Stone Kiss (52 page)

“I’m happy for you.”

“So stop sulking like a paddled schoolboy. You think Donatti used you? You used Donatti. The psycho was finally good for something
other than popping wiseguys and pimping girls.”

But Decker wasn’t buying the rationalization. His expression spoke of his skepticism.

“You’re still thinking like a Homicide dick,” Randy told him. “You want Donatti, you gotta think like Vice. You need informants.
You need the bad guys to get other bad guys.”

“Donatti’s a real bad guy. The bastard shot me.” Decker’s jaw became a ball of tension. “Worse than that, he humiliated me.”

“Fucking easy for him to make you dance with a gun to your head. Peter, he didn’t humiliate you; he played a crooked game.
That’s being a coward. I’d like to pit the two of you together without the Beretta in his hand.”

The image made Decker smile. “I should have turned him in.”

“Pete, he ain’t worth ruining your life for.” Randy gulped down his lemonade. “Yeah, it would have been great if you could
have taken him under, but the timing wasn’t right. The main thing is you’re breathing, and that gives you plenty of time to
set him up. You want to get Donatti, you need to sting him. You need informants and anonymous tips and wires and videos and
surveillance and someone who’ll rat him out. That kind of setup takes time… maybe years.”

Decker nodded, still consumed with thoughts of revenge. Bastard probably figured the slate was clean for what happened eight
years ago. Not so, baby. Now, there was a bigger score to settle. And Randy was right. Maybe it would take years. That was
okay. Decker was mature: He was a very patient man.

“Donatti will get his,” Randy repeated. “In the meantime, look around. It’s a beautiful day. Not so bad, huh?”

“No, not so bad.” Decker finished his lemonade.

Randy laughed out loud. “Just like when we were kids, Peter. I’d screw up and try to convince you why it wasn’t all that terrible.”

“You didn’t screw up this time.”

“Neither did you.”

Decker didn’t answer.

Randy switched gears. “You’re just about healed up and you still got four weeks’ disability left. What are you going to do
with it?”

“Right now, I’m mellowing out. In a few days, Rina and I thought we’d take Hannah to Epcot—”

“Oh God no!”

“What’s wrong with Epcot?”

“Why don’t you leave Hannah to me and Sheryl? We’ll take her to Epcot and Disney World. She enjoys spending time with her
cousins. You go with Rina to the Caribbean.”

“No thanks. Maybe another time.”

“If not now, when? Isn’t that a Jewish proverb?”

“It means the study of Torah.”

“Well, you can’t study your holy Torah unless your mind is in a spiritual place. In the meantime, the Caribbean is nice.”

“I don’t want to go to the Caribbean. I hate beach vacations. I don’t tan; I just burn. And I can’t think of anything worse
than sitting in the hot sun, sweating my ass off.”

Randy exhaled in disgust.

“Rina was also talking about going to Europe for a week to ten days. Mom said she and Dad would look after Hannah. Aunt Millie
would also help out. Rates are a joke right now. No one’s traveling.”

“I wonder why,” Randy quipped.

“Gotta live your life,” Decker answered.

“Exactly, Peter. Listen to your own advice,” Randy told him. “Hey. How about if Sheryl and me and the kids come down on the
weekend and give Mom and Dad an extra pair of hands?”

“Randy, you’ve been a peach.”

He smiled. “I was a pain-in-the-ass little brother, but you treated me okay. Now I’m rewarding you. Where you two going? Paris?”

“Paris and possibly Munich of all places. Rina has a close childhood friend who moved with her husband to Germany to start
a yeshiva there.”

“Go figure.” Randy slapped him on the back. “Do it, Peter. Have a good time with your wife, and thank whatever God you believe
in that you’ve got another day with a heartbeat.”

It came in the afternoon, the day before she and Peter were to leave for Paris, a plain white envelope with a stuck-on, pretyped
label made out to
MRS
.
RINA DECKER C
/
O LYLE AND IDA DECKER
, followed by her in-laws’ address.

She turned it over. The return address was the same as the front
label. Another flip back. The postmark told her it was mailed from New York City. Immediately, she grew suspicious, but who
on earth would be sending
her
biological warfare in the mail. Still, she took care when she opened the envelope.

