Page 91 of To Die For

“She came to me for help. And I screwed it up.”

He shook his head and closed his eyes.

“Well, unless you take care of yourself, you won’t have a chance to avenge her.”

Devine was about to shoot some comment back but then didn’t. Because she was right.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” he asked.

Visibly surprised, she said, “I actually have the day off.”

“Would you like to come with me to my meeting and court hearing?”

“I would. Tell me about them.”

Devine filled her in on the latest having to do with Danny Glass and his efforts to gain guardianship of Betsy Odom with an intent to formally adopt her. He also told her about his trip to Ricketts and almost being killed, though he did not go into detail about the person who had saved him.

“My God, Travis, you are one trouble magnet,” noted Walker.

“I’ve been called worse.”

“So you think Glass had his sister and brother-in-law murdered?”

“I can’t think of anyone else with a motive.”

“But the Ricketts folks stonewalled you. And now Coburn is dead.”

“Coburn’s report was altered on the official police file, so to the world it will seem that the Odoms died of a drug overdose. And now that Coburn’s been murdered, there’s no one to refute that.”

“But she toldyou.”

“That’s not evidence; it’s hearsay. And if she had any evidence on her, it was in a house that no longer exists.” He thought of something. “How about her car?”

“Nothing was found in there related to her work. But we’re having her residence in Spokane checked by the local cops. There might be something there.”

“Whoever killed her probably already thought of that and searched it.”

He looked out the window at the dark clouds and said, “Did you find anything in my Toyota?”

“We’re running DNA samples we collected through our usual databases. There were no prints in the car.”

“They were wearing gloves.”

“Yes, but we recovered their weapons inside the vehicle and I was able to get a usable print off one of the bullets in the magazine.”

He looked at her, impressed. “And?”

“We’ve also run that through the usual databases without success. Now we’re expanding that search.”

“Be good to know who those guys worked for. Maybe we can—” He yawned.

She said firmly, “Okay, start to dial it back. You need to get some sleep if you’re going to be ready for tomorrow, which is already here actually.” She paused and then said decisively, “And there’s a change in plan. I’ll get some things from your hotel room and then we can drive to my place.”

“Beth, you don’t have to—”

“I’m going to anyway,” she interrupted. “It’s near downtown. And I have a guest bedroom.”

Feeling the meds kick in and not having the energy to argue, Devine nodded resignedly.

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