Page 70 of I Am Salvation

“I’m in Taos now. I’m not too far from Albuquerque. I need to be in on this, Alayna.”

She pauses again. “It’s better if you’re not.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass. I’m going to be in on it.”

“You know how to shoot a gun?”

I let out a light laugh. “Hell, yeah.”

That was one of the first things I learned to do when I turned eighteen. No way was I going to be anyone’s victim again.

“Do you have one on you?”

“Well…no.”

My gun is in a locked case back in Diana’s penthouse. Why I didn’t think of bringing it with me, I’ll never know. I was so laser-focused on finding my parents, I guess I glossed over some of the details.

“Leave it to us pros,” she says. “I’ll be in touch as soon as I know anything.”

“All right. Thank you.”

“Not a problem. You’ll hear from me soon.”

The call ends, and I call the number that was left for me in the metal box. To my surprise, someone answers.

“What is it?” the voice on the other line says.

“I need your help,” I say.

“I’ve given you all the help I can.”

“Are you the person who had my sister all these years?”

No response.

This is so bizarre. In some warped way, I think he cares for Griffin. Cares that she’s gone and is trying to get me to help him find her.

“I need to meet you,” I say.

“Not going to happen.”

“Look. If you kept my sister alive all these years?—”

“What makes you think I’m the person who had her?”

“You’ve made that pretty clear. You had that fabric from her pajamas that she was wearing the night she was taken.”

I don’t know for sure if she was wearing those pajamas, but I’m assuming so. They were her favorites, and she probably wore them because they reminded her of me.

Griffin loved me. Griffin probably missed me. She did miss me, according to my mother. She kept asking about me.

“You wouldn’t have answered the phone if you didn’t want to help me,” I say.

No response.

“Look. If you help me find her, I can keep your secret. No one will ever find you.”

“Right.” He scoffs.

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