The sound grows louder. Several hundred tourists look at each other, uneasy. A woman screams.

Nakamura feels his body trembling. He looks down into the pit. Rings are spreading out across the once-tranquil surface.

Son of a bitch, it’s an earthquake!

Grinning with excitement, Nakamura aims his camcorder down the mouth of the cenote. After surviving the big quake of 2005, it will take a lot more than a few tremors to upset this San Francisco native’s psyche.

The crowd moves back as the tremor increases. Many rush back down the sacbe toward the park exit. Others scream as the ground beneath their feet bounces like a trampoline.

Nakamura stops smiling. What the hell?

The water within the pit is swirling like an eddy.

And then, as abruptly as they had started, the tremors cease.

Hollywood Beach, Florida.

The synagogue is filled beyond capacity on this Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

Dominique is seated between her adopted parents, Edie and Iz Axler. Rabbi Steinberg is standing at his pulpit, listening to the angelic voice of his cantor as she sings a haunting prayer to his congregation.

Dominique is hungry, having fasted nearly twenty-four hours since the Day of Atonement began. She is also premenstrual. Perhaps that is why she seems so emotional, unable to focus. Perhaps that is why her thoughts keep drifting back to Michael Gabriel.

The rabbi begins reading again:

“On Rosh Hashanah, we reflect. On Yom Kippur we consider. Who shall live for the sake of others? Who, dying, shall leave a heritage of life? Who shall burn with the fires of greed? Who shall drown in the waters of despair? Whose hunger shall be for the good? Who shall thirst for justice and right? Who shall be plagued by fear of the world? Who shall strangle for lack of friends? Who shall rest at the end of the day? Who lie sleepless on a bed of pain?”

Her emotions stir as she imagines Mick lying in his cell. Stop it …

“Whose tongue shall be a thrusting sword? Whose words shall make for peace? Who shall go forth in the quest for truth? Who shall be locked in a prison of self?”

In her mind’s eye, she can see Mick pacing the yard as the equinox sun begins to set behind the concrete wall.

“…the angels, gripped by fear and trembling, declare in awe: This is the Day of Judgment! For even the hosts of heaven are judged, as all who dwell on earth stand arrayed before You.”

The emotional dam bursts, the hot tears streaking eyeliner down her face. Confused, she squeezes past Iz and hurries up the aisle and out of the temple.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

SEPTEMBER 25, 2012
WASHINGTON, DC.