Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

D EVINE WAS HEADING BACK TO his SUV when another woman approached him in the parking lot.

She was in her late thirties, five-six, blond and curvy. Her makeup was muted and she was dressed in a black jacket and matching slacks with a white blouse framed with a long pointed collar and French cuffs. Her fingers flashed with what looked to be high-priced jewelry, and her neck was encircled with a strand of small gray pearls. Her stiletto heels clicked over the pavement like exclamation points.

“Agent Devine?” she said in a raspy voice, which sounded like she was coming down with a cold.

“Yes?”

“I’m Mercedes King.”

Devine’s surprise was so immediate, it was impossible to disguise or hide it.

She smiled knowingly. “Eric is quite a bit older than I am. Not that any explanation is due,” she added sweetly with a dollop of vinegar on top.

“Of course not.”

“Were our people helpful?” she asked.

“Yes. Although I was hoping to look at the items found in the Odoms’ car. And I was surprised that their remains had already been cremated.”

“Is that a problem? I believe the autopsies had been completed. So tragic what happened to them. Drugs! The scourge of our society.”

He held up the file. “I have the reports here.”

“Excellent. Well, if there’s anything else you need, just let us know.”

“The items from the car?”

“I’ll check on that.”

Sure you will.

Then she proceeded to throw him a curveball. “I’d be delighted to treat you to dinner. Say eight o’clock? I’ve got some work to finish.”

Devine wondered what that was about, but decided to accept the invitation or take the bait, whichever it was. “I’ll have to stay over then. You have any recommendations?”

“The Havens on Central Street. It’s next to our only movie theater. Very nice B and B. I can call and make a reservation for you.”

“Thanks. I appreciate all the cooperation.” He had to bite back a laugh.

“We are always delighted to work with our federal friends.” She gave him the address of the restaurant.

“Is what I’m wearing okay?”

“You just bring yourself, Agent Devine. That’ll be plenty.”

Said the spider to the fly.

She walked off, exaggerating the swing of her hips and buttocks, he thought, but maybe she always moved that way. Some women he had met in the past did. And his encounters with all of them had ended badly.

So where will you come out, Mayor Mercedes?

He headed back to the downtown area and parked at the curb, where he texted Campbell, bringing him up to date with the latest. The cremation had ruined any chance to determine what had actually happened to the Odoms. And he was clearly not going to see what had been found in the car. He would have to attack this sucker from another angle.

He checked his rearview mirror and saw the same police cruiser that had shadowed him earlier parked on the opposite curb three car lengths back. The same two cops were inside.

He called Betsy Odom’s number and she answered after two rings.

“Hello?”

“Betsy, it’s Travis.”

“Where are you?”

“In Ricketts, like I said. I’ve been, well, asking questions and seeing what I can find out about… what happened to your parents.” It had just sunk in with Devine that he was speaking to a little girl about her parents’ murders.

“Did you find out what happened to them?” she said anxiously. “Did somebody do it? Who?”

“Whoa, slow down. I haven’t found out anything really. At least not yet.”

“Did… did you see them? My mom and dad, I mean?”

Shit. Devine couldn’t bring himself to tell her that their bodies had been cremated.

“No, I didn’t. They were… the bodies… I mean… No, I didn’t,” he concluded awkwardly.

“I’m meeting with my uncle again.”

A surprised Devine said, “What? When?”

“There’s a court thing coming up.”

“Yeah, I know, the hearing on your uncle’s petition for guardianship. But why are you meeting with him?”

“He wants to see me before the hearing for some reason. Travis, can you…”

“Can I what?”

“Can you go with me to meet my uncle and then to this court thing?”

“Yeah sure, if you want me to.”

“Thanks.”

She didn’t sound anything like the smart-ass, foul-mouthed kid from before. She sounded exactly like what she actually was: a scared, grieving, and confused twelve-year-old.

“Did you find out anything at all about my parents?”

“A little. I’ll be back in Seattle tomorrow and I’ll come by and see you, okay? Then we can talk about meeting with your uncle and the court hearing.”

“Okay, thanks, Travis.”

While he sat there killing time until dinner by going over the autopsy reports some more, the background info that Campbell had gotten for him on Rollins popped into his in-box. He scrolled through the attachments.

Perry Rollins had been born in the Midwest and then moved around some. He had been married once, no kids, his ex’s whereabouts unknown. He had a sporadic employment history and his tax filings were just as random. In fact, he had an IRS garnishment on his bank account, which had only a little over a hundred bucks in it. No car was registered to him.

There wasn’t much here, it seemed, but he had to go over it in detail, and so he did, reading some parts several times so the information would sink in better.

When Devine looked up a while later, he found the dark streets had totally emptied.

And that was when someone tapped on his window.