Free Alanna (When Hearts Dare Series Book 2) by Kathleen Bittner Roth Page A

child in it that wasn’t guarded day and night. We had a special guardian for Alanna. He’s still with her to this day. Back in Boston, that is.”
    Wolf concentrated harder on the whiskey in his glass. “Was there any speculation as to what happened to the child?”
    “At first, everyone thought the boy was placed in hiding for his own protection,” Mrs. Malone answered. “There was a rumor amongst the servants that he might have seen who murdered his mother. However, his father returned in mid-February, but the boy never did.”
    Wolf’s gut churned like the sea beneath the ship. His father had come back after all?
    Mrs. Malone continued. “Everyone pretty much guessed after awhile that the boy had been done in. Either that, or taken and sold to those awful Turks as a slave boy.”
    “Oh, Mother.” Alanna’s voice was calm, but her attention remained riveted on Wolf.
    He downed his whiskey.
    “Well, those kinds of things do happen.” Her mother shook her finger in her daughter’s face. “And don’t you forget it.” She finished her thought with her chin in the air. “My daughter thinks nothing could ever happen to her . Thinks she’s invincible.”
    Wolf shrugged and tried to appear nonchalant. “Perhaps the boy joined his father later, after everything quieted down.”
    “I don’t think so,” Malone said. “Too much time had passed before the father arrived. His neighbors told me the man lived and breathed for his family, and that for nearly two years after the murder, they watched as he went back and forth to work. Nowhere else, mind you.”
    A new kind of misery taunted Wolf—his father had remained at the house for two damn years without coming for his only child. “Did he ever remarry?”
    “Oh no, tch , tch . They said he kept a light on in the boy’s bedroom window, in case he found his way home. Gossips said he finally gave up on ever seeing his son again, sold the house, and moved on.”
    Sadness flooded Wolf, and then bile rose in his throat. He fought to keep his voice clear. “Did anyone ever hear what became of the man?”
    “Somebody said he went off and joined the Royal Troops, the Brits you know. Went to India and got himself killed over there.”
    Christ! Thunder roared through Wolf. A sharp pain sliced his temples.
    Mrs. Malone sighed. “I saw his wife the day before the murder. Right out my own window, I did. Prettiest thing you could ever lay eyes on, and just as sweet as could be, so they tell me. Oh, she had the loveliest hair, all chestnut and shiny. Her child seemed a dear thing, as well. He had a mop of blond hair that puffed up like a dandelion gone to seed.”
    Mrs. Malone fanned herself with the handkerchief, not looking at anyone or anything in particular. “Strangest thing happened about that mother’s beautiful hair.”
    Good God, what else? “Her hair?” Wolf’s voice would soon betray him if this conversation continued. But he had to know. He had to.
    Her eyes rolled dramatically. “Someone chopped it all off some time after the murder, and before the funeral. They said she had it all when they found her, but after she was laid out in the parlor for the viewing, the servants got up the next morning, and there she was with her hair all hacked to within an inch of her head. Neat little piles of it placed all over the house. Even in the servants’ quarters. No one knew how anyone got in without waking the staff. Frightened the help half to death. They all ran off except for one couple who waited for the man of the house to return. Soon as he did, they left too.”
    Wolf heaved a sigh and rubbed at his forehead.
    “Oh, dear. I’ve upset you, haven’t I?” Mrs. Malone’s hand made a feeble gesture to reach across the table before she thought otherwise and snatched it back. “Men don’t usually get so upset. But . . . but then, you were orphaned, after all. Oh, my.”
    “It’s all right, Mrs. Malone.” He managed a feeble smile. “I just don’t take