Page 47 of Sin With Me

“So, what happened?” I asked.

“I sinned. I confessed. I repented and was forgiven. And I will continue with my penance until the day I die, because I’ll never be perfect. It’s a circle every human endures, including a priest.”

Wow, I thought my father was deep, but this man had my mind spinning. He and my father would have gotten alongwell.

“What about Joanna?”

“Joanna – that sounds odd. I called her Anna, short for Joanna, but never Joanna She got hurt and got into trouble with some people in town. Bad and crazy people. She feared for her life, so she had to leave. I stayed behind to cover her tracks. I stayed behind to bury our son. I had to ensure that they didn’t follow her, but two months later I was told she had died on her journey.”

“You had ason?”

He nodded. “He was dragged by a bull halfway across town. After that year, Pace never celebrated the Assumption Fiesta again, at least not in the same way, and the bull running was banned. Over the years, the fiesta became what we call our summer potluck.”

“I’m so sorry,” Isaid.

“Years heal. Maybe not completely, but enough to survive. But Anna didn’tdie.”

“What?”

Wait – of course she didn’t, because Kate’s mother hadKate.

“She didn’t die, but by the time I realized she was still alive, I was already a priest. I chose the vocation as soon as I found out she was gone. There was nothing else left for me, and the only way I could ever find my fulfillment and make sense of my life was to serve God. I thought I’d lost a wife-to-be and ason.”

“And Anna? How did you find out that she lived?”

“She secretly returned to town, but it was already too late for the two of us. The Cortez brothers caught her. They caught both of us. Benjamin Cortez told me that he lied about Anna’s death as vengeance. He even went as far as stealing the postcards she’d sent me, in order to keep us apart.”

Cortez and Kate were connected; just as I’d suspected.

“Why vengeance?”

“Because he accused Anna of keeping his son away fromhim.”

“What? She had anotherson?”

“No, we only had Mikey. Benjamin was crazy. They were all crazy. I could never understand what good came from the torment they put us through.”

“What happenednext?”

“We tried to escape, and Benjamin Cortez fell to his death down a canyon. Benjamin’s skeletal remains were collected years later, and his family went into hiding. My life was spared for his brother’s that day, but my hot-tempered Anna managed to anger the Cortez family while ensuring the safety of our little town. She might have been my temptress, but I think in a way she was God’s worker.”

“What did shedo?”

“I remember the year clearly. It was 1984. Anna made sure the Cortez brothers had a big target on their backs. The rumors say it was a fifty-million-dollar target, and that was thirty-some yearsago.”

Was he telling me that Kate’s mother knew what had happened to the money? Did Kate know? Had she played me? No, that wasn’t possible. Maybe that’s why her mother had mentioned Pace to her daughter. Did Jack from Pace know about the money? Had he hidden it? Was that why she was looking forhim?

“You never saw her again after sheleft?”

“No, never. But I always prayed and hoped that she’d be happy. As far as I know, she’s led a happy and fulfilling life. Pace gave her the exact start she needed. It gave her the focus and inner peace she sought. It made her strong and determined to survive. I’ve prayed every day for her safety and a goodlife.”

Kate had to be wrong about the man she was looking for. Her mother had to have said John Pace, not Jack. She wanted to get in touch with her first love. What if Father John had the money and didn’t even know it? I bet he didn’t know Anna had a daughter, either.

Father John’s story was the saddest one I’d ever heard. It pained my heart to know that two people who seemed to have loved each other so much had been forced apart. Or maybe their love had guided them on the right path; after all, they’d been able to eliminate one of the strongest crime families in the country, which at one time had deep roots in thistown.

“You’ve been at this parish your entire life, haven’t you, Father?” I asked.

“Yes, Ihave.”

---