Sons (12 page)

Michael reached up and brought Jan’s mouth to his. He broke away and whispered, “Amal is going out. He will not be home until late, and Colin said he was staying late at school. So, you see, we have some time for ourselves.”

“Is that an invitation?”

Michael said coyly, “Maybe.”

L
ATER
that evening, Jan found Colin at his computer downloading a page with information about the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Jerusalem—The Knights Templar.

Their motto:
Non Nobis Domine
✠
Non Nobis
✠
Sed Nomini Tuo Da Gloriam
stretched diagonally across the web page.

Jan stood behind his son and translated the text aloud, “Not to us oh Lord, Not to us, but to Your Name give glory.”

“What?” Colin said, looking around.

“You were wondering what the Latin meant.”

“How did you know?”

“Everybody does.”

“You know Latin?”

“The school I went to taught it. I must’ve been good at it, because I never forgot it.”

“They don’t offer it at All Souls. Besides, what good is Latin nowadays? Nobody I know is interested in it.”

“I don’t know. It’s kinda fun. As for All Souls not teaching it, they’re Episcopal. Historically, Latin is definitely
not
their thing.”

“Uh, uh,” Colin muttered, unconvinced as he returned his attention to the Templar website.

Jan wasn’t happy about Colin’s interest in the Templars, since their ancient history was the foundation of Mundus Society. Jan was determined to keep his son far away from Mundus and the very real dangers it posed for its members and loved ones.

“Did you see your report card?” Jan asked. “I left it by your keyboard.”

Colin kept his eyes focused on a page detailing the fabled Templar treasure.

“I did. Thanks.” He answered in a tone that clearly signaled he wanted to end their conversation.

Jan stood still.
I wonder if I should push this a little.

Then Colin spoke again. “I didn’t think I’d get an A in geometry. We had to learn how to read a slide rule! I didn’t even know what the thing was when Brother Boniface passed them out!”

Jan chuckled at this.

“I had to learn it too. To tell the truth,” he said, “I never used it after school. I asked Brother Julian about it when I saw it listed as a pass/fail requirement. He told me the reason they teach it is to instill discipline of the mind.”

“I think I’d rather take a beating,” Colin said sourly, his eyes still fixed on his computer.

Jan thought back on Saint Dominic’s Academy and Mother Eileen wielding her brass-plated ruler with obvious glee.

“Oh no, you wouldn’t. Trust me!”

They sat a few minutes while Colin maneuvered though the Templar website.

Damn, I wish he’d find something else to interest him. I suppose it’s too late for “Nanny Watch.” He’d probably find a way around it. What will I say to him if he falls into the thrall of the Templar mystique?

Colin clicked a page tab, and the screen switched to a Templar battle scene. It was the siege of the city of Acre, the Templar’s last stand against Saladin.

“Isn’t there something else you’d rather read than this old stuff?” Jan said.

“Umm, no. I like reading about these guys. Why?”

“No reason.”

Jan’s devil whispered in his ear,
You handled that real well. What do you do for an encore, ya dummy?

His angel defended Jan.
He’s only trying to protect the boy. Leave him alone, you big bully, or I’ll smack you with a thunderbolt!

Jan decided it was time to change the subject. He took a deep, silent breath.

“I was wondering if you’ve
made any more friends at school. You haven’t said much since you started at All Souls, and I was wondering….”

Colin turned in his seat and faced his father. “Everything’s fine. I thought you knew that already.”

Not wishing to sound confrontational, Jan made a conscious effort to soften his tone. “How would I know? You don’t say much. Aside from your grades, I don’t know what’s going on with you at school.”

“I told you before I liked it there. I guess I thought you’d ask Brother Julian if you didn’t believe me,” Colin said.

“I wouldn’t do that! I wouldn’t spy on you.”

“Oh.”

Colin returned to reading the Templar webpage.
I hope he doesn’t ask about Zan!

The two sat in silence a while, and then Jan said, “Well?”