No powder of any kind.

No letter, either.

Only a small single-column newspaper article that had been neatly trimmed—razor cut rather than scissors. There wasn’t any
mention of the paper’s name. Nor was there a date. Rina read the headline.

MAN SLAIN, FOUND ON STEPS OF CHURCH

On a routine patrol, Officer Willard Greaves discovered a grisly corpse sprawled across the front steps of Medford Methodist
Church. The victim, sustaining a single shot to the head, was identified as Steven Gilbert, a computer teacher at the local
community college.…

The article fell from Rina’s hands and fluttered down to the floor. She could feel her heart pumping blood clear up to her
brain. Her voice escaped her for a moment; then she called out his name.

“Peter?”

No answer.

She picked up the article and tried to control her shaking hands. She cleared her throat and tried again, a little louder.
“Peter?”

Nothing.

She went into the kitchen, the center of her in-laws’ house. Mama Ida had just baked a cinnamon apple cake, the warm air still
saturated with sugar and spice. “Peter?”

“Out back.”

She took in a deep breath, exhaled, then went into the backyard. Peter was grilling their dinner, bass fillets caught from
this morning’s fishing expedition. Hannah had awakened at four along with Daddy, Uncle Randy, and Papa Lyle. Her daughter
was becoming an old-fashioned country girl—delighted with new adventure and the open space. It was going to be difficult to
integrate her back into the confined classrooms of her religious Jewish day school. The only
thing that Rina had going for her was that Hannah sorely missed her two best friends, Ariella and Esther Ruthie Chaya.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hey.” Decker kept his concentration on the grill. “What’s up, beautiful?”

Peter was wearing an apron. He looked so relaxed and homespun.

“This came in today’s mail.”

Peter looked up. “What’s wrong, Rina?”

“Wrong?”

“You’re white.” His face was filled with concern. “What happened?”

“Nothing, really. Well… nothing bad.” She secured the spatula from his hand, and offered him the article. “Trade?”

Warily, Decker took the clipping. Within seconds, he was aware of his heartbeat. “Oh my my…” Excitement soared through his
veins. He couldn’t help himself. A smile worked its way to his lips. “Son of a gun. Where’d this come from?”

“I told you. It came in today’s mail. It was addressed to me care of your parents. The return address was your parents’ house.”

“Did you look at the postmark?”

“Yes. It was mailed from New York.”

“New York?”

Rina nodded.

“Not Indiana?”

“No, not Indiana. New York.” She showed him the envelope.

He stared at the envelope, a bit deflated. “It could be a hoax.”

But Rina knew it was no hoax.

“Well, there’s one way to find out.” He looked up from the article. “You’ll watch the fish?”

“I’ll watch the fish.”

“Son of a gun. If it is true, we’re going to have to tell the boys.” Decker’s smile returned. “Do you want to do it or should
I?”

“I think you should do it. I’m…” Heat from the grill was baking her face. She suddenly felt faint. “I’m…”

Decker took her in his arms. “I know, honey, you must be in shock!” He couldn’t get the grin off his face. “Not an unpleasant
shock. Here, sit down.” He eased her into a patio chair.

“I’m okay.” She brought her hand to her chest. “You’re going to call Medford Police?”

“Yep.” Decker slapped the article against the palm of his hand. “I hope this is legit. Because I’m feeling really good right
now. Not that I’m one for blood lust… but it does have its moments.”

That day in the park… hadn’t he used almost the exact words? That vengeance had its soothing effect? Rina was quiet, trying
to breathe slowly.

“I’ll be back.” Decker laughed. “Incredible. You couldn’t make this stuff up. There must be a God in heaven.”

He left her alone and went to make his calls. Still breathing hard, she slowly got up to tend to the fish. No sense ruining
dinner over what was done. Examining her feeling, she found that she wasn’t sorry about it… but she wasn’t ecstatic, either.
More than anything, she just
was
.

Maybe the news hadn’t fully registered.

Her boys… they would be relieved. No matter how
over
they thought it had been, now it was
really
over. He was finally gone. Maybe Jacob could finally put the past behind him.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

There must be a God in heaven
.

A true statement, but this wasn’t God.

God’s name was ineffable.

This
wasn’t
God.

Because Rina knew his name.