Sin With Me (With Me Series Book 2)

by Lacey Silks

  “There’s one problem,” she continued. “Brook is afraid of scorpions.”

  “I’m not, Lola.” He rolled his eyes, and I chuckled.

  “Tarantulas? Snakes?” she asked.

  “Nope. Sorry, hun. Not afraid of those either.”

  “Well, neither am I. In fact, there’s not much that scares me.”

  Everyone had an Achilles’s heel, though, and from what my brother had said, I had a feeling that Lola’s came in the form of small children. As they chatted some more, I parked behind a hedge of dried shrubbery about a mile away from the chapel. We grabbed the gear from the trunk and, wearing our night-vision goggles, we walked the rest of the way there. I zoomed in toward town, where a group of people were heading our way.

  “It’s them,” I said. “Kate, Anna, and Father John. They must be hurt – Mike is carrying Kate.”

  I recognized him from a google search. Whatever the reason for him touching her at all, I didn’t like it. She looked frail even from this distance.

  “Aaron and Mateo Cortez are with them. We don’t have a lot of time. If Anna doesn’t spill the beans about the money, we need to find a way to lure them inside the crypt.”

  “Leave that to me,” Lola said.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know, but I’ll think of something. Just be ready.”

  My brother grabbed Lola by her waist, dipped her back, and kissed her hard. Her arms fell limp to her sides as she relaxed her guard. I felt a sudden need to hold Kate in my arms.

  When he pulled away with a loud smooch and she found her footing again, she pointed to her night-vision goggles. “You could have warned me. These aren’t too comfortable to kiss in.”

  “Be careful,” he said to her.

  “You too.” Her voice was filled with concern, and now I worried for her as well. I worried for Kate and my brother. It had been a while since I’d prayed, but I said a quick plea, asking God to keep them safe. I’d never worked with Lola before, but if she worked for Cross Enterprises, then I knew she had skills. Still, we were talking about Cortez men.

  “We got this.” She gave us one last thumbs up before we disappeared inside the dark chapel. If it hadn’t been for the moonlit night, we wouldn’t have seen anything.

  I hurried toward the four boards over the staircase. “Help me with these. Hurry.”

  “Got it.”

  We set the boards aside, walked down a few steps, and replaced them from underneath, sealing off the entrance

  “You said you’ve been here before?” Brook asked.

  “Yeah. The small burial vault belongs to Mike. Kate’s grandparents are resting in the larger ones behind his.” I pointed to the wall.

  “With fifty million dollars?”

  “I think so. To be honest with you, I’m not sure if there’s anything left of it.”

  “Because the bodies would have decomposed.”

  “Exactly. Now, there are six people altogether. If Father John, Kate, and Anna are with them, that leaves three of them to take out. I’m sure one will stay outside so be ready for two more. Brook, I don’t want Kate hurt. I don’t want any of them hurt.”

  “Neither do I.”

  “Good.”

  We set up our trap and hid behind the large stone compartments. We could hear their footsteps drawing nearer. It took another ten minutes before I heard Kate’s voice.

  “The money’s downstairs in the crypt.”

  “Hope, don’t! How do you know? I’ve never told anyone,” came the voice of an older woman that must have been Kate’s mother. Whatever magic Lola had done outside, it worked. They were heading downstairs.

  “Out of the way,” a deeper voice bellowed. I heard a loud cry of pain, and my heart felt like it had been stabbed a thousand times at once. Kate was hurt. Wanting to charge upstairs, I grasped the edge of the stone and clenched my jaw tight.

  Patience.

  “You said you’d let Kate and John go,” Anna pleaded.

  “I haven’t seen a dime yet. Until I do, nobody leaves.”

  The boards came off, and a little bit more moonlight filtered in.

  “Go!” Cortez ordered. I wasn’t sure which one, but I would have bet on either Mateo or Mike who’d come downstairs.

  From behind the corner, I saw a pair of feet take the first few steps down, and then with support, someone hopped down on one leg. That’s when I realized it was Kate.

