Chapter 51

CHAPTER 51

A HALF HOUR LATER DEVINE’S PHONE rang. When he answered it Walker said, “Hey, Travis.”

He said, “Hi, Beth. Your boss came by and filled me in on the print on the shell casing and the interesting but inconclusive result on Mercedes King and the wineglass.”

“I just saw those results, too. Puzzling to say the least.”

“ You saw them? Where are you?”

“I decided to go into work and started digging into the names of the three witnesses who were killed.”

“And?”

“You up for some coffee? We can discuss it.”

“Sure.”

They arranged to meet at a café close to Devine’s hotel.

After they were seated, Walker pulled out the file she had brought with her.

She splayed out three photos of three different men. They each looked hard, cruel, and dangerous.

“Quite the rogues’ gallery,” commented Devine.

“Thugs in Glass’s organization. It’s the standard playbook. Grab the low-hanging fruit, give them deals, and then flip them against the real target. In this case, Danny Glass.”

“How did they die?”

“Professional hits, looks to be. No evidence left behind. Quick and efficient.”

“Weren’t they under government protection?”

“Yes.”

“So how did it happen?”

She pointed to the first man. “Todd Grainger, forty-two, one of Glass’s enforcers. Up to his elbows in blood. He screws up, gets arrested, Glass’s lawyers can’t get him loose. He’s looking at life. DOJ cuts him a deal. Testify and your ticket gets punched for WITSEC. Same deal for the other two, who were also killers to the nth degree. All standard government dealmaking.”

“When did it become nonstandard ?” asked Devine.

“All three men were being moved at the same time. This was in preparation for their traveling here to testify.”

“And?”

“And they were exposed for about thirty seconds, at most. Leaving the house to get to the secure motorcade for Grainger and one of the others. The third was actually about to board a government jet to fly here when the hammer came down. And most critically, they were each taken out within seconds of the others, so there was no opportunity to send out warnings or shut down travel plans.”

“How were they killed?” asked Devine.

“In each case a long-range sniper shot. And I mean long -range. In the case of the airport hit, about three thousand meters, they estimate.”

Devine looked impressed. “There are only a handful of snipers who operate in that range. Army snipers I knew could consistently kill from a thousand meters. SEAL sniper Chris Kyle’s longest confirmed kill shot was around two thousand meters, and he was one of the best in the business.”

“No great loss for humanity; the three men were collectively responsible for over forty murders. So you figure Glass is behind this?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Who else could it be?” asked Walker.

“Your boss was here earlier. We had a similar discussion about something related. And you know what his answer was?”

“What?” said Walker.

“That he thought maybe it was our government in play here.”

Walker sat back. “What is going on, Travis?”

“You find it strange that Mercedes King’s prints are in a super-restricted database?”

“I find it terrifying actually,” replied Walker.

“And if she is tied to the feds somehow, they could be behind how a poor, rural town gets jacked-up military-grade policing equipment and a government building that you’d usually see in a much bigger city.”

“So the feds are clandestinely funding Ricketts?” said a visibly shaken Walker. “Why?”

“That’s the question at the top of my list. Oh, and Danny Glass came to visit me in my hotel room.”

“Glass? What did he want?”

“He basically told me if I let anything happen to Betsy, he’ll kill me personally. And that he had nothing to do with his sister’s and brother-in-law’s deaths.”

“And you believe him?” asked Walker.

“Yeah, I think I do actually.”

“Then who killed them?” she said.

“Either someone who wanted to hurt Glass. Or someone who wanted to help him.”

“Help him! By killing his sister and her husband? How does that make sense?”

“There are lots of ways to help people, Beth.”

“Meaning their deaths opened up the opportunity for him to adopt Betsy?”

“Yes. Dr. Coburn thought they were killed with cyanide and another compound called DMSO, allowing absorption to be quickly fatal. And they couldn’t risk inhalation or ingestion of the poison because Betsy might have been killed, too. It was highly sophisticated. Like killing three guys from thousands of meters away, because that required a lot of prep and inside intel.”

“Wait, you think whoever did that also killed the Odoms?”

“Maybe not the exact same people, but the same organization,” replied Devine.

“You mean our government, don’t you?” she said, the dread clear in her voice.

In answer he said, “You ever watch Stranger Things ?”

“Yeah.”

“Welcome to the Upside Down. For real.”