Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus, page 3
Rina’s telephoning the police became an immediate source of controversy and tension at the Yeshiva. Almost everyone agreed that she should have waited to hear from Rabbi Schulman before she contacted the outside world. Rina never for a moment assumed that the Yeshiva would want to handle it in-house only and without the police being involved. A terrible crime had been committed and there was a rapist on the loose. Of course, the police had to be brought in. And once the call was made, there was nothing anyone could do to put things in reverse. The crime became a police matter and that was that.
Decker and his partner, Marge Dunn, arrived on the scene and began to divide up labor. Decker would interview the witnesses while Marge would talk to the victim. Both of them knew that the Yeshiva was an isolated and provincial enclave, but neither was prepared for the closing of ranks that followed. It seemed that only the mikvah lady, Rina Lazarus, was willing to talk to the cops. Decker flattered himself that he was the reason that she took him into her confidence and helped him navigate the Yeshiva world.
In truth, there was an initial physical attraction between the two of them, but Rina knew that having a relationship with someone not religious and probably not even Jewish was out of the question. But there was no denying kismet: the two were destined for one another. They talked and people whispered. The two of them danced around the issue of religion for a couple of years—and a couple of books—until finally they made a commitment to one another. Peter promised that he would try to live as a practicing Jew and Rina promised that she would accept Peter as he was—an obsessive police detective who worked long and odd hours.
The two of them married between the novels Milk and Honey and Day of Atonement–off-camera, so to speak. They decided on a quiet wedding because it was the second time around for both of them and there were children involved. Once married, Rina and her boys moved into Decker’s ranch and started a new life together. The boys got along well with their stepfather although he was very different from Yitzchak Lazarus. Rina got along with her stepdaughter, Cindy, by frequently playing the second girl in Decker’s life. It was a blended family, not without its issues, but it functioned pretty well.
Having been a widow for two years, Rina was used to having time alone and was self-sustaining. She didn’t relish long nights by herself, but she could cope. She kept busy by raising her two sons. When she found she was pregnant, she was ecstatic.
Peter, on the other hand, had a much tougher time. His integration into Orthodoxy was a long and tough journey. Rabbi Schulman was kind enough to help him with classes and tutoring, but still there were many times where Peter felt as if he were backsliding at least psychologically. Many times he was unhappy being in a community with so many rituals and rules. And the fact that his parents disapproved the union and Peter’s adoption of a new religion only made things worse. Even if he was inclined to back out, Decker wouldn’t have made the move. He was loyal, a man of his word and he genuinely loved Rina and her boys. As soon as their daughter, Hannah Rose, was born with Rina almost dying in the process, he knew he was in for the long run. He had made a promise and he’d fulfill it to the best of his capabilities.
The breakthrough in their relationship came when Peter sold the ranch and he and Rina bought a home together. It signified a new start that didn’t carry any baggage of previous relationships. The house they purchased was set up for a family. The boys would continue to large bedroom and little Hannah could have her own space. In their new place, they could start fresh and built their own life together.
Both felt comfortable with a traditional marriage arrangement. For the first twelve years of their marriage, Peter worked full-time and Rina took care of the children. She loved being home with her baby. She loved to cook, she loved to garden, she loved to sew and she loved to potchke—or tinker—around the house.
When Hannah grew to school age, Rina decided to do something other than homemaking. She began to take community college courses in teaching and education. Eventually, she was solicited to teach Hebrew at the local Jewish day school. Because the institution was Orthodox, she never had to worry about making it home on time for Shabbos or being absent from work because of the numerous Jewish holidays. Her summers were her own and although she didn’t make much money, she loved what she did and she loved the kids. Rina continues to teach although several parents have suggested that maybe she would consider being the school principal. She hasn’t decided yet. Although she has been with the school almost since its inception, she knows that the added responsibility may be beyond what she’s willing to take on. So far, she’s resisted but who knows what will happen in the future?
