Page 47 of To Die For

“She reminds me a lot of Alice. And she wants to come live with me. I can provide for her.”

“Even from prison?”

“My lawyers will do their thing. We’ll see how it goes. I’ve been in tight places before and walked out alive, as you know. But regardless, Betsy will be taken care of.”

“I understand the government’s case has been hit with some witnesses no longer breathing?”

“If you say so,” Glass said offhandedly. “I haven’t been keeping track. My focus is Betsy.”

“If I was looking at life in prison, I’m not sure I’d be thinking about anything else.”

“Well, that’s the difference between you and me, apparently,” retorted Glass.

“Right. I’ll guess I’ll be going,” said Devine, rising.

“So, what’s the deal with this Rollins guy?” said Glass, who remained sitting.

“He’s dead. Somebody murdered him at the Sand Bar here in Seattle.”

“Why would someone want him dead?”

“Maybe he had something on somebody, something incriminating, and that person didn’t want Rollins to spill.”

“When was he killed?”

Devine told him.

Glass slid up his pant leg to reveal his ankle monitor. “I was here that night. And this thing will prove it.”

“Why would you think I suspected you would have had a hand in his murder?”

“Because the feds keep blaming me for every little goddamned thing,” Glass said coolly.

“A guy like you has other assets to do his bidding. Four of them are within calling distance right now.”

“I can see you’ve drunk the government Kool-Aid, Mr. West Pointer. I was just a lowly grunt.”

“You fought hard and bravely, Danny. I don’t care if you didn’t have bars on the shoulder.”

“Long time ago.”

“Apparently, alifetimeago with how things have gone with you,” said Devine. “Take care and good luck. I think you’re probably going to need it.”

CHAPTER

20

THE NEXT MORNING DEVINE PACKEDhis duffel. He had two pistols and extra mags and wondered if he could rent an RPG launcher around here somewhere for his pilgrimage to Ricketts.

As he was driving out of Seattle in the Toyota 4Runner and heading east, Emerson Campbell phoned him.

“We’re still digging up background on the Odoms and Perry Rollins. It’ll be emailed to you when complete.”

“What can you tell me now?”

“Dwayne Odom kicked around the Pacific Northwest after high school. Then, in his mid-twenties, he headed east for a fresh start. Sometime after that, he met Alice in her hometown in Ohio. They got married and later had their daughter. Years after that, they moved back to the Seattle area. And Danny Glass was also far older than his sister. She might have been an unplanned pregnancy.”

“I understand Glass was close to Alice?”

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