Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 35 of a new online serial novel, If Anyone Is Listening, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

“There still are no new recordings! It’s been so long, I’m losing my mind!” Steve griped as he paced back and forth.

“Take a drink, and calm down,” Rudy said with a yawn.

“And did you see what they informed me? That they don’t believe that it’s me! Do you know what I’m going to do to them? I’m going to go into those accounts again and reset them! If some corrupt guy was happy to earn his ten thousand dollars this month, he’ll find that his account is empty all over again!”

***

“Tzippy, what day is today?”

Tzippy started. “Thursday night, Tatty.”

“Have you spoken to Mommy at all?”

“Yes. She’s very worried about you.”

“Oy. It’s late already… I see it’s dark outside. Go home, Tzippy.”

“Yes, I’m leaving soon, and I’ll be back early in the morning, b’ezras Hashem.”

“But you can’t be here for Shabbos,” he said, his eyes closed. “What are the doctors saying? They don’t plan to release me just yet, do they?”

“Your fever hasn’t gone down for three days, Tatty. You can’t go home now.”

“If you’ll be home with Chumi for Shabbos, I’ll manage by myself here. Do the neighbors know you’re alone? Maybe tell them something, so they’ll know to bring you food.”

“I don’t know who knows and who doesn’t,” Tzippy said. “You know how it is, everyone is busy with their own lives. Oh, Hirschbaum’s son did come up and say that his father wanted to know how you are doing, because he hasn’t seen you in shul for a long time. And he asked me to tell you refuah sheleimah.”

“I think he might have called too, but I couldn’t answer. My two chavrusos also called. I answered one of them, barely, and then I didn’t pick up for the second.”

“Would you want them to come visit?”

He shook his head in an ambiguous way, and was quiet for two long minutes, until Tzippy thought he might have fallen asleep. But suddenly he spoke again. “So what’s with Shabbos, Tzippy? What are you and Chumi going to eat? There’s money at home; go tomorrow and buy takeout if you don’t have the time and energy to cook.”

“I won’t leave you here by yourself.” Her teeth were clenched. “And it will be fine here, b’ezras Hashem. At the Yad Sarah building next door, there’s a guesthouse with rooms to sleep, and there are meals in the hospital courtyard, from Bikur Cholim. Chumi will stay with the Grossmans, her friend.”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 34 of a new online serial novel, If Anyone Is Listening, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

Steve ignored the booming voices coming from the megaphones and turned over to the other side. He glanced for a moment out the only window in the hut, and then his gaze moved to the door. They wouldn’t burst in and kill him; that much was clear. Because if they did that, they’d never get to his security code, and then the dumb computer experts at the banks would have to continue groping their way in the dark. Let’s see if they’d find a solution.

“Steve?” Rudy approached from the other side of the room with a cup. “Do you want a hot drink?”

Steve threw off the blanket and stood up. “I heat my own water.”

“You don’t trust me?” Rudy sat down on the mattress that had just become available and sipped from his cup.

“I don’t trust anyone.”

“So why’d you bring me to be here with you?”

“Because I had no other choice.” He filled a little pot with water and turned on the fire beneath it. “Tell me, while I was sleeping, was a new lecture posted?”

“No.”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 33 of a new online serial novel, If Anyone Is Listening, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

“Moni has turned himself in.”

The message popped up in front of the CEO of Centrabank, Jean Preisler, a second after he took the first sip of his ice water.

He picked up the phone to call Roy, nearly choking on his drink. “You’re not serious!” he said. “Where is this information from!?”

Roy chuckled. “Don’t get too excited—he didn’t actually turn himself in. He just informed us of his exact location. He’s in Pennsylvania, in one of the remote villages where the Amish people live.”

“And is he really the brain behind the hack? So he’s also a genius, in addition to being so charismatic?”

“According to his message, yes.”

“That’s strange. The Amish people don’t even use computers. They’re anti-technology.”

“You’d be surprised—there are exceptions among them, too. In any case, as we speak, the FBI is very close to there, but he warned them that he is barricaded inside his cabin, and he’s armed, so they shouldn’t even try to storm the place. At this point, they’re only going to negotiate with him.”

“Sounds like he’s totally nuts.”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 32 of a new online serial novel, If Anyone Is Listening, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

“How are you, Shimmy?” Gedalya asked as he paced up and down his office, from wall to wall. “What are you doing there all this time?”

“I’m letting a bat-robot analyze my behavior,” Shimmy said, and then added theatrically, “Which is why I’m trying to behave nicely, of course.”

Gedalya chuckled. “Very important. Where are you now?”

“In Yang Yang’s complex. I’m just waiting for the mess with my passport to get sorted out, and to see when a flight will depart to Israel. I’m not the only Israeli who is stuck here; I’ve met a few others in shul. They tell me it’s going to happen in the next few days, b’ezras Hashem.”

“That’s great! And what’s with our Tanchum?”

“It came out really good. Now the factory is waiting for the final payment, and then they’ll send out the shipment.”

“Well, they’ll have to wait,” Gedalya said grimly. “I’m pretty sure you’ll get to Israel before the Tanchums do.”

“I guess so.”

“And tell those Chinese guys to be a little patient, until I’m able to put together the money. I hope it will work out within two weeks.”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 31 of a new online serial novel, If Anyone Is Listening, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

“If Ruchi is wearing her jewelry?” Yudi parrots his father-in-law, from the doorway of the room. “I don’t think so, because it annoys her. She sometimes puts on a necklace, only for Shabbos. But nothing else.”

“So where is everything? This jewelry box is completely empty.”

“Maybe the jewelry is in the dresser drawers?” Yudi suggests as he steps into the room.

