Page 93 of I Am Salvation

“Shouldn’t be too long. I’ve got a guy on my team who’s a master at this stuff.”

“So you’ll have a name and address for me?”

“I can’t make any guarantees, but I’m cautiously optimistic.”

“Good. Thanks, Alayna.”

“You got it. I’m on the road to Albuquerque now. Should get there by morning.”

“You’re driving all night?”

“With my partner, Brad Ness. We take turns.”

I pull up a map app on my phone. “Are you passing through Taos?”

“Yeah, we may pass through Taos. You want me to stop so we can meet face-to-face?”

Do I?

“No. We’ll meet eventually. Right now, Griffin is the main focus.”

“I agree. I’ll get back to you as soon as I hear from my colleague.”

“Got it.” I end the call.

I plug my phone into its charger, and then I head back into the other room to look in on Diana.

Her eyes are closed.

Good. She needs the sleep.

“You doing okay, boy?” I ask the dog.

Diana opens her eyes.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

She sits up. “I wasn’t asleep. I’m not really tired.”

“I’d ask you what you talked to my mom about, but to tell you the truth”—I shake my head—“I don’t want to think about it right now.”

“I get it.”

What I really want is to fuck her silly. But she’s hurt. I can’t expect her to?—

“Come here, Dragon,” she says, her eyes heavy-lidded.

“What for?”

She smiles. “I think you know.”

“You’re cuddling with the dog.”

She pats the mattress. “There’s plenty of room for you on the other side of the bed.”

Okay. Weird. Is the dog going to watch us?

“Diana, we’ve been through this.”

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