The 6:20 Man

Chapter 42

On the train home Devine looked out the window as they passed Cowl’s place. He knew Montgomery wouldn’t be there tonight, but he still found himself staring. Muscle memory, perhaps? Or something else? Part of him had wanted to sleep with her. He was a young, single guy after all, and she was beautiful and sexy and willing, and some things were just that simple. And it wasn’t like he had sworn off sex while he was searching for Sara Ewes’s killer.

I hopped right into bed with Helen Speers, didn’t I?

But that one had been a long time building and she had walked up to him on the front porch and shared his beer and words were also exchanged and things came to a head when she made her feelings clear.

But still, he felt guilty for enjoying himself with Speers while Ewes lay dead.

By the time he had left Montgomery’s place, the passion of the moment had passed and been replaced with something far more somber and intricate. They both had been lost in thought about their lives, past and future, as he took his leave.

Whoever said life wasn’t complicated had never really lived.

Later, he walked home from the station and there was Valentine on the couch.

Devine sat down next to him and said, “I want you to see what you can dig up on the Locust Group. There are a lot of them out there, but the one I’m interested in is tied to some specific properties.” He took out his phone and texted him the information.

“What is big deal about this Locust thing?” asked the Russian.

“I don’t know, but their name keeps showing up. I’d like to know if Brad Cowl has ties to them.”

“Okay. I get on it, dude. But at some point, you need to pay for this shit. I am not freebie, I am America capitalist.”

“What’s your rate?”

“Five hundred an hour. But for you, two-fifty.”

Devine gaped. “Shit, if you make five hundred an hour, why are you living in this dump?”

“Is much better than my flat in Vladivostok. That had no door and no windows. Just blanket hung in doorway.”

Devine walked upstairs, slipping off his tie and jacket as he did so. As he passed Speers’s door it opened and there she was. She was not dressed in an alluring transparent nighty but in an NYU Law T-shirt and sweatpants. Over the woman’s shoulder he saw a stack of legal tomes and bar study guides piled on her desk.

“What’s up, Helen?”

“You haven’t asked about a lawyer yet. Don’t wait too long.”

“Actually, can we talk about that?”

She held the door open wider and stepped back. “But just talk. I’m studying.”

He held up his hands. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you have your way with me again.”

She shut the door and sat in her chair while he perched on the bed. He recalled the sexual gymnastics that had taken place right here, the heat, the intensity, her soft skin...

“Travis!” she barked.

He looked up to see she had clearly just read his sorry-ass-guy mind. “Right. The cops have been by to see me again. They really think I’m guilty, but they have no evidence. They can’t show I was there at the time in question.”

“What about cameras, security card logs?”

“Apparently there was a hiccup, or so they said. There’s nothing there.”

“Damn, that’s incredible.”

“I know. But are there other ways for them to come after me?”

“Why? Were you involved in her death?”

“I was not in any way, Helen, I’m telling you the truth. Why would I be out there busting my ass to find out who did kill her, if I’d been the one to do it?”

“Well, to make it appear as if you’re innocent.”

He knew she was right and it still pissed him off. “Well, I am innocent.” He hesitated.

“But what?” she said in a prompting manner.

“But I did have a relationship with her. We kept it secret because of the fraternization rules at Cowl.”

“Did you sleep with her?”

He took a moment to process this and form a response. “Yes. But only once.”

“Could you have been the father of the child she terminated? Because that would be a prime motive.”

“How did you know about that?”

“It’s all over the news.”

“No, I wasn’t the father.”

“How can you be sure?”

“She had the abortion in December. I started at Cowl in early February. I didn’t even meet Sara until then.”

“But do you have proof of that?” she said.

“How do you prove a negative?”

“You can’t, not in court, which means it’s irrelevant as a defense.”

Devine flopped back on the bed. “Great.”

She sat down next to him and patted his shoulder. “But it sounds like the cops can’t tie you to the murder forensically.”

He sat up and looked at her. “Not for lack of trying. And they might find another way.”

“Has anyone looked at a motive for someone killing her?” she asked.

“Just the pregnancy angle, I think. They seem to believe no one else in the whole world ever had sex with the woman other than me. And there’s something else.”

“What?”

“You can’t tell anybody.”

“I’m going to be a lawyer. If I can’t keep confidences, I won’t have a very long career.”

“I hacked into the firm’s security log entry system. The only card logged in during the time in question was... mine.”

She looked at him stoically, her gaze piercing.

“I wasn’t there, Helen. I swear.” He held up his security card. “And ask Will, he says it’s easy to clone one of these suckers. Even his little bay-bee cousin could do it, he says.”

“Go on.”

“Brad Cowl told me that he knew about my card being on the security log and also that there was video of me entering the lobby at the same time. But that can be faked, too.”

“But then this hiccup you mentioned happened?”

“Cowl basically told the cops the system went down. There’s no evidence to give them. He made that happen.”

“Why would he do that?”

He reluctantly told her about the pictures and video he had taken of Cowl and Stamos after they’d had sex.

“So you basically blackmailed the guy into not throwing the cops enough dirt to arrest you?”

He looked at her with an air of desperation. “I know it doesn’t look good, but the evidence was made up. I didn’t do it. I had to fight fire with fire.”

“No, it doesn’t look good. But have you considered another possibility?”

“Like what?”

“That Cowl doctored the evidence to incriminate you.”

“But then why not use it?” Then it all hit Devine. “Of course. He basically told me why.”

“Right. You turned the tables on him with your dirt before he could pull the trigger and throw you to the cops, so he had to change plans and stonewall NYPD.”

“He bought a company recently that can manipulate any video. Before he knew about the dirt I had on him, he basically said he wanted to get the cops off his case by framing me.”

Surprisingly, Speers was shaking her head.

“What?” he said.

“Have you considered the possibility that there might be video and entry log evidence of Cowl being in the building when the woman was killed? If so, he would definitely take steps to erase it. Then he would have the video doctored, maybe using this company he bought, and there you would be instead.”

Devine looked both intrigued by and wary of this theory. “And his motive?”

“He might have been the father of her baby. And he might have known about her abortion and decided to use that against you, because he might have found out about you and Sara having had sex. Which means, if I’m right, that he could have ended up playing you and the cops.”

Devine once more slumped back on the bed. In a hollow tone he said, “Meaning I did a deal with him to avoid being charged with Sara’s death, even though I’m innocent? And in putting together that deal, he might have destroyed the real evidence of his guilt and just gotten away with her murder?”

“What a smart boy you are.”