When they returned to the station, Bobby got immediately onto the phone, leaving Mike with the paperwork and the calls to the usual places. As he moved through the usual motions of a case like this, he wondered openly what the hell he was going to do with this guy. Bobby had seemed so quiet, yet underneath he was a major hard-ass wrapped up in a very well controlled raging pit-bull. Mike found something, and he decided it was worth it to make this work somehow. If he had to follow this insane bulldog of a man around for the better part of the next couple weeks, so be it. After all, this wasn�t about him.
�Mike.� He looked up suddenly, startled at how much a single man�s voice could go from biting ice to warm and almost� �I just talked to the secretary over at the Arch Dieses record archives. She said there have been several complaints about two specific priests at that church, and that they were already investigating. The two Fathers are Jacob Talbert and Ryan McNeal. They don�t want this to go public if it can be avoided.�
�Which means they knew something was very wrong and now they�re trying to cover their ass. I found something in his permanent record from school, too. Frankie Paige went to his school councilor yesterday, but wouldn�t tell him anything about what was going on. I say we talk to this councilor, see if any other kids are having the same problem.�
�Good, let�s go.�
�So, Frankie came to you, wouldn�t tell you what was wrong, and you didn�t see anything wrong with that?�
�I didn�t think anything of it. Many young children have trouble putting their feelings into words, especially in regards to sex.�
�So you knew it was sexual?�
�I�ve been doing this for a long time, Detective. Boys this age are just coming to notice girls, while girls have been noticing them for quite some time. They don�t know how to act, react, or approach the subject, and talking to a grown-up about it only makes them feel more like children, which isn�t what they want at all. I lead them through suggestion, simple concepts and feeling associations, and they are able to make their own conclusions, all the while thinking it was their idea all along.�
�So, you lead Frankie so these same conclusions?�
�I thought I was doing right by him. He didn�t seem any different.�
�You had no reason to think abuse was a factor in his confusion?�
�Not really. He was in a good home from what I knew, active in his church. He had many friends. I saw nothing in his behavior to indicate he was suffering in any way.�
�Do you make it practice to talk to the parents when children come to you with sexually based problems?�
�Generally, but in the case of young boys living with their mothers, the subject is embarrassing enough without �Mom� knowing and trying to help. Mothers tend to make situations like this worse, so I didn�t inform Mrs. Paige.�
�You mentioned that Frankie had friends in school? Have any of these other boys come to you recently with the same problem?
�Yes, actually, which is why I wanted you to come here today. Two other boys have come to me in recent days, Jason Robins and Henry Markins. Henry I�m not worried about. I saw him on the soccer field with a young lady this morning, and practically had to drag them apart to send them to their separate classrooms. Jason, however, is a problem. I�ve noticed he�s become listless, removed.�
�And you think that whatever was bothering Frankie might have been bothering Jason as well?�
�Yes. They were very close. They were both alter boys at St. Elizabeth�s, and the two are practically inseparable. If he hadn�t come to my office asking some very unsettling questions given recent events, I would have thought his sudden behavioral shift was in regards to Frankie�s death. I think it best that you speak with him.�
�We will. And hopefully we�ll have better luck with him than we had with his mother.�
Mike found the young boy out on the school playground as Bobby circled around to work crowd control.
�Hey, you�re Jason, right?� The young boy slowed down his swing as Mike approached, thankfully wary.
�Yeah. Who are you?�
�My name is Mike Logan. I�m a Police Detective.�
�My mom says I�m not supposed to talk to you.�
�I know that, but that doesn�t mean I can�t talk to you.� Jason looked thoroughly perplexed as Mike took up the swing next to him and slowly began to move.
�So you�re mom tells me you�re an alter boy.� Jason squirmed a little, and Mike continued quickly. �I was one, too. My mother insisted on it. I was pretty good, too. There every Sunday, every day after school cleaning and doing all the little things we were supposed to. You do that, too?� Jason nodded haltingly.
�Yeah, my priest�s name was Father Joseph. We all called him Fa-� Mike swallowed hard, something that didn�t go unnoticed by the young boy. //Damn it, Mike. Keep it together, for the kid�s sake!// �We all called him Father Joe. After my dad left, he was my mother�s best friend. Over at our house a couple nights a week, talking to her and to me. Does your Father do that, too?�
�No. He always went over to Frankie�s house.�
�Oh, so he was over at Frankie�s house. Did Frankie ever talk to the Father about things?�
�I don�t know. Father Ryan always talks to us by ourselves, once a week.� Again the young boy squirmed, and Mike knew good and well what those �talks� were about.
�So, Father Ryan �talks� to each of the other alter boys, too?� Jason only nodded, his cheeks reddening. Mike stood a moment, and knelt down in front of Jason�s swing. �Jason, it�s ok to talk to me. If you need to tell me anything more, you call me, ok?� Mike pulled out his card and scribbled down his cell and home numbers on the back before giving it to the boy. Jason took the card and stared at it a moment before tears started running over his down turned face.
�It happened to you too, didn�t it?� Mike reached out without thinking, and the young boy all but fell into his arms, sniffling.
�Yeah, Jason,� Mike said, fighting back the urge to find this �Father Ryan� and gut him. �Yeah it happened to me, but I�m going to make sure it doesn�t happen to you anymore, ok?� He held the young boy until the last of the tears had fallen. Jason pulled back, wiping his nose on his sleeve as is required of all little boys. Mike smiled as Jason sat back in the swing, tucking Mike�s card snuggly into his pocket.
�Anytime, anywhere. You need me, you call me.� Mike left him then, taking every step as slowly as he could to collect himself. He knew the child might not call him, but he could always hope that this boy would be smarter than he�d been. He took one last deep breath as he came upon Bobby.
�You ok?� //Was that a trick question?//
�It�s nothing, I�m just worried about the kid is all.� Bobby could practically smell the fear and pain that Mike was trying so hard to hide. Bobby barely wanted to think about how hard this must be for him. Being the chid of such a situation was bad enough, but to have to come to wrk and reopen that wound years later in the life of another child was nothing short of monstrous. Bobby knew he would only be able to take ti for so long, but he also knew a man as stubborn as the legendary Mike Logan wouldn�t let it hit him until he was able to explode in peace. //It�s all right, Mike. Take all the time you need.//
�All right. Let�s get going then.� Bobby allowed himself to be led to the car, Mike shielding his face as he continued to wipe away the �nothing� he�d spoken of.
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