Back at her radio, she called Ostrinski, who was cruising. He picked up immediately.
"Pete, this is Toni. I just had a call from Greg Reston's mother.
She sounded a little panicky and said her fourteen-year-old son isn't home yet from some teenage get-together, but she didn't want me to declare him missing. Keep your eyes open though, will you?"
"Ten-four. Toni, is Lallek around there yet?"
"No, he got off at eleven and left right afterwards."
"Do me a favor, will you? Give him a call at home and apprise him of the Situation. He's close to that family and I think he'd want to know.
He's just like the rest of us, has a hard time sleeping when he gets off mid-shift. He'll probably still be up."
"Copy, Pete. Will do."
Chris had gone to bed but was lying awake when his phone rang. He rolled over, grabbed it in the dark and said, "Yuh."
"Chris, this is Toni down at the station. We just had a call from Greg Reston's mother saying her fourteen-year-old son Joey is missing.
We're going to keep an eye out, but Ostrinski thought you'd want to know."
Chris was already out of bed, stretching the phone cord while reaching for his clothes. "What are the details?"
"All she said was that he was with a bunch of friends and that he didn't| come home when he said he would. She hung up before I could get a description out of her.
She sounded panicked.".
"He's about five feet seven, short brown hair a little wavy, no glasses, probably wearing a red jacket with white sleeves--no letter.
He looks a lot like Greg. Home address is 1225 Benton Street. Put it on the radio, okay, Toni? And thanks for calling.
I'll get over there right away. She'll be going crazy worrying."
"You want me to send a squad over, too?"
"Not yet. I'll call in if I want one."
"Copy. Good luck, Lallek."
Christopher was not a praying man, but a prayer went through his mind, directed at Lee Reston. Hang on, Lee, I'm coming I'm coming. He's going to be okay. He's not going to be dead like your other two, but I know what you're going through, so hang on, babe, till I can get there and help you through this!
While he drove to her house disregarding every driving law he'd ever learned, he found his heart ramming in fear for her and what he knew was going through her mind.
At 12:15 when Lee saw car lights turning into her driveway, she opened the door and went out onto the icy concrete step barefoot, in her paiamas.
The engine and lights were cut, a door slammed and Christopher came striding up the sidewalk.
The sight of him was a gift of greater value than any she'd ever received in her life. His presencc his sturdy, commonsense, trained presence lifted a portion of the weight from her heart.
He knew, always knew when she needed him. It was uncanny.
"Have you heard from him yet?" he asked well before he reached her.
"No. Oh, Christopher, I'm so scared."
She had come halfway down the sidewalk to meet him. He swept her forward in one arm toward the storm door, which had already grown frosty with the inner door open. "Get inside. My God, you haven't even got any shoes on."
The tears she'd held at bay while alone began stinging her eyes now that he was here to carry some of the burden of worry. "He's never done this before. He's always had a curfew and always obeyed it without complaining."
Inside, he shut the doors and she rocketed into his arms. "I'm so glad you're here. How did you find out?"
"The station called me." He hugged her briefly, then gripped her arms to press her back. "Tell me where he was going, what time he left, who he was with."
"He said he was going bowling with a bunch of kids. He left the shop around five o'clock--he'd helped out there this afternoon because we were so busy. After bowling, he said they were all going over to Karen Hanson's house. She's one of the girls he hangs around with. There's a whole bunch of them who always do things together. Here, he left a note."
She led him to the kitchen table. While he read the brief note she told him, "They're all a bunch of really good kids."
"Do you know these Hansons?"
"Yes. I already called there and Karen's mother said the kids went home about ten-fifteen." The tens of dire possibilities implied by the words brought more unwanted tears, but he remained clearheaded and practical.
"Walking?"
"Yes. Different parents give them rides whenever they ask, but a lot of times they just walk in a big group. I never thought to ask him if he needed a ride tonight. He knows that all he has to do is call though and :' \, d: I'll come and pick him up."
"Have you looked in his room?"
"Yes. Nothin."
