“Not from where I’m sitting.” She hugged him more tightly. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Okay. And thanks, I guess.”
They reached the strip mall and Devine knocked on the door. It opened and they were admitted. A man in a suit led the way and ushered them in to see Campbell. He rose from behind his desk and extended a hand to Montgomery.
“Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Montgomery. Let me get the technicalities out of the way. You breathe one word of this to anyone, you’ll be spending the next twenty years in a federal prison, are we clear?”
Montgomery gave Devine a dubious look. “Pretty damn clear,” she replied.
“Sit.”
“What’s so important we had to meet this fast?” asked Devine.
“Certain lawmakers in Washington have gotten wind of what we’re doing and are seeking to put the kibosh on our mission.”
“Why the hell would they do that?” said Devine. “Enemies of this country are—” He broke off and eyed Campbell.
“Devine, there is one thing that drives our politics. It’s simple and out in the open and yet most people never give it a second thought: money. It used to be that the sources of political funding were severely limited, and those sources also had to be disclosed. That is no longer the case.” He leaned forward. “So, let me tell both of you why my humble office is really interested in Cowl and Comely.” He paused, collecting his thoughts. “We think Cowl is the key link in not just laundering money and buying parts of this country by global players all over the world, but some of the money — billions and billions of it — is going into the coffers of public officials at every level, from local to federal. Now, people do not give that sort of money without expecting something in return. That means that what was revealed in the Pandora Papers and like investigations is just the beginning. The laundered money is being weaponized to really take over this country at all levels.”
Montgomery said, “I thought there were, like, laws against that kind of stuff?”
“But if you have enough money, the laws don’t apply to you,” answered Campbell. “And certain people, some of them in high positions of power, want it to keep going. Certain others don’t want this to be uncovered and investigated because they would be directly implicated.”
“So, what do we do?” asked Devine.
“Solve this thing before they pull our plug. However, I do have one lead for you.”
“What is it?” asked Devine.
“The brownstone on the Upper East Side owned by the Locust Group?”
“The one my good buddy Christian Chilton presumably lives in,” said Devine, glancing at Montgomery, who looked uncomfortable at this change in the conversation’s direction.
“We put it under surveillance after you told us about the connection. Two people who are on an Interpol ‘keep eyes on’ list were seen entering and leaving the premises.”
“And you couldn’t grab them?” asked Montgomery.
“We had no legal grounds to do so. But these are bad people.”
“Do we know if anyone else lives there with Chilton?” asked Devine.
Montgomery answered. “His grandfather, Carroll Chilton, did. We called him Poppy. But I haven’t seen him in years.”
“Was the brownstone Carroll Chilton’s and then he sold it to Locust?” said Devine.
Campbell nodded. “From what we could uncover, yes. For three times what it’s worth. And it might have been his grandson who actually sold it.”
Devine and Montgomery exchanged glances. He said, “Maybe I should go check the place out.”
“Maybe you should.”
Devine and Montgomery rose. Devine looked at her and said, “I’ll drop you off at your place in town.”
“I’m going with you.”
“I can’t let you do that, Michelle.”
Campbell said, “He’s right, Ms. Montgomery. That is not possible.”
“Either you let me go, or I’ll just show up there on my own.”
Devine said, “I’m dropping you off. Let’s go.”
He grabbed her arm and dragged her from the room.
When they were outside, she yanked her arm free and said, “Look, you son of a bitch, you can’t tell me what—”
“Shut up and get on the bike. That was for the general’s benefit. You’re coming.”
Montgomery closed her mouth, put on her helmet, and they rode off.
Chapter 67
They parked across from the brownstone.
“That’s Chilton’s BMW in front,” observed Devine.
“I’ve known Christian since we were kids. He’s not some criminal.”
“He told me he’s running Mayflower. His grandfather started it, and he’s his generation’s representative. What do you remember about his father and grandfather?”
“Mr. Chilton was a decent guy. Always nice to me. Christian’s grandfather, Poppy Chilton, was incredibly kind. He would play games with us and read to us. Those were really happy times.”
“And they had money?”
“Oh yeah. Lots.”
“A ton of it? I mean, like Cowl?”
“No, not like that. They... they actually had to let my parents go when I was sixteen. The cars had dwindled down to just two. My dad didn’t just work on the cars, he would chauffeur them around, too. The kids had grown up, of course, and my mother acted as a housekeeper and such. But I guess they couldn’t afford her anymore, either.”
“So they ran into hard times?”
“The year after we left, the Chiltons had to sell their home. It was a big estate, but old, outside of Boston. Before we left, I remember overhearing Mr. Chilton a couple of times talk about bankruptcy. My older sister was in college by then. My younger sister and me and our parents moved to an apartment in another part of Massachusetts. My parents got other jobs. I did some local modeling gigs and worked as a waitress until I went off to college for a year.”
“Surprised your parents could afford that.”
“They couldn’t. The Chiltons had started college funds for us. I burned through one year and then decided it wasn’t for me, and I didn’t like wasting money.”
“Christian said his dad died.”
“In a car accident two years ago. His mother lives in Boston, or she did. I haven’t seen her for several years.”
“How old is Christian? I had him pegged at thirty.”
“No, he’s only three years older than me. He was at Princeton when the family money totally ran out. But he had a full lacrosse scholarship. He’s very smart. He has two younger brothers. They’re on the West Coast and doing their own thing. But Christian stayed on the East Coast.”
“And now he’s running Mayflower and living in a big brownstone owned by the Locust Group, who paid a lot more for it than it’s worth, and he’s hanging out with guys on Interpol watch lists. And apparently making a lot of money after the family lost almost everything around six years ago.”
“It doesn’t look good, I know.”
“Not good at all.”
“There he is,” hissed Montgomery.
Chilton had walked out of the brownstone. He got into his BMW and drove off.
Devine and Montgomery pulled into traffic behind him.
Let’s see where you’re going, thought Devine.
It didn’t take long. The BMW turned into a posh assisted living center. It was located in an old brick building that took up half the block.
They waited for Chilton to go inside and then followed.
The place looked like an upscale hotel. As Devine glanced around, he saw elderly residents in wheelchairs and walkers. Some were reading in what looked to be the library; others were watching TV. Still others were just sitting and gazing off or slowly walking around.
Montgomery caught sight of Chilton walking down a hall and grabbed Devine’s arm to alert him, before Chilton disappeared around the corner.