Excerpt: SINS OF THE YOUNGER SONS by Jan Reid

“How’s your day been?” said Ysolina as she came through the foyer. Luke wasn’t sure if she asked him or Barkilu, her collie.

“Good and bad.”

She set her briefcase down and kissed the dog. “Yes?”

“The good was reading the latest in your journal. I was moved.”

“Oh, you found it,” she said, rattled. “And liked it? Thank you. And the bad?”

He handed her the slip of paper. She looked at its warning and said, “Who gave you this? What does it mean?”

“I got it in a split tennis ball trying to make a bet at a pelota game, while you were gone. Where were you?”

“In Pamplona. My research—”

He shook his head. “We weren’t going to do that.”

“What, Luke? What?”

“We weren’t going to lie to each other. You weren’t at the archives in Pamplona. You couldn’t have gotten close to them. The crowds are huge this year for the running of the bulls. The roads are closed. I read it in the paper.”

She leaned against the wall and put the back of her head against it.

“All right. I went to see Peru. We were just talking.”

“Cooking up a little killing?”

She came off the wall and slapped him.

He nodded and held his hands out to the sides. “I don’t care what you were doing. I mean I do. Any man would. But you went to see him in a car registered to the person who’s on my forged passport and visa. I’m a fugitive, too, you know. And I put myself in this situation because of you.”

“And now you’re my guardian angel. Maybe you ought to flap your big white wings and just go away.”

“Ysolina, we have to get out of here. This proves what I haven’t been able to make you notice. It’s about us carrying on like we don’t have a care in the world. And this husband you went to see. Did you watch to see if anyone followed you? Do you get the picture?”

He had moved closer in saying this. She put the palm of her hand against his chest. “Can we talk about this over a drink?”

“Good idea.”

Soon they were yelling at each other; Barkilu cringed.

“You’ve been using me,” he lashed out.

“Is that right? I still don’t know just how you showed up on that trail ride that day. Who’s been using who?”

He sat on one of the bar stools stirring whiskey with his forefinger. “Where are Peru and his gang?”

“His gang,” she said bitterly.

“What are they going to do?”

“I don’t know. He won’t say. He wants to protect me.”

“Okay, let’s level with each other. I’ll go first. I was working non-official cover for an organization I call the Outfit. It means I’ve got no diplomatic immunity, whatever happens. I threw my associations with those Americans in the bay that morning in St. Jean-de-Luz. As far as my former friends are concerned I’ve gone over with ETA. Is that straightforward enough?  I’m in a lot of trouble. Not because of you. I said that badly. Because I fell in love with you.”

She drew a breath to steady her voice. “There were secret negotiations between the regime and ETA in Morocco. They seemed so promising. There had been a ceasefire for several months, and I hoped Peru might emerge as a kind of rebel turned peacemaker. What they’re seeing in Northern Ireland.”

“He didn’t seem all that peaceable to me.”

“Can I finish?”

“Go ahead. Sorry.”

“The talks fell apart right when you and I met. I still hoped that scenario for Peru might work out, but that doesn’t mean things were good between us. They haven’t been for a long time. I was using you, yes, and so was Peru. He knew I needed to be here for my research and more. I’m glad you think I’m doing something genuine. The people who tried to kill Peru in France were a Spanish hit squad. They were mercenaries led by an officer in the Guardia Civil.”

She went on, “Peru’s all right but he’s very angry. I don’t know what he’ll do. Maybe I was naïve. Grasping at straws. But I was hopeful—is that a sin? The Spaniards broke the ceasefire. They tried to kill Peru and did kill a boy Peru loved like a son. So all bets are off about a solution. He knows it’s over between us. He knows I’m with you. If you’ll calm down and just have me.”

After a moment he pulled her into his arms. She beat his chest lightly with the side of a fist. “You’re right,” she said, “it’s time to go. But where?”