During the years of his marriage to Rina, Decker has been assigned to some of his most difficult cases. He has worked steadily and hard, taken necessary exams, and has gotten several promotions. Currently, he’s a Detective Lieutenant and although his job includes a lot more paperwork and politics, he is still out in the field if the case is unusual and needs his attention. He still enjoys the feelings of getting his hands dirty and his heart racing, but he doesn’t mind the desk work as much as he might have sixteen years ago.
For the living, the march of time is inexorable. Fictional characters have a lot more leeway. Some of them never age, fixating in the year of their appearance. Some age but not in real time. Peter and Rina have certainly aged and their children are first hand accounts of how old they are.
Decker started the series in his thirties; he is now in his fifties. His once bright red hair is streaked with silver and his joints ache every once in a while. But he’s kept off the extra pounds and is still strong and vibrant. He continues to wear a thick mustache even though it’s no longer in style.
Rina, being much younger than her husband, is still in her early forties. She’s young and dynamic and is full of energy especially because her children are older and require less attention although she keeps in daily contact with all her children, including Cindy.
For Decker, having worked twenty plus years with the LAPD, retirement is an option, although it isn’t imminent. Once Hannah leaves home for college, both Rina and Decker would like to do a little traveling. They have never been together for extended periods of time without a child in tow and they look forward to taking a long overdue honeymoon.
They can afford to do so. First of all, they have savings. Secondly, if Decker lasts a few more years—and all indications say this will happen—he will retire with a pension equal to his salary. Thirdly, Rina inherited some valuable paintings from an acquaintance. It wasn’t until later that they realized that a few of the artists were well-known and that a couple of the paintings were valuable. They’ve already sold a few at Christie’s Auction House and the money helped defray the tremendous burden of private education for Rina’s stepsons and their daughter. Decker had help when sending his daughter Cindy to college. Jack Cohen picked up the lion’s share of the tuition, God Bless him.
Cindy is now a GTA detective in Hollywood and aspires to Homicide detail. She is married to Yaakov “ Koby” Kutiel who works as a neonatal nurse at Children’s Hospital. Recently Decker helped the two of them expand their tiny house and hopes the remodel was done in order to eventually welcome a new addition to the family—sometime in the future. At last, all that shop class instruction paid off.
Sammy Lazarus is now in Einstein Medical School in New York. He is engaged to his long time girlfriend, Rachel, who is also in Einstein but a year behind her fiancé. They both want to finish school before they marry. Jacob Lazarus is studying molecular biology at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. He also has a steady girlfriend named Ilana. Hannah Decker is sixteen. Driver’s license in hand, she prides herself on being completely independent except when she needs money. She adores her parents even though she sometimes considers them a little whacky. But unlike a lot of her friends, she still talks to them, confiding intimate details of her life that sometimes Decker feels he’d be better off not knowing. She has many male admirers although at the moment, she is without boyfriend. This pleases her father immensely.
Where the future will take them is anyone’s guess including my own. I don’t schedule their lives, I don’t formulate their adventures. Peter and Rina live like any other married couple with children, one day at a time. From time to time, I’m grateful that they decide to include me in their plans.
About the Author
Faye Kellerman, born in St. Louis, Missouri, and raised in Sherman Oaks, California, is a bestselling author of dozens of mystery novels. She earned her bachelor’s in mathematics and a doctorate in dental surgery at the UCLA. Her first novel The Ritual Bath was published in 1986 and won the Macavity Award for Best First Novel. Her novel Prayers for the Dead was listed by the Los Angeles Times as one of the best crime novels of 2001. Kellerman also co-authored the New York Times–bestseller Double Homicide with her husband, Jonathan Kellerman, and the young adult novel Prism with her daughter, Aliza Kellerman.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
Copyright © 2008, 2009 by Faye Kellerman. Originally published by The Mysterious Bookshop.
Cover design by Mauricio Díaz
ISBN: 978-1-5040-7445-2
This edition published in 2022 by MysteriousPress.com/Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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Faye Kellerman, Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus
