Page 32 of Her Passionate Hero

The silence was so long, Hunter looked down at his phone to see if his friend had hung up. Nope, they were still connected.

“Just got back from a bad one four days ago. Lost a man.”

Hunter was stunned. A SEAL dead, and he hadn’t heard about it? “Did I know him?”

“He was our liaison. Didn’t pay attention to orders. Still doesn’t matter, it was on my watch.” It wouldn’t matter. Hunter might never have served with Dante ‘Zed’ Zaragoza, but he knew what kind of man, what kind of second-in-command he was. He would see this as a personal failure.

“What’s next for you?”

“We just spent a shit ton of time doing debriefs. We’ve got downtime, and it’s been suggested, strongly, that I take some leave. Apparently, they think I’m close to the edge.”

“Are you?”

“No.” Another long pause. “Yeah, maybe a little. I feel guilty, but you suck it up. This is part of the job. If I thought I couldn’t lead men into battle and handle the consequences, I’d hang up my boots.”

Hunter smiled. Now that was the man he knew. “But it would make command happy if you took leave?”

“What do you have in mind? Because as much as I suggested you stay out of the ’hood, same goes for me.”

“I have an old friend. Went to school with her. She was two years younger than me, and―”

“Aliana Novak,” Zed interrupted. “I looked her up when I approached you. I investigated everything about you, Kid.”

Hunter hadn’t been called a kid, well, except for Zed, he’d never been called a kid.

“Anyway, she’s the Vice Principal of Bertrum High School, and her house just got blown up. By sheer luck, she didn’t die.”

“Who’s targeting her?”

“One of the local gangs. I’ve got to find out which one, but she needs protection. I’m calling in a friend from Black Dawn. We’re between missions, so Gray should give him leave. But it would be really helpful to have another set of eyes who know their way around here.”

“She’s a Vice Principal? Who would have guessed it?”

“Not me. But she doesn’t want me here.”

“But you’re staying, anyway?”

“What do you think?”

Zed chuckled. “Let me straighten some things out. I’ll be there day after tomorrow.”

“Sounds good,” Hunter said, hanging up the phone.

Hunter saw a dark Charger coming down the street, driving very slowly. He got out of his car and leaned against the driver’s side door, his arms crossed over his massive chest, waiting to see who was driving. The car was matte black, and he saw two young Hispanic men in the front seat and two in the back. He stared at them. They slowed down even more, the stupid fucks. The passenger put a Smith and Wesson .38 on the dashboard for him to see. He pushed back one side of his windbreaker and gave them a glance of his Sig Sauer pistol. They stopped the car. Even dumber. Who knew, he might be giving his body armor a work out after all. He walked up to the car and waited for them to speak. It didn’t take long for them to break the silence.

“You don’t belong here,” the driver said belligerently.

Hunter just stared at them. They were young, not even twenty.

“Did you hear me? I said pack it up.”

Hunter still didn’t respond. The driver turned to his three friends. “Dummy can’t even speak,” he said in Spanish. “The bitch has got herself a retard to guard her.”

Everyone in the car started laughing. The driver casually reached for the .38 on the dashboard. Hunter waited, knowing what was next. The driver turned his wrist sideways.

“Do you see what I have for you? Do you?” He jabbed the gun into Hunter’s belly, hitting his body armor. It took a split second for Hunter to disarm him and shove the gun into the young man’s skull.

“Don’t call those ladies bitches. Understand?” he said in Spanish. He gave a quick glance to the two in the backseat and laughed. “Don’t make a move for your little pea-shooters. Really, you’re both sporting .22s?”