THIRTY-THREE

arco freezes. “Are you sure? ”

“Yes. ”

She sounds strange, not like herself. Can he trust anything she says? Marco thinks rapidly. Richard and Derek Honig. The cell phone.

Was this whole thing a setup? Has Richard been controlling this nightmare from behind the scenes? Has Richard had Cora all along?

“I’m sure I’ve seen him with my father, when I was younger, ” Anne says. “He knows him. Why would my father know the man who took our baby, Marco? Don’t you think that’s strange? ” She sounds like she’s drifting away.

“It’s strange all right, ” Marco says slowly. He remembers his suspicions when he’d used the secret cell phone and his father-in-law had answered. Was this the missing link? Honig had approached him, out of the blue. He had befriended Marco, listened to his troubles. He got Marco to trust him. He urged Marco to ask Richard for more money, and then Richard turned him down. What if they were in collusion and Richard had turned down his request for more money knowing that Honig would be there, waiting to pick up the pieces? Honig had suggested the kidnapping that same day. What if this had all been carefully orchestrated by Marco’s father-in-law? Marco feels ill. If so, he has been even more duped than he thought, and by the man he most dislikes in the world.

“Anne, ” Marco says, and then the words spill out in a rush, “Derek Honig found me. He befriended me. He urged me to ask your father for more money. Then, the day your father turned me down for another loan, he showed up again, as if he knew. It was like he knew I’d be desperate. That’s when he suggested the kidnapping. ” Marco feels as if he’s emerging from a bad dream, that things are finally starting to make sense. “What if your father is behind this, Anne? ” He says urgently, “I think he got Honig to approach me, to set me up for the kidnapping. I’ve been played, Anne! ”

“No! ” Anne says stubbornly. “I can’t believe it. My father would never do that. Why would he? What possible reason could he have? ”

It wounds Marco that she seems to have no difficulty believing that he could murder a man with a spade in cold blood yet can’t believe that her father would set him up. But he must remember that she’s seen that damning video. That would shatter the faith of anyone. He must tell her the rest. “Anne, the cell phone, in the duct. The one Honig and I were using. ”

“What about it? ”

“After you found it, I noticed that there were some missed calls—someone had called from Honig’s cell phone. So I called the number again. And. . . your father answered. ”

She looks at him in disbelief.

“Anne, he was expecting it to be me on the other end of the phone. He knew I’d taken Cora. I asked him how he got the phone. He said the kidnappers had mailed it to him, with a note, like the onesie. He said the kidnappers got in touch with him because it was in the newspapers that your parents were the ones who’d paid the ransom. He said they were asking for more money for Cora, that he was going to pay it, but he made me promise not to tell you. He said he didn’t want to get your hopes up, in case it all fell apart. ”

“What? ” Anne’s face, dazed with suffering, now comes to life. “He’s been in touch with the kidnappers? ”

Marco nods. “He said he was going to deal with them and get her back himself, because I’d fucked it all up. ”

“When was this? ” Anne asks breathlessly.

“Last night. ”

“And you didn’t tell me? ”

“He made me promise not to! In case things don’t work out. I’ve been trying to reach him all day, but he won’t call me back. I’ve been going out of my mind, not knowing what’s happening. I assume he hasn’t gotten her back, or we would have heard something. ” But now Marco sees it differently. He’s been played by a master. “But, Anne—what if your father has known where Cora is all along? ”

Anne looks like she can’t take in any more. She looks numb. Finally, her voice breaking, she asks, “But why would he do that? ”

Marco knows why. “Because your parents hate me! ” Marco says. “They want to destroy me, destroy our marriage, and get you and Cora back for themselves. ”

Anne shakes her head. “I know they don’t like you—maybe they even hate you—but what you’re saying. . . I can’t believe it. What if he’s telling the truth? What if the kidnappers are in touch with my parents and he’s trying to get her back for us? ” The hope in her voice is heartrending.

