Page 26 of Her Passionate Hero

There was a knock behind him.

“Somebody call for a ride?” an orderly with a wheelchair asked.

“That’s for me,” Aliana said. He walked with her as she gingerly sat down in the chair.

Mrs. Jankovic patted his arm. She leaned in to say something to his grandmother that he couldn’t quite make out. Then she and Lottie followed Aliana out of the room.

“Mamie?”

“We’ll talk about it in the car. Let’s give them a chance to go out first. You’re upsetting your Alia,” she said in Spanish.

“She hasn’t been mine for a long time.”

“She’s always been yours. And she needs you now.”

Maybe. He thought about that first moment when she had seen him. Despite everything, her instinct had been to come to him. It was like the clouds parted for just a moment and the sun burst through, shining directly on him. He savored it. But now, he needed to focus on matters at hand.

“Do you know what’s going on?”

“I have our book club looking into things.”

He stepped back so he could look down at the small woman he called grandmother.

“I did not just hear you say that your book club is trying to figure out who planted a bomb in Aliana’s house.”

“The twelve of us are very well-connected here in the neighborhood. We’re meeting on Saturday. Velma is bringing German chocolate cake, and her aunt is bringing apple pie. I’ll have ice cream. We want to bring you up to speed.”

“I don’t want you involved,” he commanded.

“Too late, we’re involved. You’re coming and listening. I had Velma bake your favorite cake. Don’t give me any shit, boy.”

Hunter burst out laughing. He hadn’t actually been up to visit his grandmother in over a year, and they hadn’t argued like this in forever. It was fun. He wrapped her up in a hug.

“I love you Mamie, but I’m not letting you and your crazy cronies get involved with street gangs.”

“Some of those women were in the original gangs back in the day. They know what’s up. Granted, anyone truly loyal to that way of life has long since dropped out of the book club.”

He looked down at her. “You’re not hearing me. I’m serious, you’re not involved. Today you’re going to give me the information I need, then you’re taking down your Miss Marple Detective Agency shingle. Tell me what I need to know.”

“We’ll tell you on Saturday.”

“I want to know why Aliana hasn’t talked to the cops.”

Rosa brightened. “She’s better now, you know.”

“What do you mean better?”

“After her father killed himself, she went into a shell. But it wasn’t until six months later that she seemed to disappear.”

Six months later would have been when he stopped sending letters. “What do you mean, disappear?”

“It was the beginning of her senior year. Her mother and her grandmother didn’t notice.”

The back of his neck tingled. “Go on.”

“She fainted in school.”

“What was wrong with her?”