(Article is in Novels universe)
Karen Delfuenso is a character appearing in the novel A Wanted Man by British author Lee Child.
Character description[]
Delfuenso is said to be a woman in her early forties, unlike her male colleagues, who Reacher estimates were in their mid forties. She is said to have black hair, big eyes, pale in the face and wearing a lot of make up (after Reacher was picked up).
In A Wanted Man[]
Delfuenso says nearly nothing upon her, Alan King and Don McQueen picking Reacher up. She is however described as agreeing with the two to pick Reacher up initially. For the most of their early drive with Reacher, she remains quiet, and so far only spoke when introducing herself after King. Reacher says it’s nice to meet her upon her introduction.
After King asks Reacher about his injuries, he says they should give him some aspirin. Delfunso offers her aspirin, to which Reacher accepts, albeit only one out of the ones she has, which he deems sufficient, and thanks her. After they pass a police road check, King tells Delfunso that everything will be alright. He explains this to Reacher for being that she doesn’t like long drives. Once they leave Interstate 80 to swap drivers, King asks Reacher to get them coffee at a gas station, and adds whatever Delfunso wants, but she doesn’t respond to his notion. Despite this, Reacher gives her a black coffee, excusing that he guessed that’s what she wanted, which she expresses both confusion and thankfulness for. While continuing on the Interstate into Iowa, Reacher notes that Delfunso is blinking with her eyes up to thirteen times, which he later deduces could be Morse code. His initial conclusion is that she might be saying MBCAI, which he asks her by mimicking what he wants to say. Delfuenso dismisses that it was MBCAI she was trying to say, expressing frustration. When King wakes up, she remains quiet when he asks her to give Reacher more aspirin, which Reacher also turns down before distracting him with a different topic. Sometime later after King falls asleep again, Reacher makes another attempt to decipher what Delfuenso is saying. He concludes she is saying MYCAR, which she confirms when he asks her via mimicking, also confirming it’s her car they’re in.
Delfuenso later tell Reacher through morse code, BLOOD ON THEIR CLOTHES, possibly hinting to him that King and McQueen were involved in a crime. She also reveals to him that the suites they’re wearing are disguises, also showing her real attire, hinting she was the waitress who got carjacked. Delfuenso further tells him that she has a child, before Reacher wakes King up to talk about the fuel gauge.
After Reacher talks to King, and he goes back to sleep, Delfuenso further tells Reacher via morse that McQueen and King have guns, which Reacher acknowledges. After they arrive at a gas station on McQueen's orders, Delfuenso's face expression is described as being annoyed with Reacher. As King takes over driving, Delfuenso seemingly refuses to make any kind of contact with Reacher as they leave the gas station.
Delfuenso is said to have a scared facial impression once King drives the car fast leaving the hotel, after McQueen attempted to shoot Reacher.
Reacher meets Delfuenso again in the FBI safe hotel outside Kansas City, Missouri, alongside her daughter, Lucy. Despite Reacher asking questions about what happened after they escaped, Delfuenso is hesitant to reveal anything due to the rules enacted by the establishment. However, she decides against it and summarises what happened. She reveals King was shot two times by McQueen and placed in her seat before the car was torched by two other agents who arrived to pick them up. She also says that McQueen had aimed above Reacher’s head. Upon arriving at the safe hotel, she demanded to have her daughter with her, and the two agents went to pick her up.
Reacher joins Delfuenso and her daughter to have dinner. However, Reacher is asked by agents Bale and Trapattoni to join them at their table, so they can introduce themselves and tell him the rules of the establishment. By the time they’re done talking to Reacher, Delfuenso and her daughter have already left for their room.
Sorenson distracts her while Reacher sneaks into her room to find evidence that she is an FBI agent. After he has found what he was looking for, Sorenson and Delfuenso hear his footsteps before he appears in the doorway, saying “let’s pray”.