,
He headed back there and she followed, stood in the doorway with her arms tightly crossed while he switched on the light and assessed everything slowly. She wondered what his trained eye might pick out that she'd missed, and felt another rush of gratitude for his understanding how hard it would be for her to go through this alone.
"Are these the clothes he was wearing earlier today?"
. "You're okay then, right, Joey?"
"Anything missing that you can see?"
"No. Just his jacket, the one he usually wears."
Christopher continued assessing the room while she felt compelled to explain her parental breach.
"I suppose you're wondering why I didn't call earlier, but I came home from work at nine and I was so tired I took a bath and fell asleep on the couch. When I woke up I couldn't believe it was nearly midnight and he wasn't home."
Christopher switched off the light and they went back to the kitchen.
"I don't think there's anything to worry about yet.
These things happen a lot--kids are reported missing and they just come home later than usual, that's all." He gave her a hug and rubbed her back.
"But he would have called. He knows how I worry."
"How can he know if you've never had to before?"
"Because he knows me, that's all. He wouldn't . .."
The front door opened and Joey walked in, dressed in his red wool jacket with white leather sleeves, his cheeks rosy from walking in the winter night.
Anger and relief battled in Lee. She marched toward him, demanding, "Where have you been!"
One-handed, he freed his jacket snaps. "With the gang."
"Do you know what time it is!" she bellowed.
He hung his head some while he opened the front closet and hung up his jacket but gave no other sign he shared her concern over the hour.
"It's almost twelve-thirty at night!"
"It's the first time I've ever been late. I don't see what the big deal is."
Lee scarcely controlled the urge to smack him on the side of his head.
"The big deal is that I was worried half out of my mind, that's what the big deal is! While you were nonchalantly hanging out with the gang I was wondering if you were alive or dead! Calling parents' houses and asking if you were there, finding out you'd left at ten-fifteen. Where have you been since ten-fifteen?"
"At Sandy's," he answered, so quietly she could barely make out the words.
"At Sandy's," she repeated disparagingly. It was then she saw the hickeys on his neck and everything suddenly became clear. The room got uncomfortably silent. Into that silence, Christopher spoke.
I Joey shrugged, looked sheepish and mumbled some wordless reply.
Lee stood by feeling guilty for hearing the question she herself should have thought to ask, but she was so angry with the kid, it took an effort to keep from striking him.
To Lee, Christopher said, "I'd better call the station," and moved toward the kitchen telephone. Nobody else spoke while he dialed and said, "Yeah, Toni, this is Chris Lallek. All clear on Joey Reston.
You can radio the squads he's home and he's all right."
When he hung up, Joey's face became a mixture of disbelief and embarrassment.
"You had the police looking for me?" he said to his mother, his voice cracking with chagrin.
"You don't seem to realize, young man, that things happen to kids . , your age when they wander around the streets late at night."
"But, gol, Mom . . . the police."
She was about to tear into him again when Christopher said, "Well, now that he's home okay, I'll be going." He walked past Lee and when he got to Joey, curled a hand over his shoulder in passing. "She's right, you know. And you had her awfully scared."
Joey's lips hung open and he stared at the floor, but said nothing.
When Christopher opened the door, the sound seemed to jar Lee from her absorption with her anger. She went to him and stood very close, saying, "Thank you, Christopher, again and again."
She banked the strong urge to hug him, but with Joey nearby she could only put a hand on his jacket sleeve. "I can't tell you what it meant to me to see you walking up that sidewalk."
"Anytime," he answered. "See you." Before he left, he said, " ight, Joey."
Joey said, "Yeah, g'night."
In Christopher's absence, the silence in the front hall seemed to reverberate. Joey headed for safety, for once bypassing the refrigerator in favor of his room. He hadn't made it to the head of the hall before his mother spoke in the sternest voice possible.
"Joey, come in the living room."
She led the way and sat down stiffly on the sofa, waiting. He followed, walking in that peculiar fashion adopted by guilty teenagers, with their napes high and their chins low. He perched on the edge of a chair at Lee's right, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, studying the carpet between his tennis shoes.
