Page 48
“Leave it with me,” I suggest. “I’ll look into it.”
Then I move onto the subject of security, which only feels more important now.
“Did Battaglia show up yet?”
“Yes, he just dropped by, took a look around, and left again. He said he’d be back with some help and supplies. Apparently, Pops told him it was urgent.”
She sounds a bit annoyed, but I get the sense she didn’t object very hard. I’m pretty sure that phone call made her as uneasy as it does me. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have bothered calling me.
“Good thing he can do it today. Listen, I’ve got to go,” I tell her when Savvy walks into the bullpen and makes her way over to my desk. “But I’ll be by later. I can bring dinner, any requests?”
“I’m actually making chicken cacciatore.”
“Sounds good. Got enough for two?”
“I do, as a matter of fact,” she returns, and I can hear the smile in her voice.
“Perfect. I’ll see you later.”
Savvy is grinning when I end the call.
“Dana?”
Instead of answering, I level her with a look. How the hell she figured that out from just my side of the conversation, I don’t know.
Her grin only grows wider as she adds, “For what it’s worth, I approve.”
My reply is a grunt. It’s worth a lot, but I’m not about to let her know that.
There are still a few bridges to cross with Dana, some truths I have yet to share, which could steer this relationship right off the cliffs before it’s even started.
Then Savvy drops a bombshell.
“Mancuso called back. He was able to get us a contact name and number for HDLink. They’re probably not in on a Sunday, but maybe you can try first thing in the morning.”
She tosses a piece of paper on my desk with a name and number.
The exact same name and number I just finished writing down on my notepad.
Dana
* * *
“Is that really necessary?”
I watch as Roy hands Omar Westover—one of his dart buddies—a motion sensor camera to mount on the bracket he just installed on the shed.
“The one on your house will pick up everything outside your door, but this one will catch anything coming up the driveway,” he explains. “I just need to install the app on your phone, and you’ll be able to monitor and manage the entire security system on there. Easy peasy.”
“It seems like a lot,” I suggest, a little worried about the price tag.
“Nah.” Roy shakes his head. “It’s a pretty standard system.”
Getting the distinct feeling I’m being placated—probably Pops’s influence—I return to my laundry.
I found a pulley mounted on the back corner of the house, and a second one attached to the trunk of a large cottonwood tree bordering the yard. The laundry line had all but disintegrated, leaving only a frayed length dangling from the tree, but I found a new coil of line in the shed earlier. Along with a dozen clothespins, it was still packed in its original wrapping. It wasn’t too hard to replace the line, although it required me to climb onto the ladder I found hanging off the side of the shed, and I don’t do heights well. The pulleys were stiff and in need of some WD-40—which I’d already bought for several squeaking hinges around the house—and are now running smoothly again.
I’m already looking forward to my towels and sheets smelling of mountain air.
