Chapter 76

CHAPTER 76

D EVINE CARRIED TRUMBULL TO HER bed where Jackson undressed her and put the dead woman under the covers. Devine had found in a cabinet the bullet he’d fired and dug it out and then smoothed over the damaged wood. Their hope was that whoever discovered her would conclude that Trumbull had died of natural causes.

After finishing with Jackson, Devine drove back to the trailer in Kittitas County and found Odom, Shore, and Rose eating a late-night dinner.

“Glad your butt got back here alive,” whispered Shore.

“Yeah.”

After the meal, Devine led Odom into the living room and showed her the boxes with her parents’ remains.

“I know this is so hard, Betsy,” he said as she ran her fingers along the tops of the boxes. “But I thought you’d want to have them.”

“Thanks, I… I do.”

He took a breath and said, “I found out what happened to your parents.”

“You know who killed them?” she said, her features strained.

“The waitress at the restaurant where you ate?”

“The old lady who smelled like smoke?”

“She used to be a doctor and a chemistry professor. She got caught up with some very bad people.”

Floppy tears gathered in the girl’s eyes, “How… how did it happen?”

In answer, Devine took out something from his pocket and held it up. “Look familiar?”

It was a pack of bacterial wipes.

Odom gaped. “Oh my gosh, the waitress brought us each one of those. She said they were asking everyone to use them because the town had had an outbreak of the flu. I… forgot. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“But I used one, too.”

“Yes, only the one she gave you had no poison on it. Just your parents’.”

“And I remember the waitress came and collected them with tongs.”

“I’m sure she did. The poison would have been rapidly absorbed into their skin. The woman told me that within sixty seconds you could have shaken hands with your mom and been fine. But it was still risky, for you.”

“Where is this bitch? Did you arrest her?”

“No. But she won’t be hurting anyone anymore.”

Odom started to protest, but then realization spread across her features. “She’s…?”

“Yes. She took her own life.”

She wiped at her tears and said, “When will all this stop? When will they stop hurting people?”

“They’re not going to hurt you, Betsy. Now it’s their turn to hurt.”

“Happy Birthday!” Shore and Rose said together as they trooped into the room. The latter was carrying a birthday cake with thirteen candles.

Devine looked from them to the teary-eyed Odom, who made a valiant effort to smile.

“This is so awesome, guys,” she said, quickly rubbing her eyes.

“Look at her, Dozer, girl’s so happy, she got all teared up,” gushed Rose.

Shore had paper plates, napkins, and plastic silverware.

“Today is your birthday?” said a stunned Devine.

“I told you it was coming up when we first met,” she reminded him.

“And look, Betsy, thirteen candles, like the movie,” said Rose.

“That’s sixteen , dumbass. Sixteen Candles ,” said Shore, nudging him with his elbow.

“Oh, well, I’ll make you one with sixteen in three years. And it’s chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla on the inside. And that’s no crappy powdered sugar frosting. That is buttercream, sweetie, just like you like it.”

She gave them both hugs and blew out the candles. They cut the cake and had two slices each.

“What did you wish for?” asked Devine quietly, after Shore and Rose had gone back to their room.

“What does it matter?” she said, glancing at the boxes containing her parents’ ashes.

“Happy Birthday, Betsy,” he said, because he could think of nothing else to say. The words sounded lame as soon as they left his mouth.

Devine went to his room and called Campbell. He had earlier sent to him the video of Trumbull’s confession that Jackson had taken, along with details about Trumbull’s killing herself.

Campbell said, “That was good work, Devine. I’ve forwarded the video to the appropriate parties. They’re analyzing it now.”

“She didn’t directly implicate the Kings unfortunately, or anyone else for that matter.”

“It’s still usable. So while you were interrogating her, who was taking the video?”

“I think you probably know,” replied Devine.

“Prudence Jackson is dangerous, Devine. To you.”

“Right now, she’s far more dangerous to someone else.”

“You know, we would like to take Mercedes King alive if possible.”

“I will keep that as a top priority, sir, but I can’t guarantee it.”

Campbell sighed but didn’t respond.

Devine said, “So what’d you find on Nicholas Dawkins, the power-mad guy King was meeting with?”

“Nicholas Dawkins is a thirty-four-year-old heir to an industrial fortune that was built up by several generations of Dawkinses. Nick didn’t have the same business bug as his ancestors. He’s whittled down his inheritance to finance a number of militias and anti-government groups and also runs a social media platform that would make most white supremacists blush. He also reportedly has the largest collection of Nazi memorabilia in the world.”

“So just another nice rich guy.”

“With connections to 12/24.” He paused. “Did you tell Betsy what happened to her parents?”

“Yes, and she now has her parents’ ashes.”

“That little girl has been through hell and back.”

“Several times,” said Devine.

He clicked off and looked around the room. He picked up the photo album again and was paging through it when he noted the back cover had come partially loose. He examined it to see if it could be repaired when he noticed something that had been slipped into the revealed crevice. With a bit of manipulation, he managed to free it.

It was an official document.

When Devine ran his gaze over it, his lips parted in astonishment.

It was a certificate whereby Daniel Glass Sr. and his wife had adopted one Julia Bennett, just six months old, and renamed her Alice Glass. He took a picture of it with his phone along with the picture of the Glass family and the other document he had found previously.

Before he could even begin to process this, a light flashed in the window of the bedroom. Devine rushed over and looked out.

Something appeared to be coming at them and coming fast.

Shit.

Devine raced through the trailer, grabbing a stunned Odom from her room and yelling for Shore and Rose, who were in the middle bedroom.

“Go, go, go,” he shouted. “Out the back, now!”

Shore and Rose emerged from their room and raced to the back door, which Shore slammed open.

“Run, run!” shouted Devine once they were all outside.

They hurtled through the dark woods. When Odom stumbled and fell, Rose scooped the girl up and carried her.

“What the fuck’s goin’ on?” shouted Shore.

Before Devine could answer, the trailer exploded and the concussive force of the blast hit them like a wave, lifting them into the air and sending all four of them tumbling through the woods.

Devine landed hard and was propelled across the ground, tasting dirt. When he stopped rolling, he looked up at the dark sky as a second explosion made day from night.

He sat up thinking, That was the propane tank.

“Betsy!” someone screamed out.

Devine leapt to his feet and saw Rose and a man struggling up ahead, while a second fellow had hold of the girl, who was fighting back. Rose was swiftly slashing at the man with his knife. The man collapsed under his attack.

Devine raced past a stunned Shore, who was trying to sit up.

Before Devine could reach Rose and Odom, the second man pulled a gun and shot Rose twice in the chest.

“Kor!” screamed Shore, who had seen this and gotten to his feet.

Devine raced past the fallen Rose and after the man, who was now sprinting away with Odom.

Devine pulled his gun but couldn’t fire because he might hit the girl.

The man cleared the tree line and Devine heard a vehicle start up.

He redoubled his efforts, but got to the road only in time to see taillights disappearing.

Devine turned and sprinted back into the woods. He called Campbell on the way, telling him what had happened. He saw Shore kneeling in the dirt and ran up to him.

Shore gazed at him, the tears streaming down his face. “He’s dead. Kor’s dead.”

A horrified Devine looked down at the body.

“I’m gonna kill those mutherfuckers. Kill ’em!” screamed Shore.

He turned back to look down at his dead friend, while Devine stared up ahead at what was left of the trailer. And then he looked behind him, where Betsy Odom had just vanished.