The Yiddish Gangster's Daughter (A Becks Ruchinsky Mystery Book 1) by Joan Cochran (popular books of all time .txt) 📗

Esther’s visit, and her determination to beat breast cancer, inspired me to get back to work on my cookbook. I’ve spent a few hours every day for the past month testing my mother’s recipes. I’ve also developed a few of my own, putting a spin on traditional dishes and adapting Middle Eastern Jewish recipes for the American palate.

I’ve been waiting for my father to call, to tell me he’s contacted Landauer or Abe and that everything’s okay. But Tootsie’s kept his silence and I didn’t want to see him until he could assure me I’m safe. Finally, this morning, I get a call. He sounds hesitant, afraid I’ll hang up. He reminds me it’s the first night of Hanukkah and invites me over for latkes. Daniel, the boys, and I have celebrated Hanukkah with my father’s potato pancakes since the kids were born. When my father asks if the boys are coming, I tell him Josh is at school and Gabriel is studying for an exam.

The truth is, a month ago, when I told Josh about Landauer’s threat, he was shocked. He’s an easygoing kid and I was surprised by the vehemence of his anger at his grandfather. I don’t think he’d have visited his grandfather if he was in town.

Gabe was another story. I didn’t know if a phone call would be sufficient. It can be hard to get through to him. I hoped that, by visiting, he’d pick up on enough of my emotional cues to realize how upset I was over Landauer’s threat. We needed a face-to-face meeting.

I called him the Monday after the break-in to set up a date and he gave me every excuse for not getting together—a paper he had to write, an upcoming exam. I announced I’d be on campus the following Friday for lunch and hung up.

That Friday, when I finally found a parking spot near Gabe’s dorm and called him, he said he’d already eaten. I was irritated but agreed to meet him at a lake on campus where we could sit on the grass and talk. Gabe hadn’t been home in a month and I was curious to see if he’d changed. His hair was still close-cropped, but he’d grown a pale blond goatee that softened the square, hard lines of his face. I wasn’t thrilled with his pierced ears but kept that to myself. He always had a hard time fitting in and, if that’s what it took to make him comfortable, so be it.

Gabe listened passively as I told him about finding Landauer in my kitchen. When I was through, he shook his head. I was hoping for a bit of shock and dismay but the danger didn’t seem to register. I hoped he might offer to come home for a weekend or two—feel protective toward his mother. His reaction stunned me.

“Mom, don’t you think it’d be safer if Dad moved back?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t think the man would’ve broken in if Dad lived there.”

So much for my effort to raise liberated men.

I struggled to keep my voice from growing shrill as I explained that Landauer’s visit came in the middle of the day, when Daniel was working. And that his father’s presence would hardly impede a man with a gun. I’d planned to ease into Landauer’s implied threat to Gabriel and Josh, but lost my temper.

“Maybe you’d like to have Dad move in with you,” I said. “Landauer said he knew I had two sons and suggested you might be in danger too.”

“You’re making that up.”

“It’s why I came here today. To put you on alert. I don’t know what that monster is capable of.”

“There’s no way he’d come down here.”

I was about to straighten him out when a duck with a fleshy red wattle limped toward us. He stopped and glared at me like an ugly, petulant child.

“He wants food,” Gabriel said. “Ignore him.”

When the duck gave up and waddled toward a young couple picnicking closer to the lake, I rose from the grass.

“I know you mean well, but I can handle this myself,” I said. “Meanwhile, please be careful. Landauer’s old but he’s dangerous. He’s not the kind of person to make idle threats.”

Gabriel stood and brushed the grass off his rear. “Whatever you say.”

I didn’t know if he meant it or not. But at least he was aware of the danger. And I took some comfort in the fact he works out and can take care of himself.

Tonight is the first time I’ve come to Tootsie’s latke party without Daniel and the boys. I grow tearful on the drive over, contemplating the changes our family’s endured in the last year. First, Gabriel takes off for college, turning Daniel and me into empty nesters. Then Daniel has an affair, leaving me alone in the house. I didn’t see either of the kids over Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur since both were tied up with mid-terms. And now it’s Hanukkah. I’m in no mood for a celebration. The main reason I’m here is that I hope Tootsie’s Hanukkah gift will be an announcement that Landauer’s out of my life.

“Let yourself in,” my father yells when I knock on the door, “and leave my gifts on the hall table.”

He’s been hard at work in the kitchen and the deliciously greasy aroma of shredded potatoes crisping in hot peanut oil greets me in his hallway. I find him leaning over a pan on the oven, a grease-stained apron stretched across his belly. Truth be told, Tootsie’s latkes are a lot tastier than the frozen hockey pucks my mother bought at the grocery when we were kids. Latkes are the only recipe he got from his mother and I appreciate the effort he puts into making them. I kiss his cheek and reach for one of the crispy potato pancakes he’s set out to drain on a paper towel next to the frying pan. He’s in the middle of