Faye Kellerman - Sanctuary

The boy looked down and said nothing.

“Honestly, we’re not as stupid as you think,” Rina said. “Do you know where your brother is? My husband’s really worried about him.”

“He’s safe. But he’s homesick, too. Not that either of us have much of a home anymore.”

Tears began to roll down Gil’s cheeks. He quickly wiped them away. “You don’t know as much as you think.”

“So fill me in.”

The room fell silent. Gil whispered and spoke to the ceiling. “Bastard was sleeping with her. She had him totally bagged, the stupid fuck!” He lowered his head. “Excuse my language.”

“S’right.”

Gil rubbed his eyes, slumped in his bed. “Dov and I used to do bullshit work at the office. Dad made us do it. ‘Turn you two boys into men.’ What a total crock! Anyway…you hang around a place long enough, you hear things. Whether you want to hear them or not.”

Rina said, “Your father was going to sell Milligan his assets?”

“He was going to give them to her! Anything to keep her on her back!” He covered his face, then let his hand drop slowly. “He stretched it out too long. She lost patience, the bitch.”

Rina thought a moment. Was the exchange of all those hostile letters just a front? “He was going to give Milligan his stocks and land deeds?”

“Yeah, can you believe that bastard?” Gil said. “Only problem was, half of the shit wasn’t his to give away. My uncle made him transfer it to my mom a while back.”

“Your uncle?”

“Uncle Shaul,” Gil said. “My dad’s partner. We called him Uncle. Shaul was going to sue my dad, because my dad bought some of his assets with business money. Shaul caught him monkeying with the books. Dad realized he was up shit’s creek, could have done time. So he transferred a little over half the assets into my mom’s name.”

“Why didn’t Shaul keep the assets for himself?”

“I don’t know. Why don’t you ask him?”

“We know he’s here in Israel. Do you know where he is specifically?”

“No. Wish I did. Shaul’s a good guy. Rough but straight. He was around a lot, especially when my dad was out of town. Which was all the time. Used to take us out to dinner. My mom liked him. He liked my mom. Who didn’t like my mom? She was a wonderful…”

Again, the boy’s eyes welled up with tears. He made a quick swipe at his face.

“Do you know what happened when Milligan found out your dad didn’t own all the assets?”

“Not totally. But once at work I accidentally picked up the extension. She was yelling at my dad that he was a traitor. My dad was pleading, just begging her for another chance he was so hot for her. God, it was pathetic. But she wouldn’t have it or him. She totally blew him off.”

Gil bit his nail.

“Dov and I thought it was finally over.”

“When was this?”

“A year ago, maybe longer. But it wasn’t over. Maybe a month or two after I overheard her blow him off, Dov overheard my dad talking to Milligan…again. Dov said that Dad sounded real up about something…money opportunities in the Mideast if the Palestinians ever got their own state. Dov said Dad did most of the talking. Milligan just listened.”

Gil looked at Rina.

“Dad went yo-yo after that. For a year, he was lunatic. One minute he was on top of the world, saying he was going to make it big enough to buy out all of Israel. The next minute he’d be paranoid, sure someone was out to get him.”

“Did you believe him?”

“That someone was out to get him?” Gil shook his head. “Not really. But my mom was real worried.”

“She felt he was in danger?”

“Mostly she felt he was coking again. Dad used to do a lot of coke. The way he was acting, it sure looked like he was having a relapse. She felt that under the influence, he might be doing some stupid things. And you can’t do stupid things in diamonds. Because the business is dangerous enough just being what it is-all cash and stones. Dealers have been gunned down in broad daylight. She was the one who told us to get out immediately if we saw the dogs turned around. I don’t think she ever trusted my dad.”

“She knew about the affair?”

Gil looked pained. “Probably. She never said anything.”

“When did you first notice the porcelain dogs had been turned around?”

“As soon as we came home from school,” Gil said. “They’re right in the open.” His breathing became audible. “We panicked. We knew it was bad. Mom had special money for us put aside-”

“In the mezuzah?”

“God, you do know everything!”

“How many Jewish families post a mezuzah on the inside of the door?”

“Yeah, you would notice that. If you were Jewish.” Gil paused. “Anyway, Mom told us not to take my car, that we might be followed. We just grabbed the money, grabbed our passports, and walked down to the shopping center. We took a bus to the airport-several buses. We already had about a half-dozen flight plans mapped out. Bought some tickets and…”

Again, Gil looked up at the ceiling.

“I have never been so fucking scared in my entire life! Not even when your husband pulled me out of the yeshiva. As much as I want to die and start over, you know…I know I can’t. Mom wouldn’t have wanted that.” He paused. “God, I loved her.”

The boy broke into unrestrained sobs. Rina reached out for him and he fell into her arms, hugged her tightly.

“I gotta take care of my brother,” he wept. “I’m almost a man, but I’m such a goddamn kid.”

“Gil,” Rina said softly. “That’s what family is for. You have grandparents who love you. You have an aunt in Los Angeles who loves you, too.”

The boy broke from Rina’s embrace and wiped his eyes. “Yeah, we can probably stay with her until we both graduate. Their house isn’t as big-”

“I’m sure that’s not a problem.”

Gil smiled through tears.

Rina said, “Gil, we need to talk to your brother.”

“I know. But I’ve gotta talk to him first. There are complications.”

“What kind of complications?”

“I can’t say. Besides, he might not agree to it. He’s in real bad shape. Super-scared of Milligan. Especially after we found out about my parents in the mountains. Milligan’s vicious. I know she set my parents up.”

“You know that for a fact?”

“No…I mean, my dad was always doing secret meetings with her-obviously. He didn’t want my mom to know…even though she did know. Dov and I could understand how my dad fell into the trap. We couldn’t understand why my mom would. Only thing we could figure out is…” He lowered his head. “She must have known we were due home from school soon. She must have left the house to get Milligan or her men away…to protect us. Why else would she have gone with my dad to the mountains?”

He looked at Rina.

“You know where Milligan is?”

“No. But she’s a wanted woman, Gil. Everyone’s looking for her. Israeli police, my husband and the American police. Even people who she thought were on her side.”

“What does that mean?”

“We think Milligan may have been behind some terrorist acts in Israel.”

“The bomb in my yeshiva?”

“And other things. But her plans went awry. We think the people she worked with may want to find her as well. Please, Gil. Tell me where your brother is.”

The teen covered his face, then dropped his hands, and blew out air. “I wish I knew who to trust.” The boy shook his head. “You’ll just have to wait.”

Rina bit her lip.

“You’re pissed at me,” Gil said.

“No, of course not.” Rina took the boy’s hand and squeezed it. “I’m just concerned about Dov. You know, even if you don’t tell me, your grandparents have a right-”