Page 16 of To Die For

“Mykind?” said Devine.

“You a cop, ain’t you? Federal cop by the look of you.”

“You have experience with cops, federal and otherwise?”

“What you think?” said Baldy defiantly. “Or do I look like I gone to Harvard with a trust fund?”

“You have records?”

Baldy laid his large brown eyes on Devine. “Hard to get a real job when you can’t pass the pee test and you got you some priors. And you got to live somehow, someway. That’s all I’m sayin’ ’bout that.”

“What about Danny Glass? The Odoms ever talk about him?”

The men looked at each other with unease. Big Hair said, “We know ’bout him. Dwayne ain’t really care for the man. But Alice…”

“Alice what?”

“Alice ain’t exactly share that feelin’ with Dwayne.”

Devine was getting more info than he’d bargained for and decided to keep going. “I heard they came into some money. To buy a place to live and a car? That come from Glass?”

Baldy shrugged his big delts. “They never say and we ain’t never asked. But ain’t like they got a bunch of rich friends give ’em that kind of cash.”

“Where’s the house?”

“Kittitas County. East a’ here, out in the boonies, ’bout a two-and-a-half-hour drive or so.”

“Got an address? I’d like to go see it for myself.”

“Got a PO box but that ain’t help you none. But we can tell you how to get there.”

Big Hair gave him detailed directions, which Devine put into his phone’s notes app.

“Ain’t so easy to find after you get off the highway,” Baldy added. “Google sure ain’t gonna get you there. But you stick to what you was told and you find it.”

“Thanks. You know, Glass wants to gain guardianship of Betsy?”

“Well, mister, if I was you, I would stop that shit in its tracks,” said Big Hair.

“Any particular reason?”

“Why would a guy like that want a little girl ’round?”

“Well, heisher uncle and the only relative she has left.”

“I bet lots of rich-ass criminals got them nieces. How many want ’a have little girls live with ’em?” said Big Hair. “Seems sort ’a weird, ask me.”

“You ever met Glass?”

“No sir,” said Baldy. “But Dwayne tell us stuff. That Glass dude is messed up, for damn sure.”

“Did he ever visit the Odoms?”

“Not that they say,” replied Baldy.

“Care to tell me your names? I’d like to pass on your good wishes to Betsy.”

Big Hair said, “You just look after that girl, mister. She special all right. Smart as a whip. And she got her own mind, that’s for shit sure.”

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