Critical Pursuit by Janice Cantore Read Free Book Online Page B

scratched Hero’s head. Baxter had worked with Milo for his final years on the job. Brinna knew it must have been like losing a kid.
    The untidy living room did not escape her notice, and she wondered if Baxter’s death had sent Milo into a tailspin. She spotted a pile of books on the table in front of Milo, some open as if he’d been studying.
    “Looks like you’re doing some homework.” She nodded toward the books.
    “Passing the time. You want a beer?” He stood.
    “You got a Diet Coke?”
    Milo nodded and walked into the kitchen. He came back with another beer for him and a Diet Coke for Brinna.
    “What brings you out this way?” he asked as he opened his bottle.
    Brinna leaned forward in her chair and told him about the kid in Utah. “It was such a great feeling, rescuing that kid out of the desert,” she concluded. “Man, it brought back memories. I’m glad you were such a great teacher.”
    Milo grunted and gulped some beer. “I taught you to trust your instincts.”
    “Yep.” Brinna relaxed in her chair and sipped her Coke.
    “What if instincts fail you?” Milo asked.
    “What?” Brinna frowned. “Has that ever happened to you?”
    Milo set his beer down and picked up a book from the table. To Brinna, it seemed suspiciously like a Bible, but she said nothing and waited for Milo to speak.
    “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately.”
    “That what the burning smell is?” Brinna gibed, grinning.
    Milo ignored her. “Your mom always said it was prideful that I trusted my instincts, that a person should trust God. She sincerely believes there is a God up there   —” he pointed to the ceiling   —“controlling everything.”
    Brinna squirmed in her seat, suddenly uncomfortable. “My mom means well, but I thought we agreed that was all nonsense?”
    “As I get older, Brin, I wonder if it really is nonsense. I’m closer to the end than the beginning, and I wonder what waits for me when I die.” Milo turned his gaze to the front window, a faraway look in his eyes.
    “Come on, you’re going to live forever. Why so morose all of a sudden? Is it Baxter?”
    He shook his head. “I miss him, but I couldn’t watch himsuffer. It’s just that . . . Well, what if there is a God and I’ve ignored him all this time?”
    He turned back toward Brinna, but she couldn’t read his eyes.
    “You know, when I met your mom twenty years ago, she told me that she prayed I’d find you and I did. She was so certain that God led me to you. Even though I didn’t believe, she said God used me to answer her prayer.”
    Brinna waved a hand, searching for the words to get Milo off this subject. Her mother always told people that Brinna’s rescue was divine. God had his hand in it, Rose Caruso insisted. Brinna loved her mother, but this was one subject they couldn’t talk about without arguing.
    “If her prayer was so effective that day, why doesn’t prayer work for all the other kids who go missing?”
    “I asked her that.” Milo crushed out his cigarette. “She talked about God giving man free will. Because of that, there is evil in the world. If God pulled everyone’s strings all the time, we’d be puppets.”
    “I’ve heard that and don’t buy it. If we were put here by an all-powerful God, couldn’t he stop the suffering, the murder?” Brinna bit her bottom lip, unable to process her mentor’s demeanor and mind-set.
    “He will when he returns. That’s what your mom says. She also says that heaven is a perfect place, a place without murder and pain.”
    “You believe that?”
    “I want to.” Milo covered his mouth as another cough shook through him. “For thirty years I’ve witnessed the worstpeople can do to one another. I’ve always tried to solve things with these.” He pointed to his head, his chest, and held up his hands. “Right now, you better believe I hope there is someone stronger and something better somewhere else.”
    He sat back and took a deep drag on his