Reacher, Sorenson and Delfuenso settle in Sorenson‘s room where she is questioned about her involvement in the matter at hand. Delfuenso reveals that King and McQueen where headed north from Kansas to meet the victim, who was allegedly a member of the organisation, Wadiyah. She also explains that McQueen killed the victim in self defence after he had started to shout, and McQueen silenced him as to not alert King. Delfuenso also mentions that McQueen had given her the gun and that he had not actually killed King, saying she was still in character when Reacher asked about that time. Further discussion lead to her revealing that the Kansas City unit didn’t know about her involvement, but also that McQueen had been placed undercover by Washington DC to be their spy among the bureau’s own spies.
Delfuenso receives a distress signal from McQueen, she, Sorenson and Reacher armour up to head out to his hideout in Kansas City. They manage to inform Trapattoni despite his surprise, but Bale is more unwilling. Reacher tells both him and Trapattoni that they would be in trouble for not doing their jobs, and Delfuenso demands that they look after her daughter while she is gone. On their way to McQueen’s hideout, Delfuenso notably explains that they think Peter King is the leader of Wadiyah, also denouncing what Reacher was told that the brothers weren’t on speaking terms. Pretty much the contrary, Alan looked up to Peter and had always tried to prove his worth to him. She also concludes that given Alan’s alleged death, Peter would not be happy.
Delfuenso mentions that a SWAT team is eight hours away on their way from Quantico, but Reacher comments that they don’t have time to wait for them. Delfuenso still expresses that it might be a better idea. As they arrive in Kansas City, they sneak their way to the house and prepare for incoming hostiles. They plan that Reacher covers the back door, Delfuenso the front and Sorenson the basement. Despite their efforts and preparation, the house is cleared in all directions. Reacher also checks upstairs, but without any luck. Everything seems cleared, until Sorenson shouts that she found something in the kitchen.
It’s revealed that Sorenson found some remains of McDonald’s packages and she tracks the recite to a local McDonald’s outside Kansas City near the border. Delfuenso drives them all to the location, which is close to where it’s suspected that McQueen is being held. She remains optimistic about McQueen’s location being on a farm.
Once they arrive near the location, they stop and head out on foot through a field. However, Delfuenso’s thought about the location to be a farm, turns out to be untrue, as the location is revealed to be some kind of old military compound. She, Reacher and Sorenson stop and plan and discuss the worst and best scenarios. As they continue to move towards the compound, Sorenson is shot by a sniper. While Delfuenso is a bit far from Reacher, she manages to reach him again and asks if he is ok and if Sorenson was hit. Reacher tells her that Sorenson was shot. Delfuenso praises Sorenson for being a good agent, one of the better ones. Delfuenso and Reacher then debate whether or not they should move in further to the compound, which Reacher insists he should do alone. Delfuenso argues he could get himself killed, and Reacher argues it’s better that way because she has a kid. Delfunso eventually agrees to Reacher going in, and wishes him good luck. He tells her to call Perry and tell the SWAT team to land at the Whiteman Air Force Base.
Delfuenso comes to Reacher’s aid as he is confronted by an American and Syrian goon, both of whom she shouts on the spot. She reveals to him that she was the one who drove around on the two lane road with the high beams on. Initially she did it out of moral support, but later used it to her advantage. After Reacher disappeared and didn’t appear for a while, she headed inside after finding the long pause unbearable. Reacher, Delfuenso and McQueen then discuss the real story behind Wadiah’s operations. Delfuenso agrees with McQueen that Reacher has understood Wadiah despite wanting to officially not say it. Reacher reveals that they never had any chemical weapons and that it was all a hoax.
Delfuenso comments that Quantico would have liked a word with him, which he dismisses. She and McQueen also expresses agreement that they don’t believe Reacher hadn’t understood the entirety of Wadiah. Reacher asks her to drive him to the nearest crossroad, which she eventually accepts to do. Delfuenso also reveals that the State Department and the CIA doesn’t have any record of Lester L. Lester Jr, and that the victim in the pumping station was a mole from Wadiah inside the CIA.
Delfuenso expresses doubt when McQueen asks Reacher about the question he poses to Alan King, commenting that he was sleeping during that, which McQueen says he hasn’t done in seven months. The last thing he tells both her and McQueen, is the ansewer to the question, the ansewer being you can count until you reach one hundred and one.