Page 41 of To Die For

“Great,” snarled Saxby. “Now the kid’s turning into a food snob.”

“So whatisthe end game here, Agent Saxby?”

“Just call me Ellen,” she said wearily as she collapsed onto the couch. She pulled out a cigarette but didn’t light it this time. “FYI, I’ve communicated with my superiors about what we talked about. And they have not gotten back to me yet. Which tells me that there is some difference of opinion on how to proceed with the circumstances of the Odoms’ deaths.”

He sat in a chair opposite her. “What’s Betsy’s value to you guys? Am I missing something here?”

“Look, I’m a foot soldier like you. I just follow orders, okay?” she said, crumpling up the cigarette and tossing it into the waste can. She picked up a bottle of water and drained what remained in it. “But we can’t underestimate Danny Glass,” she said in a firm voice. “The man may have an angle on this we haven’t even thought of. I’ve worked enough cases that changed on a dime and led to an ending no one saw coming. You let your guard down even a little bit, you’re screwed.”

With this astute observation, Devine felt better about Saxby’s abilities as an agent.

“Okay, then who out there may want to harm her?”

“Well, if her parents didn’t die from a drug overdose like she claims, then whoever killed them would certainly not be a friend of hers.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense. Why not just kill Betsy at the same time?”

“Again, above my pay grade, Devine. So what’s new on Rollins’s murder?”

He filled her in, including the fact of the listening device in the apartment next to Rollins.

“Rollins apparently had dirt on Glass, maybe enough to screw up his guardianship and adoption of his niece. And someone had him under surveillance and now he’s dead.”

Saxby nodded. “Okay, that is definitely a motive for Glass to have him killed. And maybe he was the one to bug Rollins’s place, too.”

The bedroom opened, revealing Odom in some of the clothes Devine had brought.

She said eagerly, “Okay, let’s go eat.”

CHAPTER

18

THEY WALKED FOUR BLOCKS TOa seafood restaurant, which prominently displayed most of its elaborate offerings in the front window. Devine was hungry, and Odom looked ready to eat a car. Saxby had walked listlessly along, looking at the pavement while smoking a cigarette.

They ordered, and while they waited, Devine told Odom about Rollins, what he had approached Devine about, and then his being found dead at the Sand Bar.

“Had either of your parents ever mentioned Rollins?” he asked.

“No,” said a visibly shaken Odom.

He noted this and said, “I wish I didn’t have to talk to you about things like this, Betsy, but you need to know what’s going on.”

“But we’re not going to let anyone hurt you,” chimed in Saxby.

Devine glanced at her for a moment before continuing, “Rollins knew something about your uncle, Betsy. Something that he wanted to sell me.”

“For how much?” asked Odom.

“A hundred thousand dollars.”

Saxby exclaimed, “Damn, it must have been something really bad, then.”

“Or it could be crap,” countered Odom.

“It could be,” said Devine. “But he had to know that if it turned out to be made up, he would be in trouble. It could be that he hadsomethingof value. And if so, I doubt it would just be in his head. There had to be some hard evidence backing up what he was going to tell me. And I believe he would have put that in a very safe place.”

“But you have no clue where it might be?” asked Saxby.

---