Page 63 of Her Passionate Hero

“I know he’s your brother, but he attacked her. Five days before her house blew up, he attacked and cut her. It was him.”

Nicolas stopped short. “So she wasn’t in a car wreck, she should have told me then.”

“You know that’s not her,” Hunter said.

“He is a dead man walking,” he said in an ominous voice.

Hunter put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Don’t say things like that.”

Nicolas shook off his hand. “He’s a dead man,” Nicolas said tightly. “What did he do to her?”

“He used a knife on her. He cut her.”

“Goddammit, she’s the one good thing in my life besides my mother.”

“Then he bombed her house.”

“No, he didn’t do that,” Nicolas sounded tired. “If he wanted her dead, she’d be dead. There is no way that the bomb wouldn’t have worked.” Nicolas raked his fingers through his curly hair. “He was trying to kill her in a way I wouldn’t associate with him. But if Mateo had planted the bomb, she’d be dead for sure. He’s offed at least three people, one a social worker with a bomb. There was nothing left to identify.” Nicolas shuddered. “This wasn’t him, he might have ordered it, but he didn’t execute it.”

“What are you thinking?” Hunter asked.

“Somebody wanted her to live. Somebody in Mateo’s personal posse, my guess it’s Rafael Lopez. He came up on me and Maria talking. I think he overheard us, but it never went anyplace. I was sweating bullets for a couple of days.”

“For fuck’s sake, you should have been.” Hunter squeezed his shoulder. “You need to stop this happy horseshit.”

“I can’t. It’s what I was meant to do.”

“Fine, tell me about Rafael.”

“I think he lives in the apartments on Eastern and Belhurst. Sometimes, he picks up some extra cash by working as a valet at a hotel downtown. It’s a swanky one near the Staples Center. He gets wax impressions of car keys, so they can steal the car later, or if the guest is local and just doing a getaway weekend, he’ll steal their house keys and break into their home. You should be able to find him there.”

“Do you know the name of the hotel?” Hunter asked.

“It’s the Blue.”

Hunter nodded. He had to try again.

“Nicolas, this has got to stop.”

“No. I’m on a mission.” God, the kid sounded like Cesar Chavez or some shit. A real revolutionary.

“Nicolas, I understand what you’re saying, but until Ms. Novak is in the clear, you need to halt all activities. She’s in too much danger, and the shit you’re pulling will just make her more of a target.”

“You think what I’ve done has something to do with her house being bombed?”

“Yes, I do. Think about it. I’m guessing the kids you got out of the gang go to Bertrum High, right?”

“Yep.”

“So, they’d lay that at her doorstep, wouldn’t they?” The kid’s eyes got wide.

“Fuck. I never considered that. I would never put her in harm’s way.”

“I know you wouldn’t.”

“Can you protect her? What should I do? How can I help?” The kid sounded fierce.

“Let’s go back to the car.”