Page 134 of You'll Never Find Me

“Have you spoken to Annie? Has she agreed? Will she be there?”

“I don’t know,” Rafe said. “I have counseled hundreds of couples, but the common theme is that they believe their marriage is a sacrament and want to find a way back to each other, with God as their foundation. If you come in and talk, it would be a sign that you want to fix things in your marriage. Do you agree?”

“I need my family.”

“I am free this afternoon at four thirty. Is that convenient for you?”

“Is Annie going to be there?”

“As I said, I don’t know. This is a first step. You can’t rush these things.”

“Okay. But first, I want to confess.”

Jack’s heart dropped.

“You want to confess to me as a priest?”

“Yes. I’ll be at the church at four thirty. Will you be in the confessional?”

“I will be there.”

“Thank you, Father. I think...for the first time I believe I will get my family back.”

Carillo hung up.

Jack refrained from swearing out loud, but a litany of damn-shit-fuck ran through his head.

“I am not going to deny anyone the right to reconciliation,” Rafe told him.

“Just a slight change of plans,” Jack said, knowing Margo would go ballistic. But they would tweak the plan as needed.

“Don’t even think of wiring the church,” Rafe said. “I consented to my office, but I will not consent to anyplace else.”

“The goal is to bring him in here,” Jack said. “And we need a plan to do that.”

“I will ask him to come back with me after confession,” Rafe said, “but I can’t do more than that.”

Jack looked at his watch. It was nearly three thirty. They had one hour to come up with another plan. He excused himself and walked outside, stood under a tree, dialed Margo. “Change of plans,” he said.

Fifty-Nine

Peter Carillo

There were no cars at the church. No kids playing, no teachers, no parents.

Peter frowned. He drove slowly by the church and turned into the school drop-off roundabout. A sign with changeable letters read:

Monday–Friday: Middle school half days

Friday, May 23: All-school out at Noon

Monday, May 26: End-of-school-year fair

Tuesday, May 27: Eighth Grade Graduation, 7:00 p.m.

Okay, he thought. Kids were out early today. It would just be him and the priest.

Father Morales would tell him where Annie was before Peter left. He just had to convince him to talk.