Page 58

CHAPTER 58

W HEN DEVINE AWOKE THE NEXT morning, he had a text message on his phone.

Ex parte meeting held with Judge Mehan. You have been installed as Betsy’s temporary guardian beginning immediately. Come by as soon as you can today to be briefed and to take custody. Saxby

He rose, showered, dressed, and noticed the note under his door.

Bookstore again, two o’clock. I’ll find you. GOTT

Well, that was a nice, relaxing way to start the day, thought a still-tired Devine.

He grabbed a cup of coffee and a banana from the hotel lobby market and phoned Saxby on his way over.

“How did you manage to pull that off so fast?” he asked.

“Mehan doesn’t want to put Betsy within fifty miles of her uncle. It was extraordinary relief, for sure, but this is an unusual situation and she stepped up to the plate.”

“Glass already figured that she would. He was waiting for me at my hotel after the hearing. He said that if I let anything happen to Betsy, he’d give me the same a hundred times over and he’d do it personally.”

“Reinforces the judge’s decision, right?”

“But it also shows he wants Betsy to be safe. In fact, he told me that since the FBI only assigned you to protect Betsy, he’s had six of his men watching her all the time.”

“Are you serious?”

“I see no reason for him to lie.”

“Who’s he protecting her from?”

“Probably from whoever killed her parents,” replied Devine.

“But if they wanted to harm her, why not just kill her, too, at the same time? You have any thoughts on that?”

“Yes. I’ll fill you in when I get there.”

Ten minutes later he hustled up to their room and knocked.

Saxby answered the door and ushered him in.

“Where’s Betsy?”

“Still sleeping. She had a rough night. How about you?”

“I might have had it rougher.”

“Sit down and tell me about it.”

Devine gave her the blow-by-blow, from Glass in his room after the hearing to the attempt on his life last night. But he did not mention the girl on the train. Telling Campbell about her was enough. He trusted Saxby, but his instinct was to keep that on the QT. Apparently, in the world in which he operated now, few could be trusted, even fellow agents.

“I think you’ve used up all of your nine lives now,” warned Saxby.

“Let’s hope I’ve got a few left.”

“And you’re sure the man who tried to kill you was a Ricketts police officer?”

“Yes. And his body is now with the Seattle PD.”

“Well, then the Ricketts police chief will have some questions to answer.”

He decided to broach the elephant in the room with Saxby.

“It seems our own government is working with Danny Glass. They got him off the RICO charges.”

“Maybe,” said Saxby cautiously. “Nancy Fine didn’t really confirm that.”

“I think she did. And what if they killed Betsy’s parents, too, as part of whatever deal they’re doing with Glass?”

Saxby looked alarmed by his comment. “ Our government killing two innocent people? Have you lost your mind?”

“Clears the way for Glass to adopt Betsy. Maybe that was why she was left alive.”

“Look, I’m no Pollyanna, and I’ve seen some crazy shit in my time, and not everyone who carries the badge is a saint, but we do draw the line at the cold-blooded murder of American citizens.”

“What if the survival of our country is at stake?”

Saxby slipped a smoke out of her pack and lit up. “Do I want to hear this?”

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to.”

He told her about Dr. Coburn’s report being taken off the official record.

“She suspected cyanide poisoning combined with another compound that would make absorption nearly as quick and lethal as inhalation. I was told by the cops in Ricketts that it was a drug overdose. Coburn told me she found no evidence of that.”

“Well, let’s get Coburn to make an official statement to the police.”

“She can’t.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because she was blown up in a house on the outskirts of Seattle the night before the court hearing.”

A substantial amount of blood drained from Saxby’s face. “Blown up?”

“After men tried to kill her in the house.”

“How the hell do you know all this?”

“Because I was there with her. I tried and failed to save her.”

“That’s where you got those scratches and why you were walking so stiffly?”

“Yes.”

“So what are we talking, organized crime, a South American drug cartel?”

“I think we need to look closer to home.”

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“I suspect Glass has some incredibly valuable information that he was willing to share with our government if the charges against him were dropped, and he gets his niece. Well, he got the first item on his wish list and now he wants Betsy.”

“What sort of information would he have?”

“Look at the people he’s done business with. Could one of them be planning something big? Maybe an attempt to overthrow the government?”

“Overthrow the United States government? Listen to yourself. For God’s sake.”

“If enough people believe it can never happen here, then they’ve pretty much assured that it will, in fact, happen on American soil.”

“Okay, I need to tell somebody about this.”

“No. Not yet. We need to let this play out a bit.”

“But—”

“I told you all this in confidence. But there are people in the government who know about the possible threat and are working to make sure it will be defeated.”

Saxby considered all this for a bit before nodding. “Okay, I’ll keep mum. But thanks for ruining my day, week, and year.”

“Hey, welcome to my world.”