Darker Paths by Christine Pope

Author:Christine Pope [Pope, Christine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dark Valentine Press

12

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Rafe

He and Cat sat in his living room, looking at each other, none of them sure what they should say. She’d wept on the way over here, but now she seemed to have more control over herself, although her eyes were still suspiciously bright.

“What did Mom say?” she asked.

Rafe had just put down his phone. The call to his mother was the first thing he’d done after he and Cat watched Sophia go in to sit with her dead son. They’d waited at the hospital until Genoveva arrived. It was her place as prima to take control of the situation, and after she’d gone to be with Marco’s grieving mother, Rafe and his sister had left to come here. Neither of them really knew what else they should be doing. Of course the Castillo clan had seen its share of deaths, but no one as young as Marco, at least not as far as Rafe could remember.

Genoveva called only about fifteen minutes after he and Cat had arrived at his place. She was brisk, calm, letting Rafe know that Sophia would be staying at the house with Genoveva and Eduardo, since she couldn’t very well be left alone right now. He told his sister what their mother had said, and she sighed.

“It makes sense — I know it would be terrible for Sophia to have to go home to Taos all by herself, but….” Cat stopped there and pulled in a breath. “I hate even thinking it, because it’s so selfish, but it’s going to be rough having Sophia at the house.”

“No, I get it,” Rafe said, and he thought he did. His sister was already on edge because of Miranda’s disappearance. Now they had to deal with the tragedy of Marco’s death, and Cat far more than he because of having Sophia basically in her lap until the funeral. All the Castillos were buried here in Santa Fe, even those who lived in Taos and Albuquerque and other parts of the state.

Buried. He ran a hand through his hair and then dropped it back to his knee. Marco, buried. What the hell was going on?

“Why don’t you crash here with me for a few days?” he asked. “You can tell Genoveva that you thought it would be better for Sophia not to have so many people around.”

Cat brightened for a moment at this suggestion but then shook her head. “No, that won’t work. I know Mom will just say that I’m running away — and she’d be right — and then she’d give me a guilt trip for not wanting to stay and be there for Sophia. Which I should do. So…it’ll be all right.”

Rafe wasn’t so sure about that, but he knew better than to argue. His sister’s sense of family duty had always been a lot stronger than his own. “Okay, but if you need me to steal you away for a few hours here and there, just let me know. I’m sure we can manufacture some excuse.

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