with broad shoulders and a heavyweight reach. He was familiar from somewhere, but Evan couldn’t quite place it.
In keeping with the Third Commandment: Master your surroundings, Evan had already scouted the diner’s surrounding streets after initially spotting the man. Finally he entered. For easier egress he chose a table not a booth, picking one five and a half meters from the rear door.
He observed the large man. The man seemed to have an inner calm. His energy was settled. The man drank a cup of coffee. And then another.
A young woman next to the big man got up to leave, forgetting her purse. The man slid off the barstool. It took some sliding. Three paces to catch her. He rested an immense hand on her shoulder and she turned. Seeing him on his feet, she looked taken with him. Her hazel eyes parted a bit wider, as did her mouth.
“One thing was clear: He did not want the big man for an enemy.”
The big man extended the purse.
The young woman took it back, looked down. “Thanks,” she said. “Look, would you ever want to grab…?”
Clang.
The big man was gone out front.
Loquacious.
Evan walked outside, took the opposite side of the street. Over the next two blocks, he shadowed the big guy from about twenty feet back. Though the town was small, it was lunchtime, the foot traffic less sparse than usual. Folks were flowing out of cafes and shops, heading back to work.
The man picked up Evan’s reflection in the window of a drugstore. Evan caught the precise moment he got made. Rather than keep up the game, he stepped out into clearer view, parting from the pedestrians and closing the distance.
The man turned and faced him across the street.
Evan faced the man right back.
One thing was clear: He did not want the big man for an enemy.
No more than the big man wanted Evan for an enemy.
Evan tipped his head once, respectfully.
The crowd swirled for a moment around Evan and when it parted once more, he was gone.”
The latest book in the Orphan X series, The Last Orphan, is out now.
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Extract: The Last Orphan by Gregg Hurwitz