Page 55 of Her Passionate Hero

“Look, we’re under a time crunch,” Zed said irritably.

“Good manners don’t take extra time,” Lottie said as she took a bite of rice.

Shit, the bike ride hadn’t mellowed Zed out.

“Lady, I’m just―”

“We’re just trying to help Aliana, and we’re on edge,” Hunter said, trying to smooth things over.

“No, you’re doing fine Hunter.” Lottie wiped her mouth. “Zed isn’t.” She gave Zed a thoughtful look. “What happened? If I had to guess, you just had to deal with some bad ju-ju.”

“Ju-ju?” Zed’s eyebrow shot up.

“I use the term with the kids a lot. It’s another word for shit. You just went through some bad shit, and the rest of us are paying for it. Have you talked to someone about it?”

“Are you a shrink?” He eyed her, consideringly.

“Yep. Got the piece of paper to prove it.”

“Fuck me. You talk to her Hunter.” Zed stole a chip off of Lottie’s plate, and she laughed.

“You were telling us about Mateo’s siblings?” Hunter prompted.

“We know Mateo is in Los Demonios. He recruited his younger brother Nicolas, but Nicolas is really gifted. His teachers brought him to Aliana’s attention. Chances are he can get a scholarship out of here if he continues on the path he’s on now.”

“That’s great,” Hunter smiled.

“But Mateo really wants him in the life. He puts a lot of pressure on him.” She scowled. “Mateo is a cancer in that family.”

“What makes you think that, is it because of Darla?”

“Two years ago, she got arrested and sent to juvie for attempting to stab a boy here at Bertrum. She’s a troubled girl. I can’t go into the whys and wherefores, but I’m not surprised Mateo’s name came up.”

“Can we talk to them?”

“Nicolas will be leaving school at three o’clock. I don’t know if Darla is still living with her mother and Nicolas. I hope she is, she needs as much help as she can get. She’s four months pregnant.”

“How old is she?”

“Seventeen.”

Both men winced.

“Have you made time to talk to Ernie?” Lottie asked.

“I’m surprised I didn’t get a ticket from him on the way over here. Last time we talked, he said he would be watching me,” Hunter said.

“Yeah,” Lottie laughed, “it sounded like y’all had a regular old dick swinging match.” Her grin was infectious. Hunter saw Zed’s lip curl upwards. “You should. He’s saying the bomb was real amateur hour.”

“Well, thank God, that saved Aliana’s life.” Hunter couldn’t imagine a world without Aliana Novak in it.

“No, you’re not hearing me. It was done so poorly, he says it was almost purposeful that she didn’t wind up dead. He thinks someone arranged it so that she lived.”

Zed sat up on the bench. “Now that’s interesting.”

“I’d say you and Ernie should kiss and make up,” Lottie said sweetly.

“He was on the list of people to call today,” Hunter smiled easily. He was, but Lottie and Aliana’s mother were higher up on the list.