He won’t move forward without this written proof.”
He watched her sitting there, forehead wrinkled in concentration, thumbing through names.
“We can always have Saint fly it to him.”
She looked up. “You’d do that?”
“I’d walk it there myself if I had to. Peyton, this man was responsible for the murder of most of my team. I’ll do anything I can to make this happen.”
“Okay. Then I think I have just the right person.” She opened the contact name and hit the button to dial the number. “Dawson? Hey. This is Peyton West. Long time, no see.” She chuckled at whatever he said. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Well, you always told me you wanted to be in one of my books so you’d be famous. I’ve got a better way if you’re interested. It’s the hot story of the year and I can’t think of a better person to run with it than you.”
She gave him a short, concise version of what she had for him. Blaze knew she didn’t want to say too much over the phone. Cell phones weren’t as secure as people liked to think.
“No, I’m not giving you a line. Yes, the information is authentic. I have proof.” She laughed. “Yes, I know it’s a big story. That’s why I chose you to break it. I wanted someone I can trust. I wanted someone who I thought would do the best job with this and your name hit the top of the list. Listen. I’m going to put a man named Scott Hamilton on the phone. He’ll tell you how and where you can pick up the written proof. Yes, he’s one hundred percent solid.”
Blaze took the phone from her and rattled off some information before handing the phone back.
“Dawson? Someone is flying to Atlanta to give you the proof. I didn’t want to send it through the mail or try to do it electronically. But you have to promise me you will make the biggest splash ever. Yes, I know you do. That’s why it’s you I called. Okay. You’ll be getting a call and a delivery in a couple of hours.”
While she finished her conversation, he called Saint.
“Got another trip for you today.” He grinned. “And yes, we’re making sure you have enough hours in the air. The first thing you have to do is come by my place to pick up an envelope.” Finished with the call, he looked over at Peyton. “You hungry? We haven’t eaten since breakfast.”
She shook her head. “I’m too jazzed to eat. Oh, Blaze, you’ll finally get the revenge for your team members. Dawson’s big for this—television, Internet as well as print. I am so glad I could be a part of this.”
“A major part,” he reminded her. “I could never have done this without you.”
“Then something good has come out of this tragedy.”
“No kidding. If not for the hit and run, Warren Sulzberger might never have come into my orbit again. If you hadn’t hired us, I’d never have connected with the resources to finally make him pay.” He winked at her. “I think you deserve a reward.”
She looked up at him and grinned. “I think I do, too. But I think we’d better wait until after Saint picks up this envelope.”
To Saint’s credit, when he arrived, he didn’t ask any questions, just took the envelope and the written instructions on how to deliver it, and beat it. Saint swallowed a grin as he headed to the door. Blaze figured the grin was his recognition of how important Peyton ahd become to him.
Go figure. He’d spent years avoiding entanglements, only to embrace one that had hit him out of the blue. Now he just had to convince Peyton that three days was enough for them to move forward with this. And that she should move here from San Antonio, or at least stay a while so they could see where this was going.
He hoped his partners didn’t give him a hard time. When they’d formed Galaxy, they had all discussed what would happen if they developed a relationship with a woman that could turn out to be permanent.
‘We don’t exactly live a stable existence,’ Eagle had pointed out. ‘Most women can’t deal with that.’
‘Most women,’ Blaze had told him. ‘But the right one could—’ Then he’d shaken his head. ‘But you know that won’t be me. Footloose is my middle name.’
He swallowed a laugh thinking about it. He could imagine what they’d have to say.