“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?”