Reprisal

Until it had become clear that Da

And then, in one night, the whole case had gone to hell. As a direct result of that, Re

Joa

One more thing I owe you for, you bastard.

But what was really going on here? Now. Today. Had the killer priest he'd been chasing the past five years finally surfaced, or was this just a coincidence? He couldn't tell for sure. And he wanted it so bad, he didn't trust his own judgment.

He decided on a second opinion.

He placed a call to Columbia University and arranged to meet Dr. Nicholas Qui

Dr. Nick arrived just as Re

Re

"So, Nick," Re

"Particle physics," the younger man said. "You really want to hear?"

"Not really. How's the love life?"

Nick sipped his beer. "I love my work."

"Don't worry," Re

Re

"How's by you?" Nick said.

"Couldn't be better, kid. Took me five years, but I'm a detective sergeant again."

"Congratulations," Nick said, hoisting his beer.

Re

"And Joa

Nick didn't seem to know how to take that.

"Don't worry, kid. That's good news too. No more alimony payments."

Re

"Speaking of news," Nick said, "why'd you want to see me?"

Re

"No. Curious. I've been calling you regularly since it happened, and for years now it's always the same answer: nothing new. Now you call me. I know you like to keep people dangling, Mr. Detective, and I've been dangling long enough. What've you got?"

Re

He watched Nick study it. They'd met five years ago, during the Da

Orphans. Re

What Nick's scenario couldn't explain was the eyewitness accounts of Father Ryan carrying Da

In anybody's book, that was called kidnapping.

Re

"North Carolina," Nick said, looking up from the letter. "Think it might be him?"

"I don't know what to think. It sort of came out of the blue."

"How—?"

"A long-term gain on a short-term investment, you might say."

Five years ago, when Father Ryan had taken off with the boy, and seemed to have got away clean, Re

Nick dropped the letter onto the table and reached for his beer.

"I don't know. It's so vague. Isn't there some way you can talk to anyone down there?"

"Already have. Couldn't get anything firsthand, though. It happened on the street near a bus stop. The people who'd actually listened to the phone had boarded their bus and gone home by the time the police and emergency squads had arrived. But there seemed to be a definite consensus that the call was from a child in trouble."

Just like the other calls, Re