Faye Kellerman [Decker & Lazarus 01] The Ritual Bath (pdf)

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But it was eleven at night.
He d be up. She couldn t picture the man as an early-
to-bed-early-to-rise type.
She dialed and felt her heart beating in anticipation.
On the third ring, a throaty woman answered.
Quickly, she apologized for the wrong number and
tried again.
When the same woman answered, she placed the
receiver quietly back in its cradle.
She was positive she had dialed correctly.
15
Florence should have been back a half hour ago. It
was taking too long, and Rina began to worry. She
put down her stack of papers, got up from the chair,
and pressed her ear against the door. All she heard
were crickets and a mockingbird going through its
repertoire. Drawing the curtains back, she peeked out
the window. The moon was full, the night starlit, but
she saw no one.
She stared at the phone.
She had spoken to Peter a few days ago when he d
offered to take the boys to his ranch this Sunday. She d
thanked him and said she d think about it, but her tone
had been very cool. He d noticed the frost in her voice
and had asked if anything was wrong.
Nothing was wrong.
Except that woman.
Rina couldn t erase the thought of him and her,
whoever she was. That voice. That soft, husky, sexy
voice. It stuck in her craw like a fishbone. She knew
Peter was a regular man, not a priest, and she hadn t
given him an inch
180
THE RITUAL BATH / 181
with which to work. It was absurd for the woman to
bother her. But jealousy had seeped into her marrow
like a chilly London fog. She d shied away from calling
him in case she answered.
But now her fear for Florence s safety overrode her
petty resentment.
She dialed his number at home, and no one
answered. Please let him be at the station, she thought.
She tried his work extension and felt immediate relief
when he picked up the call.
Peter, I m worried.
What s wrong, Rina?
I think something s happened to Florence. She left
the mikvah to walk Shayna Silver home and should
have been back a good half hour ago. She may be out
patrolling, but I m too nervous to open the door to
find out.
Don t open the door, he said. I ll be right over.
Thank you.
She paced mindlessly, like a palace guard, back and
forth for ten minutes straight. This was solving nothing,
she thought. Better to do something. Better to take
your mind off being alone. She started straightening
out the supply cabinet. They were low on shampoo.
She took out a pen and wrote down shampoo on a
list tacked onto the cork bulletin board. Her handwrit-
ing was lopsided and spastic.
Get hold of yourself. Peter should be here any
minute.
The door rattled. Her eyes fixed on the handle as
she watched it twist and turn, fighting
182 / Faye Kellerman
against the dead bolt. Gripped with fear, her heart took
off on a sprint, her body was seized with the shakes.
The rattling grew violent and was followed by hard
thumping against the door.
Do something!
She staggered over to the phone, picked up the re-
ceiver, but dropped it.
The pounding shook the floor like a tremor.
She retrieved the phone and placed it to her ear. No
dial tone. Frantically, she clicked the switch to get a
connection, but the line was dead.
Sudden silence.
Her body was too heavy for her wobbly legs. Her
knees buckled, and she slid to the floor.
She lay on the cold tile, desperately sucking air into
her parched throat, hearing only her own shallow
breaths.
Then a crash! Something flying toward her! Sharp
slivers of light raining down on her! She shielded her
face, but her arms and legs were stung and began to
leak droplets of red. A gush of warm air. A human arm
through the window curtain, groping, dancing like a
hand puppet. Then it was gone. Receding footsteps.
Approaching footsteps. A loud banging at the door.
She screamed.
Rina! Decker boomed.
She tried to call out to him, but only a faint moan
escaped from her throat.
He began to bang furiously. She heard two
THE RITUAL BATH / 183
quick blasts, and the door caved in.
Decker rushed over and scooped her up in his arms.
He sat down on the chair and hugged her tightly.
Thank God, he whispered.
I m okay, she whispered between rapid breaths.
What about Florence?
Nothing.
She sat nestled in his arms for a moment, then
climbed off his lap.
Decker looked around. The window was shattered,
the floor sprayed with broken glass. He reloaded his
.38 special and picked up the phone.
The line s dead, Rina said.
Bastard must have cut it.
He unhitched the portable radio from his belt.
This is unit number 16-552 requesting immediate
back-up at Yeshivat Ohavei Torah, 344 Deep Canyon
Thoroughfare in Deep Canyon. Send units to the
northeast corner in front of the mikvah. Mikvah Mary-
Ida-King-Victor-Adam-Henry. See the woman. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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