![Repairman Jack [08]-Crisscross](https://fs.collectorofbookboyfriends.com/476336/thumbs/152x264/repairman-jack-08-crisscross.jpg)
memories of a dream about xeltons and Hokanos… all of whom bore strange resemblances to Abe and Mama Amalia.
He was heading for the door to grab a cup of coffee at the corner deli when his phone rang. The 305 area code on the caller ID told him who it was.
"Hey, Dad."
They'd been in touch almost weekly since their Florida escapade. The bond they'd forged then had not attenuated despite the months and miles since they'd last seen each other.
"Jack! I'd hoped to catch you before you went out."
"Good timing. Another thirty seconds and I'd have been gone. What's up?"
"I'm coming north to do some condo hunting next week."
"Oh? Where?"
Jack closed his eyes. Please don't say New York— please don't say New York.
As much as he enjoyed this renewed closeness with his dad, he did not want him living down the block, didn't want him in any of the five boroughs in fact. He was a good guy but he tended to be too curious about his younger son's lifestyle and how he earned his living.
"I was thinking of Trenton."
Jack pumped a fist. Yes!
"To be near Ron and the kids."
Ron Iverson was Jack's sister Kate's ex—but it hadn't been a rancorous divorce and Dad had stayed close to his grandkids, Kevin and Lizzie, all along. Even closer since Kate's death.
"You've got it. And it puts me just an hour away from the city via Amtrak." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I've got to get cracking on finding a new place. The sale of the place down here closes in less than a month."
"The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, right?"
"Right. And I can't wait to get back."
Jack could hear the anticipation in his voice.
Dad added, "I thought maybe we could get together for dinner in Trenton. They've got some nice restaurants there. Kevin's away at college but Lizzie is still around. Maybe—"
"Might be better if you came up here, Dad. We've got the best restaurants in the world."
He didn't think he could bear spending hours at a table with Lizzie. Since Jack had been the last family member to see Kate alive, she'd have all sorts of questions about her mother, questions he couldn't answer honestly—for Kate's sake.
"You sound like you don't want to see Lizzie. You've never known her, Jack. She's a great kid and—"
"She'll remind me too much of Kate and I'm not ready for that. Not yet."
"Someday you'll tell me what happened to Kate up there, won't you."
"Someday, yeah. But I can only tell you what I know." Which was everything. "Call me when you're back in the good ol' Garden State and we'll set something up."
"Will do."
Jack hung up and let out a deep breath. Sometimes he got sick of lying. It wasn't so bad with strangers, but with family…
And on the subject of lying… he was going to have to do some to Jamie Grant. He wondered if she'd be in her office this early. Wouldn't hurt to try.
He'd realized from his stint with The Book of Hokano that it wasn't going to tell him about the inner workings of the Dormentalist Church. It was all doctrine. He needed someone who'd looked under the hood.
He still had his copy of The Light from yesterday, so he looked up the number again. He dug out a business card from the secretary's bottom drawer and dialed Grant on his Tracfone.
After working through the phone tree he heard that same gruff voice say, "Grant."
She was in. Did she sleep there?
Before she could hang up on him again he quickly explained that he was a private investigator who had been hired by the family of a missing Dormentalist to find their son.
Hey—not much of a lie. Almost true.
"Dormentalists go missing all the time," Grant said. "They get sent away on ML—that's 'Missionary Leave' to the uninitiated—and don't tell their families where they're going. Most of them pop up again a couple of years later."
"Most?"
"Some are never seen again."
"This woman's certain her son is still in New York. Said he was acting strange."
She snorted. "A Dormentalist acting strange—how ever could she tell?"
"She said he'd started
He was heading for the door to grab a cup of coffee at the corner deli when his phone rang. The 305 area code on the caller ID told him who it was.
"Hey, Dad."
They'd been in touch almost weekly since their Florida escapade. The bond they'd forged then had not attenuated despite the months and miles since they'd last seen each other.
"Jack! I'd hoped to catch you before you went out."
"Good timing. Another thirty seconds and I'd have been gone. What's up?"
"I'm coming north to do some condo hunting next week."
"Oh? Where?"
Jack closed his eyes. Please don't say New York— please don't say New York.
As much as he enjoyed this renewed closeness with his dad, he did not want him living down the block, didn't want him in any of the five boroughs in fact. He was a good guy but he tended to be too curious about his younger son's lifestyle and how he earned his living.
"I was thinking of Trenton."
Jack pumped a fist. Yes!
"To be near Ron and the kids."
Ron Iverson was Jack's sister Kate's ex—but it hadn't been a rancorous divorce and Dad had stayed close to his grandkids, Kevin and Lizzie, all along. Even closer since Kate's death.
"You've got it. And it puts me just an hour away from the city via Amtrak." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I've got to get cracking on finding a new place. The sale of the place down here closes in less than a month."
"The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, right?"
"Right. And I can't wait to get back."
Jack could hear the anticipation in his voice.
Dad added, "I thought maybe we could get together for dinner in Trenton. They've got some nice restaurants there. Kevin's away at college but Lizzie is still around. Maybe—"
"Might be better if you came up here, Dad. We've got the best restaurants in the world."
He didn't think he could bear spending hours at a table with Lizzie. Since Jack had been the last family member to see Kate alive, she'd have all sorts of questions about her mother, questions he couldn't answer honestly—for Kate's sake.
"You sound like you don't want to see Lizzie. You've never known her, Jack. She's a great kid and—"
"She'll remind me too much of Kate and I'm not ready for that. Not yet."
"Someday you'll tell me what happened to Kate up there, won't you."
"Someday, yeah. But I can only tell you what I know." Which was everything. "Call me when you're back in the good ol' Garden State and we'll set something up."
"Will do."
Jack hung up and let out a deep breath. Sometimes he got sick of lying. It wasn't so bad with strangers, but with family…
And on the subject of lying… he was going to have to do some to Jamie Grant. He wondered if she'd be in her office this early. Wouldn't hurt to try.
He'd realized from his stint with The Book of Hokano that it wasn't going to tell him about the inner workings of the Dormentalist Church. It was all doctrine. He needed someone who'd looked under the hood.
He still had his copy of The Light from yesterday, so he looked up the number again. He dug out a business card from the secretary's bottom drawer and dialed Grant on his Tracfone.
After working through the phone tree he heard that same gruff voice say, "Grant."
She was in. Did she sleep there?
Before she could hang up on him again he quickly explained that he was a private investigator who had been hired by the family of a missing Dormentalist to find their son.
Hey—not much of a lie. Almost true.
"Dormentalists go missing all the time," Grant said. "They get sent away on ML—that's 'Missionary Leave' to the uninitiated—and don't tell their families where they're going. Most of them pop up again a couple of years later."
"Most?"
"Some are never seen again."
"This woman's certain her son is still in New York. Said he was acting strange."
She snorted. "A Dormentalist acting strange—how ever could she tell?"
"She said he'd started
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