Marco says, “But you just said that your father knows Derek Honig. That can’t be a coincidence. ”

There’s a long pause. Then she whispers, “Did he kill Derek Honig with the shovel? ”

“Maybe, ” Marco says uncertainly. “I don’t know. ”

“What about Cora? ” Anne whispers. “What’s happened to her? ”

Marco takes her by the shoulders and looks into her eyes, which are big and frightened. “I think your father must have her. Or he knows who does. ”

“What are we going to do? ” Anne whispers.

“We have to think this through, ” Marco says. He gets up from the sofa, too anxious to sit still. “If your father does have her, or knows where she is, we have two options. We can go directly to the police or we can confront him. ”

Anne stares into space, as if her mind has become overwhelmed.

“Maybe we should talk to your father first, rather than going to the police, ” Marco says uneasily. Marco doesn’t want to go to jail.

“If we go to my father, ” Anne says, “I can talk to him. He’ll give Cora back to me. He’ll be sorry, I know he will. He just wants me to be happy. ”

Marco stops pacing and looks at his wife, questioning her grip on reality. If it’s true that Derek Honig was a friend of her father’s, then it could well be true that her father manipulated Marco into financial desperation, into kidnapping their child. Her father might have orchestrated the deception at the exchange; he might have murdered a man in cold blood. He has caused his daughter intense pain. He doesn’t care if she’s happy. He just wants things his way.

He is utterly ruthless. For the first time, Marco realizes what an adversary he has in his father-in-law. The man is possibly a sociopath. How many times had Richard told him that to succeed in business one had to be ruthless? Maybe that was it—maybe he was trying to teach Marco a lesson about ruthlessness.

Anne says suddenly, “Maybe my father is not part of this. Maybe Derek befriended you, and manipulated you, because he knew my father and knew he has money. But my father might not know anything about it. He might not know that Derek was the kidnapper—he might have gotten the phone and the note in the mail, like he said. ” She seems more lucid again.

Marco thinks about this. “It’s possible. ” But he believes that Richard is running things behind the scenes. He feels it in his gut.

“We have to go over there, ” Anne says. “But you can’t just barge in and accuse him. We don’t know for sure what’s going on. I can tell him that I know you took Cora and that you gave her to Derek Honig. That we need his help getting her back. If my father is involved in this, we have to give him a way out. We have to pretend he had nothing to do with it, beg him to work with the kidnappers, to figure out how to get Cora back to us. ”

Marco thinks about what she’s said and nods. Anne seems more like herself again, and he’s relieved. Besides, she’s right—Richard Dries isn’t the kind of man you back into a corner. The important thing is to get Cora home again.

“And maybe my father isn’t behind it at all. Maybe he really is in touch with the kidnappers, ” Anne says. She so obviously wants to believe that her father wouldn’t do this to her.

“I doubt it. ”

They sit for a moment, exhausted by all that’s happened, steeling themselves for what’s ahead. Finally Marco says, “We’d better get going. ”

Anne nods. She puts a hand on his arm as they’re leaving. “Promise me you won’t lose your cool with my father, ” she says.

What can Marco do but say yes? “I promise. ” He adds miserably, “I owe you that. ”

• • •

They take a cab to Anne’s parents’ home, passing by increasingly stately houses until they arrive in the wealthiest suburb of the city. It’s late, but they have not called first. They want the element of surprise on their side. Anne and Marco sit in the back of the taxi, saying nothing. Marco can feel Anne trembling against him; her breathing sounds fast and shallow. He takes her hand in his, to calm her. He is sweating with nerves in the hot, sticky cab; the air-conditioning doesn’t seem to be working. Marco puts the window down a bit so that he can breathe.

The cab drives them up the circular gravel drive and stops at the front door. Marco pays the driver and tells him not to wait. Anne presses the bell. There are still lights on in the house. After a moment Anne’s mother opens the door.

“Anne! ” she says, clearly surprised. “I wasn’t expecting you. ”

Anne pushes past her mother, and Marco follows her into the front hall.

