Page 72 of Sinners Retreat

“Does it change your mind if I say that I’m falling in love with her?” I ask.

I expect Bennett to laugh at my admission or chastise me in his brutish way, but he doesn’t. He sits beside me on the bed and, for what may be the first time since I found him twelve years ago, really considers what he’s about to say.

“No, it doesn’t change my mind. It only reinforces what you need to do.” He runs his hand through his dark hair and sighs. “I’m no love guru, and I don’t even believe in the concept of commitment, but if you truly love the girl, don’t you owe it to her to be honest? What’s that old saying? Love is patient, love is...I don’t fucking know, but I’m pretty sure it says something about honesty.”

“It’s not a saying. It’s a quote from the Bible,” I say.

He laughs and smacks my shoulder. “I better go wash my mouth out before I burst into flames, then.”

And that’s the end of the conversation. We stand and walk toward the villa’s front door as if we weren’t just having a heart-to-heart in the same room where Bennett molested a pineapple.

I glance at my watch on the way out the door. We’ve wasted too much time, and we’re bound to miss the hike if we don’t put a little fire under our feet.

The girls begin laughing again as soon as Bennett steps into the sunshine. We’ll never make it if we have to stop for a giggle fit every five seconds. I also worry their poking will agitate him to the point of saying something I really don’t want him to say.

“Let’s give it a break,” I say to the girls, but they continue laughing until tears brim from their black-lined lids.

Unable to speak through the laughing fit, Kindra points toward Bennett and wiggles her finger, urging me to turn and look.

So I do.

What I see behind me can only be blamed on the room’s dimness and Bennett’s inattention to detail while in a deep discussion. I can’t imagine my brother made this decision with any forethought.

I stifle a laugh as I look at Bennett, unwilling to add any fuel to the fire. “You might want to change your shirt, but be quick about it. We’re running late.”

He looks down, and the bright shade of red returns to his face when he realizes he grabbed a Hawaiian shirt with pineapples all over it.

“I genuinely hate all of you,” he says as he retreats into his villa.

By the time he emerges again—this time wearing a plain white t-shirt—the girls have gotten their laughter under control, and they’ve been warned to keep schtum about the pineapple incident. For right now, at least.

We set off at a jog down the boardwalk. When we reach the last villa, we turn right and start down the jungle path. Tomorrow morning, this path will be closed to allow Jim and Jeff to set up for the hunt. The remaining Cattle will be released into the jungle, and we’ll all be set loose to destroy them.

Well, most everyone will, but I doubt I’ll be among them. I’ll probably be holed up in my room, nursing a pint of something frothy and wishing for a time machine.

To be clear, I would still kill her brother, but I would also come clean about it a lot sooner, accompanied by ironclad proof of her brother’s guilt.

As I dodge encroaching branches and hop over wandering tree roots, my brain navigates its own obstacles. There has to be a way to prove my actions were justified. Once we’re back in the continental US, I can scrounge up every ounce of proof if Bennett will just grant me some time.

Speaking of Bennett, he’s pulled pretty far ahead of us. The jungle is a maze, especially if you aren’t familiar with the nearly invisible trails, so I stick close to the girls so they don’t get lost.

As we near a break in the trail, I hear a loud thud behind me, followed by a feminine grunt. I turn and see Cat on the ground, her hands clasped around her ankle as tears stream unbidden from the corners of her eyes. She’s not crying, mind you, but thepain burgeoning from her ankle is so intense that she can’t stop the tears.

Gritting her teeth, she flops to her side and groans. “I think I broke something.”

Kindra kneels at her friend’s side and looks up at me, pleading with her eyes.

I kneel beside Cat and take her ankle into my hands. It’s already swollen, and the skin is beginning to bruise, but I don’t feel a break. “I think it’s just a nasty sprain, but you’ll need to rest it today. No hike for you, I’m afraid.”

“How can we get her back to her villa?” Kindra asks.

“I’ll carry her,” I say.

I assume Bennett realized we weren’t behind him, because he comes jogging up to us as I’m lifting Cat into my arms.

“What’s the hold up?” he asks. “Did the kitten get too weak to continue?”

Cat shifts in my arms so that she can face him. “Does someone smell pineapple? Weird.”

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