Page 52 of Her Passionate Hero

Chapter Seven

Dalton and Zed were outside, Starbucks coffee cups in their hands, standing next to his bike. They both had knowing smirks on their faces. What the fuck? They’d never met before and they looked like they were in cahoots.

“I didn’t know you’d be here so early from Virginia,” he said to Zed. “How’d you know where to come?”

“I texted Dalton when I landed. I figured you’d be busy.” He motioned to the other man who was leaning over his bike and touching the chrome. He always did that, knowing that Hunter didn’t like people touching his motorcycle.

“He was right. You sure were in the house a long time. How long does it take to tell Aliana and Mrs. Jankovic that you were going to visit Mrs. Novak?” Dalton gave him a sly smile.

Hunter scowled, and both men laughed. “Seriously, you both need to get lives. As for Aliana, I just want to finally get some closure.” Their laughter continued.

“Believe what you need to believe. Hell, I haven’t even seen her, and I know better than that, she has you tied up in knots,” Dalton said.

“You Black Dawn guys are slow,” Zed asked Dalton. “I had the good sense to pull her up online, I got a look at her. I can see what has our boy worked up. Add in their past history…?” Zed let his voice trail off.

Hunter raked his hand through his hair. “Shut it. Here comes Mrs. Price. I really don’t need this shit from you two in front of her.” He turned and smiled at the woman as she crossed the quiet residential street.

“Hello, Hunter, I was hoping these two men were your friends. I brought prune Danish. It’s good for your digestion.” She had a department store shopping bag that she handed to Hunter. He held it open for her. She took out paper plates and handed them to Dalton. She handed the forks to Zed, then handed him an oversized Tupperware container. Then she looked coyly at Hunter.

“I have two thermoses in here. One with the coffee I know you like, and another with milk. My husband likes milk with his Danish. There are plastic cups inside too.”

“You’re doing too much Mrs. Price,” Hunter protested. “Mrs. Jankovic just made me breakfast.”

“What did she fix?”

“Waffles.”

“With her homemade jam?”

“Yes.”

“Well, this is my homemade prune Danish recipe, you’ll have to tell me which you like better.”

“If I answer that question, Mrs. Price, then I won’t keep getting food from both of you, and I’m not a stupid man.”

“You’re right, you are a smart man.” She had a nice laugh. “That’s something my Bernie would say. Return the thermoses and Tupperware when you’re done, and I’ll fill them back up later.” She gave a wave and left.

“This is the cushiest assignment I’ve ever been on,” Dalton said.

“You got waffles?” Zed asked. “With homemade jam?”

Hunter grinned and nodded.

“How do we get in on that? Not that I don’t appreciate prunes,” Dalton said. He was pouring coffee into his empty Starbuck’s cup. Hunter waited to see his expression as he took a sip.

“Shit! You could have warned me. Give me that milk.”

Hunter laughed. “Serves you right for gossiping like a little old lady.”

“Well, that’s now officially over with. What’s on the agenda for today?”

“A guy named Mateo, who hangs with the Los Demonios gang, has attacked Aliana. He cut her. It required stitches. It happened a week ago. She hasn’t told the cops everything.”

“Dammit. We need to take that fucker down. Why isn’t she talking cops?” Zed demanded. “Go back in there and tell her she needs to cooperate with the police.”

“Hey, throttle back.” Hunter remembered what Zed had said about his last assignment. “He threatened her mom. I’m going over and checking her status at the nursing home she’s in over in Glendale. I’ll do that a little later today. Alia wants to go with me, but we’ll see how she’s feeling after her nap.”

“So what else is on tap?” Dalton asked, trying to smooth things out.