Page 22 of To Die For

Hastings moved off and Devine continued to watch the pair at the table. As he did so, his mind went back in time to when both he and Glass had worn the same uniform.

Near the end of his military career, Glass had been assigned to a unit in Iraq that had operated in the same sector as the then Lieutenant Devine and his platoon. The two men had shared one experience that had nearly cost them both their lives. Devine had not seen Glass since that time.

Devine had only heard dark rumors about Glass while the man had been in service. That he might have been selling drugs, or that he had stolen some artifacts from the Middle East, or that some local Iraqi women had gone missing and ended up in Asia as “companions” to wealthy men.

Army CID had dug into it, and though Glass’s name had come up repeatedly, Devine had been told by some agents at the time that nothing would stick to the guy. But obviously feeling the heat, Glass had accepted a general discharge and left the military. Then, apparently, he had felt liberated to lead the sort of life he had wanted to all along. The rest, as they say, was criminal history.

Watching him, Devine could almost feel both the burn of unbridled ambition as well as the enormous chip on the man’s shoulder.

Although he could be looking at life in prison, Glass didn’t seem to have a care in the world, other than his niece. For that, Devine found himself with a grudging respect for the man. And they’d worn the uniform and fought and bled for their country. That also counted for something with Devine.

A couple of times the look on Odom’s face appeared strained, nervous even, and once, when Glass leaned in close and was talking to her earnestly, he thought the girl might give Devine the signal to end it. He believed he could see her hand start to make the sliding motion on the table and her head start to dip to the side, but then Glass said something that made Odom laugh.

The signal would not be coming after that, Devine predicted.

And it didn’t. When the meal was over, Devine’s timer had four minutes left to burn. Glass escorted his niece over to Devine and put out his hand.

“Thank you for bringing Betsy,” he said, showing no recognition of Devine.

“Of course.”

Glass knelt down and hugged her. “Be seeing you soon, okay?”

“Okay, Uncle Danny.”

And then Glass rose and walked out, with his security team scurrying after their boss.

That’s when Devine noted that Glass’s pant legs were flared out at the bottoms.

To hide the electronic monitor on his ankle. Talk about a blow to the old criminal kingpin’s ego.

As he and Odom left, Devine said, “So how’d it go?”

“Fine.”

“Thought you were going to give me the signal for a second there.”

She glanced at him, and Devine couldn’t really read her look.

“Everything okay, Betsy?”

“Yeah, sure. Thanks for not screwin’ things up.”

“You’re welcome.”

During the Uber ride back she looked out the window with a pensive expression. Devine could tell something was eating away at the girl.

She finally turned to him with a curious look.

“Something on your mind?” he asked.

“I haven’t cried.”

“Excuse me?” Devine said.

“About my mom and dad. I haven’t… you know, cried. That’s… that’s weird as shit, right?”

Devine chose his words carefully. “Don’t judge yourself against others when it comes to grieving. Everyone handles it differently.”

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