"All right, let's talk about it," Lee said.
"Talk about what?" The glance he gave her skittered away again in a millisecond.
"About what you were doing at Sandy's house."
"Nothing. Just watching TV."
"And that's how you got the hickeys on your neck--watching TV?"
It was obvious he hadn't known they were there. He blushed and his hand went up to his shirt collar.
"Were Sandy's parents home?"
It took a while before he shook his head guiltily, still staring at the floor.
"Where were they?"
"At some Christmas party."
Silence again . . . a long, long silence in which Lee's trembling stomach finally began to calm and her anger to dissipate. She leaned forward and reached across the arm of the sofa to cover both of Joey's hands with one of hers. When she spoke her voice held a low hiss of appeal.
"Don't ever do that to me again."
He blinked hard as if tears had formed in his downcast eyes. "I won't."
"I know you think I'm being ridiculous, but since Greg, if I get a little overprotective and jumpy, you'll just have to bear with me.
I've never said it before, but it's very hard to be a mother and lose one of your children and not worry every time the others are out of your sight. I've tried really hard to balance my fears with rationalization, but tonight was horrible. Just horrible."
He kept blinking hard at the carpet.
"And don't think I don't understand about what went on tonight, because I do. I've been fourteen and I know how hard it can be to leave your friends when you're having a good time. But, Joey, you and Sandy are only fourteen . . . that's so young."
"Mom, we weren't doing anything, honest."
"Weren't you?"
He met her eyes defiantly. "Just kissing, that's all."
"Standing up or lying down?" i He rolled his eyes and head in disgust.
"Jeer, Mom, come on." k "From ten-thirty till twelve-thirty?"
He looked at a far corner of the room and refused to speak.
"Listen," she said, relaxing into a more confidential pose, "there isn't a parent in the world who doesn't face this conversation with every one of her kids, and there isn't a parent in the world who hasn't had to face it with her own parents. I'm not oblivious, you know.
I've seen the signs. My goodness, you've grown up practically overnight, and I understand , that with that growth comes curiosity, first love, experimenting . . . am I right?"
, Joey lurched to his feet and said, "Mom, can I go to bed now?"
"No, you can't," she replied calmly. "If you're old enough to lay down with a girl and get hickeys, you're old enough to make it through this conversation."
Joey sat back down, elbows to knees, linked his fingers loosely and fit his thumbnails together.
She steeled herself and took the plunge, saying the big word.
"You've known about intercourse for a long time already, I know because I told you about it myself. Now you're finding out what leads up to it. But, Joey, it's dangerous. Thinking you can indulge in a little foreplay and only go so far can backfire on you, and the next thing you know you're a father."
He met her eyes directly, at last. "Mom, we didn't do that, why won't you believe me?"
"I do believe you, but listen to me anyway. What I'm saying is that now, at your age, the best thing to do is to stay with the group. Be with Sandy--I'm not saying you don't have the right to have a girlfriend-- but keep yourselves out of situations where you're alone.
I could give you a sermon on condoms, but you get those at school and on TV and in newspapers and just about everywhere you look these days.
Right now, I think you need to be a fourteen-year-old boy, maybe kissing girls on doorsteps, okay?"
He nodded halflheartedly. She reached out and tipped up his chin.
"And from now on, if you're going to be late, you call me."
"I will."
"And you'll give some thought to the other?"
He nodded.
"Okay, then, I think it's time we both got some sleep."
She pushed off the couch while he remained in his chair, still dejected.
"Come on," she said, refashioning his hair with her fingers. "It's not the end of the world."
He jerked his head away from her touch, sullenly avoiding her gaze.
"All right," she said, "I'm off to bed. Goodnight."
In her room she turned off her bedside lamp and got under the covers but lay looking at the thin thread of light beside her nearly closed bedroom door. The living room lamp snapped off. The bathroom door closed, the toilet flushed, water ran, and in his bedroom she heard Joey's shoes thump to the floor as he took them off.