Chapter 48

CHAPTER 48

S AXBY CAME BACK AND TOLD Devine that things were on a fast track for him to be named an emergency guardian for Betsy Odom. They expected Mehan to issue the order quickly, and without allowing Danny Glass a chance to respond.

“I spoke with Nancy Fine and she’s helping with this. But your guardianship won’t be for long,” added Saxby cautiously. Odom was out of earshot sitting on a bench with an armed Walker right next to her. “And now with the RICO case gone, Glass is still the betting favorite to get Betsy in the end.”

Saxby had then taken Odom back to the hotel while Walker had driven Devine back to her house and made them lunch.

“I’m sorry for taking up your day off with all this,” he said as he picked at his salad.

“Are you kidding? It was fascinating. But Betsy has been through so much, the poor kid.”

“Yeah, she has.”

“So if you get the guardianship, you said you’d take Betsy back to her home?”

“Nate Shore and Korey Rose are good guys and Betsy really likes them. Korey can cook and Nate Shore is former Delta Force and can be a great bodyguard. And she’d be in her old place, which might be good for her,” he added.

“I saw Betsy give you an envelope at the courthouse. What was it?”

Devine decided to lie. “She wrote me a note expressing her… thoughts about me.”

“Hope it wasn’t too brutal.”

“It was. And she had every right to be.”

“Well, she must like you. She picked you as her guardian.”

“Yeah, she did,” agreed Devine.

“So what now?”

“Now I head back to my hotel and check in with my boss.”

“You said you’d give me the names of the three witnesses in Glass’s case that were killed?” said Walker.

“Oh, right. I’ll email them to you.”

“Thanks.”

“Did you find anything on the surveillance device next to Rollins’s apartment?”

She looked nervous.

“What?” said Devine sharply.

“One of the guys in the department used to work for the feds. Not sure what he did and he won’t say. But I showed him pictures of it and he said… well, he said, it was super sophisticated and…”

“And what?”

“Looked a lot like equipment he’d used in his old job.”

“So our government was spying on Rollins?”

“I guess it’s possible, yes. Or someone else with the same technology.”

Devine thought back to what the girl on the train had written on that easel. The chopper. The attempted hit on him.

My government wants me dead.

“Travis, are you okay?”

He looked over at her. “Thanks for everything, Beth. I know I was a jerk at the hospital, but—”

She slid her hand over and gripped his. “If it were me, I wouldn’t have even been able to articulate a coherent thought. So just forget about it, okay?”

“Okay.”

She squeezed his hand and then let it go; only Devine still felt it there, warm, reassuring and… nice.

On the way back to his hotel Devine phoned Campbell and updated his boss on recent developments. He also asked for and was given the names of the three witnesses against Glass who had been killed.

Campbell said, “I heard about the RICO case being dropped.”

“You have any idea why it was dropped? The RICO lawyer mentioned something about it being in the interest of national security.”

“Yes, but I’m not going to say it over the phone.”

“What then?”

“I’m coming out there.”

“Is it that serious?”

“Yes, it is.”

“And the chopper she mentioned?”

“If it’s the bird I think she’s talking about, there are only two agencies that currently deploy it, at least that I know of. DHS… and CIA.”

“Great. The spooks at Langley are playing their stupid games again.”

“Don’t jump to conclusions. We don’t know for sure.”

“What might they have to do with Glass? Sleeping with the enemy?”

“We’ll discuss when I get there. I’m coming to Seattle tonight and staying at your hotel.”

Devine debated whether to tell him about the meeting with the girl on the train, but decided against it. Campbell might deploy men to follow him and that would blow up any chance of Devine getting to the bottom of this.

She did save my life. And she could have killed me at the airport. I can’t completely trust her, of course. But maybe I can listen.

“And your mole?”

“We’re almost there, Devine. Almost there.”

Campbell clicked off and Devine pulled over and texted the names of the dead witnesses to Beth Walker. Then he drove on to his hotel.

When he opened the door to his room Devine found that there was someone already there.

Danny Glass said, “We need to talk. Right now.”