“What was Sara really doing here,” he lied. “Who had killed her and why. That sort of thing.”
“And you told them nothing?”
“What could I tell them? I didn’t know anything. And do you think they would have cut me up if I had talked?”
“No, I guess not,” said Cowl absently, his mind clearly leaping ahead.
“So, what do I do if they come back?”
“I’ll make some inquiries.” Then Cowl looked at him closely. “You can tell me, Devine, just between friends, or business partners, I guess is what we are now.”
“Tell you what?”
“Why you killed Sara.”
“I didn’t kill her.”
“Come off it already!”
“Look—”
“No, you look!” barked Cowl. “Your card was the only one that showed up on the entry log that night. And your picture was on the video.”
“Because you put it there!”
“That’s what you say.”
“You cloned my card and had somebody walk in the door with my face on their body. Come on! You bought a company that can do exactly that.”
“I know I bought the company, but the thing is, Devine, I didn’t have anybody do what you’re accusing me of. I didn’t mess with your card or put your face on another body.”
Devine’s gaze bored into him. “You really expect me to buy that?”
Cowl shook his head, his expression resigned. “Hell, maybe I would have done that manipulation stuff, but the fact is, I didn’t think of it, okay? You’re right, when I saw the video and the entry log, I was going to send your ass right to the cops and get this problem off my back. But then you hit me with a shot to the gut with the pictures and video of me and Jenn. I just thank God I didn’t turn the stuff I had on you over to the cops before you showed me your hand. I’d have had nothing to hit you back with.”
Devine, for reasons he could not entirely understand, believed the man, because everything with Cowl was transactional. So if the man hadn’t tried to frame him, who had?
Cowl continued to grouse. “I need to get better people advising me. Not one of them even mentioned the possibility of framing you using the technology I had just bought and paid for. Useless pricks.” He sat back on the couch and stared off, clearly pissed.
“Let me know what you find out,” said Devine.
“Yeah, right. Okay, we’re done.”
Devine rose, but Cowl said, “Wait a minute, I got to let you on the elevator with my phone.” Cowl rose, too, and started to the table to get his phone. Only it was the fake one.
Devine hadn’t thought of this and his mind went blank; his panic level hit the top floor.
“I’ve got it, Brad,” said Montgomery, who suddenly appeared from around the corner, where she must have been listening.
She snatched up the phone before Cowl could get there, and led Devine out.
“I owe you,” breathed Devine.
“More than you’ll ever be able to repay. Don’t ever forget that, Mr. Devine.”
CHAPTER
50
THE ELEVATOR WENT DOWN, AND Devine hit the button for the fifty-first floor and held his breath. It lighted up and stayed that way. He let out the breath and leaned back against the wall. The doors opened on the fifty-first and he cautiously stepped out. He had checked the phone’s settings. Cowl wasn’t using a time lock right now, probably because he had had to give the phone to Montgomery to get him on the elevator and up to the penthouse, so he was good to go on that score.
The hallway was long and bare of anything. There wasn’t even carpet on the floor, only the building’s underlying concrete slab. He looked around for signs of video surveillance but saw none.
They must count on the fact that no one can access this floor except Cowl. And he wouldn’t want anyone watching.
He checked his watch and hurried forward. There was a door at the end of the hall with an electronic reader. He put his ear to the door and all he heard were hums. No footsteps, no snatches of conversation, no one on the phone.
You’re running out of time, Devine. Just do it. Shit, you took less time to go into rooms in the Middle East, where you knew there were guys inside waiting to kill you.
He held the phone in front of the reader, and the door clicked open. He slipped through. And stopped, again looking around for any sign of video surveillance, but again coming up empty.
The room was vast. All he could see were servers stacked in cabinets and computer screens set on tables across the entire space.