Page 3 of Sin With Me

The day I pissed off one of the largest crime families in the country and ultimately placed my head on the chopping block, I moved my mother to a private facility in North Carolina, where she was recovering from her heart surgery. Under an alias, at least she was safe. I might have sealed my own fate that night, but I wouldn’t risk hers. If Aaron Cortez ever found me, I was as good asdead.

The job I now had at the church, in Pace, gave me infinite access to all the residents’ records: births, deaths, and everyone’s holy sacraments. Along with this job came the “voluntary” position to lead the youth ministry. It wasn’t like I had anything better to do. I guess on some level, my inquisitive nature was waiting until some kid mentioned a grandfather or a relative named Jack. I even had them draw out their family trees, but still, there was noJack.

I sucked. My life sucked, especially now, during one of the hottest months in Arizona where no one seemed to be aware of the concept of air conditioning.

Thank God for Lola, who had that extra ounce of life in her. We could have had so much fun in New York – just the thought of all the clubs we’d party at made me homesick.

Pace was the town where I now lived, and I didn’t know exactly why. I could have given up and looked elsewhere, in some Pace Mountains or near Pace Lake, who knew? Yet something drew me here. Call it a detective’s gut feeling that Pace was exactly where I was supposed to be. Like I said, no regrets. Not even for those choices that had put a bull’s eye on myback.

“All right, so what do you suggest for fun?” I asked.

“Tonight, you and me at the Bistro.”

“The bar?” I pictured an old western type of a set up. I’d seen the place from the outside because it was also the outside of the motel lobby on the other side of this wall, but I had never actually gone in. Bar hopping wasn’t exactly the right scene for a parish secretary.

“Yes, the bar. Eight o’clock.”

“That’s almost bedtime.”

Lola laughed, and I felt my cheeksheat.

Bed time. I chuckled. Maybe I really had changed.

“Wear somethingsexy.”

I sighed, wondering whether I’d gotten myself into an outing I was going to regret. The image of men in jeans and cowboy boots with plaid shirts flashed through my mind. Now, if they were going to lose their plaid shirts on the way to the Bistro, maybe the evening would be worthit.

Little did I know, I was about to meet the man who would change mylife.

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