Day of Atonement. Faye Kellerman

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ I get you anything else?”

      “No, this is just fine,” Decker said.

      Absently, Ezra said, “Mincha’s in twenty minutes.”

      No one said anything.

      “Tephila!” Ezra said. “I need to pray.” His eyes flooded with tears. “Tephila! Tzedakah! Tshuvah!” He buried his head in his hands and held back tears. “It’s my fault … I don’t learn with him anymore … I’m not patient enough—”

      “Ezra, stop it,” Shimon said. “You’re a fine father.”

      With moist eyes, Ezra looked at Decker. “I’m sorry.”

      “Don’t apologize,” Decker said. “It’s tough. But there’s still a lot we can do. Ezra, did you specifically ask your children if they knew where he might be?”

      “Yes. Yes, I did.”

      “And they don’t know?” Decker said.

      Ezra shook his head.

      “Has Noam ever run away before?”

      “Not like this,” Ezra said.

      “But he’s run away?” Decker asked.

      “No!” Ezra said. “He wanders off sometimes but he always comes back. And he wouldn’t wander off on Rosh Hashanah. There’s no place for him to go.”

      No place in Boro Park, Decker thought. He turned to Jonathan and said, “Whose Ford Matador is parked out front?”

      “It’s mine,” Jonathan said.

      “Give me the keys,” Decker said. “A car can cover ground we can’t do on foot. I’ll start as soon as I finish with the kids.”

      No one said the obvious. Decker’s willingness to drive on Rosh Hashanah—violating the holiday—indicated a serious situation. Decker broke the moment of silence and asked Ezra for a picture of his son. Ezra said he didn’t carry one with him, but his mother must have a couple of recent pictures somewhere. He’d dig some up.

      After Ezra left, Decker said, “The best thing to do in situations like these is a door-to-door search. You people know most of your neighbors, which is a big plus. Ask if anyone’s seen Noam today, and if so, when was the last time they saw him. Ask the teenage boys—see if any of them look nervous and scared—”

      Decker stopped himself, regarded his two half brothers. Scared witless, shaken to the core. They stared at him as if he were speaking gibberish.

      Shimon said, “Maybe we should phone the police?”

      Decker made a conscious effort to slow himself down. He explained that if NYPD was anything like LAPD, they wouldn’t do anything for children over ten or eleven. It would be at least a twenty-four-hour wait before a missing-persons report would be filed.

      “But he’s only a boy,” Shimon protested.

      “He’s fourteen, considered a runaway rather than a kidnap victim—”

      “Chas vachalelah,” Shimon blurted out. “My God, I can’t believe this is happening.”

      How many times had Decker heard those words. The sense of unreality. But it was real and they needed a game plan. Decker told himself to speak simply. “Look. Maybe he’ll show in an hour, or maybe he’ll show up tonight—”

      “But maybe not,” Jonathan said.

      “Don’t say that!” Shimon scolded him.

      “Jonathan’s right,” Decker said. “It’s possible that Noam won’t show up tonight.” Or ever. But he knew his negative thinking was an occupational hazard—an igniter to drive him to action. “Time is important, people. I know you two aren’t used to this like I am. But you can do a whole lot more with your neighbors than I can.”

      “We go door to door,” Jonathan said. “We ask if anyone has seen Noam. That’s all?”

      Decker said, “Use your eyes. If anyone suddenly turns red, buries his face, stutters, shakes, looks like he’s hiding something—remember it and report back to me. There were a couple of kids that looked hinky to me when Ezra and I were out the first time. I’ll go back and question them. But first I want to comb the area by car.”

      “Want me to come with you?” Jonathan asked. “I’ll drive so you can look.”

      “You must think it’s very serious to break yom tov,” Shimon said to Decker.

      Decker didn’t answer. Instead, he told Jonathan that he could look around by himself. He instructed the two brothers to go together. One should do the talking, the other should study the faces.

      “And look at the adults, too,” Decker said. “Hate to say this but you can’t rule out molestation—”

      “Not here,” Shimon said.

      “It’s everywhere,” Decker said.

      “No, you don’t know Boro Park,” Shimon insisted.

      Decker put his big hand on Shimon’s shoulder. “Okay. Have it your way. And I hope you’re right. Just do me the favor and take a look at the adults.”

      “I’ll keep my eyes open,” Jonathan said.

      “Do it that way,” Decker said. “Shimon, you do the talking—you’re more a part of the community. Jonathan, you observe.” He paused to catch his breath. “Also, I’m very concerned about your mother, brother, and sister-in-law. Shimon, have your wife and sisters stay with Breina. Best thing to do with Ezra might be to send him to shul—keep his mind off of what’s going on and make him feel like he’s doing something—”

      “Tephila is doing something,” Shimon interrupted. “Praying to Hashem is the single most important thing he could do right now!”

      No one spoke for a moment.

      “You know what he means—Shimmy,” Jonathan said.

      Shimon let out a deep breath. He said, “Yes, I know, I know … I’m sorry. Go on.”

      Decker threw his arm around his shoulder. “That’s it. Hey, things like this do happen all the time. Kids stay away for a day, drive their parents completely nuts. Then they come sneaking in at two in the morning and wonder why everyone’s so upset. Your brother and sister-in-law are the ones who’ll need support until this thing is resolved.”

      “These kind of things get resolved?” Jonathan asked.

      “All the time,” Decker said.

      “Eem yirtzah Hashem,” Shimon said.

      “God willing,” Jonathan repeated.

      Eyes swollen and red, Ezra came back clutching a photo, then handed it reluctantly to Decker, as if parting with it was tantamount to the loss of his son. As he did with all СКАЧАТЬ