“Well what?” Colin said.

“Well, have you made any new friends in school?”

I wonder why he’s asking me this stuff. Why the sudden interest? Take it easy, don’t push back. See what he wants.

“Yeah, I have,” Colin said brightly. “William Tan, he’s Michael’s nephew, but I guess you knew that, and Toby Holcomb, he’s got something wrong with his leg. William said it never grew right. Toby never said anything to me, so I keep quiet about it. And, umm, the girl I met on my first day at school. Remember, I told you about her. Name’s Zan.”

Colin hoped his reference to Zan sounded casual enough, since he wasn’t sure how Jan, being gay, felt about girls in general.

Jan remembered hearing the name, but he thought he had heard it from someone other than Colin. He pulled at his memory, but nothing came to mind.

“Well, that’s great! That’s… that’s… great. So, umm, what would you like as a reward for getting such good grades?”

“I don’t need a reward. I like school.”

“Okay, but I’d like to do something to celebrate, go out to dinner, anything you’d like.”

“I know,” said Colin. “I’d like to go out… I mean if it’s okay.”

“Sure. Where do you want to go?”

“Well,” Colin said, biting his lower lip, “I don’t think you understand. I mean… I want to go out with someone else.”

Jan absorbed Colin’s words as they finally registered.

“You mean out on a
date
?” Jan asked, a little startled.

The idea of his young son out and about on his own in Philadelphia, scared him.

Then, as if reading his father’s mind, Colin said, “Ah, yeah, I turn fifteen next week. Don’t you think I’m old enough to go out?”

Colin was getting nervous. He had seen Jan angry only once, last New Year’s Eve when his Aunt Elaine left him. He never wanted to see his father that angry again.

“Who were you going to ask out on this date?”

“Well… I thought I’d ask Zan. We’ve been hanging out together, and well, I really like her and all.”

Jan looked at his son, trying to get a sense of how important this was to him.

“She’s in the same grade as you, right?”

Here it comes. I’m gonna get grilled,
Colin thought.

“Yeah, she’s in most of my classes, and she’s real cool, and I like her, and she likes me too… kinda… I think. I thought since it’s my birthday, I could take her someplace and….”

Jan watched Colin’s face flush deep red.

“Okay, okay. Calm down before you pop a blood vessel!” Jan said, laughing.

Colin sagged into an embarrassed slump.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh,” Jan said, allowing himself one more giggle before pulling a serious face.

My son has a girlfriend. How about that! Well, this is one part of his life they can’t rob from me.

“So, Colin, how long have you known this girl?”

“Well, I met her the first day at school,” he said sheepishly.

“Wow, fast worker, eh?”

The added remark caused Colin’s scarlet bloom to intensify.

Jan reached out and tousled his hair.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you, but I think I need to know more about her. We should….”

Amal interrupted Jan in midsentence.

“Excuse me, Effendi. You have a phone call from France.”

Jan sighed at the interruption.

“Thank you, Amal. I’ll take the call in my bedroom.” Colin’s eyes followed him as Jan walked to the door.

Jan turned and smiled.

“We’ll talk about this later, Colin, okay?”

“Okay, but there’s a Black as Night concert that William told me about, and I’ve never been to one, and, well, I would need to know pretty soon, I mean if it’s okay.”

“I’ll let you know pretty soon,” Jan said as he left the office.

Colin returned to the Knights Templar website.

Ugh Latin! That’s almost as bad as slide rules. I wonder why he doesn’t want me to look at this stuff?

Eighteen

T
HE
phone call from France was Jan’s weekly conference call, a routine catch-up on Mundus’s European activities. One item discussed in depth was a curious jump in tourism in, of all places, Iceland. That in itself was not unwelcome, but the tourists’ countries of origin were unusual. Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, and Syria headed the list. It seemed Arab nations were supplying an inordinate number of glacier climbing enthusiasts, flooding into the island nation on a large scale. It was this fact that was so troubling, in these troubled times. Was this paranoia profiling, or a wake-up call? That was for future Mundus intelligence operations to determine. In the meantime, Iceland needed watching.

