The 6:20 Man(99)

Montgomery said, “I thought there were, like, laws against that kind of stuff?”

“But if you have enough money, the laws don’t apply to you,” answered Campbell. “And certain people, some of them in high positions of power, want it to keep going. Certain others don’t want this to be uncovered and investigated because they would be directly implicated.”

“So, what do we do?” asked Devine.

“Solve this thing before they pull our plug. However, I do have one lead for you.”

“What is it?” asked Devine.

“The brownstone on the Upper East Side owned by the Locust Group?”

“The one my good buddy Christian Chilton presumably lives in,” said Devine, glancing at Montgomery, who looked uncomfortable at this change in the conversation’s direction.

“We put it under surveillance after you told us about the connection. Two people who are on an Interpol ‘keep eyes on’ list were seen entering and leaving the premises.”

“And you couldn’t grab them?” asked Montgomery.

“We had no legal grounds to do so. But these are bad people.”

“Do we know if anyone else lives there with Chilton?” asked Devine.

Montgomery answered. “His grandfather, Carroll Chilton, did. We called him Poppy. But I haven’t seen him in years.”

“Was the brownstone Carroll Chilton’s and then he sold it to Locust?” said Devine.

Campbell nodded. “From what we could uncover, yes. For three times what it’s worth. And it might have been his grandson who actually sold it.”

Devine and Montgomery exchanged glances. He said, “Maybe I should go check the place out.”

“Maybe you should.”

Devine and Montgomery rose. Devine looked at her and said, “I’ll drop you off at your place in town.”

“I’m going with you.”

“I can’t let you do that, Michelle.”

Campbell said, “He’s right, Ms. Montgomery. That is not possible.”

“Either you let me go, or I’ll just show up there on my own.”

Devine said, “I’m dropping you off. Let’s go.”

He grabbed her arm and dragged her from the room.

When they were outside, she yanked her arm free and said, “Look, you son of a bitch, you can’t tell me what—”

“Shut up and get on the bike. That was for the general’s benefit. You’re coming.”

Montgomery closed her mouth, put on her helmet, and they rode off.





CHAPTER





67


THEY PARKED ACROSS FROM THE brownstone.

“That’s Chilton’s BMW in front,” observed Devine.

“I’ve known Christian since we were kids. He’s not some criminal.”

“He told me he’s running Mayflower. His grandfather started it, and he’s his generation’s representative. What do you remember about his father and grandfather?”

“Mr. Chilton was a decent guy. Always nice to me. Christian’s grandfather, Poppy Chilton, was incredibly kind. He would play games with us and read to us. Those were really happy times.”

“And they had money?”

“Oh yeah. Lots.”

“A ton of it? I mean, like Cowl?”

“No, not like that. They . . . they actually had to let my parents go when I was sixteen. The cars had dwindled down to just two. My dad didn’t just work on the cars, he would chauffeur them around, too. The kids had grown up, of course, and my mother acted as a housekeeper and such. But I guess they couldn’t afford her anymore, either.”

“So they ran into hard times?”

“The year after we left, the Chiltons had to sell their home. It was a big estate, but old, outside of Boston. Before we left, I remember overhearing Mr. Chilton a couple of times talk about bankruptcy. My older sister was in college by then. My younger sister and me and our parents moved to an apartment in another part of Massachusetts. My parents got other jobs. I did some local modeling gigs and worked as a waitress until I went off to college for a year.”

“Surprised your parents could afford that.”

“They couldn’t. The Chiltons had started college funds for us. I burned through one year and then decided it wasn’t for me, and I didn’t like wasting money.”

“Christian said his dad died.”

“In a car accident two years ago. His mother lives in Boston, or she did. I haven’t seen her for several years.”

“How old is Christian? I had him pegged at thirty.”

“No, he’s only three years older than me. He was at Princeton when the family money totally ran out. But he had a full lacrosse scholarship. He’s very smart. He has two younger brothers. They’re on the West Coast and doing their own thing. But Christian stayed on the East Coast.”

“And now he’s running Mayflower and living in a big brownstone owned by the Locust Group, who paid a lot more for it than it’s worth, and he’s hanging out with guys on Interpol watch lists. And apparently making a lot of money after the family lost almost everything around six years ago.”

“It doesn’t look good, I know.”