Page 164 of To Die For

“You have nothing on me,” snapped Trumbull.

“Well, I actually havefouroutstanding federal arrest warrants. I hope you agree to come quietly.” He took out his gun.

She stiffened and then wilted so quickly, it looked like she might be having a stroke.

“You can’t be serious. You’ll never get out of here alive.”

Devine said, “You tell me how you killed the Odoms and we might be able to work something out for our mutual benefit.”

She smiled at him. “This is so much bigger than you imagine. You don’t have a chance.”

Devine looked at her simpering, smirking face and he felt his temper swell. “I served my country in a lot of places where everyone told us we didn’t have a chance. In fact, since the Revolutionary War, people like you, meaningenemiesof this country, have been telling us we don’t have a chance. And yet we’re still standing.”

When her smile deepened and she started to say something, he aimed and fired a round so close to her head that it blew off one of her dangling earrings.

She gasped, clapped her hand to her ear, and cried out, “You could have killed me.”

“If I wanted to kill you, you’d be dead. But the night’s still young.”

He rose and placed the muzzle of his gun against the center of her forehead and slid his finger to the trigger. “Like this, Trumbull.”

“You won’t pull the trigger,” she said shakily. “You’re with the law.”

“I don’t remember telling you I was with the law.”

“You’re Homeland Security,” she sputtered.

“And our mission is to protect the homeland against all threats, foreign and, like you, domestic. And I have the authority to use deadly force when threatened.”

“I’mnotthreatening you,” she moaned.

“You told me I didn’t stand a chance, and that I’d never get out of here alive. That is a direct and immediate threat to my personal safety, so extreme measures are justified. And you won’t be around to dispute it, will you?”

His finger edged to the trigger.

“Please, please don’t,” she whimpered.

“I can’t go away empty-handed, Trumbull. I came all this way. So either you talk, or at least I can tell my boss I removed one traitor from the mix. And you sure fit that bill.” When she said nothing, hepushed the muzzle deeper into her flesh and said, “Okay, bye-bye, Doc.”

She cried out, “W-wait. W-what do you want to know?”

He withdrew the pistol from her forehead.

“Tell me about 12/24/65. Eric and Mercedes King. Danny Glass. And how the Odoms died.”

“But—”

He held up his weapon. “Start talking or I will end you, right here, right now. You’re a traitor, and you and your kind have declared war on this country, and they execute traitors during wartime. And I have no problem being the executioner.”

And she started talking, laying everything out, as Devine asked pointed, detailed questions.

When she finished, he looked down at her.

“What happened to you?” asked Devine. “To make you follow this madness?”

“Go to hell.”

“We can still cut you a deal,” said Devine.

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