“Laura? You still there?”

“Yes, Graham. Is there anything else?”

“Not yet.”

“Thank you for calling.”

“No worries. But, Laura, let’s take this slowly, shall we? If T.C. does have something to do with this, it might not pay to let on quite yet. In fact, it might be rather dangerous.”

Laura remembered what T.C. had said to her just a few days ago. “You’ve already put your life in jeopardy, and now you’ve chased away the killer. I wanted them to think they were in the clear. It makes them careless.”

Careless, huh? Maybe it was time to put the shoe on the other foot. Maybe she should let T.C. think he was safe in his web of lies, let him think she had given up on going after the truth behind David’s drowning. And then maybe, just maybe, he would be the one to get careless.

“I’ll be careful,” she said.

RICHARD Corsel sat with his fingers on the computer keyboard. He was not typing, not just at this second. For the third time that day, the superadvanced Heritage of Boston Bank computer system had gone down. Richard stared at the blank screen.

“Mr. Corsel?”

Richard sighed and swiveled his chair toward the intercom. “Yes, Mrs. Tansmore?”

“There is a gentleman here to see you. A Dr. James Ayars.”

“Does he have an appointment?”

“No.”

“Do you know what he wants?”

“He says he wants to talk to you about his son-in-law’s account here.”

“Who is his son-in-law?”

“David Baskin.”

Richard tried to swallow but his mouth was too dry. His mind flashed back to the knife at his throat, to the threats against his twin boys and his wife. Despite those threats, Richard had found out where the money had been transferred to after Switzerland. Somebody now had David Baskin’s half-million dollars and Richard knew who that somebody was.

But what could he do about it? The psycho with the knife had threatened his children, for chrissake. Laura Baskin was a wealthy woman. She would get along fine without ever learning what had happened to the missing money. He had to keep silent. He had to protect his family. And besides, what good would telling her do? The psycho was powerfully connected. He knew all about Richard’s personal life as well as his conversations with Laura. It would not pay for him to piss off these people. The same was true for Laura Baskin.

Of course, there was one giant hole in Richard’s theory. Suppose the psycho and his companions were not through with Laura Baskin? If they had murdered David for his money, who was to say that Laura was not going to be the follow-up? And what if they decided that Richard Corsel knew too much? What if they decided to make sure he kept silent by turning Naomi into a widow?

His mind writhed in confusion. “Send him in.”

A moment later, James Ayars came through the door. He looked, Richard thought, remarkably like a doctor. Well-groomed, neatly dressed, gray haired, good-looking, serious—a TV doctor for the nineties. Richard stood and shook his hand.

“Please sit down, Dr. Ayars.”

“Thank you.”

“Is there something I can do for you?”

James got right to the point. “I would like to know about Mr. Baskin’s missing account.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“David Baskin was my son-in-law. Before he died, a great deal of money was transferred out of his account. It disappeared, so to speak. I would like to know where it went to.”

Richard almost breathed a sigh of relief. Obviously, Laura had been smart enough not to endanger her father by telling him what she had learned. “I’m sorry, Dr. Ayars. That’s confidential information.”

“Confidential?”

Richard nodded. “Suppose, Doctor, that you transferred money out of this bank. Would you want any relative to be able to come in and find out about it?”

“Fair enough,” Dr. Ayars agreed, “but Mr. Baskin is deceased.”

“That does not change his rights.”

“But certainly the next of kin has a right to know what happened to his money.”

“In most cases, yes. But you are not next of kin, Dr. Ayars. Your daughter is.”

“I understand that, but my daughter has gone through a terrible ordeal these past few months. Couldn’t I act as her proxy?”

“You could,” Richard replied, “if you had her power of attorney.”

Dr. Ayars leaned forward, his face clouded. “Have you learned anything new about this matter?”

“I’m sorry. That’s also confidential.”

James settled back into the chair. “I respect what you’re saying, Mr. Corsel,” he said in a quiet voice, “but I suspect there may be more to this money transfer than meets the eye. There could be something else at stake here—something very dangerous, something that could hurt my daughter. I need to know what happened to that money.”

The two men stared at each other for a moment. “I wish I could help you,” Richard said, “but this situation involves bending more than a few bank rules. You’re asking Heritage of Boston to break the law.”

“Then how do I find out what happened?”

“I suggest you speak to your daughter about this.”

James realized it was useless to push any further. “Thank you, Mr. Corsel,” he said as he turned to leave. Once out in the lobby, James wondered what his next step should be. Either way he looked at, if Judy’s crazy suspicions were right or wrong, his daughter was going to continue to suffer. James would do anything to help Laura, to shield her from any more pain, but what could he do to help?

Whatever it took.

James found his car and pulled out of the lot. His daughter had gone through enough torment. He would not let her go through any more—no matter what the cost.

AN argument had raged in Judy’s mind all day. Should she call Laura or not? If Judy was wrong about Mark Seidman, calling Laura could be catastrophic. It could reopen old wounds and help the present ones gush anew. It could cause irrevocable harm. And to face facts, Judy did not know the whole story of Mark Seidman. More specifically, everything her mind had dreamed up boiled down to little more than creative conjecture. Being logical Judy knew that she should not contact Laura yet.

So how come she was dialing her niece’s phone number?

In a strange way, it was time for Judy to stop worrying about what might be best for Laura. Trying to protect her could take away Laura’s one last chance for true survival. The risk had to be taken. Judy had no choice. If she was wrong, Judy would be harming Laura by telling her. But if she was right and chose not to tell Laura, then she would be guilty of perpetrating the worst possible crime against her niece.