John Saul - The Devil's Labyrinth

“And he’s missing, you say?” Father Laughlin asked, taking off his wire-rimmed glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Something in the old priest’s tone made Brother Francis wonder if Laughlin was truly grasping what he was saying, and he found himself wondering, not for the first time, if perhaps Father Laughlin was a little too old and a little too out of touch with today’s youth to be running a school like St. Isaac’s. The old priest seemed like a relic from a kinder and far gentler era. “He’s the second one this year,” Brother Francis sighed. “And I have to say, I’m feeling like I must be responsible. I feel like I must have failed these boys in some way.” He paused, then finished his thought. “I’m wondering if you made a mistake bringing me here. Perhaps I’m just not cut out for this kind of school.”

Father Laughlin shook his head. “This isn’t your fault, Francis. It’s just—”

“No child has gone missing from this school in the last five years,” Brother Francis cut in. “Then I arrive, and lose two in my first year.”

Brother Francis sighed heavily again. “And I’m having a very hard time trying to figure out what I’m going to say to Kip’s parents.”

Father Laughlin didn’t respond right away, but finally put his glasses back on and looked up at the young cleric. “There’s more than one reason the Cardinal sent us Father Sebastian Sloane at the same time he sent you,” Laughlin said. “And one of those reasons is that Father Sebastian not only has a great deal of experience with troubled students, but with their parents as well. Let’s wait until after dinner, and if the Adamson boy still hasn’t turned up, you can explain the situation to Father Sebastian. Then — if it becomes necessary to talk to the boy’s family, he can do it. I’m sure Father Sebastian will know exactly what to say.” Laughlin reached out and gave Brother Francis’s arm a reassuring squeeze. “And in the meantime, we’ll all pray for Kip’s safe return.”

As he left the headmaster’s office a few moments later, Brother Francis tried to tell himself that everything was going to turn out all right, that Kip Adamson was going to turn up. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t make himself believe his own words.

No, something was wrong.

Something was very wrong.

TERI MCINTYRE ADJUSTED the belt on her skirt and checked her watch again. 5:50. She’d been annoyed when Ryan hadn’t shown up as promised by 5:30, but already annoyance was dissolving into worry. Ryan, even when he was small, had been the kind of boy every mother dreams of. When he said he’d do something, he did it, even if he didn’t want to, and Teri knew that even though Ryan didn’t particularly want to go to dinner tonight, he had said he would. And according to his message, he’d left the school around four. So what had happened?

Why wasn’t he home?

She picked up the phone and dialed Ryan’s cell one more time, but clicked off when she heard his voice mail; she’d already left him two messages to call home, and a third wasn’t going to accomplish a thing. She went downstairs to wait for him.

Beyond the front window the street was empty, and a bus was just pulling away from the stop at the corner. Teri perched on the arm of the sofa where she had a view of the driveway and front walk, and gnawed at a cuticle as she thought about what to do.

And what might have happened.

As if to escape her own thoughts, she left the sofa and went to the kitchen, where she dug the address book out of the catch-all drawer. Less than a minute later she dialed the school, but everyone in the office had gone home for the day, and all she got was a recorded message. She clicked off, then dialed Josh Singer’s house. Maybe Ryan had stopped over there on his way home, got involved in a video game or something, and simply lost track of time.

“Hi, Melinda,” she said when Josh’s mother answered. “It’s Teri McIntyre. Is Ryan there by any chance?”

“Hey, Teri. No, I haven’t seen him. Hold on a minute. I’ll get Josh.”

Teri unconsciously tapped her fingernails on the Formica counter-top while she waited.

“Mrs. McIntyre?”

“Hi, Josh. I’m looking for Ryan.”

“He was going to make up a history test after school. He—”

“I know about the test,” Teri cut in. “I thought he’d be home by now. If you see him, have him call me right away, okay?”

“Sure.”

Teri hung up just as she heard a car door slam outside. Phone in hand, she hurried to the front door, thinking maybe someone had given Ryan a lift, but instead of Ryan, it was Tom Kelly coming up the walk. She glanced at the clock even though she already knew exactly what time it was. Sure enough: 6:00 on the dot.

Tom Kelly was nothing if not punctual.

She opened the door to be greeted with a smile and a kiss, but instead of returning his hug, she pulled away, her eyes going to the bus stop at the corner where two people were getting off the last bus of the afternoon.

Neither of them was Ryan.

Tom, feeling the tension in Teri’s body, dropped his arms to his sides. “Something’s wrong,” he said.

Teri nodded. “Ryan promised to be home a half hour ago and he’s not here yet.”

Tom visibly relaxed and pulled her close again. “So he’s late — he’s sixteen. He’ll get here.”

“But he was going to go to dinner with us, and we’ll be late for the reservation.”

“Then leave him a note and some money for a pizza. He’ll go with us another time.” He was already reaching for his wallet.

Teri shook her head and moved back into the house. “This isn’t like him. Call the restaurant and see if you can push the reservation back fifteen minutes. I’m going to call some more of his friends.”

Tom smiled wryly. “Why don’t you call the police department and all the hospitals while you’re at it?” When Teri glared at him, he took her hand, sat on the sofa, and pulled her down next to him. “He’s sixteen, Teri,” he repeated. “Almost seventeen. He’s allowed to assert his independence.”

“No, you don’t understand—”

Tom put a gentle finger to her lips, silencing her objections. “His father died barely two years ago, and you’ve been seeing me for almost six months. He’s got to be thinking I’m trying to replace his father. You’ve got to give him some slack.”

Suddenly this morning’s fight came flooding back to her, and she realized Tom was right. Ryan had tried to act like an adult when he agreed to go to dinner, but he hadn’t really wanted to.

“You’ve got to give him some time, Teri. He has to deal with things on his own timetable, not yours.”

Teri looked beseechingly into his eyes. “Then where could he be?”

Tom shrugged. “It’s Friday night. He and a couple of friends could have gone out for pizza and a movie.”

“He promised he’d be home,” she insisted, shaking her head. “He left school a few minutes after four — he should be here by now.”

Tom squeezed her hand reassuringly. “You can’t make him be what you want him to be. Somewhere along the line he just decided he didn’t want to go out to dinner with me. And that’s okay. You can’t freak out every time he’s an hour late, or you’ll go insane by the time he’s off to college.” He kissed her cheek, then stood up, drawing her to her feet. “C’mon. Let’s go have a nice dinner, and you can have a chat with him when we get home. And just a chat,” he added with mock severity. “Not a tirade. Okay?”

Teri shook her head. “I just don’t think I can go. I’ll be worried every minute and—”

“Sorry, not going is not an option,” Tom interrupted. “If you stay home, you’d miss a terrific meal, and you’ll just sit here ruining your manicure.”