  “Stay still.” I heard my brother’s voice in the earpiece. I needed to hear his caution more than the next breath. “We need them all here to make sure they’re safe.”

  I watched as along with Father John, they descended. Mateo Cortez followed with a machine gun resting at the side of his leg, and I knew that if we didn’t neutralize him first, we were dead.

  Kate could barely support her weight.

  Jesus Christ!

  How was she even alive? She looked physically broken. It was dark here, but I could still see that a lot of damage had been done to her body.

  Mike had better pray for a bullet to his head, because if I got to him and he wasn’t already dead, he’d want to be.

  I’m going to kill that bastard!

  “Where is it?” he asked as soon as he descended, looking around.

  “In the burial vaults,” Anna said.

  “How did you move the stone?” Mateo asked.

  “I was angry. I… I don’t know where the energy came from, but I moved the lid with my hands.”

  Mateo lowered the machine gun against the wall and came to the vault near where I was lying on the ground. Concealed in the darkness, I remained flat on the cold soil, watching him from below, waiting for Mike to make the same move towards the other vault so that we could take them out at the same time. Mike remained at Kate’s side with the gun at her ribs. I didn’t know how much longer patience would keep me on this floor, but I was down to the last seconds of its strength.

  Just as the vault’s lid gave to Mateo’s push, Father John unexpectedly launched himself at Mike. They both fell to the ground, and we no longer had a choice. Mateo turned in the blink of an eye and reached straight for the machine gun at the wall just as my brother pushed the concrete further open. I struck Mateo in the knee and then his chest, and he fell backward into the vault. My brother pushed the lid closed again, sealing off his screams. Mateo’s desperate cries for help were muffled, but I had no time to pay attention to him.

  The crypt echoed with yelling, chaos, and the sound of a gun going off.

  No, no, no!

  I assessed the situation. Without night vision, Mike was blind – until he lit a flare and threw it in between the vaults. Father John was sitting against one of the walls, holding on to his stomach.

  “Whoever the fuck is there, if you don’t stop, I will kill her.” Mike was holding a gun to Kate’s head. She was down on the ground and appeared barely conscious.

  “Mikey, you don’t have to do this,” Anna begged. “You’re a good man, I know you are.”

  But he didn’t move.

  “Don’t hurt her. I’m coming out,” I said. “Just don’t hurt her.”

  I raised my hands first and slowly stood up.

  “Cameron?” I heard Kate’s voice.

  “Mikey, please let her go,” Anna asked again.

  “I’ve been working my ass off for this payout.” He tightened his grip around Kate.

  “Life is not about money. It’s about care, compassion, and love,” she replied. “I’m sorry that we failed you. I’m so sorry that we didn’t realize you were alive when you were stolen from us.”

  “Get me out of here!” We heard Mateo, but no one paid attention.

  “It’s a little bit late for a lecture about life, Mother.”

  “It’s never too late, Mikey. I know you have it in you. I know you’re a good man,” she repeated.

  “Stop calling me Mikey!” he screamed.

  “Look, you can take your money – just let them go.” I steppe
d between the two vaults and over a smaller one that was supposed to belong to Kate’s brother.

  “I don’t know who the fuck you are, Mr. Knight in Shining Armor, but this is family business.”

  “I am family,” I replied.

  He turned his gun on me and took a shot. I moved to the side at the last second, avoiding the bullet in my chest, but it struck me in the shoulder.

  “Mikey, please!” Anna cried. “Haven’t they hurt us enough?”

  “Aaron?” he called out, but didn’t get a reply. “Who else is here?”

  “It’s just me, okay? You let them go. I’ll stay if you need help and everyone will be happy.”

  “I’ve been in the business too long to not recognize bullshit when I hear it, and you’re shitting me like an asshole. Open the vault!”

  “Fine, fine. Just take it easy with the gun.”