“No,” his father-in-law says as he opens and closes one drawer after another. “There’s no jewelry here. And she has lots of beautiful pieces, doesn’t she? Your parents sent her jewelry during the engagement, we bought her things here and there, she got something when Isamar was born… Let’s call the house and ask if she has it with her.” He turns to Yudi. “Do you want to call? Or should I?”

“She probably threw it all out of the window. Downstairs.”

“Who, Ruchi?”

“No, the CPS lady.” Yudi looks at the open window. “So that if the aide would meet her on the way to the front door, she wouldn’t see what she was holding.”

***

“You didn’t make a mistake,” Uncle Yankel responded after a second of silence. “It’s this number. But I get a message that I have no access. Maybe the line has been cut off?”

“It hasn’t been,” Tzippy replied. “I called myself and I heard the different options.”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 30 of a new online serial novel, If Anyone Is Listening, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

“No, don’t turn it off!” Ruchi shouts, her eyes red as she tries to block the power button with her finger. Isamar is sitting in the infant seat, moving his hands about.

“But it’s been on all morning long,” her father says firmly. “It’s enough!”

Ruchi is miserable. “I can’t stop listening to it…” she says. “I have to hear what his mother did after his accident and how she managed, and he’s talking about it in this speech!”

“Nu, so you heard this speech seven times in a row already,” her mother interjects. “You didn’t hear Yudi or Chana’le or me taking care of Isamar, and you didn’t hear me calling you to eat—all you’re doing is listening to this over and over! You probably know it all by heart by now.”

“No, I don’t, it’s not registering!” Ruchi sniffs. “I’m so stressed, I can’t concentrate.”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 29 of a new online serial novel, If Anyone Is Listening, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

Shimmy’s eyes opened wide. “The surveillance on me has gone up a level?”

“Yes. We have two assessments. Either the bat’s system has gone totally haywire…” It was strange to hear these words coming from the bat, as if it was complaining about its own messed-up system, though Shimmy knew that whatever the bat said was not a product of itself; it was only an audio translation of Yang’s words, coming from wherever he was sitting.

“Or?”

“Or its conclusions are correct. Do you have any idea which of the two it would be?”

Shimmy stared at the Tanchum doll standing near the wall and and then at the bat. “Maybe it’s because I’m here, on the premises of your factory, and that makes it suspect that I’m a spy.”

“No.” Yang Yang was definitive. “We input the information that you came here for research purposes in partnership with us.”

“You can’t simply ask the bat what it thinks I am? Who it thinks I am?”

“We asked. It calls you by a code name, but for some reason, it won’t give details beyond that. I told you from the start, there’s a bug in the system here. And we expect that you, working together with us, will help us reach a solution.”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 28 of a new online serial novel, If Anyone Is Listening, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

The problem was that Shimmy had forgotten how hard it was to get rid of the bat. All his verbal efforts at persuasion were ineffective, and his vigorous hand motions were useless. At one point, Christopher flew up so high it became a tiny dot in the sky, but when Shimmy squinted, he was still able to see it.

What was the point? It didn’t seem that anything was threatening his freedom. The situation was no different than it had been on his first visit, when the bat had accompanied him to the airport and then disappeared. The minute he would receive a message about an outgoing flight to Israel, he would go to the airport and make his way home, no matter how much that nudnik Christopher would film and photograph him.

Shimmy walked to the sidewalk, feeling foolish as he held the box with the oversized doll. What were people thinking of him? Or maybe they realized that when a man walks in a central industrial zone for toys in Beijing, holding a box with a huge doll, that doesn’t mean he plans to play house with it?

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 27 of a new online serial novel, If Anyone Is Listening, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

“How are you, Yaakov Shlomo?”

“Baruch Hashem, fine. Uh, is that you, Abe? This isn’t your regular number.” Yaakov Shlomo studied the note that was left on the pink runner on the hallway table:

Dear Abba,

There’s a container of vegetable soup in the fridge, and a plate with chicken and mashed potatoes. You can warm it up in the microwave. Love, Tzippy.

P.S. I wanted to be home this afternoon to warm up the food for you, but we have a school trip. Feel good!

“Yes, that’s why I called. Look, in the next two-three weeks, I won’t be available by phone, and I won’t be dealing with the hotline.” Rubinson sounded like he was in a hurry, or perhaps somewhat tense, to put it more precisely. “Do you hear me?”

“Yes.”

“So I’m giving you the number of a friend of mine who has agreed to manage the hotline for now. If you need something, call him, but only if it’s really necessary, because he’s only going to be dealing with serious glitches or things like that.”

“I hear. Is everything okay, Abe? Do you feel alright?”

“So-so. But Hashem is great, and He will help.”

“For sure. Be strong. Is there anything I can do to help you out?”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 26 of a new online serial novel, If Anyone Is Listening, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

“Abe?”

Abe Rubinson’s accountant did not usually call him for no reason, certainly not at half past eight in the morning.

“Hi, Alan, what’s doing?”

“I don’t quite understand what is going on,” Alan said slowly, “but I received an urgent message from…someone. Lots of inquiries and nosing around have been going on over the past day, about the sales and marketing of Moni, and his speeches. Someone is trying to find out who the owners are of the whole marketing campaign around him, and which account the profits are going into…”

“The IRS?” Rubinson paled without even realizing it. “But everything is supposed to be in order, isn’t it? I don’t think that anyone can have any complaints.”

“Absolutely, as far as taxes, you are just fine.”

“So what is it, then?”

“I don’t know who is nosing around in your affairs.” Alan was quiet for a moment, and then said, “But it looks like someone with power. With abilities, to put it more precisely. Could it be that someone at higher levels took notice of your business with Moni, and is looking for you because of it?”