And at once all their plans fly out the window.

“Where is she? ” Anne demands. She looks wildly at her mother. Her mother seems stunned and doesn’t answer. Anne starts walking rapidly through the large house, leaving Marco standing in the front hall, horrified by her behavior. Anne has lost it—he wonders how to play this now.

Anne’s mother follows after her on her frantic search through the house. Marco can hear Anne calling, “Cora! Cora! ”

He senses movement above and looks up. Richard is coming down the grand staircase. Their eyes meet, steel on steel. They can both hear Anne’s cries: “Where is she? Where is my baby? ” Her voice is becoming more and more frantic.

Suddenly Marco questions everything: Was Anne right about recognizing Derek Honig? Was Derek an associate of her father’s, or has her brain supplied a detail that is simply a delusion? He found her at home in the dark, holding a knife. How reliable is anything she says? Everything he believes hinges on Richard’s knowing Derek Honig. Now it’s up to Marco to find out the truth.

“Let’s go sit down, shall we? ” Richard says, and passes him on his way to the living room.

Marco follows. His mouth is dry. He is afraid. He may not be dealing with a normal person here. Richard is quite possibly a sociopath; Marco knows he’s out of his depth. He doesn’t know how to handle this situation, and everything depends on how he handles it.

Marco hears Anne’s footsteps; she is running now, up the elaborate staircase to the second floor. He and Richard stare at each other, listening to Anne call Cora’s name as she flings back bedroom doors, running along the upstairs hall, searching.

“She won’t find her, ” Richard says.

“Where is she, you son of a bitch? ” Marco says. He has gone off script, too. None of this is going according to plan.

“Well, she’s not here, ” his father-in-law says coldly. “Why don’t we just wait for Anne to settle down, and we can all have a meeting. ”

It takes everything Marco has not to get up and go for his father-in-law’s fat throat. He forces himself to sit down and to wait for what’s coming.

Finally Anne bursts into the living room, her overwrought mother right behind her. “Where is she? ” Anne cries at her father. Her face is mottled and streaked with tears. She is hysterical.

“Sit down, Anne, ” her father says firmly.

Marco gestures for her to join him, and Anne goes and sits beside him on the large, overstuffed sofa.

“You know why we’re here, ” Marco begins.

“Anne seems to think that Cora is here. Why would she think that? ” Richard asks, feigning bewilderment. “Marco—did you tell her the kidnappers were in touch with me? I specifically asked you not to. ”

Marco tries to speak, but he doesn’t know how to begin.

Richard cuts him off anyway. He is standing by the enormous fireplace. He turns to Anne. “I’m so sorry, Anne, but the kidnappers have let us all down—again. I’d hoped to have Cora back tonight, but they didn’t show up. I brought the additional money, as arranged, but they just didn’t show. ” He turns to Marco. “Of course, I didn’t let them have the money anyway, the way you did, Marco. ”

Marco’s anger flares—Richard can’t resist the temptation to make Marco look like an incompetent fool.

“I told you not to tell her, to avoid this kind of distress, ” Richard says. He turns to Anne again, his eyes sympathetic. “I’ve done everything I can to get her back for you, Anne. I’m so sorry. But I promise you, I won’t give up. ”

Anne sags beside him. Marco watches Richard, the coldness he exhibited to Marco switched to warmth once he’s talking to his daughter. Marco sees the flicker of uncertainty in Anne’s eyes—she wants to believe her father would never hurt her.

Richard says, “I’m sorry your mother and I didn’t tell you earlier, Anne, but we were afraid this might happen. We didn’t want to get your hopes up again. The kidnappers got in touch with us and demanded more money. We’d pay anything to get Cora back, you know that. I went out to meet with them. But no one came. ” He shakes his head in evident frustration and sorrow.

“It’s true, ” Alice says, sitting down at the other end of the sofa beside her daughter. “We’re just devastated. ” She begins to cry, holds her arms out, and Anne sinks into her mother’s embrace and begins to sob uncontrollably, her shoulders heaving.

