The 6:20 Man

Chapter 78

Devine and Montgomery took their leave from the detectives, and Staten Island.

As they cabbed it back to Manhattan, Montgomery said, “So, Myers killed four people in exchange for a new pickup truck?”

He glanced at her. “I’ve seen people do it for a lot less than that, Michelle.”

They rode the rest of the way in silence.

Devine took the train back out to his house after dropping off Montgomery at her hotel, and walked home from there.

Valentine wasn’t on the couch or in the kitchen filling his belly. Overhead, Devine could hear Tapshaw tap-tapping away on her computer, happy as a clam. Helen Speers stood in her doorway and stared at him as he came up the stairs.

“Busy day?” she said.

“Another dead body found.”

“Who was it this time?” she asked calmly.

“You’re not surprised?”

“What’s one more?”

He stood in front of her and shook his head. “I really don’t get you.”

“You don’t have to. Just like I don’t have to get you. Where’s your friend Michelle?”

“In a safe place. So, you like the Glock over the Sig?”

“And you like the Sig Sauer over the Glock, good Army man that you are. But diversity makes the world go round. I’m living proof of that.”

She closed the door.

He knocked on Valentine’s door but there was no answer. He tried the knob. It turned and he poked his head in. “Will, you in here eating pizza under the bedcovers?”

But Valentine wasn’t there. He’d never been in Valentine’s room before. What was astonishing to him was how neat and clean it was. Bed made, desk tidy. Monster computer screens that rivaled Tapshaw’s. Some books in Russian were on a shelf. Shoes lined up against one wall. He looked in the closet and saw that the clothes were neatly hung and separated by pants and shirts. His dresser was just as organized.

He had gotten adept at doing searches like this back in the Army. Out on patrols, they would frequently have to work their way through the homes of suspected Taliban and Al-Qaeda allies and informants. And those guys really knew how to hide stuff, he had discovered.

He looked over the desk and saw some Post-it notes affixed to the screen. They were all in Cyrillic. He smiled. Nice little piece of security there. In one desk drawer were some framed photos. They looked to be about twenty years old or so, judging by the clothes the people wore. A man and a woman were holding a baby with a girl around six next to them. Maybe that was Valentine’s family back in Mother Russia. He might be the baby boy.

He heard a noise downstairs. Devine put the photo back, closed the door, and left the room. He knocked on Tapshaw’s door just as Valentine came up the stairs.

His expression was serious, focused, Devine thought, until he saw Devine. Then Valentine smiled, and said, “Dude.”

Yeah, dude. “Hey, Will, how goes it?”

Tapshaw opened her door in her fluffy bunny slippers and capri pants with a white top. “Hey, guys. Is this a party or what?”

Speers opened her door and looked out. She eyed everyone and said, “All we do is pass each other every day and night. How about we go out for some beer and chips, roomies? And actually get to know each other?”

They crammed into Tapshaw’s Mini Cooper and made the short drive to downtown Mount Kisco.

The pub was rocking, but they found an empty table outside and ordered their beers and food. Valentine also had a vodka tonic and a slice of meatball pizza.

Tapshaw took a sip of her beer and said, “I think the Taiwanese are going to invest. Not the full amount I was initially looking for, but at least half.”

“That’s great, Jill,” said Devine. He didn’t know if she had heard about Chilton’s murder, and he was not going to bring it up.

Speers looked at her and said, “How did you get into the online dating space? I know your background because I googled you. You could be working for NASA or NSA.”

“I got offers from both while I was at MIT. But while NASA does many wonderful things, I’d rather focus on this planet. And the NSA? I don’t want to spy on people. I want to help them be happy.”

Valentine finished his vodka tonic in one impressive gulp. “But people can be happy alone. I am example of this. I do not need nobody to be, as you say, happy. I am happy with me.”

“Come on, Will, everyone needs somebody,” countered Tapshaw.

Devine eyed him. “How’d you end up in Mount Kisco doing what you do?”

“I can do what I do from anywhere. This is nice place. I move around a lot before, but this is nice place. I stay here.”

“Where were you before?” asked Speers.

“In big city of New York. But I did not like it. Too many people. Remind me of Moscow, only in Moscow people either stay home or go to bar. They do not, how you say, wander around. You wander around there, you get shot or arrested.”

Tapshaw said, “Well, I like it here, too. But I also like to travel. I did that to learn about what people wanted from each other. That helped me put my platform together. Other sites ask you all these questions to build a profile so they can match you with a person of like interests. And we do some of that, too — but what about the old saying, ‘Opposites attract’? A great relationship doesn’t mean that the people are carbon copies of each other. Then it’s like you’re staring in a mirror every day. What about two very different people getting together and learning from each other? Changing what they like and dislike because they have someone who lets them see another slice of life?”

“Me?” said Valentine. “I want another slice of pizza. Then I am happy man.”

Tapshaw tittered at this, but Devine didn’t join in. Speers had eyed Valentine in a way that Devine didn’t like. A thought suddenly hit him.

Did these two know each other before? But if they did, why was she searching his room?

Then he thought about the picture in Valentine’s room. And the girl.

“Hey, Will, do you have family back in Russia? Brother? Sister?”

Valentine finished his beer before answering. “I have nobody, dude. Nobody. Way I like it.”