“The Magazine. I mean, isn’t that clever? Although that’s the translated name. It’s something else in Dutch. I don’t think I could speak Dutch. The words are too long and there are too many consonants.”
He smiled and quipped, “But they have great coffee and even better weed.”
“They’re one of the hottest online publications in Europe, Travis. And their subscription base and Hummingbird’s sweet-spot users are a perfect mesh. We’ve been trying to beef up our international exposure and this will do it.”
Her enthusiasm made him feel better, even this early in the morning.
“Go knock ’em dead.”
Her smile faded. “I forgot to ask you before. Why were the police here yesterday morning? It was early but I got woken up when I heard them knock on the door, and then I saw the police lights outside. You know my room faces the street.”
“Oh, that? It was... nothing.”
She looked at him crossly. “Travis, the police don’t show up for nothing.”
“Okay, I was working out at the high school like I always do and somebody tried to mug me.”
“Mug you!”
“I’m fine, Jill, just fine. It was just a couple of punks.”
“Did... did they hurt you?” She ran her gaze all over him. Fortunately, he’d had the presence of mind to put his bandaged hand behind his back so she wouldn’t see he’d been wounded.
“No, not at all. They saw how big I was and they just took off. But they had a knife and stuff, so I thought I better alert the police. So, not to alarm you or anything, but keep your eyes open, okay? Anything looks suspicious, call the cops. And you’re really bad about not locking the back door when you come in from the garage. And lock your car up. Start doing all that, okay? None of us can be too careful.”
“Sure, Travis, I will.” She looked at his workout clothes. “Should you go back over there after that?”
“I’m not.” He held up a flashlight. “I’m just going to go for a run. Now, go get some Dutch people to start dating.”
Her smile returned. “I will. Thanks.”
As he walked off, Devine thought that if Hancock tried to do anything to Jill or Helen or Will, Devine would hunt the man down and rip him apart.
Later, showered and changed into his suit, Devine walked off to the station.
On the train he kept checking his phone to make sure the surveillance camera was still working. He still marveled at the amount of money and transactions moving through that digital space.
He didn’t expect to see Michelle Montgomery after what had happened the previous night, but he was wrong, because there she was in her bikini. She didn’t look at the train or wave. She looked tired; her shoulders slumped. She must have come back here with Cowl. He didn’t blame her for getting up early to meditate by the pool after what had happened the previous night.
I do owe her more than I could ever repay.
He got to the city and jumped on the subway. He checked his phone again and got a shock.
The entire operation in Area 51 had shut down. The computer screens were black. The servers were no longer humming. It was dead.
When he got to the office building two men were standing out front. For some reason he thought they were waiting for him.
Shoemaker and Ekman looked like they had been up all night.
Devine approached them and said, “I thought I looked like crap until I saw you two.”
“Stuff the bullshit, Devine. We have a major problem, which means you have a major problem.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Where were you last night between midnight and three?”
“Home.”
“Anybody verify that?”
“At that time people are in bed, including me. And what do I need another alibi for, anyway?”
“Jennifer Stamos was found murdered at her home,” said Ekman grimly.
Chapter 52
To say Cowl and Comely was like a morgue might have been an understatement, Devine thought.
Everyone looked on edge. Everyone looked like they wanted to be somewhere else.
Me included.
The firm had had an all-hands-on-deck meeting at nine o’clock in the largest conference room. Surprisingly, Brad Cowl didn’t speak. He wasn’t even there. Neither did the mysterious Anne Comely pop out of a cake and give her two cents’ worth to the troops. Instead, one of the top executives provided scant information about the crime.
Stamos had been found in her bedroom. The police had not released any information on how she had died. When someone asked who had found her and called the police, the executive said he didn’t know. The firm was providing counselors for anyone who wanted them.
And that was about it. Everyone went back to work.
And that included Devine, until a message dropped into his personal mailbox.
And there goes Jennifer. It was only a matter of time. You can only love one person. After that, you love and lose. And she lost. I will spare you the more intimate details. It wasn’t pretty. And it wasn’t fun. But it had to be.
Devine stared dully at the message. Again, he didn’t recognize the sender. It was just a series of numbers like last time.
Devine texted Montgomery, asking if she could meet him for lunch in the city. She texted back in the affirmative and he ducked out of the office around twelve thirty.
They met roughly halfway between the Cowl Building and her walk-up in SoHo. Montgomery had on white jeans and a blue short-sleeved blouse. Her features were strained and her eyes were puffy.
Devine had a terrible thought. “Wait a minute, he didn’t—”
She held up a hand. “No, he didn’t force himself on me. I... I let him. I encouraged it, actually.”
“You didn’t have to do that, Michelle. When I said ‘distract him,’ I didn’t mean—”
“Then what did you mean?” she shot back. “For me to read him fucking poetry? As soon as I got back he grabbed the phone and was going to make a call. I had to think fast and that was the only thing I could think of.”
“God, I’m an idiot. I’m so sorry.”
“Just... just forget it. It’s over and done with. It’s not like I haven’t screwed the guy before. It’s the only reason he has me around.”
“You’re taking this pretty calmly.”
“Sex is sometimes just sex, Travis, okay? Men look at it differently than women. So long as I controlled things and it ended on my terms, I can deal with it. So please just deal with it too, okay?”
“Okay,” he said quickly.
They went inside a small brick-faced café, sat at a table in the back, and ordered. After they got their drinks Montgomery said, “Did you get what you were looking for on that floor?”
“Yes.”
“What’s going on?”
“Transfers of money in amounts that are beyond belief. And that money is being distributed to lots of different entities, which, in turn, use it for other purposes.”
“But isn’t that what Brad’s company does? What all those companies do?”
“Not like this.” He took a sip of his iced tea. “Something about this has me confused.”
“Just one thing? Wow, you’re way ahead of me.”
Devine continued, “I was sure that Cowl had framed me in connection with Sara’s murder, cloning my security card and putting me on the security video around the time of her death.”
“What?” she gasped.
“Yeah, that’s right, I didn’t tell you that before.”
She looked at him suspiciously.
He said in an exasperated tone, “I didn’t do it, Michelle. I talked to the night security guard at the building, and he told the cops no one came in at the time the video of me was on the security film and my security card showed up on the entry log. So the frame would have been worthless. But Cowl didn’t know that.”