I couldn't take my eyes off Nana during the checkup. She just sat there, and she seemed like a little girl to me. She never said a word, never complained.

When Kayla was finished, Nana finally spoke up. “Am I still alive? I haven't passed, have I? Like that scary movie with what'shisname Willis.”

“Bruce Willis... Yes, you're still with us, Nana. You're doing beautifully.”

Nana took a deep breath and sighed out loud. “Then I guess tomorrow's the big day. Go in for my catheter ablation, my radio-frequency ablation, whatever it is.”

Dr. Coles nodded. “You'll be in and out of the hospital in a snap. I promise you that.”

Nana narrowed her eyes. “You keep your promises?”

“Always,” said Kayla Coles.

Alex Cross 8 - Four Blind Mice

Chapter One Hundred and One

In the early evening, Nana and I took a ride out to Virginia in the old Porsche. She'd asked if we could take the drive, just the two of us. Aunt Tia was home with the kids.

“Remember when you first got this car? We used to take a ride just about every Sunday. I looked forward to it all week,” she said once we were out of Washington and on the highway.

“Car's almost fifteen years old now,” I said.

“Still runs pretty good, though,” Nana said. She patted the dash. “I like old things that work. Long, long time ago, I used to go for a car ride every Sunday with Charles. This was before you came to live with me, Alex. You remember your grandfather?”

I shook my head. “Not as much as I'd like to. Just from the photographs around the, house I know the two of you came to visit in North Carolina when I was little. He was bald and used to wear red suspenders.”

“Oh, those awful, awful suspenders of his. He had a couple dozen pairs. All red.”

She nodded, then Nana seemed to go inside herself for a moment or two. She didn't talk about my grandfather very often. He had died when he was just forty-four. He'd been a teacher, just like Nana, though he taught Math, and she was English. They had met while working at the same school in Southeast.

“Your grandfather was an excellent man, Alex. Loved to dress up and wear a nice hat. I still have most of his hats. You go through the Depression, things we saw, you like to dress up sometimes. Gives you a nice feeling about yourself.”

She looked over at me. “I made a mistake, though, Alex.”

I glanced over at her. “You made a mistake? This is a great shock. I'd better pull over to the side of the road.”

She cackled. “Just one that I can recall. See, I knew how good it could be to fall in love. I really loved Charles. After he died, though, I never tried to find love again. I think I was afraid of failing. Isn't that pathetic, Alex? I was too afraid to go after the best thing I ever found in this life.”