Page 71 of To Die For

“You have a lot of say, actually,” noted Saxby. “But you’re also only twelve and so the law says you need others to help you with this.”

“No, I don’t! I just want everybody to leave me the hell alone.”

“Including your uncle?” asked Devine. “And have you decided if he’s good or bad?”

She made an ugly face and looked away.

Devine turned to Saxby. “I went to Ricketts yesterday. I phoned Betsy from there.”

“What did you find out?” said Saxby.

Devine glanced nervously at Odom but decided to say it. “I was told that Danny Glass had Dwayne and Alice’s remains cremated.”

“What?” barked Saxby.

Devine looked at Odom. The girl’s mouth was hanging open and she didn’t even look like she was breathing.

He said, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. It was… just awkward trying to do it over the phone.”

She closed her mouth and glanced away.

“And there’s something else that happened out there,” said Devine. “Two men did their best to kill me.”

A stunned Saxby said, “What happened?”

He gave them a short sketch of the night’s events. “I think they’re dead, but I can’t be sure. They had backup so I had to get the hell out of there.” He added, “Seattle PD is going over my car now, checking the blood and bullet holes and such.” He glanced again at Odom, who looked like she might be sick.

“Were you injured?” asked Saxby.

He rubbed the back of his head. “Just where one of the guys decided to use my head and his gun to play Whac-A-Mole.”

“Good God,” said Saxby.

“Why… why would they want to hurt you?” asked Odom.

“Maybe because I’m trying to find out who killed your parents and someone doesn’t want that.”

“You really think they didn’t die from an overdose?” said Saxby.

“No. Too much weird stuff going on. And the folks in Ricketts were about as unhelpful as they could be.” He paused. “So, Betsy, you wanted to see me?”

She set her binder aside and composed herself. “Like I said, my uncle wants to meet with me. And I want you to be there.”

“I thought you’d made up your mind that you wanted him to adopt you. So, why do I need to come with you?”

“I’d just feel better if you did,” she said, not meeting his eye.

For a moment Devine thought the girl was actually going to say what was really on her mind. But then she grabbed her binder, rose, and went to her bedroom and shut the door.

In a low voice Devine said, “Has she mentioned anything to you about Glass?”

“Not specifically, no. But there’s something bothering her, I just don’t know what. And she’s unlikely to confide in me. She seems to trust you better. So I think it’s up to you to crack the code with her.”

“Me? Look,you’vegot kids. I don’t know how to handle this stuff.”

Saxby gave him a weary smile. “Being a parent doesn’t make you an expert, Devine. It just allows you to better understand your severe shortcomings on a daily basis, because your kids just relish reminding you of them in both large and small ways. As they get older, the shortcomings just get bigger until, presto, you’re no longer a moron but instead transform into a genius from whom they want all sorts of advice. I’m actually anxiously waiting for that last stage to kick in. Now, Betsy seemed to want to tell you something. And what you found in her journal clearly shows that her doubts about her uncle predated her parents’ deaths. We just need to find out why, but we obviously don’t have much time. For all I know, the judge could rule on the emergency guardianship petition tomorrow.”

“Shit, seriously?”

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