Jubilee's Journey (Wyattsville #2)(31)

After a considerable amount of back and forth, he elicited her promise that if the man in the hospital wasn’t Paul she’d try to help find Aunt Anita. They climbed back on the bicycle and headed crosstown. The plan was to say they were friends of the man who was shot and ask to visit him. Ethan advised against Jubilee mentioning she was his sister, because she might then be considered an accomplice.





As fate would have it, Loretta Clemens was working at the Mercy General Hospital visitor’s desk, and she was a friend of Olivia’s. Ethan figured that to be in their favor and approached the desk with a big smile.

“Hey, there, Missus Clemens,” he said. “Mighty fine day, ain’t it?”

She eyed him suspiciously. “Ethan Allen, what are you doing way over on this side of town?”

“I’m watching out for her.” He shook a thumb toward Jubilee. “She’s here to see the guy what got shot.”

“Shot?” Loretta repeated. “She’s a friend of Sid Klaussner?”

“No, the other guy.”

Loretta raised an eyebrow. “What business has a kid got visiting a criminal?”

“He ain’t really no criminal,” Ethan said. “He’s a friend of Jubie’s brother, so she figured it would be neighborly to stop by and ask how he’s feeling.”

“Does your grandma know you’re here?”

“I can’t say exactly, but I sorta think she does.”

“Yeah, well, I sort of think she doesn’t,” Loretta said emphatically. “Now you kids get out of here and haul your butt back to the other side of town where you belong. Nobody’s seeing nobody, especially not that criminal.”

Until now Jubilee had kept quiet as Ethan told her to do, but as they turned to leave she gave Loretta a black look and said, “He’s not a criminal!”

“That’s for the law to decide, missy,” Loretta answered.

Ethan whispered something in Jubilee’s ear, and they turned as if on their way out. It was too late; Loretta had already seen the glint in his eye.

“Ethan Allen, I hope you’re not thinking you’ll sneak upstairs, because there’s a policeman standing guard and he’ll shoot your butt off the minute you step foot on that floor.”

“I wasn’t thinking no such thing,” he answered and kept walking.

“Does that mean we ain’t doing it?” Jubilee said in a too-loud whisper.

“Yeah,” Ethan answered, “it means we ain’t doing it.”





Before Ethan and Jubilee were back across Mercer Street, Loretta had telephoned Olivia and reported the incident.





Olivia



When the telephone rang, I suspected it was going to be trouble. I rather thought it would be Missus Brown telling me Ethan had skipped school or, worse yet, brought Jubilee in with him. It wasn’t. It was Loretta over at the hospital.

Loretta’s a bit of a gossip and I knew she was itching to learn more about Jubilee, so when she started hinting around I played dumb. When she came right out and asked who the girl was and why the kids were chasing after that criminal, I opened the apartment door and pushed my own doorbell. I’ve got to go, I told Loretta, somebody’s at the door. It may not have been the most honorable thing to do, but telling Loretta anything is the same as putting it on a billboard in the center of town.

At least Loretta didn’t let the kids in, which is something to be thankful for.





I’ve come to the conclusion that Paul is either in the hospital or running from the law. There simply is no other explanation for why he’d leave Jubilee and not bother coming back. I can’t for the life of me understand a boy who would carry a Bible around if he was planning to rob a store. Maybe he wasn’t planning it; maybe he just got to the point where he had no other alternative. If a person gets desperate enough, they’ll do most anything. Right now I’m feeling pretty desperate myself.

I’m fearful that without her brother’s help, I’m never going to find Jubilee’s aunt. If I could just talk to the boy I know he’d have the decency to give me Anita’s address. Even a criminal would do that for their baby sister. But if Paul is the one in the hospital and I show up asking to talk to him, somebody will put two and two together and realize I’ve got Jubilee. Once that occurs the authorities will scoop that child up and ship her off to an orphanage. I’m just not willing to let that happen.





Funny, I never thought I’d be the one taking in orphans and telling lies so they could stay safe. If Francine Burnam could see me now, she’d most likely laugh her panties off. Even I’m laughing…that is, when I’m not worrying.





Thank the Lord I’ve got friends willing to help. Fred McGinty said his niece works at the hospital, and he’s going to ask if she can get him to talk with Paul. George Walther is also going to help. He’s got a part-time job cleaning up at the police station, just the offices not the prison part. George said he’ll keep his eyes and ears open, but if I know George he’ll most likely do a bit of pilfering through the waste baskets before he empties them.

If neither of these things work out, there’s one more person I can call on. Of course, it’s been a while and I’m not sure Jack Mahoney will even remember me.