Dennis just shrugged and said, "I would like to think that it was my dashing looks, irresistible charm or virile presence that did the trick, but I know it was your recommendation that sold Haley on letting me be her escort. That, and her agent convincing her that being seen with a black man would be good for her career. At least that's what she told me when we made the arrangements last night."

"I just got you in the door," Tyler said. "I'm sure that once you and Haley spend a little time together, she'll appreciate you as more than a 'trophy' escort. She really is a sweet kid."

Tyler heard the notification of an incoming text message on his cellphone. Retrieving it out of the pouch on his belt, he glanced at the screen. "I'll be right back," he told Dennis as he walked out of the office with his cellphone still in his hand. He returned in a few minutes.

"That was Katie," he explained to Dennis. "She just wanted to let me know that she bought the car, truck, whatever they call the thing, and is going to check out of her hotel. Once she's on the road, she'll call me."

Dennis rose from his desk and packed up his laptop as he said, "Seems like a lot of trouble to go through to get a vehicle that she won't hardly be able to drive here. Does she know that anything with an internal combustion engine made prior to the emission regulations deadline will have restrictions put on its use when it gets registered?"

"Yeah," Tyler said, "but as Katie explained it to me, she is officially a non-resident student in California, so as long as she registers the thing in her state of residence, which is Texas, she will be exempt from the restrictions placed upon residents of California. I guess her dad will get the title and registration arranged for her, which he must have some pretty solid connections to do that with the vehicle not even being present for inspection at the time of registration. Speaking of dads, I need to remember to call mine this morning to check their plans for next Saturday. Katie wants to meet them and take us all to dinner."

Dennis checked the clock on the wall as he picked up his computer bag. Placing the strap over his shoulder, he told Tyler, "Traffic should be died down enough by now for me to make it to the Los Angeles Air Force Base without too much of a delay. Call me if you need anything, otherwise, I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Tyler gave a mock salute and said, "Drive safe. I'll be here holding down the fort if you need anything."

Once Dennis had left, Tyler began catching up on the morning e-mail messages. As Dennis had promised, there was the one from the Attorney General himself directing Tyler to prepared a subpoena duces tecum demanding access to the vehicle registration details of Blackwater Holdings. There were a few other mundane departmental notices, but one of these stood out in Tyler's mind as awfully coincidental. It was a reminder to all agency employees of their required compliance with the State Employees non-disclosure policy. Tyler couldn't staunch his suspicion that this reminder was somehow related to the revelation that Dennis had shared earlier about Alfaro's rare blood type.

His cellphone rang, and since he was alone in the office, he immediately put it on the speaker of the phone when he answered it.

"Hi Katie. I take it that the SSR is everything that you had hoped?"

"Tyler, this truck is amazing!" Katie exclaimed. "It has everything I was looking for and is so fun to drive. I might even let you drive it sometimes just so I can watch your reaction to how it handles. It's like a Corvette with a truck bed fuck movies - https://wickedsick.tv ."

Tyler chuckled at Katie's exuberance and asked, "Have you put the top down yet?"

"I did while at the hotel parking lot, but it's up now since the noise on the interstate would make hearing you on the phone a challenge. I got onto I-35 about six miles back. I should be in Wichita in a little over two hours."