Pipe Dreams Read Online Free Page A

days.”
    Ramirez couldn ’t help it. He returned the smile and followed the hunched, old man inside. A candle burned in a wax covered saucer on a low table. Pungent incense wafted from a large, oak desk darkened with age, and a prayer shawl was draped neatly over the back of a worn, leather chair.
    “Don ’t mind the mess. Without the TV, what’s an old man to do all by himself?” Isaac said, gesturing at the piles of papers and books littering the room.
    “Yeah, I read more these days, too. Turns out, TV’s not something I miss.”
    “Ah, yes. What we think we need is in our imagination most of the time. What do you miss, Detective?” Isaac cleared a section on the sofa for Ramirez to sit.
    “I don’t know. Noise mostly. Energy. Life. The streets are too quiet for my tastes.” Ramirez sat stiffly on the edge of a cushion, his back upright.
    “Can I offer you some tea?” Isaac asked.
    “No. Thank you. Really, I won’t stay long. It’s just a few questions.”
    “Always hurrying. That much hasn ’t changed, has it Detective?”
    “Sir?”
    “When I was your age, the world didn’t spin quite so fast. Things took time. We took time,” Isaac said. Ramirez laughed.
    “My grandmother used to say the same thing. She went to mass twice a day and prayed for hours. My mother never figured out how she managed to do that and run a household.”
    “So you are a Catholic?”
    “Of course not. I am an officer in the NSO.”
    “Come, come my boy. The threads of our hearts are not unwoven so quickly. Catholicism and Judaism are not so different. The guilt alone would prevent us from abandoning God, don’t you think?” Isaac eased into the leather chair and held his hands over the candle. “So what questions can I answer for you?” he asked.
    “I ’ve been assigned to investigate Vanessa Kovalic. Can you tell me why she visits you?”
    “Why?  Is there ever an answer to a question that big?  No, I don ’t think so. If you had asked me how we knew each other that would be simple. I was her family’s rabbi. I have known her since before she was born, but as to why she keeps visiting an old man who talks too much, that, my dear boy, is something I would not dare to fathom.”
    “A rabbi? The new religion must be hard on you.” 
    Isaac chuckled. “No, it’s not hard. It’s actually quite easy. You see, the new bible is just a symbol. It has snatches of Christianity, smatters of Islam, a dab of Taoism, and a bunch of new age nonsense. It is easy to remember and doesn’t hurt. God does not care what words we read aloud. He only hears the words in our hearts. Don’t you agree, Detective?
    Ramirez didn ’t respond, but sitting with someone who understood his love of God was a miracle. The old man patted Ramirez’s arm. He hadn’t been touched in so long his eyes watered and a wave of gratitude pushed his heart into his throat.
    “I used to love being a cop,” he choked, sagging against the cushions. The rabbi stood, smiling.
    “You know, my boy, I think I will make that tea after all.”
     

 
    CHAPTER 6
     
     
    In the shower, Vanessa could not rid her body of the filth. Rubbing her skin raw, she conjured images of her driver’s hands wielding first his belt and then his raging erection. The sour smell of his sweat clogged her nostrils. Even the scented soap could not mask its odor.
    Still, the steady stream against her shoulders was calming and she stayed under it until the water ran cold. Then she stepped out onto the cool, black and white patterned tile of her bathroom floor. The water dripped into a puddle at her feet. She stared at the mirror, mesmerized by her long, wet hair and pale, sad face. She had been proud of her beauty, once.
    Reaching for a towel, she slipped on the wet floor and fell. Naked on the cold tile, her thigh throbbing from the impact, she thumped her fist against the floor and howled. The tears cascading down her face did nothing to assuage her misery. Eventually,