Page 92 of The 6:20 Man

CHAPTER

40

“WELL, TWICE IN ONE DAY. What a lucky girl I am.”

Michelle Montgomery had answered Devine’s knock on the front door of her walk-up. She had taken off her business suit and wore faded, holey jean short-shorts, a white short-sleeved T-shirt, and no shoes. Her toenails were painted scarlet.

“Depends on how things turn out,” he replied.

She ushered him inside, and he took in the space. Clean, uncluttered, minimal furniture, some decent artwork, colorful rugs on the hardwood floors, a couple pieces of what looked to be African sculpture, and the scent of reefer.

“Well, a couple more breaths and I’ll be feeling quite mellow after my long day of toil at Cowl and Comely.”

“I’ve got some good weed if you’re interested.”

“If you have some cold beer, I’d be very interested.”

She got the beers and said, “Come on, I know where there’s a breeze. The AC here isn’t the best.”

She led him up to the flat roof, where a couple of deck chairs were set up. He took off his jacket and loosened his tie. They sat and she pointed out a sliver between two buildings and said, “Water view. That apparently costs extra.”

“And worth every penny. And so is that breeze.” He turned his face and let tendrils of air slide over his skin as he drank his beer.

“How’d it go with Brad?”

“Surprisingly well. We reached a mutual understanding.”

“I guess that’s good for you, then.”

“Good for us both. Hey, were you with Brad last Thursday night?”

“Thursday night?” She thought for a minute. “No. I was at his house, but he wasn’t there. He probably was in the city.”

Maybe at the place where Sara died.

“Do you know a Jennifer Stamos?”

“No.”

“Okay. Chilton said you were family friends. Since I know his family dates to the Mayflower and his blue-blood family comes from money, I guessed you did, too. But then you mentioned staying in a student hostel in Italy.”

“We’re not blue bloods and my family’s not rich. My father worked on the Chiltons’ Rolls-Royces and Bentleys, and my mother cleaned their house and took care of their kids. I was the wild and fun daughter of the hired help who lived on the premises.”

“Interesting. You have any siblings?”

“Two sisters. One younger and in college and thriving, and one older and married. To a doctor. And very happily.”

“Good for them. Do they look like you?”

“I think my younger sister is better-looking than I am.”

“Not what I meant, but that’s hard to believe.”

“Believe it. My older sister, Beth, is the one with the brains.”

He thought back to the disparaging remarks Cowl had made about her. “I don’t think you’re too shabby in that department, Michelle.”

“I couldn’t even make it through college.”