  Brook remained hidden, and if I wanted to get Mike away from Kate, I had to get the detective closer to the vault. I braced against the stone, pushing with all my might, wondering how in the world Anna had done this almost thirty years ago. The lid finally gave way.

  “It’s open.”

  “Take out the money.”

  “I can’t see anything.”

  He shuffled his feet closer, and just as he lit another flare, my brother tackled him from the side and struck his leg in the same fashion I had done to Mateo. Mike’s legs buckled. His hand flew up, and he fired his gun into the chapel floor above us. The distraction gave me enough time to push Kate aside and take him down. Brook helped me stabilize him, and we tied his hands behind his back.

  Brook pointed his gun to Mike’s head. “Don’t move!” Then he proceeded to secure him further.

  I rushed toward Kate. She was barely alive. Her breaths were short and frequent. I lifted her into my arms and felt something wet on the inner thighs of her leggings: blood. Brook tended to Father John. Anna seemed torn over whom to comfort, and her attention darted from Father John, who was still bleeding from the gunshot, to Kate and then to Mike. I couldn’t even begin to imagine her mental torture. I couldn’t imagine how she’d held on for so many years, on the run from the Cortez cartel. Kate felt so frail in my arms that I was worried we didn’t have enough time to get her the medical attention she needed.

  “Anna, help Father John. I’ve got Kate.”

  “What about the money?” she asked.

  I shone a light inside the tomb. “There is no money anymore. It’s all rotted.”

  “All fifty million?”

  “The critters don’t count when they eat.”

  “Good. All that money’s done is brought trouble in my life. What about Mateo?”

  “We’ll send the authorities to get him. It’ll do him some good to spend time with the dead.”

  I carried Kate upstairs, Brook dragged Mike, and the rest followed. Outside, Lola was sitting on a nearby rock. At her feet was Aaron Cortez, tied up in rope. From the fancy knots all around his body, I’d say that she’d had too much fun with her job.

  Lola rushed toward me as soon as I came out of the chapel. She pulled out a bottle of water from a side pocket in her utility pants and put it to Kate’s lips.

  “It’s beautiful.” Kate said, barely able to keep her eyes open.

  “What is?”

  “The Milky Way.” I followed her gaze up, then looked down at her face. Her eyes closed, and she lost consciousness.

  “Hurry!” I yelled, and began the long journey back home, praying that time was on our side.

  Chapter 30

  Kate

  I woke up to a warm breeze. White curtains were fluttering in the window, and I turned my head to the side. My vision was blurry and my left eye still ached, but with each blink, I could see better.

  It hurt to move. Everything hurt. Outside, tropical trees were swinging to the wind’s tune.

  “Kate?” I followed Cameron’s voice.

  He was sitting at my bedside and took my left hand into his. I twined my fingers with his and felt immediate comfort.

  “Where am I?”

  “Try not to move. You’ve been injured, but you’re safe, baby, and from now on, I’ll make sure you remain that way.”

  “What happened?”

  Cameron told me about the rescue. I couldn’t remember much of that night, other than my mouth being dry and my body sore. He told me about the ambush in the chapel, and I was pretty sure that he spared me a few gruesome details because the way my body felt, a lot more must have happened than he was letting on. My leg was in a cast, and so was my right arm. I felt stiff around my mid-section as well.

  “We’re in a private clinic in Florida, and we’re going to stay here until you’re well.”

  “So Mom and Father John are okay?”

  “Yeah, they’re just outside the door, waiting to see you.”

  “And Mike?”

  “He’s in jail. So are Mateo and Aaron. Kate, I’m so sorry I let this happen to you.”

  “It’s not your fault. We didn’t know.”

  “I should have known.”

  “Cameron, I brought this on myself, and I dragged you and your family along with me.”

  “How about we just stop thinking about the cartel for a little while?”

  “That sounds good. Cameron?”

  “Yes?”

  “Can you kiss me?”

  The corner of his mouth lifted and he lowered it to mine, placing a gentle smooch on my lips, and I felt whole again. In pain, but whole.

