Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

M S. ODOM?”

The man greeted them at the front door of the Four Seasons Hotel. He was in his fifties, gray-haired, and his thickened torso was sloppily housed in an off-the-rack navy blue suit with a starched cream shirt buttoned to the top and absent a tie. The loose skin on his neck flopped over the high collar and looked none too comfortable to Devine’s eye.

“I’m Betsy Odom.”

“I’m Dennis Hastings. I work for your uncle.” He shook her hand, aimed a dismissive glance at Devine, and said, “Right this way. Your uncle is really looking forward to seeing you, young lady.”

On the way, Hastings dropped back to walk next to Devine and whispered, “You armed?”

“Are you?”

“Just asking.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it,” said Devine.

“You have no need of a weapon.”

“Does the phrase ‘cold, dead hand’ mean anything to you?”

Hastings moved away, muttering what sounded to Devine like “asshole.”

He followed the pair to the dining room, where he could see Danny Glass sitting alone at a table with his back to a wall. His black suit stood out starkly against the brilliance of the white tablecloth. Devine noted that his shirt was also buttoned to the top with no tie in sight. Hastings had clearly copied his boss on that detail. However, Glass had no fat hanging over the collar and no bulging love handles bench-pressing his jacket. Also, the suit looked to be a custom job molded precisely to the man’s lean and wiry five-feet-nine-inch frame. His shaved head revealed a perfectly shaped cranium with nary a blemish to be seen. A precisely folded white pocket square completed the picture of a successful businessman, albeit one who would have you chopped to pieces and stuck in a garbage bag if you crossed him.

Devine also noted the two large suited men hovering nearby. Their gazes and with it their focus swung around to him.

“Betsy,” said Glass, rising and giving her a hug. He did not look at Devine. “I’m Uncle Danny. It’s so great to finally meet you. I hope you’re hungry.”

They sat down and Devine stayed right where he was.

Spurred on by a meaningful glance from his boss, Hastings hurried over to Devine and said, “Hey, bud, let’s give them some privacy, okay?”

Devine retreated twenty feet to a wall where his line of sight was dead-on.

Hastings again approached and said, “Come on, is that the best you can do? They’re family.”

Devine gave him a look as an answer. He settled himself to stand guard for the next two hours and engaged a timer on his phone.

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.”

Her face flushed angrily. “You’re just sayin’ that to make me feel better.”

“No, I’m just telling you my experience.”

She glanced at him, her irritation transformed to curiosity. “What do you mean?”

“I lost friends in combat. Friends who were closer to me than my own family. And I processed it differently than others did.”

“How can friends be closer than family?” she asked.

“Depends on the friends and the family, doesn’t it?” he said bluntly.

“I… I guess so.”

“What happened to your parents, and you , is hard, complicated. There’re no easy answers and no right or wrong way to get through it.”

“So, you… you think I will cry at some point?”

“My guess would be yes, Betsy, you will. Maybe harder than you ever thought possible,” he added quietly.

She turned away from him and leaned her face against the car window. She looked, to Devine, like the loneliest little girl in the world.

“So the guardianship is a go then, I take it?” he asked after a bit.

“Let’s hope so.”

“Did you talk to him about what happened to your parents?”

“I’m tired. And I need to get out of these pants and shoes. My mom bought them a while ago and I’ve… grown some. They’re cutting off my circulation.”

The rest of the drive back was made in silence. Devine didn’t really know how to break through the walls he sensed had formed around the girl.

She went right to her bedroom and shut the door.

Saxby, smelling like a potent combo of menthols and Listerine, said, “Talk to me.”

“She went, they ate and chatted, and that was it.”

“That’s it? Really?” she said, clearly disappointed.

“What did you expect? A shoot-out?”

She slumped on the couch, reached for her purse, and extracted her pack of smokes. She slipped a cigarette between her lips. “I don’t know. Something, I guess.”

“Do you have skin in this game, Agent Saxby?”

She shot him a withering look. “Meaning what? I’m her temporary guardian. That’s it.”

