Read Online The Book of Names by Jill Gregory - Free Book Online Page B

from the curb, sending tall sprays of water in its wake. The giant windshield wipers raced to keep pace with the torrent of rain dousing the city.
    â€œCall your dispatcher,” Yael directed the driver breathlessly. David saw there were tears on her face. “Tell him to send an ambulance to the B’nai Yisroel Center on Avenue Z. A man’s been shot.”
    She looked at David, but neither of them spoke as the bus rumbled through traffic. They both knew it was too late. Rabbi ben Moshe was dead.
    Dazed, David wondered if he looked as pale and shaken as she did. His heart was still thundering in his chest. He couldn’t wrap his mind around what had just happened.
    His grip tightened on the rain-soaked satchel even as his other hand checked his pocket.
    The gemstones were still there. And Stacy’s name was still in his journal.
    Â 
    â€œHe emptied the goddamn safe! Everything’s gone!” Enrique shouted, as Gillis hurtled back into the room from the fire escape. Gillis stared at the barren cavity gaping behind the bookcase.
    Shit. Sirens were already screaming. There was no more time.
    â€œThe journal’s not here? What about the gemstones?”
    â€œShepherd and the Israeli woman must’ve got away with both.” Enrique had already torn through the rabbi’s desk and dumped out the contents of each drawer onto the floor. Suddenly, he spotted the stack of faxed pages beside the computer. David Shepherd’s name and fax number were scrawled across the top. He snatched them up.
    â€œHey, what do you make of this?”
    He thrust the papers at Gillis, whose face relaxed as he scanned through the list of names.
    â€œGot something, Sanjay,” he barked into the microphone of his cell phone’s headset. “The pages Shepherd faxed from his journal. We’re bringing them over now with the computer.”
    â€œAren’t the cops there yet?” Sanjay demanded. His voice no longer sounded steady and bored. It sounded alarmed. “Get out.”
    Even as he spoke, Enrique hoisted the computer, ripping the cords from the power strip on the floor. He sprinted toward the stairs. Gillis took time only to grab the stack of floppy disks from their bin on the desk, and to whip out his lighter. He watched the flame for a split second before touching it to the tumble of papers on the floor, relishing how close he was now to the world to come.
    He took the stairs two at a time, as the scream of sirens grew closer.
    By the time the police cars squealed to the curb, the white bakery van was half a block away, nothing but a pale, insignificant blur in the driving rain.
    And Sanjay was already e-mailing his initial coded report to headquarters in Sicily where Eduardo DiStefano bent forward at his computer, poring intently over each and every word.

CHAPTER NINE
    Â 
    Meredith leaned forward in the bleachers, her shoulders tensing. She watched as Stacy wiped the sweat from her forehead and bounced the ball twice at the free throw line.
    Come on, baby
, she thought.
Sink it.
    Stacy squinted at the basket and then lobbed the ball toward the backboard as if it were the easiest thing in the world. For a moment silence hung over the middle school’s packed gym. Even Meredith held her breath as the ball arced through the air, then cheers erupted as it swooshed through the net.
    Grinning, Stacy spun around to slap fives with her teammates. There were only five seconds left in the game—not enough time for her opponents to sink a basket.
    â€œThat’s my girl!” Meredith yelled from the bleachers as the buzzer blared. Stacy was already in line with her teammates, shaking hands with their opponents.
    Glancing at her watch, Meredith considered her options. The game was over early. Len wouldn’t be calling her from Stockholm for another hour. Plenty of time for her and Stacy to grab some Chinese on the way home.
    â€œI’ll get the car while you shower,