Page 56 of To Die For

“You just bring yourself, Agent Devine. That’ll be plenty.”

Said the spider to the fly.

She walked off, exaggerating the swing of her hips and buttocks, he thought, but maybe she always moved that way. Some women he had met in the past did. And his encounters with all of them had ended badly.

So where will you come out, Mayor Mercedes?

He headed back to the downtown area and parked at the curb, where he texted Campbell, bringing him up to date with the latest. The cremation had ruined any chance to determine what had actually happened to the Odoms. And he was clearly not going to see what had been found in the car. He would have to attack this sucker from another angle.

He checked his rearview mirror and saw the same police cruiser that had shadowed him earlier parked on the opposite curb three car lengths back. The same two cops were inside.

He called Betsy Odom’s number and she answered after two rings.

“Hello?”

“Betsy, it’s Travis.”

“Where are you?”

“In Ricketts, like I said. I’ve been, well, asking questions and seeing what I can find out about… what happened to your parents.” It had just sunk in with Devine that he was speaking to a little girl about her parents’ murders.

“Did you find out what happened to them?” she said anxiously. “Did somebody do it? Who?”

“Whoa, slow down. I haven’t found out anything really. At least not yet.”

“Did… did you see them? My mom and dad, I mean?”

Shit.Devine couldn’t bring himself to tell her that their bodies had been cremated.

“No, I didn’t. They were… the bodies… I mean… No, I didn’t,” he concluded awkwardly.

“I’m meeting with my uncle again.”

A surprised Devine said, “What? When?”

“There’s a court thing coming up.”

“Yeah, I know, the hearing on your uncle’s petition for guardianship. But why are you meeting with him?”

“He wants to see me before the hearing for some reason. Travis, can you…”

“Can I what?”

“Can you go with me to meet my uncle and then to this court thing?”

“Yeah sure, if you want me to.”

“Thanks.”

She didn’t sound anything like the smart-ass, foul-mouthed kid from before. She sounded exactly like what she actually was: a scared, grieving, and confused twelve-year-old.

“Did you find out anything at all about my parents?”

“A little. I’ll be back in Seattle tomorrow and I’ll come by and see you, okay? Then we can talk about meeting with your uncle and the court hearing.”

“Okay, thanks, Travis.”

While he sat there killing time until dinner by going over the autopsy reports some more, the background info that Campbell had gotten for him on Rollins popped into his in-box. He scrolled through the attachments.

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