Sammy jerked back as if he’d been slapped. “What the hell did you want me to do? Take it off his dead body right there in the funeral home?”
He continued to stare at him.
“Are you crazy? I can’t just grave rob someone.”
“He wasn’t in the grave yet.”
Sammy huffed. “You know what I mean.”
He did, and he thought it sounded ludicrous. “Well, someone took it.”
“My mom.”
Maybe, but Dominic didn’t think so. After everything he’d learned, he didn’t put it past the female to desecrate a burial site. He couldn’t, however, reconcile the timing.
Unless something—or someone—had prevented her from retrieving the totem sooner.
Ultimately, it didn’t really matter. The damage had already been done, but he liked being prepared. Knowing who elsewould be bold enough to steal jewelry off a dead man seemed like information he should have.
Thankfully, it shouldn’t be that hard to find out.
“How do you know she has the relique?”
“Someone I used to work with called me a few nights ago. Kiev said she came to the club, and she had the locket.”
“What did he say exactly?” Dominic pressed. “Did he say she brought it with her?”
Sammy chewed his bottom lip, his eyes soft and unfocused as he thought. “He texted me that she had just left the club. When I called him, all he said was that she had the locket.”
Which could mean anything or nothing at all. She might have shown him the locket. She might have only said she had it. Worse, this Kiev guy could have been the one to give it to her. As it stood, he had no way of knowing which possibility was the truth.
Seemed like he’d be making a trip to Galveston soon.
“Anything else?”
Sammy shook his head. “Only that she left in a cab for the airport.” A small, almost silent sigh puffed from his lips. “I’m sorry. I know it’s not much.”
While he might not know where Valerie was going or what she planned to do with the relique, he’d actually gleaned quite a bit from their conversation.
“Do you see why I need your help?” Sammy leaned forward in his seat, his eyes wide and beseeching. “Like I said on the phone, I can pay you. I have some money saved up, but if—”
“I don’t want your money.”
He had already decided to help the changeling track down his mother, but in the meantime, he had to figure out what to do with him. If Valerie could summon Sammy to her side, she had no reason to come for him, but Dominic didn’t like the idea of leaving him alone.
He could assign a pack member to watch over him for a few days. That would be the most logical and efficient thing to do.
As soon as the thought came to him, his shoulders tightened and his jaw clenched, his body vehemently rejecting the solution.
“If you don’t want money,” Sammy said, hesitation returning. “Whatdoyou want?”
Honestly, he didn’t know, but he was already in too deep to turn back now.
“I think it would be best if you came and stayed with me while we figure this out.”
Sammy blinked, his expression an adorable combination of optimism and disbelief. “Does that mean you’ll help me?”
“Yes, but if we do this, we do it my way. Understood?”