After the callers rang off the secure Mundus phone line, Jan dialed Nick Flamingo from his cell phone. Nick owned and operated the I Spy Detective Agency in Philadelphia. If anything happened in Philly, Nick knew about it.

“Nick, it’s Jan Phillips. Please pick up the phone if you’re there.”

Jan waited several long moments, wondering why the detective’s answering service didn’t respond. Just as he was about to hang up, Nick Flamingo answered breathlessly, “Flamingo.”

“Nick, you sound all in. Have a rough night?” Jan said.

“If you call sitting in a car, watching a warehouse all day and half the night rough, I guess I’d say
yes. So, what can I do ya for?” Nick said, still groggy from lack of sleep.

Nick’s English usage notwithstanding, he was as good as you get when it came to detective work, which was why Jan used his services when his law firm needed information denied to ordinary folk.

“What do you know about a band called Black as Night? They’re playing at a
place called the Old Rockadero,” Jan said.

“Black as Night, eh? They’re a local Goth band. The kids who go to those things are way too young for you, my boy,” Nick replied with a sarcastic snigger.

Jan brushed off the good-humored jibe. “Very funny,” he said dryly. “What else should I know?”

“Know? Uh… they’re like a lot of rock bands. They stand up on a rickety stage and, in costumes you wouldn’t wear on Halloween, make bad noise. What else do you need to know?”

“Nick, don’t fence with me. I’m serious.”

Nick yawned into the phone.

“Serious, huh? Okay, let’s see, they’re strictly local, but they’re pretty well funded for a cult band,
and
they target the under twenty ‘mom and dad have too much money’ crowd. There’s heavy security. That’s supposed to mean no alcohol, no sex, pretty clean for drugs too. The drug stuff is more trouble for the band members than the fans, but what these people do before they hit the stage is anybody’s guess. As these things go, they’re pretty tame, at least on the aisle side of the stage. That’s not to say there aren’t after-show parties. I have seen some lowlifes in big limos hanging around before and after the shows. Why do you ask?”

“My kid wants to see them.”

“No foolin’!
You
gotta kid?” Nick said, letting out a whoop of laughter, then instantly regretting his crack about Philadelphia’s moneyed crowd, of which Jan was a card-carrying member.

Jan ignored the “
You
gotta kid?” crack and the attending mirth. He waited quietly for Nick to compose himself.

“Tell me about the lowlifes,” Jan said, his tone as flat as a calm lake.

Taking his cue, Nick became all business.

“Most of them are regulars. They’re smart, and they know their way around the law if they get caught. Like they say, ‘You can do anything you want, but never get caught with a live boy or a dead girl.’ One’s a particularly nasty fellow, a Russian guy. Name’s Pytór Krevchenko. He seems to have a lot of very young nephews and nieces flying back and forth to Mother Russia. This Pytór has a new sidekick, a recently transplanted Saudi national, goes by the name Ben. Don’t have a last name for him. He’s a big guy, looks tough. Oh, and this will interest you. Krevchenko hangs out with your old buddy, Louis Carew.”

Nick paused to let Jan absorb this tidbit of underworld gossip.

Jan thought,
Carew! It’s been a long time since I heard that name.

Jan shivered at the thought of Colin running into a man like Louis Carew. His imagination ran riot until Nick jarred him back to the real world.

“Hey! You still there, Jan?”

“Yeah, umm, so, Nick, what made you flag Carew?”

“I got a client. His fourteen-year-old daughter went missing after a party, and somebody saw a limo that looked like the one Carew uses. Given Louie’s track record with underage girls, I’m sorta keeping my eyes peeled. I’m staking out a warehouse he rents just over Vine Street from Chinatown. I figure if he had anything to do with the missing girl, somebody around there might have seen something. Trouble is, see, like, they got lights at this warehouse that go on and off, but nobody goes in or out.”