Page 14 of To Die For

“Better make it fast. I hear he’s going to take ownership of the girl real soon.”

“You seem wired into things you shouldn’t be,” noted Devine.

“Everyone has to make a living. This is how I make mine.”

“Which is how exactly?”

“Providing valuable information and receiving valuable compensation in return. Hopefully from you, if you’re smart enough to seize an opportunity staring you in the face.”

“How can I get in touch with you?” asked Devine.

“I’ll get in touch with you, if necessary. But don’t wait too long.”

Fred walked off and this time Devine did not stop him.

He waited until the man was nearly out of sight and then Devine took up the chase.

CHAPTER

7

THROUGH THE SOGGY STREETS OFSeattle, Devine tracked buck-fifty Fred to a part of the city where the air was briny and humid; some of the buildings dark, grim, and ready for rehab; and the traffic and pedestrian flows occurring in bursts before receding like an outgoing tide.

Fred veered off and hurried his scuffed loafers up a set of worn and stained stone steps, disappearing through a peeling red door. Devine scooted after him and eyed the sign over the door:THESANDBAR.

Well, that’s original.

He entered a large room filled with heat and humidity and clusters of bodies dancing, drinking, swaying, mingling, and some even crooning badly to the tunes piped overhead, probably from a Spotify account. The English pub-style bar was set against one wall. The parquet dance floor was in the middle; a wing to the right held the pinball, billiards, and foosball section of the offered entertainment. Boozed-up people were doing the age-old flirty ritual, while Devine was looking for Fred, who had disappeared into the sea of drunken groovers.

Devine spotted a back hall and headed down it. He figured Fred had spied the tail and had used this place to lose him. The back door emptied into an alley. On the right was a wall with trash cans stacked in front, so Devine turned left and picked up his pace.

A minute later Devine glanced back and saw that the two men who had followed him and Odom back to the hotel were once more tracking him.

He worked his way to the alley where the Gum Wall was located.It was so named because of all the brightly colored gum stuck to one wall by passersby. Some of the gum had been stretched out and now resembled miniature and colorful stalagmites.

He had been down this alley before on a previous trip, and knew that the paving stones underneath, combined with the high walls on either side, would resoundingly echo off any footsteps fore or aft. Within a few moments he picked up the sounds of two sets still behind him.

And staggering toward him out of the misty darkness were a man and a woman wrapped around each other in an embrace, and appearing to be five mojitos on the welcome side of paradise. Yet looks could be deceiving and so Devine wondered if he had bogies at six and twelve. He eased the Glock from its holster, but kept it hidden behind his jacket. His index finger slid within the vicinity of the trigger. He tensed as the couple grew nearer, but they didn’t even glance at him as they lurched by, devouring each other’s lips in the process.

Devine still had the other pair on his six, which meant he still had twin problems to solve.

He trekked down another side street and then stopped and turned around.

His hand on his gun, he waited.

The men cleared the turn and continued to walk casually toward him. They stopped and stared at him. And his gun, which Devine had now made clearly visible.

“You guys lost, or just going where I’m going?” he asked.

One was Black with a bald head. He was a brick wall, thick and muscular and an inch over Devine’s height. The other guy was six feet, white with massive amounts of blond hair and a soft, stocky build, with a gut that leaned over his belt. Devine immediately tagged them as Baldy and Big Hair because he somehow didn’t expect them to reveal their real names.

“Been following you, dude,” said Baldy, in a deep voice that matched his muscled bulk.

“Thanks for the heads-up. I never would have noticed otherwise. Care to tell me why?”

“Shit, you need that gun out?” said Big Hair, a nervous tic in his higher-pitched voice.

“I don’t know, you tell me.”

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