The 6:20 Man

Chapter 15

“Travis?”

He had just left work when the person had called out to him. He turned to his left and there was Jennifer Stamos.

“Yeah?”

She drew closer. She was dressed more casually than he was. Newbies struggling not to drown had no latitude in their professional appearance. But her casual was not that casual. Black jacket and skirt, white blouse with a bit of cleavage exposed. No stockings because of the heat, revealing smooth skin. Sensible low-ride pumps instead of the jacked heels from the previous night.

“About what happened last night?” She eyed his facial injuries, but made no comment.

He didn’t know which “about what happened last night” event she was referring to, so he kept silent. You learned more by listening, and by speaking less your words tended not to come back to bite you. He had already made one error on that score. He just stared at her blankly.

“The fight?” she prompted.

“What about it?”

“How did you do that to those guys? They were all bigger than you.”

“I was in the Army. They teach you how to fight.”

“That’s right, you told them you were in the military. A Ranger.”

“Those guys got their shots in on me, for sure. But they knew nothing about really hurting another guy. I do. And I did, last night. But it was their choice, not mine. I walked out, they came after me. I gave them another chance to back off and they didn’t take it. So I had no choice.”

“I... I feel a little guilty. I could have deescalated things.”

“And I chose to defend myself and walk out of that alley with my brain still intact.”

“I... I couldn’t believe what was happening.”

“So what happened to them?”

“I called an ambulance, like you told me to.”

“And the police?”

“I didn’t say I called the cops.”

“Someone sure as hell would have.”

“Okay, the cops did show up, but I sort of snuck away before that.”

“Before you ‘snuck’ away, are you sure you didn’t tell anybody my name?”

She looked surprised at the inquiry. “No, I wouldn’t do that.”

“Why not? What does it matter to you?”

“Boy, you sure don’t make it easy for someone to like you.”

He composed himself and reloaded. Just dial it down, Travis. You need info and she can provide it.

“I do appreciate you not giving my name away and for warning me about the sneak attack by Rick. But when those guys’ egos act up on them and they get all pissy, they could go to the cops with a whole different angle, where they were the victims instead of being merely stupid and alcohol fueled.”

“I guess they might.”

He stared down at her. She looked very small in her two-inch satin pumps. And he looked very big in his cheap suit.

“Why were you asking all those questions about Sara?”

“Because she’s dead and I was curious,” he replied.

“Curious about what? She killed herself.”

Devine said, “Curious about why she did it. It’s happened before at Cowl. Four years ago. The guy had just been fired via the ever-so-personal email torpedo. And his fiancée gave him the ring back when she found out. So the guy ate a round from a gun he bought illegally two hours later.”

“How did you find all that out?” she said, looking both puzzled and worried.

“Come on, these days can anyone actually have a secret that someone else can’t find out about with a few computer clicks?”

“And do you have secrets?” she said aggressively.

“A ton of them. And at some point, they’ll come back to bury me.”

They may already have.

This statement seemed to take her aback. He decided to change tactics and show he actually had some empathy.

“Look, Jennifer, I’m not proud of what happened at that bar. While I was trained by the Army to do it, I don’t like wrecking guys. I gave them multiple chances to walk away and they just wouldn’t do it. But I would have much preferred it never happened.”

“Why were you at the bar?”

“If you want the truth, I saw you go in. I wanted to talk to you about Sara. She was really nice to me, and I’m beyond bewildered that she would have killed herself. I mean, she had everything to live for, unless I’m missing something.”

Stamos was quiet for a few moments. “Are you going straight home, or can we get a bite to eat and maybe have a drink? I thought we could talk. You know. About Sara... and stuff.”

He looked at his watch. It was not yet 6 p.m. They let you off early on Saturday, or so they said. Actually, he’d just walked out. There were other newbies up there still analyzing away, writing reports to later be trashed, terrified to leave their seats until the coast was truly clear. Which would, in truth, be never.

“I’m always game for a beer. And talking about Sara might be good for both of us.”

“There’s a place I know down by the water.”

He loosened the skinny tie he’d bought online for three bucks. Then he held out his hand in the direction of the harbor. “After you.”