Page 73 of To Die For

Devine had learned some of this from Campbell’s digging into the Odoms’ histories, but he wanted to hear her perspective.

“My dad grew up around here. My mom was from the middle of the country, and my dad moved there at some point. He’d been out of school for a while by then. I guess he wanted to try something new. My mom was working at a restaurant in the place where he moved to, and my dad came in to eat lunch one day. After she got off work, he was waiting for her, with flowers. Then he tookherto dinner. Kinda romantic. Anyway, after a while they got married, had me, and then we… well, we moved around some before coming back to where my dad grew up.”

“Find something?” he asked. She had gone on looking at books while they’d been talking before pulling one out and keeping it.

“Yeah. I’ve read the first three in this series. They’re cool. What do you like to read?”

“Besides thrillers and military histories, anything with cute bunnies.”

She smiled at his quip. “Can I also get a sketch pad and some pencils?”

“Sure, I know you like to draw. Korey told me, said you were good. And I saw some of the sketches in your binder, and he’s right, youaregood.”

She smiled shyly. “My mom liked to do it and she taught me.”

They found a suitable sketch pad and the pencils and he bought them and the book. Then Devine suggested, “How about something to drink and a snack? I could use a coffee.”

“Sure,” she said excitedly. “They have scones. I saw them.”

Odom got a raspberry scone to go with her iced strawberry Frappuccino, while Devine selected a blueberry muffin to pair with his coffee.

“Enough sugar to keep you lit for a week,” noted Devine.

After they sat at a table, Odom said, “Thanks for bringing me here. It’s been a while since I got a book.”

“Well, you’ve had a lot going on.”

She took a sip of her drink and broke off a bit of the scone. “Do you really think you can find out what happened to my parents?”

“I’m trying my best.”

“But it’s dangerous, right? Those people who tried to hurt you?”

“It’s part of the job, Betsy. And it’s my concern, okay? Don’t add that to your worry list.”

“You think it was my uncle, right? Who did it?”

“I don’t know. But he’s certainly on the suspect list.”

“But why would he? My mom was hissister.”

“For some people, it doesn’t matter. They don’t think like you and I do.”

“If he wanted to be in my life, he could have been without killing anybody. So what would his motive be?”

“Motive?Sounds like you watch cop shows.”

“I like to broaden my horizons as much as the next person,” she said in such a grown-up tone that Devine had to smile.

“And I saw in your journal that you have FBI agent on your list of possible future careers.”

She glanced down. “I know it sounds stupid.”

“It doesn’t sound stupid at all. Quite the opposite actually.”

She looked up at him. “Why do you say that?”

“There are already too many guys like me doing this sort of stuff. We need a lot more women. They bring different skill sets and perspectives, and, well, it’s just important. Based on my personal experience, sometimes guys’ testosterone is a real problem. We escalate instead of de-escalating. And you’re smart and observant. Two good traits in a federal agent.”

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