“And yet you seem to me to be overemotional about this whole thing.”

“Don’t pull the hysterical female crap with me, Devine. And I can feel for a young girl who’s heading for a fall.”

“But you don’t know that to be the case.”

“Oh, please.” She pulled a slim chrome lighter from her purse and lit up.

“Can you smoke in here?”

“So I pay the fine. Who gives a shit? The whole place needs a good smoking out. Might kill some of the damn germs.”

The bedroom door opened. Odom was in the gray sweats from last night, and her hair was back down around her shoulders.

“The names of the two guys who were following us last night? Nate Shore and Korey Rose. Nate is the Black guy. Built like a truck. Korey is super nice and a really great cook.”

Saxby stabbed out her smoke on the table and said, “What guys following you!” She whirled on Devine. “What the hell game are you trying to play?”

“Sorry, slipped my mind.” He looked at Odom. “What else can you tell me about them?”

“They had drug problems, and my parents were helping them out.”

“How?” asked Devine.

“I know they gave them some money. And they stayed over at our place a lot. Before, at our apartment. And after we got our own place. And they helped around the house. Korey would cook meals. And Nate would fix stuff. And my parents would drive them to their jobs and their rehab stuff.”

“Did you talk to this dynamic duo last night, Devine?” barked Saxby.

“I did. And they told me that the Odoms were not drug users and anyone or anything that says they were, including police reports, is wrong.”

“Same thing I told you,” said Odom angrily.

“So what can we do about it?” asked Devine, looking squarely at Saxby.

“Do… do about what?” she said, looking tired and defeated.

Devine glanced at Odom. “Betsy, can you give us a sec here? Agent Saxby and I have some ‘government’ things to discuss.”

“But this is stuff about me,” retorted Odom. “I should be able to hear it, too.”

“And you will, just not right this minute,” replied Devine. “Please,” he added.

She skulked off to her room and slammed the door.

Devine turned to Saxby. “Okay, we need to find out how they really died.”

“That is not my jurisdiction. If you want to take it up with the locals, feel free.”

“So the parents of someone of potential value to the Bureau are killed and their reported cause of death may be a lie and the Bureau wants nothing to do with it?” said Devine incredulously.

“Those men could be lying,” pointed out Saxby.

“But I don’t think Betsy is. What would be her motive?”

Saxby glanced at the remains of her cigarette. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

“How about you report this up the line and request the Bureau take a look?” suggested Devine in a sharp tone.

“Two secondhand accounts from admitted drug users? I’d be laughed out of a career.”

Odom burst out of the bedroom, where she had clearly been listening to this encounter. She put her hands on her hips. “Are you fuckin’ deaf? I’m tellin’ you the same thing.”

“You’re a child. And you watch your mouth! If you were my kid, I’d stuff a bar of soap down your damn throat.”

Odom’s small chest started to rise and fall fast. Before Devine could react, she had picked up an empty glass Coke bottle off a table and thrown it at Saxby. Luckily her aim was off and the bottle shattered against the wall.

The FBI agent was so astonished, she could only sit there trembling with rage. Finally, she found her voice. “How dare you, you little piece of shit!”

“Took the words right out of my mouth, you old bitch!”

Odom stormed back into the bedroom and slammed the door behind her.

Saxby looked furiously at Devine. “Can you believe that crap? That’s assault against a federal agent.”

“Come on. Put yourself in her twelve-year-old shoes. What would you do?”

“Someone needs to teach her some manners.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“And I’m not going to. Now, you did your job, Devine. So get the hell out of here. With any luck the court will grant Glass the temporary guardianship and she’ll be off my hands.”

“Boy, you really did a one-eighty on your view about Glass taking control of her.”

“I actually think they’re meant for each other. Now go.”

Devine glanced at the bedroom door, where he thought he could hear Odom crying. “Make sure nothing happens to the girl, okay?” he said.

“I’ll do my job. Without any help or commentary from you.”

She shoved Devine out the door.

Devine walked out into the street and phoned Emerson Campbell.

Because there is no way in hell I can leave that kid like this.