Thank God for Rina.

He suddenly missed her terribly, missed her and Hannah Rosie and his routine back in L.A. He wanted to go home. Instead, he was out here, freezing his balls off, trying to help a family that despised his intrusion. But it was too late for him to backtrack. He thought of the Liebers, of the hell they were going through. He wondered if Jonathan could be objective enough to give them pastoral comfort.…

Jonathan…

He’d been out of contact with him for the past hour. Maybe it would be a good idea to touch base. He turned on his phone but couldn’t bring up a dial tone. He walked back inside, shaking the cold from his bones.

Jen looked up, then at her watch. “Shouldn’t be too long now, Lieutenant.”

“Could I borrow your phone?”

She pushed it toward him, her chest stretching over the desk, giving him a full view of cleavage. Maybe Donatti had instructed her to give it one more try.

Decker averted his eyes. “Thanks.” He dialed up Jonathan’s cell phone. It connected but was full of static. “Jon! Can you hear me?”

“Where the hell are you?”

Through the electronic noise, Decker could tell his brother was yelling. “Is something wrong?”

“Is something wrong? Everything is wrong! I’ve been trying to get hold of you for the past half hour! I’m driving through the woods here, getting lost—”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“Akiva!” he said sharply. “Where… are you?”

He turned to Jen. “Could you give my brother directions to the place?”

“It’s off the highway between Quinton and Bainberry.”

“I know that. What street does he take?”

“I don’t think it has a name.”

“Well, can he look for a landmark?”

She shrugged her shoulders helplessly.

Decker was miffed. “How do you know how to get here?”

“I just know it.”

His irritation turned to frustration. “Jon, where are you?”

“I’m about a mile before the Bainberry Mall.”

“You’re too far.”

“Far from what!”

“From the access road.”

“What access road? I didn’t find any access road.” The tension cut through the line. “We have an emergency situation, Akiva. I need to find you now!”

Decker felt his pulse rising. “What emergency?”

“Chaim’s missing—” Crackle bit through the line. “I’m losing you!” Jonathan screamed. “It’s raining, the visibility is poor, and it’s getting dark. Give me something to go on!”

“Hold on.” He put his palm over the receiver. “Jen, can someone drive me down to the highway?”

“Not now. Everyone’s busy.”

“How about Angela? You said she’d be done in a few minutes.”

“She doesn’t have a car. She gets picked up.”

“What about you?”

“I don’t have a car. I usually get picked up also.”

She wasn’t being helpful. Decker wondered if that wasn’t the idea. “Jon, I’m going to walk down to the highway. I’m closer to Quinton than to Bainberry, but I don’t know how much closer—”

“You can’t walk down!” Jen interrupted.

Decker ignored her. “It’ll probably take me a good twenty minutes or so—”