  “That’s better,” I said. “Is it really all over?”

  “Yeah, it’s over.”

  Something flashed across his face, but I had no strength to deal with whatever was on his mind. Not yet, at least. My head still hurt too much.

  “Are you in pain?” he asked.

  “Yeah, a bit.”

  “Press that button.” He pointed to my left hand. “It’s morphine. It will help with the pain.”

  “It will make me hallucinate.”

  “Kate, you need the medication. Don’t worry, it won’t dispense more than you can handle.”

  I pushed my thumb. If I had just woken up and everything was hurting, I could only assume that it would hurt even more later on.

  “You’re going to sleep soon, but there are people here anxious to see you. Are you ready for some visitors? I won’t allow them to stay long.” Cameron opened the door to my room. My mother came into view first. Father John was right behind her, rolling a wheelchair forward. I felt my eyes gloss over.

  “Honey, I’m so sorry.” My mother rushed to my side.

  “Are you guys okay?” I asked.

  “We’re fine,” Father John replied, as he wheeled closer to my bed. He parked at the side and took my hand in his. The touch felt warm and kind, and different from when we shook hands back in Pace.

  “You were shot. I thought you were dead,” I said to Father John.

  “It wasn’t my time,” he replied. “Colds may kill me but not bullets. Besides, I had to finally meet my beautiful daughter. I always knew there was something missing in my life, but I never realized that it was a daughter.”

  “I’m sorry. About everything.”

  “It’s not your fault, honey. We’re just glad you’re all right.”

  We spent the next few minutes catching up on life. I told Father John about my decision to become a detective and where I’d worked. I told him how happy I was that I’d found him. He sobbed every few sentences. My mother comforted him to the best of her abilities. Once Father John healed, she would help him settle back in Pace before she went back to Long Island.

  “You’re in good hands,” she said, looking over at Cameron, and I couldn’t agree more. “Thank you for finding Jack and Mary.”

  “You’ve seen them?”

  She nodded. “Yes. Once you’re well, we’ll have a big family reunion.”

  “I think I’d like that very much.” I yawned

  “Me too, baby. Me too.”

&nbs
p; “All right. I think it’s time for Kate to rest.”

  My parents kissed me on my head and left.

  “You had me scared there for a while.” Cameron rested his elbow on my bed and took my hand.

  “I must look like a zombie.”

  “You look beautiful.”

  “I definitely feel like a zombie.”

  “Lola did your hair. It will still be a couple of weeks before we can go home.”

  Home.

  I couldn’t even tell him that I didn’t know where home was, though I wanted it to be wherever he was. I didn’t want to leave Cameron ever again.

  “Where is she?”

  “She’s outside with Brook making a few calls. They’re going to try to find Xavier.”

  “Really?”

  “It’s a long shot but Lola found a lead.”

  “That’s great news. Cameron?”

  “Yeah.”

  The room was spinning. For a moment I thought the palms outside the window had been replanted around my bed. I shut my eyes, and when I opened them to see Cameron gazing lovingly at me from above, I couldn’t have been happier. Still, my heart didn’t leap the way it used to. Though I thought I had everything I ever wanted – my family safe and Cameron beside me – it felt like something was missing.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too, Kate. With all my heart.”

  “I’m tired.” I closed my eyes and began to drift off to sleep. Before I did, I heard Brook come into my room to speak with his brother. A few words pierced my consciousness, and Aaron registered in my ears. Cameron mentioned keeping me secluded until Aaron could be found.

  “Did you tell her about the baby?” Brook asked.

  “Not yet. She’s not strong enough to deal with that now.”

  “I’ve set up a place for you guys in Montana. Until we find him, she needs to stay out of sight. Father has a place for Anna and John too.”

  “Good. I will not let another Cortez near her until my dying day,” I heard him say.

  And while I wanted to listen in more to their conversation, sleep overtook me, with one last question pending in my mind.

  What baby?

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