“Nothing, that was the problem. Uncle Arik is very anti-Orthodox. Dov wanted to try to keep kosher, but my uncle wouldn’t do it. See, Uncle Arik wasn’t simply…disapproving. He was mean about it.”

“He made fun of Dov?”

“Exactly. Like his feelings weren’t important.” Sharona shrugged. “To Uncle, they weren’t. He wanted his sons to be clones of himself.”

Good luck, Decker thought. “What about Gil?”

“Gil is happy-go-lucky. He can fake things better.” The girl bit her nail. At that moment, she reminded Decker of her mother. Sharona looked up. “I don’t think Gil likes the business any more than Dov does.”

“Does Gil get along with your uncle?” Decker asked.

Sharona shrugged. “My uncle gets on Gil’s nerves, too.”

“Your uncle seems to get on a lot of people’s nerves,” Decker remarked.

“You mean his partner, Mr. Gold?”

Decker didn’t say anything, surprised that the kid knew about the conflict.

Sharona said, “Dov and I talk a lot. He said his father and Mr. Gold were always yelling at each other. And you know what?”

“What?”

“Dov said that Mr. Gold was right most of the time. Once Dov agreed with Mr. Gold right in front of his father. His father had a cow. The last couple of months, Dov and his father were fighting all the time.”

“Gil, too?”

“Gil has a car,” Sharona said. “Gil avoids fights by escaping—literally.”

“But Gil has to work in the business, right?”

“Like I said, Gil can fake it better. Dov has a harder time lying. I told you he’s very spiritual.” Sharona took a deep breath. “So when Dov called me…I thought he was running away to find himself. I thought he had finally had enough of his father and couldn’t take it anymore. I didn’t dare tell Eema. But I guess I should have.” The teen’s eyes watered. “If something happened to them—”

“Don’t torture yourself,” Decker said. “They could be safe and sound somewhere. You thought you were keeping your cousin’s secret. You couldn’t have known that it might be something bigger.”

Tears flowed down the girl’s cheeks. “You think it might be something bigger?”

“Yes, I do,” Decker said.

“Like…what?”

“I’m not sure yet. I need to ask you a few more questions. Tell me exactly what Dov said when he called.”

Sharona closed her eyes. “Something like…‘Shar, I’m going away for a while.’ I asked him where he was going. He didn’t answer. He just said he needed to get away. Then he made me swear I wouldn’t tell anyone he called, especially Eema or Abba. Then I asked him if he was in trouble and he hung up.”

“Where did he call you?”

“On my phone.”

“Do you have a private line?”

The girl nodded.