Page 188 of The 6:20 Man

“Was he working with the laundering operation? With Cowl?”

“I think so.” He went on to explain that Valentine had been the one to send him the emails.

“Then he must be working with them.”

“And he tried to get rid of me, and my other roommates were collateral damage. But Jill tracked him down online, and Campbell’s men have an APB out on him.”

“And Speers?”

Devine shook his head. “She checked herself out of the hospital. She hasn’t answered my texts or emails or phone calls.”

“That is so odd.” She reached out and took his hand. “Look, the stuff Brad was talking about. With you and the other soldiers in the Army?”

“What about it?” he said curtly.

“Is that why you left the military?”

“Yes. It ended with both of them dead, and I have a level of guilt from all of it that will haunt me until my dying day.”

She sat back and studied him. “Whatever happened there, I believe that you did what you thought was the right thing, the honorable thing.”

“Why do you believe that?” he said earnestly.

“Because, despite your best efforts to make yourself out to be a shit, you’re actually a really good guy. A really nice guy, Travis. I can tell. Trust me. I’ve seen the whole spectrum of men. And you’re definitely one of the good ones.”

He took her hand and squeezed it. And she leaned over and kissed him.

“Now what will you do?” she asked.

“The mission’s not finished yet.”

“I mean after that.”

“Not sure. Keep working for Campbell. I don’t think I have a choice, really.”

“Do you want company?”

“I’m not sure Campbell would go for that. No, I am sure he wouldn’t.”

“I meant on the personal side.”

“You can do a helluva lot better than me, Michelle. While I hope I am a nice, honorable guy, I’m also a washed-up soldier with daddy problems.”

She gazed at him. “You’re a West Point grad. Army officer. You defended this country in combat. You have an MBA. I have a high school diploma and look great in a bikini and I have serious mommy problems. I think you can do a helluva lot better than me. But we could make it, if we worked at it.”

“What I need to work at is finding out who killed all those people.”

She sighed and sat forward. “But I thought Jerry Myers did it.”

“I think he killed Sara. But I’m not sure about the others.”

“Do you really think it could be your missing roommate?”

“Which one? Valentine or Speers?”

“Could they be working together?”

Devine thought back to the night at the bar, where Speers and Valentine just seemed to have an odd connection. But then she had searched his room. And he had left Speers for dead.