Mortal Sin by Laurie Breton Read Free Book Online Page B

situation.”
    Josie’s slender, manicured fingers covered her mouth. “Oops.”
    “Oops is right. The man is so—so—” She stopped, unable to find a suitable adjective.
    “Priestlike?” Josie offered.
    “No, Jose, that’s not quite the word I was trying to think of.”
    “So what’s the problem?”
    “There is no problem. It just would have been nice to be forewarned that the man is charming and erudite and way too easy on the eyes for a man of the cloth. Not to mention he has the subtlety of a steamroller and the edge of a freshly honed razor blade. I’ve never seen anybody ooze that much energy. Just being around him is exhausting. My head’s still spinning.”
    “While we’re on the subject of charming and attractive men,” Josie said, “you missed a distinguished visitor. State Senator Thomas Adams IV stopped by to pay us a visit.”
    “I’ve never heard of him. Is he somebody important?”
    From his perch on the floor, Steve said, “Don’t you ever watch TV?”
    “Not if I can help it.”
    “His face has been splashed all over it for months. Claims he can trace his family tree all the way back to
the
Adams family.”
    Sarah raised both eyebrows. “Morticia and Gomez?”
    Steve grinned. “John and Samuel. Heroes of the American Revolution. I suppose you’ve never heard of them, either?”
    “Are you kidding? I’m from the Southland. The only heroes they taught us about were Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee. Everybody else was a filthy Yankee. So what was the esteemed Mr. Adams doing in our humble establishment?”
    “He’s running for the U.S. Senate,” Steve said. “He’s out shaking hands and kissing babies and flashing his pearly whites at little old ladies. The man’s terrifying. He’s conservative enough to make Rush Limbaugh look like Dennis Rodman.”
    “Oh, come on,” Josie said. “I like him. He’s polite, he’s clean-cut, he’s good-looking. He has a bit of a Kennedyesque aura to him.”
    “He’s a politician,” Steve said. “They all have a Kennedyesque aura while they’re on the campaign trail. It isn’t until after they get elected that the forked tail and the little red horns start to grow. I’ve seen his type before. Good family man, pillar of the community. Wants to bring strong family values back into our lives. He’ll probably get elected. Who among us is against family values? The minute he gets to Washington, he’ll start lobbying for censorship, the overthrow of Roe versus Wade, and the return of women to the kitchen. It’ll be 1950 all over again.”
    In spite of herself, Sarah grinned. “Are you telling me you’re an enlightened man who doesn’t believe women belong in the kitchen?”
    Steve pulled another stack of Pepto-Bismol pink books from the box at his side and stacked them on the floor. “Are you kidding? I’m all for women’s rights. I can’t wait to play Mister Mom while my wife goes out to slay the dragons of corporate America.”
    Sarah glanced at Josie, who raised a single elegant eyebrow. Leaning to pat Steve on the shoulder, she said, “Good luck finding her, son.”
     
    The North Shore wasn’t his home territory, but Clancy had visited Revere often enough to be familiar with the working-class town that hugged the shore just north of Logan International Airport. Josie lived nearby. He’d been to her house numerous times over the years, for backyard barbecues and family get-togethers. When she was still married to Ed Porter, he’d been a regular at Ed’s Saturday-night poker parties, until the stakes had climbed too high for a man living on a priest’s subsistence salary, and he’d dropped out of the game for good.
    He turned right at the liquor store, his stereo speakers thumping to a driving rock rhythm as he drove past a neighborhood convenience store that was closed for the night, past the darkened K of C hall, past a storefront funeral parlor that looked more like a restaurant than a place you’d take Aunt Greta