Page 60 of Sin With Me

“Is there something wrong with me that I don’t think this is creepy?”

“If here’s something wrong with you, then there’s something wrong with me aswell.”

I don’t know why, but I found her lack of fear sexy. Sometimes she looked more afraid than she really was, like when she had watched me climb the spruce at the retreat; and then other times, like now, Kate managed to cross a new line of fear I would never have expected her to. It was like she was someoneelse.

“It’s cool down here,” she whispered.

“You don’t have to whisper, Kate. I don’t think anyone’shere.”

“Don’t be rude to those departed,” she said in a warningtone.

“I’m sorry.”

Was I really apologizing to her now, in a crypt underneath a chapel? I shook my head and searched the floor where I could barely see my feet. The little light creeping in between the loose boards above us was barely enough.

“If this is a crypt, then where are the bodies?” she asked.

“Try further down, against the back wall.” I pointed, though I wasn’t sure if she could even see myhand.

I heard her gasp. I hadn’t realized that she’d also stopped, and so I’d walked right into her, pushing her forward. I heard a thud and she yelped out inpain.

“I’m sorry. Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, just my shin. I walked into something.”

So did I. I walked into her, and having her standing so close to me now with her ass right in front of me, an ass I just bumped into, was almost painful. At least my body’s reaction to this woman was now hidden by the darkness.

I followed the guidance of her flashlight as she lowered it to the ground. A granite tombstone, not larger than four feet, rested on the ground. She shone the light down, then to the side at two larger tombstones.

“Mikey Hernandez,” she read out loud. “Wait a minute. What is this? Hernandez?” she asked, then shone her light back to the two larger resting places, then back down to the smallone.

“Father John and your mother had a son,” I explained.

“You knew about this?” She turned around.

“He told me at the retreat. I wasn’t sure how to tell you that you didn’t have a brother, but a half-brother. I wanted to see his grave first, though, to confirm.”

“Wait – Father John could have been my step-father?”

If she wasn’t seeing where I was going with this, then I’d have to spell it out forher.

“I don’t think that’s how it works, Kate. Father John didn’t know about you. This happened the year before you wereborn.”

“Which means that I was conceived that same year hedied.”

“That’s what it looks like.” I grinned. Would she get it? Would she realize there was a possibility of Father John being her actual father, and neither of themknew?

She shook her head. “How did I not know anything about this? Why wouldn’t my mother tellme?”

Come on, Kate.

“I think she was trying to protect you from Cortez. I think that’s why she ran away from Pace and John. She lost a son, and she blamed Mikey’s death on Benjamin Cortez.”

“Oh, my God.” She gently touched my hand. “Father John could be… their son died, and she left the year before I wasborn.”

“Did your father ever tell you a story about how theymet?”

“No, never. But she said she’d felt a connection from the moment they saw each other.” I felt her hot breath at the side of my arm. It carried anxiety and fear of the unknown.

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