“You were the leak, weren’t you?”

He didn’t reply.

“You told them about the police being involved.”

“Don’t you see? It made no difference. They never intended to give Tara back. She was already with the Tansmores. After the ransom drop, I thought it was over. We all tried to move on.”

“So what happened?’

“Bacard decided to run the ransom again.”

“Were you in on it?” I asked.

“No, he kept me out of the loop.”

“When did you learn about it?”

“When you told me in the hospital. I was furious. I called him. He told me to relax, that there was no way it could be traced back to us.”

“But we did it trace it back.”

He nodded.

“And you knew that I was getting close to Bacard. I told you on the phone.”

“Yes.”

“Wait a minute.” A fresh chill ran up my neck. “In the end, Bacard wanted to clean house. He called those two lunatics. The woman, that Lydia, she went out and killed Tatiana. Heshy was sent to take care of Denise Vanech. But”—I thought it through—“but when I saw Steven Bacard, he had just been shot. He was still bleeding. There was no way either of them could have done it.”

I looked up. “You killed him, Lenny.”

Rage seeped into his voice. “You think I wanted to?”

“Then why?”

“What do you mean, why? I was Bacard’s get-out-of-jail-free card. When it all started to go wrong, he said he would turn state’s evidence against me. He’d claim I shot you and Monica and brought him Tara. Like I said before, the cops hate me. I’ve gotten too many bad guys off. They’d go for the deal in a second.”

“You’d have gone to jail?”

Lenny looked near tears.

“Your kids would have suffered?”

He nodded.

“So you killed a man in cold blood.”

“What else could I do? You’re looking at me like that, but deep down, you know the truth. This was your mess. I got stuck cleaning it up. Because I cared about you. I wanted to help your child.” He stopped, closed his eyes, and added, “And I knew that if I killed Bacard, maybe I could save you too.”

“Me?”

“Another cost-benefit analysis, Marc.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It was over. Once Bacard was dead, he could take the fall. For everything. I was in the clear.” Lenny came over and stood in front of me. For a moment I thought he was going to try to hug me. But he just stood there.

“I wanted you to have peace, Marc. But that would never be. I knew that now. Not until you found your daughter. With Bacard dead, my family was safe. I could let you know the truth.”

“So you wrote up that anonymous note and left it on Eleanor’s desk.”

“Yes.”

I nodded and Abe’s words came back to me. “You did the wrong thing for the right reason.”

“Put yourself in my place. What would you have done?”

“I don’t know,” I said.

“I did it for you.”

And the saddest part was, he was telling the truth. I looked at him.

“You were the best friend I ever had, Lenny. I love you. I love your wife. I love your children.”

“What are you going to do?”

“If I say I’m going to talk, will you kill me too?”

“Never,” he said.

But I wasn’t sure, much as I loved him, much as he loved me, that I believed him.

Epilogue

A year haspassed.

During the first two months, I racked up the frequent flier miles coming out to St. Louis every week, trying to figure out with Abe and Lorraine what we were going to do. We started slowly. For the first few visits, I asked Abe and Lorraine to stay in the room. Eventually, Tara and I started going places alone—the park, the zoo, the merry-go-round at the mall—but she looked over her shoulder a lot. It took some time for my daughter to get comfortable with me. I understood that.

My father passed away in his sleep ten months ago. After his funeral, I bought a house on Marsh Lane, two down from Abe and Lorraine, and moved out here permanently. Abe and Lorraine are remarkable people. Get this: We call “our” daughter Tasha. Think about it. It’s short for Natasha and close to Tara. The reconstructive surgeon in me likes that. I keep waiting for things to go wrong. They haven’t. It’s weird, but I don’t question it much.

My mother bought a condo and moved out here too. With Dad gone, there was no reason for her to stay in Kasselton anymore. After all the tragedies—my father’s poor health, Stacy, Monica, the attack, the abduction—we both needed a second act. I’m glad she’s near us. Mom has a new boyfriend, a guy named Cy. She’s happy. I like him, and not just because he has season tickets to the Rams. They laugh a lot. I almost forgot how hard my mom could laugh.

I talk to Verne a fair amount. He and Katarina brought Verne Junior and Perry out in an RV during the spring. We had a great week together. Verne took me fishing, a first for me. I liked it. Next time he wants to hunt. I told him no way, but Verne can be pretty persuasive.

I don’t talk much to Edgar Portman. He sends presents on Tasha’s birthday. He’s called twice. I’m hoping he’ll come out and see his granddaughter soon. But there is simply too much guilt there for both of us. It’s like I said before. Maybe Monica was unstable. Maybe it was just a chemical thing. I know that a great deal of psychiatry problems stem more from the physical, from hormonal imbalances, than life experiences. Chances are there was nothing we could have done. But in the end, whatever may have been the origin, we both let Monica down.

Zia was initially hit hard by my leaving, but then she saw it as an opportunity. She has a new doctor in the practice. I hear he’s pretty good. I’ve opened up a One World WrapAid branch office in St. Louis. So far, it seems to be going well.

Lydia—or Larissa Dane, if you prefer—is going to get off. She did a double-flip off a murder rap and stuck the “I was abused” landing with both feet. She is a celebrity again, what with the mysterious return of the Pixie named Trixie. Lydia appeared onOprah , crying on cue about the years of torment at the hands of Heshy. They flashed his picture up on the screen. The audience gasped. Heshy is hideous. Lydia is beautiful. So the world believes. Rumor has it she is set to appear in a TV movie based on her life story.

As for the baby-smuggling case, the FBI decided to “enforce the law,” which meant bringing the bad guys to justice. Steven Bacard and Denise Vanech were the bad guys here. They’re both dead. Officially, authorities are still searching for the records, but nobody wants to look too closely at what child ended up where. I think that’s best.




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