For the Sake of Sin by Suzie Grant, Mind Moore

One
     
    Just outside El Paso, Texas
    1892
     
    “ I thought you didn’t meet with potential clients?”
    A thrill of awareness shot through Gabriel Stone at the whispered words in the dark. Shadows danced across the adobe walls of the Spanish church ruins. “I don’t.”
    “ Then why are you here?”
    Why am I here?
    The silhouette moved and the rustle of fabric tantalized him, luring him to round the corner to confront the woman. But he held back. “Why did you choose me?” he asked.
    “ Because you’re the best.” The sultry voice whispered with slightest Spanish lilt. Again tremors ricocheted through his body. Jasmine and almond oil wafted on the breeze and hinted at the exotic nature of the woman close enough to touch but just out of reach.
    How many times had he heard that phrase?
    Gabriel hung his head and shifted as the scrape of his boots against the gritty dirt floor echoed in the abandoned adobe church. Moonlight spilled through the open section of roof and pooled in the center of the room. A short burst of wind whistled through the ruins and lent eeriness to the atmosphere.
    “ Captain McNielson recommended you, but he didn’t tell me your name or how to contact you.”
    “ He’s the only one who knows me and the only one who can contact me.”
    “ Can I see you?” The woman in the dark asked.
    “ No.”
    A soft sigh carried on the breeze. “I must admit I am disappointed.”
    “ I’m sorry, but I’m retired.”
    The softest chuckle sounded. “Funny, so am I.”
    The sound of her breathe broke the silence and the slightest peek of her dress from around the corner tempted him. Dusky red material swished against the corner of the building and seemed out of place amongst the dirt and dull tones of nature, like a rose at midnight. When darkness washed all the color away, only the brilliantly hued petals could still be seen.
    “ You never answered my question. Why are you here?”
    He sighed. How could he, when he wasn’t sure of the answer himself. “I wanted to know more...” A bout you . “About the case.”
    Her letters had intrigued Gabriel from the moment he’d opened the envelope revealing the subtle hint of jasmine. McNeilson had asked him to help the woman but he’d refused. The next day though he’d dropped an unsigned letter into the mail. Two days later, McNeilson had brought him another jasmine-dusted envelope.
    A husky laugh accompanied the sigh. “But I thought you weren’t for hire.”
    “ Humor me.”
    Silence settled like a heavy fog between them, coating everything with its moist weight. Had she heard his question? Seconds passed and the only sounds were the distant chirp of crickets and the lone howl of a wolf.
    “ Every day gets a little worse.” Her voice wrapped around him, enfolding him within its sensual grasp and enticing him to give up his foolish, self-imposed torment. “I can still see their faces and hear their screams. They wake me every night as I lay in my bed...drenched in my own sweat. You have to help me silence them.”
    “ Who?”
    “ My memories.”
    Something inside his chest twisted and his brow furrowed. How easily he could relate to those very words. How many nights had he lain in bed as the visions of his past haunted him, and he’d been unable to quiet the voices?
    Agony from a dark past choked off his every breath and rendered him speechless. How could he let go of the anguish and harness the emotions at night when he could barely control them during the day? And here stood another tortured soul. One who understood the way he suffered. One who sought to ease the pain.
    “ This won’t make them go away,” he assured her.
    “ I know.” She offered no excuses, no explanations for her actions, and no remorse. And yet, he could sympathize. Some people deserved to die .
    Gabriel had given up playing judge and executioner. He no longer offered his gun for money and he refused to play God again. Not after...
    “ The only thing I