Page 138 of To Die For

“Manipulated by you! What did you tell her about me when you went shopping? That I was a great guy who wanted the best for her? You must have been laughing your ass off when you advised me to take her to the bookstore, get her a book, buy her a drink and something to eat, and wait for her to confide in me. You manipulated and fooled meandBetsy. Well done, Ellen, well done.”

“I have no idea—”

He broke in, “How long have you been working on this with CIA?”

“CIA? Are you nuts? The Bureau and CIA are oil and water. Everyone knows that.”

“Don’t think so, Ellen. They made contact. Filled us in. Theysaid the Bureau was fully engaged in this whole op. And you just conceded that the Bureau has been after these KKK guys for a while.”

“Filledusin?”

“Me and my boss.” Devine hunkered down in his seat. “So let me get to the gist of it. One guard on Betsy. Sure, I know Glass had his goons around her, too, but it’s not the same. But it is enlightening, right? Why is Glass so concerned about Betsy’s safety?”

“He’s afraid his enemies will hurt her to get back at him. Pretty straightforward.”

“So she’s an important part of all this and yet she’s right here in Seattle with just you guarding her in a crappy hotel. How does that make sense?”

“I don’t know what you’re getting at.”

“I thought that maybe CIA had killed Alice and Dwayne Odom to open the door for Glass to adopt Betsy. They denied that, vehemently, I might add. And they also denied responsibility for the murders of the three RICO witnesses. And I believe them. Now, if I was in this 12/24/65 crew, what would I be thinking about all this?”

“Tell me,” said Saxby irritably.

“Kill off the RICO witnesses so the case falls apart and Glass has no incentive to cooperate with the feds. Then, as belts and suspenders, kill Betsy’s parents as a warning to Glass not to cooperate, but leave Betsy alive. You kill her off, too, what leverage do they have left? Hell, if she dies, he has nothing to lose. He’ll tell all, just to get back at the bastards.”

Saxby cleared her throat and now appeared uncomfortable. “Look, Travis, I—”

He didn’t let her finish. “You were setting Betsy up. Making her look to be an easy target. Your feigning surprise and anger at DOJ’s dropping the RICO charges was bullshit. You knew all along they were going to be ordered from up high to do exactly that. And when I said I didn’t want to be Betsy’s guardian you jumped all over me, telling me I had to do it.”

“Travis, please—”

But Devine kept right on going. “The FBIwantsBetsy to die so that there would be no question that Glass will cooperate. That’s why you got the court to grant me guardianship. The Bureau walks away. I take Betsy to some place where not even Glass’s goons can protect her. And when I suggested that was what I was going to do, I got no pushback from you or anyone else. And then what? The location gets slipped to the KKK assholes? Betsy and I end up dead, and are classified as collateral damage for the greater good, right? And Glass becomes the star witness in the federal prosecution of the century that will make all of your career highlight reels.” He tapped the table and eyed Saxby. “But if they kill Glass, your plan is screwed. So how many agents do you have coveringhim, in addition to his own army? Ten? Twenty?” When she didn’t respond, he struck the table so hard with his fist, it spilled both their coffees. “I deserve agoddamnanswer, Ellen.”

A few nearby onlookers glanced nervously over before turning back to their drinks and whispering furiously.

A trembling Saxby sat back, took a breath, and ran a shaky hand through her hair. “An even dozen, to answer your question about the agent coverage on Glass. They’re embedded at the hotel. Whenever he travels somewhere, a silent, invisible army of agents goes with him. Strictly need to know, no leaks, no mistakes. Like you said, the trial of the century.”

“How did you know I’d hang on to this case after I took Betsy to the meeting with her uncle? I could’ve just walked after that.”

“We… we had reviewed your personnel file and current psych workup. You never walk away, Travis, not from someone in need. And… and I made sure you knew Betsy was in need by playing the role that I did.”

Devine looked at her with fury. “You’veplayedme for a sucker this whole damn time. I thought maybe feds would treat other feds with respect, but I guess I was wrong about that.”

“I… I didn’t like doing that.”

“And how long were you all going to wait for Betsy to die? And if she didn’t, would you shoot her yourself and blame it on the KKK assholes?”

“We don’t kill children, Devine,” hissed Saxby.

“Forgive me for not believing one damn word that comes out of your fucking mouth.”

She started speaking in a low voice. “The plan was not to let them kill her. Butattemptto kill her. We had other agents around her, only you never saw them. That way Glass would know that the only way forward was to fully cooperate with us to put these bastards away for good. Then he could ride off into the sunset with his niece.”

“A global criminal in charge of a young girl? That’s your idea of a perfect ending?’

“My mission does not require a perfect ending. Otherwise, why attempt anything if that’s the bar? Would I prefer Betsy to be with someone else? Yes, of course. But that’snotmy call.”

“I need to know everything because my ass is on the line along with Betsy’s.”

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