The Last Mile (Amos Decker, #2)(15)

After she left Bogart said, “I want to apologize for the meeting today. Milligan was out of line and I told him so. We’re not in this to fight with each other. We’re a team. And those who want to remain on the team will have to start acting like it.”

“He had a case and he argued for it,” said Decker. “I took no offense.”

“Well, he could have made his argument more professionally. The insinuation that you were somehow looking to purposefully torpedo his case was ridiculous.”

Bogart’s glass of wine arrived and he took a sip. “Lisa may have told you that I briefed her on some of what happened in Burlington.”

“She did,” said Jamison. “And she knows about Amos’s condition,” she added, a bit crossly.

If Bogart noticed her resentment, he chose to ignore it.

“And I was telling Amos that I’ve had dealings with the folks at the Cognitive Institute,” commented Davenport.

“But Ms. Davenport has assured me that my anomalies will have nothing to do with investigating the Melvin Mars case,” added Decker.

Davenport raised her beer. “Touché. And please, call me Lisa.”

Bogart said, “Mars is still in prison in Texas. It seems the first thing to do would be to go there. The place where his parents were killed is hundreds of miles west of the prison.”

“And then we have Charles Montgomery in Alabama,” said Decker.

“Exactly.”

Davenport said, “Can we learn anything about this guy before we go to see him? Is there any possible connection between Mars and this Montgomery person?”

“Well, that’s what the police are no doubt trying to determine,” said Bogart. “And let me tell all of you right off the bat, this will be very delicate. The state of Texas will not look kindly on federal intervention at this moment. Frankly, they may well question why we’re even involved. And I can’t promise that if pushback comes we can stick it out.” He looked at Decker. “The cases in the binder were all preapproved for our involvement, Amos. The Mars case obviously is not.”

“But we can still look into it,” said Decker.

“Yes. But I’ve found that as a general rule Texans do not like people from Washington, D.C., messing in their affairs.”

“Can you access all the records on the case?” said Jamison. “We should really go through all of that first. All we have is what Amos found online.”

“I can definitely make calls and see what I can do,” replied Bogart.

“Then we need to get in to see Mars,” added Davenport. “Meeting with him I can give you a better insight as to his psychological makeup.”

“Agreed,” said Bogart. He glanced at Decker. “That was a good job back there on the Morillo case, Amos. You picked up on stuff again that everyone else missed.”

Decker had been staring off and not really following the conversation. He came out of his musings and said, “We need to find out if Charles Montgomery has any family.”

“What? Why?” asked Davenport.

Decker didn’t answer her. He just stared off again, thinking.

*



After they finished at the bar, Jamison and Decker were dropped off at his place, where Jamison had left her car.

“So, that went reasonably well,” she said. “Although Milligan is a bit of a jerk.” She glanced at him. “What did you think?”

“I get where he’s coming from.”

“And Davenport?”

“I’m sure she’s competent.”

“But?”

“But she has her own agenda.”

“Meaning you.”

“Maybe.”

She looked him over. “There’s a men’s shop about a mile from here. It’s open until ten. I checked.”

Decker shot her a glance. “Do I really look that bad?”

“Clothes make the man.”

“I’m pretty sure whoever said that did not have me in mind.”

“Shopping always makes me think better,” she said hopefully.

“And how exactly do I pay for new clothes?”

She held up a credit card. “Bogart gave me this. For essentials. Which I confirmed includes clothes for you,” she added quickly. “And you’ll have your salary.”

Decker looked over at her. “Salary?”

“I don’t know about you, but I can’t do this for free. Didn’t you discuss money with Bogart?”

Decker let out a sigh.

“I’ll take that as a no. But I can tell you that it’s a lot more than either of us were making back in Burlington.”

“Really?” said Decker.

“Really. And if this thing works out we’ll have to get our own housing. Can’t stay on the base permanently. And you’ll need a car to replace the rental.”

“I hadn’t given any of that much thought.”

“Trust me, I could tell.”

*



Three hours later they walked out of the men’s clothing store with numerous outfits for Decker. Nothing had to be altered. They had mainly just bought the biggest sizes the store had—pants, shirts, shoes, socks, underwear, and a couple of jackets that were large enough to use as sails if need be.