Page 142 of To Die For

“So she delivers you up to the abductors. And then reports you as having been killed, with no body to ID. And she walks off freeand clear. Why would you think it was your agency and not her that screwed you over? I mean, she had just tried to kill you!”

“Because I overheard my captors saying my agency betrayed me and—”

Devine broke in, “And she wouldn’t have thought to tell them to do that? Manipulate you one last time? And cover herself on the off chance that you got away and might come after her for what she’d done? So she lays the blame on the Agency.”

She gave him a hard stare. “I didn’t know you ex-military were capable of such nuance.”

“You mean thinking like the backstabbing, lying, let-you-die-as-an-olive-branch-to-your-worst-enemies pieces of crap that litter your old stomping grounds? Yeah, I surprised myself, actually. But I’ve always been a quick learner. It’s why I’m still breathing.”

“I guess I deserved that,” she conceded.

“How much would your abductors pay Cassidy to sell you out?” asked Devine.

“A lot.”

“Well, maybe Anne Cassidy walked away with a bag of money for her treachery and used that to become mayor of Ricketts. The question is why?”

“I already told you that the town is probably controlled by CIA.”

“No, Mercedes King clearly no longer works for them. And the chopper and the guys you saw that night? Not CIA.”

“Who then?” asked Jackson.

“As I’m sure you heard me tell Ellen Saxby just now, even though she already knew it, Ricketts is HQ for 12/24/65, the second coming of the KKK. And they’re planning something really big. And killing me was apparently part of that.” He studied her. “You don’t look unduly surprised by this.”

“Absolutely nothing surprises me anymore.”

“It was suggested that they have big money backers, and people embedded at all levels of the state and federal governments, the police, the military, too.”

“That would make sense.”

“How so?” he asked.

“Caesar had his Brutus.”

Devine shook his head. “Shooting people in a different uniform is a lot easier. You don’t have to keep looking behind you for a ‘friend’ holding a knife.” He glanced at her. “So maybe our cooperation can start there.”

“Meaning what, exactly?”

“I’m a known quantity in Ricketts now, but you could go in wearing one of your incredible disguises and snoop around without anyone the wiser, and then report back to me.”

“SoCassidy’sthe one who really sold me out? Not CIA? You’re certain?”

“I can’t be certain of anything, but it sure as hell looks that way to me, Pru. And doesn’t it make sense to find out for sure?”

“Okay, I’ll do it. But now I’m really going to finish off that bitch if she did set me up.”

“Well, I think you might get your chance. But that means she’ll have her shot, too.”

CHAPTER

65

DEVINE GOT BACK TO THEhotel, where Campbell was waiting for him. He told Devine that Odom was asleep.

Devine went through the plan as told to him by Agent Saxby.

Campbell snapped, “They’re risking the life of a child on a half-ass plan like that?”

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