The 6:20 Man

Chapter 73

Devine texted Montgomery and told her he would meet her at the assisted living center where Poppy Chilton lived on the Upper East Side.

When he got there, she was waiting outside and looking distraught.

“You okay? What happened?”

“Poppy passed away.”

“What? When? Please don’t tell me—”

“No, it was natural causes. Well, sort of.”

“I’m not following.”

“There was a TV. The news was on. He saw—”

“He saw that his grandson was dead, you mean? But I thought he wasn’t capable of understanding things like that anymore.”

“The doctor I spoke with said you can never tell. There are moments of lucidity. And seeing Christian’s name on the TV screen and the fact that he was dead jolted Poppy into one of those moments. He went into cardiac arrest. They couldn’t resuscitate him.”

“And this happened last night?”

“Yes. They told me when I got here. The family is coming in for... both funerals.”

He hugged her tightly while she cried into his shoulder. When she composed herself and stepped back, she said, “We really need to nail these bastards.”

He told her about Area 51 and about the text he had sent Cowl.

“Do you think you’ll get a response? He might think you’re trying to trap him or something.”

“It’s worth a shot. And I don’t have a Plan B.”

Later, they had lunch at a restaurant on the harbor, where Devine took a minute to check in with Campbell.

Campbell said, “We had operatives posted outside the Cowl Building last night. When the moving trucks came, we were naturally suspicious but had no grounds to intervene or get a search warrant. And one of my men checked with the security guard on duty. He said he’d been told they were moving equipment in, not out, so we weren’t as concerned as we would have been. They went in through the loading dock, so we couldn’t gain access to see what was really going on. Burns my ass, though.”

Devine put his phone away and looked out at the water. This was where he and Stamos had gone that day. He eyed the Statue of Liberty and looked back to see Montgomery watching him.

“Does it feel cool that you fought to keep that ideal of freedom going?” she asked.

“While you’re actually fighting, you don’t really dwell on the big-picture stuff. It’s just surviving day to day that occupies your mind. But I felt proud to be serving my country. Even if my father didn’t see it that way.”

“Is that also why you’re working with Campbell?”

He eyed her more intently. “Why do you ask?”

“Because you talked to me about baggage. And while I can see you as a soldier, I don’t necessarily see you as some sort of federal spy in a suit.”

“You’re more right about that than you probably know.”

“It must have been bad.”

“It was bad enough. It sort of ruined everything that came before that.”

“That must’ve been tough to take.”

“Tougher than I am, apparently.”

They sat in silence for a few moments. Devine finally said, “Chilton was killed because of his connection to Cowl and Area 51.”

“But if they killed Christian for confronting Brad, why would they dump his body in Brad’s pool? That would lead the police to suspect Brad right off. There were plenty of other ways to get rid of his body.”

“Which might mean that Cowl and his partners had a falling-out. They might have done that to incriminate Cowl.”

“Does that mean he’s already dead? They clear Area 51, get rid of Christian and Brad, and go somewhere else and set up the money-laundering operation?”

Devine’s phone buzzed. He answered it and his mouth fell open. He listened for a few moments, said, “I’ll be there,” and then put the phone down. “Well, Cowl is still alive. That was him, and he wants to meet tonight.”

“Where?”

“In his penthouse.”

“Do we trust him?”

“Not with either one of our lives.”

“So what do we do? Not go? Call in the cavalry?”

“Neither one.”

“But we have to have a plan. We just can’t waltz in there to get killed.”

“Going into battle is the one thing I do really well. And you’re not going.”

She looked incredulous. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m trained for this stuff, you’re not.”

“Like you were trained when Brad was about to grab the phone and let you out only it wouldn’t have worked the elevator and your cover would have been blown right there? I was the one who stepped in and saved your ass.”

Devine drew close to her and started speaking slowly and earnestly. “Listen, I figure I have about a fifty-fifty chance of making it out of there alive. That’s good enough for me, but it’s not good enough for you. I can’t let you do that.”

“How about allowing me to make that choice?”

“Jesus, Michelle, can you just trust me on this one?”

“How about you trust me on this one?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I have a plan that I think will get us in and out alive.”

“How could you possibly know that?”

“Because I know Brad, better than you ever will. And you asked me to trust you once, and I did. How about I get the same courtesy?”

They held a stare-off for about five seconds until Devine broke it. “What’s your plan?”