Marco thinks, This can’t be happening.

“The only thing left to do, I’m afraid, ” Richard says, “is to go to the police. With everything. ” He turns and looks at Marco, giving him a cold stare.

Marco stares back. “Tell them, Anne, what you know, ” he says.

But she looks at him from her mother’s embrace as if she’s already forgotten.

Desperately, Marco says, “The man who was murdered, Derek Honig. The police know that he took Cora from our place, that he took her to his cabin in the Catskills. But I’m sure you know this already. ”

Richard shrugs. “The police don’t tell me anything. ”

“Anne recognized him, ” Marco says flatly.

Has Richard just gone a little paler? Marco can’t be sure.

“So? Who was he? ”

“She recognized him as a friend of yours. How is it, Richard, that a friend of yours had our baby? ”

“He wasn’t a friend of mine. I’ve never heard of him, ” Richard says smoothly. “Anne must be mistaken. ”

“I don’t think so, ” Marco says.

Anne says nothing. Marco looks at her, but her eyes are turned away. Is she betraying him? Is she going to side with her father and hang him out to dry? Because she believes her father over him? Or because she is willing to sacrifice him to get her baby back? He feels the ground shifting under his feet.

“Anne, ” Richard says, “do you think this murdered man, the man who supposedly had Cora, was a friend of mine? ”

She regards her father, sits up straighter, and says, “No. ”

Marco looks at her in dismay.

“That’s what I thought, ” Richard says, eyeing Marco. “Let’s review what we know, ” Richard says. He turns to his daughter. “I’m sorry, Anne, but this is going to be painful for you to hear. ” He sits down in his chair by the fireplace and takes a deep breath before beginning, as if to indicate that this has all been very difficult for him as well. “The kidnappers got in touch with us. They had our names because the newspapers figured out that we had paid the original ransom of five million. The kidnappers sent us a package. In the package were a cell phone and a note. The note said that the cell phone was the one that the original kidnapper had been using to stay secretly in touch with the baby’s father, who was in on the plan. I tried calling the only number programmed into the phone. There was no answer. But I kept it on me, and finally it rang. It was Marco. ”

“I know all about that, ” Anne says woodenly. “I know Marco took Cora and handed her over to Derek in our garage that night. ”

“You do? ” her father says in surprise. “How do you know? Did Marco tell you? ”

Marco stiffens, afraid that she’s going to mention the video.

“Yes, ” Anne says, glancing at Marco.

“Good for you, Marco, for being man enough to tell her, ” Richard says. He continues. “I don’t know exactly what happened, but my guess is that someone must have murdered the man in the cabin and taken Cora. And then duped Marco at the exchange. I thought all was lost, until whoever did it reached out to your mother and me. ” He shakes his head regretfully. “I don’t know if they’ll get in touch with us again. We can only hope. ”

Pushed to the limit, Marco loses control. “This is bullshit! ” he cries. “You know what happened. You set this whole thing up! You knew my business wasn’t going well. You sent Derek to me. You got him to suggest the kidnapping—it wasn’t my idea. It was never my idea! You’ve been manipulating everything and everyone. Especially me. Derek pushed me to ask you for more money, and then you turned me down. You knew how desperate I was. And then right after you turned me down, there he was, in my darkest moment, with his kidnapping plan. You are the mastermind behind all this! Tell me, did you bash in Derek’s head? ”

Anne’s mother gasps.

“Because that’s what I think happened, ” Marco presses. “You killed him. You took Cora from the cabin, or you hired someone to do it. You know where she is. You’ve known all along. And you’re not out one goddamned penny. Because you were behind the swindle at the exchange. You had someone show up without the baby to take the money back. But you want me to go to jail. ” Marco stops to catch his breath. “Tell me, do you even care if Cora lives or dies? ”

Richard looks from Marco to Anne and says, “I think your husband is out of his mind. ”

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