Page 41 of Sins of Leo

Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn’t. He just knew he finally felt alive again.

The library never appealed much to Leo. He preferred to be active, but Ruth stared about in wide-eyed wonder. “Damn, that’s a lot of books.”

“That’s nothing. What’s on the shelves changes depending on what a person wants.”

“Really? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” She laughed as he set her on her feet—reluctantly.

A computer waited on a table. She stared at it as if it would bite.

“Want me to take the lead?” he offered.

She shook her head. “It’s time I took my own advice and confronted my fear.” Ruth sat on a chair and took a few breaths before touching the mouse to wake the computer screen. An image of the leather journal took front and center.Click. It opened, but instead of images taken of the handwriting, it displayed neatly typed text.

“You can see on the sidebar bookmarks with mentions of Chile. Also looks like he had it mark spots with the words zodiac, arch, and a few others.”

But instead of jumping ahead, Ruth stayed on the first page. She canted her head as she read for a few minutes, flipping twice during that time.

“Well?” Leo asked from his spot leaning against the table. He’d wanted to read over her shoulder but abstained to give her privacy.

“He wrote it for me,” she murmured. “It starts with, “My dearest Ruth, you’re six months old now, and while I hate to go away, a dig in Cairo needed my expertise. I cannot wait until you are old enough to join me.”

He frowned. “He brought you on his trips?”

She shook her head. “No. Never. Odd he wrote as if he would.”

Ruth read a few more pages before sighing. “I doubt this beginning section will be any help. His style is rather abrupt. A few sentences about what he discovered during his trip, followed by information for a wholly different spot.”

“You ready to skip ahead?”

She nodded. “I can come back and read the rest anytime. You need to know about his time in Chile.”

A click on the first Chile bookmark jumped her ahead. She paused, and he saw her expression turn stony.

“What’s wrong?”

“Looks like the first mention of Chile was a typo.” She cleared her throat. “Miriam still refuses to let me take you with me on a trip. It doesn’t matter how much I beg and plead. She is adamant, and vindictive. If I don’t leave in the next twenty-four hours, she claims she’ll call law enforcement and tell them I hit her and our chile.”

A low whistle escaped Leo. “Well, damn. Looks like your dad might have been standoffish for a reason.”

“I knew my mom and dad had problems, but I never realized she threatened him, or that he wanted me.” Said in a tiny voice.

“Of course he wanted you. You’re beautiful and brilliant.”

“I don’t need false flattery.” She rolled her eyes.

“Why do you think I’m lying?”

“I’m about thirty pounds too heavy and hardly brilliant.”

“Your body looks just right to me. A man likes meat on his woman’s bones.” It slipped out. Once more, he’d said more than he meant to.

Her cheeks turned that sweet pink color again, and she ducked her head. “Thank you. We should get back to the journal.”

She clicked on the next few bookmarks, then paused on one a few pages from the end.

This time she chewed her lower lip as she scanned the text.

“So?”

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