The Devil's Labyrinth Read Online Free PDF Page B

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.

C HAPTER 5
    T ERI M C I NTYRE 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