Page 5 of To Die For

Devine leaned against the wall, a bit surprised by both the woman’s negative attitude and her revealing such personal information to a stranger. “So tell me about what’s going on.”

“Your people didn’t brief you?” she said, obviously caught off guard by his query.

“They said they hadn’t been fully read in. So I need to get updated.”

“Tell me what youdoknow and we’ll go from there.”

“On the other side of that bedroom door is, presumably, Betsy Odom, age twelve. Her parents recently died. The Bureau is interested in the girl because of her uncle, Danny Glass.”

“Okay, do you knowwhoDanny Glass is?”

“I actually knew him, briefly, when he and I were in the Army.”

“Can you elaborate on that?”

“I was West Point and he was enlisted but we fought together once in Iraq. I lost track of him after that, but now I know the government is going after him for a bunch of crimes.”

Saxby glanced at the bedroom door and started speaking in a low voice. “He’s currently the defendant in a federal RICO prosecution that will start up soon right here in Seattle. It was originally filed in New York but a change of venue was granted, so here we are on the West Coast. Glass is out on bail because he can afford the best lawyers. But he’s on a tight leash. He’s got unlimited financial resources and his own jet. So they took his passport and he’s wearing an electronic monitor on his ankle. One step out of line and his butt goes to jail for the duration.”

“I understand he’s trying to become his niece’s guardian with an eye to adoption?”

“Yes. He’s filed a petition for emergency minor guardianship.”

“What does that mean exactly?”

“Washington state changed its laws and procedures on guardianship a few years ago. Now, it usually takes sixty days to finalize a guardianship petition. But you can circumvent that by filing an emergency petition, as Glass has done. If granted, the emergency guardianship usually lasts only sixty days. That’s why at the same time Glass also filed for what’s called Minor Guardianship. Thefamily court overseeing the matter merged those two cases into one, which is customary.”

“But he doesn’t have custody of Betsy. The Bureau does. How did that happen?”

“DOJ went straight to court on thesameday the Odoms died and got the court to grant the FBI temporary guardianship. But Glass’s lawyers found out we were Betsy’s guardian before the ink was hardly dry on our emergency application. And the next day, Betsy, since she’s over twelve, was served with notice that Glass was looking to become her guardian and knock us out.”

“I guess that was no surprise.”

“But it was also suspicious. It was like Glass knew her parents were going to die and had everything prepared beforehand.”

“Do you have proof of that?”

“I wish.”

“Will he be able to become her guardian? And adopt her? I mean, the guy’s a criminal.”

“Anallegedcriminal. The RICO case hasn’t been proven and you’re innocent until that time. So technically, to the family law court, he’s clean as a whistle.”

“But the judge canconsiderthe RICO indictment?”

“Absolutely. And we hope that’s enough to keep him from becoming her guardian.”

“You got guardianship on thedayher parents died? How so fast?”

“We’ve been after Glass for years and knew all about his sister and brother-in-law. We refocused on them when they came into money recently under suspicious circumstances. When they died DOJ worked their legal magic, and I was sent here to assume guardianship of a girl I’d never laid eyes on before.”

“You said the Odoms came into money under suspicious circumstances?”

“We suspect Glass was the source, but have no proof. Maybe as a bribe if they knew something incriminating about him. The funds were used to purchase a home and a car.”

“So exactly why is the girl important to you?”

“She could have overhead something. Seen something. If she’s a danger to Glass, or he thinks she is? That’s why we stepped in.”

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