The Terminal List

Back at Reece’s home, Reece scours the information that Ben retrieved from Holder’s computer. Using this information, he develops a list, which he writes on the back of a family portrait that Lucy drew of their family. There are four names on the list: Josh Holder, Marcus Boykin, Saul Agnon, and Steve Horn.

Reece wakes up to a message from his friend Liz Riley offering help and assistance during his grieving process. Liz is an extremely loyal friend, primarily because Reece saved her life in Iraq. Reece and Liz met in Iraq after Liz’s helicopter was hit by a grenade. The crash killed her copilot and severely injured Liz. Reece and his team rescued Liz, disobeying direct orders in the process. Liz’s injuries ended her military career, and she now works as a private pilot for a Texan oil tycoon.

Katie and Reece make plans to meet in Chinatown for lunch. As Reece leaves to head home, he is almost hit by a yellow taxicab, noting that he needs to be aware of his surroundings because he’s still in danger.

Reece heads to Los Angeles. Despite this violating California’s gun laws, he brings plenty of weapons in case anything happens. Katie arrives, and Reece starts filling her in on what he’s learned about the Project: He believes that his team was used as “guinea pigs” for a new drug that gave them all tumors and that the people behind the project arranged to have them all killed to cover it up.

Reece asks why Katie is so invested in helping him. She explains that her father was an army doctor in Czechoslovakia who rose through the ranks and was disgusted at how the oppressive leaders acted and treated people. He turned over important medical histories to the CIA because he felt like it was the right and just thing to do. Eventually, the police found out, and the family went into hiding. He sent one final message to his handler before disappearing. The CIA was willing to abandon him, but his handler was not, and he risked everything and disobeyed direct orders to get Katie’s family out of Czechoslovakia. The handler was Thomas Reece, James’s father. Part of the reason that Katie is helping Reece is because she feels like her family owes his family.

Kamir receives a text message sending him to a restaurant in Chinatown. He goes to the restaurant and waits for Reece.

Katie and Reece finish and pay, and Reece walks her to her car. Kamir sees Reece and tries to get as close as he can to shoot Reece.

Katie asks Reece about his biopsy, and he tells her that he assumes he’s terminal. To avoid looking at her sad face, he turns his head, which allows him to see a yellow taxicab. He shoves Katie to the ground, grabs his gun, and shoots Kamir dead. Reese approaches the taxi and grabs the packet of information that Kamir had on him. He realizes this wasn’t random and goes back to get Katie, telling her that they need to go somewhere safe.

Reece studies the evidence he found in the taxicab on the drive home. He knows that the assassination attempt has to be related to the Project but can’t figure out how he was tracked to Chinatown.

While he only has four names, he believes that he can gather information on the rest of the list as he kills. He plans to execute the people on the list quickly and efficiently.

Reece realizes that his house has probably been compromised, so he reaches out to Ben for access to a safe house. He decides to spend one last night in his family home before leaving in the morning.

Reece goes to a strip club and asks a dancer if she likes to “party,” which is code for partaking in drugs. She says that she does, and he asks her if she can get him some drugs. Once she believes that he isn’t a cop, she goes and talks to the DJ, bringing back four methadone tablets. Methadone is sometimes used to treat heroin addiction but also can be used as a pain reliever. However, it is difficult to get the dosage right, often leading to lethal overdoses. Reece buys the methadone and leaves.

At home, Reece puts two of the methadone tablets, two tablets of alprazolam (also known as Xanax), and some carisoprodol (a type of pain medication) in a plastic bag and crushes them into a fine powder.

J.D. Hartley, Tedesco, Horn, Howard, and Agnon meet at Capstone Capital to discuss what to do about Reece. Hartley is upset and accuses the men of being incompetent. Horn suggests using mercenaries to finish the assassination, but Hartley refuses because it will draw too much attention and suspicion. Hartley tells the men to figure out a plan or they will lose the Hartleys’ support.

Reece pulls over in the desert, making sure to pick an isolated location. He pulls out his rifle and practices various ways of shooting. It turns out that the rifle was made by Reece’s father, and he admires the painstaking work that went into creating the weapon. His father had given him this rifle the last time he saw him before he died. It came with a note: “James, Precision with a rifle requires precision in thought. Don’t miss, Son. Love, Dad” (188).

Reece continues taking practice shots, factoring in the wind, location, and distance. He is figuring out the most effective way to kill Marcus Boykin.

After practicing and testing out his various weapons, Reece goes to visit his mother in an assisted living facility. Judy Reece had a stroke, and her dementia worsened following Reece’s father’s death. Because Reece does not think that she will understand him, he tells her everything that has happened. She tells him a Bible story about Gideon’s army that won a battle while vastly outnumbered with the help of God, telling Reece that he is one of the chosen warriors and that he should stay vigilant. Deeply moved by his mother’s speech, he kisses her goodbye.

Steve Horn and Josh Holder meet to shoot clays at a shooting range. The men discuss how they should get rid of Reece, especially since Kamir failed to kill him. Holder discusses the fact that he is unable to track “that ancient piece of shit Land Cruiser” because there is no GPS in the car (197). Horn wants Holder to handle it, but Holder resists, instead asking for a cut of the Project’s proceeds. After some negotiation, Horn agrees to give Holder 5% of the proceeds if he succeeds.

Reece spends a week surveilling Marcus Boykin, observing that Boykin is an easy and highly visible target. He then travels into the mountains to find a perch overlooking the highway that will fit his plan for Boykin. Satisfied, he goes into town, where he receives a message from Katie telling him that she’s safe and a message from Ben informing him that there is no information on the gang members who killed his family.

Reece hikes to his perch and builds a fire. He reminisces about one of his favorite memories of Lauren and Lucy. Before his last deployment, the three of them went camping. Lucy and Reece stayed up eating s’mores and looking at the stars. Reece returned to that trip in his mind many times throughout his deployment for peace and comfort. As he drifts off to sleep, Reece says, “See you soon, baby girl,” to Lucy (204).

The Lincoln County sheriff arrives at the site of the crash detailed in the Prologue and is filled in by the emergency workers on site. The working theory is that because it’s the opening day of deer hunting season, a hunter went to shoot a deer and shot too high, leading to him accidentally shooting Boykin instead. The sheriff accepts this story and leaves the scene.