Page 81 of I Am Salvation

“Yeah. And the sooner the better.”

“My girlfriend’s gone right now. I’ll get the money when she gets home, and I’ll take care of it right away.”

He grunts.

I draw a slow breath in. “But I need something more from you.”

“What’s that?”

“How did the cult get Griffin? If you didn’t sell her, what happened?”

He sighs. “They took her. They came to the house, and they took her. Said it was either her or the girl, so she went willingly.”

Damn.

Griffin was probably raped and impregnated against her will, but she was still a hell of a lot better mother than our own mother was.

“All right.” I pause, choosing my words extremely carefully. “If you really want my help, and you really want me to find her, I need to know where you live.”

The line goes dead.

“Fuck!” I yell, clenching my fists.

I quickly call Alayna.

“What’s up, Dragon?” she says.

“Hey, if I send some cash through a wire to the number that was left in the metal box, will you be able to trace where the number is calling from?”

“Why are you asking me this, Dragon?”

I quickly relay my phone call to her.

She doesn’t respond immediately. I hear her typing on the other end.

“Okay. I won’t be able to tell where the call is coming from, but what I can do is hack into the app. He probably had to give an address when he signed up for it. If not, I can see his other transactions. That may give us some leads.”

“Perfect. Let’s do it.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Diana

The EMTs arrive at the trailer park, where I’m still sitting on the ground, holding my injured hand. I haven’t tried to stand again. Not after my ankle nearly gave way from the pain.

Two paramedics approach me, a man and a woman.

“Ma’am,” the male says, “my name is Mark, and this is my partner, Sarah. Can you tell us what happened?”

I gesture toward the broken wood behind me. “I was stepping out of this trailer, and the wooden step just gave way. I fell through and cut my hand pretty badly. My ankle… I can’t put any weight on it without feeling excruciating pain.”

Sarah kneels beside me, gently taking my hand to examine the cut. “What’s your name?”

“Diana.”

“All right, Diana,” she says, “let’s take a look at that hand first. Mark, can you get a splint ready for her ankle?”

Mark nods.

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