“And Cowl?”
“Shivved in a holding cell. The CCTV was taken offline. We’ve put a dome of silence over all this. No leaks, no one knows, for now. But that won’t last long. Back to square one, unfortunately, but I think we have them on the run. And DOJ and the other agencies are going after them with all they’ve got, even with the stonewalling going on with some of the politicos.”
Devine was not nearly as optimistic as the retired general. He was sure that Area 51 would be set up somewhere else, or consolidated with another ongoing operation. He wondered how much of America others truly owned.
The world is upside down. Good is bad and bad is deified.
And his instincts were telling him that a killer was still out there. Four people dead and it had everything to do with Sara Ewes, and not Brad Cowl and Area 51.
And it somehow has everything to do with me. I got the emails. They were sent to me for a reason. The killer is speaking directly to me. This is as personal as it gets.
He didn’t get much done at work. His brain was in too much of a fog. All the other Burners were in the process of getting interviews at other firms and venting about their problems. He just tried to tune it out.
When he got home from work that night, he found Valentine on the couch, sucking down beer and eating a hot dog instead of pizza.
“Hey, dude, you’re early tonight. How goes it? You figure all that shit out?”
“I think so.”
“So all is good?”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
*
The news finally broke about the murder of Brad Cowl while in police custody. The financial press, already reeling from the string of murders connected to the firm, was covering all of this with astonishment mixed with a bit of glee, even as a few rumors started to circulate about possible financial improprieties at Cowl and Comely.
As Devine read through these news accounts on his phone in his room after coming home from work one night, he shook his head.
Possible financial improprieties? Just wait. This will make Bernie Madoff look like a third-rate grifter if it ever sees the light of day.
Later, he texted Montgomery and arranged to meet her at a hotel the next day, where she was staying with a security team.
In the city, he cleared her armed guards and knocked on the door of Montgomery’s room. She opened it immediately. She had on jeans and a white T-shirt. She looked like she’d been crying.
He closed the door behind him. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
She dabbed at her eyes and sat on the bed. “My mother called. She heard about Brad and also about Christian. She wanted to know if I was involved somehow. My own mother!”
He perched on a chair opposite her. “That must’ve been a difficult conversation.”
“Well, at least it was a short one, since I hung up on her.”
“You’ve still got your retirement portfolio.”
“I’m not sure that’s going to be enough, Travis,” she said dully. “Apparently I’ve got a bull’s-eye on my back. You too.”
“Maybe, maybe not. They probably don’t want to make more waves. They know the big guns are out for their blood.”
She brushed the hair out of her face. “Do you really think so?”
“I can’t guarantee it, but the truth is these guys just care about getting their money clean and using it to buy property and people. And the fact is, we’re not that important, Michelle. They go somewhere else and set up shop, and the pipeline opens up again.” He sat back. “But that doesn’t get us any closer to figuring out who killed four people.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
“I was thinking of going back to the scene of Sara’s murder.”
“Can I come?” she said quickly.
“Why?”
“Because right now I don’t want to be alone.”
Devine hesitated.
“My ass is on the line too, Travis,” she snapped.
“Okay, let me clear it with Campbell before your security team freaks out.”
“After seeing what you did in Brad’s penthouse I feel safer with you than I do with them.”
He got permission from Campbell, and they left the hotel. Devine used his security card to get into the Cowl Building. It being a weekend and the firm probably going under, the place was pretty much empty. They rode the elevator up to the fifty-second floor and got off. Devine led Montgomery over to the storage closet and opened the door.
“That’s where she was found?” said Montgomery.