“I like that ending better.”

“I thought you might.”

Donatti sipped his coffee. “Maybe vengeance isn’t the answer as a permanent thing. But it does have a soothing temporary effect.”

“Possibly.” She folded her hands in her lap. “Are you and my husband on opposite sides of the fence again?”

“Interesting question. What did your husband tell you?”

“Absolutely nothing! I had no idea you were even in New York. But by your being here, you must have known that I was in New York. This wasn’t an accident. You had to have been following me. So somewhere along the line you must have met up with the lieutenant. Are you two at odds again?”

“Actually, he came to me for help.”

Rina paused. Her first thoughts were that somewhere during the course of Ephraim’s homicide investigation, Peter must have suspected Donatti of being the hit man. But if that were the case-and Donatti knew that Peter was suspicious of him-why did Donatti approach her so brazenly?

Donatti seemed to read her mind. “It’s the truth. Ask the lieutenant if you don’t believe me.”

“Are you going to help him?”

“I haven’t decided.”

Rina felt the heat of his eyes. The warmth of embarrassment was flooding her own face, but she refused to back down. “I’m sure you’ll come to the correct decision.”

Donatti continued to study her face and body. “God, you are beautiful!”

“Thank you.”

“I’d love to draw you, Mrs. Decker. Or, at the very least, take your picture.”

“Neither is an option.”

“Must be hard being that good-looking. My son’s mother is a stunning girl.” He rested his elbows on his knees and stared into the park. “You must know Terry.”

“I don’t actually know her, but I’ve heard that she’s very beautiful.”

“She gets hit on all the time,” Donatti said. “She’s very serious-not unlike yourself-and all the male attention annoys her. Sometimes it even gets her into trouble. People make assumptions about her sexual habits just because she’s single and has a kid. Even her professors. Especially her professors. Especially the married professors.”

“She gets harassed?”

“All the time. It got so bad with one of them that I had to go over there and prove a point.”

“I’m sure your sudden appearance cooled his ardor.”

Donatti laughed. “Yeah. He calmed down pretty quickly after my visit. So what do you do when men get out of line? Do you sic the lieutenant on them?”

“No, Mr. Donatti, I’m a grown woman, and I choose to take care of my own problems. I have found in the past that involving the lieutenant makes matters worse.”

He sat back and stared at her. “Does your silence extend to this little tryst?”

She met his eyes. “It isn’t a tryst. On the off chance that you may actually help my husband out, perhaps it’s best if I don’t tell him. Because if I did tell him, he’d probably kill you.”

“If I didn’t get to him first.”

“If you had wanted to do that, you would have done it a long time ago.”

“Revenge is a dish best served cold.”

“Still, I have no intention of telling my husband about our little chat, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“I’m not asking anything.”

“Okay. Then I’ll ask something of you. It would make my life easier if you didn’t tell him about it, either. Because if he hears about it from you, he’ll not only be irate with you, he’ll get mad at me for not telling him. Can you do me this favor?”

“I like doing favors.” Donatti smiled. “We’ll keep it our little secret.”

Turning everything into an act of intimacy. A prime-time manipulator. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Donatti stood up and leered at her. “Hey, why spoil what could be a beautiful relationship?”

“We have no relationship, Christopher.”

“Not you and me, Mrs. Decker. The lieutenant and me.” Donatti handed her his empty coffee cup. “There’s a recycle bin over there. Toss that for me, please?”

“Not a problem.”

Again he gave her a hard, wolfish stare. “Maybe we’ll chat again someday.”

Rina raised her eyes to censure his. “And maybe pigs will fly.”

Donatti broke into laughter. “Mind if I give Terry your phone number, Mrs. Decker? If she’s gonna play chess with the big boys, she may as well learn from an expert.”

If anything seemed to fit, it would have been a drug deal that went sour. But then why would Ephraim take Shayndie with him, putting her in danger? Could the man have been that cowardly to use a young girl as a screen? And then there was Raisie, warning him that his investigation could be endangering Shayndie. That told Decker that Chaim was sitting on something. He considered calling up Novack, going over some ideas with the detective. But what if Raisie were right? If his probing lessened Shayndie’s chances even fractionally-well, then, what choice did he really have?

Maybe the girl had gotten away and was in hiding. Maybe she had contacted her parents but was tentative about coming home. Or maybe there was another reason for her disappearance. Maybe she was pregnant and the whole thing about her being with her uncle was just an alibi. Maybe she was holed up in some home for wayward girls, and maybe Chaim didn’t want Decker finding that out.

Maybe Decker’s imagination was swirling out of control.

Drug dealers usually like to prove a point. Yet this time the kill was done at the hotel, with no evidence of torture.

Clean hit. Donatti’s M.O.

The plane was due to take off tomorrow night at six. By then, it would no longer be Decker’s business. Perhaps he should start having a good time right now. He was taking the entire family out to a very popular kosher steak house, and then afterward, he and Rina would go hear the Harley Mann Quintet at one of the hotels. Initially, Rina felt squeamish about going. How could she go out and have a good time when the Liebers were suffering?

“If being miserable would help them, I’d agree with you. But right now, the best thing we can do for us-you and me-is to try to appreciate our own lives and have a little fun,” Decker argued.

Rina certainly had no comeback for that. Maybe a couple of glasses of wine would put her in a festive mood. At this point, he felt as if he could drink an entire bottle by himself.

He was supposed to meet the crew at six. He arrived twenty minutes early. At five to the hour, Decker spied three-quarters of his progeny-Sammy, Jacob, and Hannah-walking up the street. Two good-looking young men and a squirt-all of them with their entire lives ahead of them. God, just let them be well. Decker felt that instant jolt of parental alarm but quelled it. Then he gave himself a psychic pat on the back for a job well done.

Hannah skipped over to him and took his hand. She was wearing a denim skirt and a green sweater, her red curls bouncing over her shoulders. “Where’s Eema?”

“She’s meeting us here.” Decker bent down and kissed the top of her head. “How was the museum?”

“Very good,” she replied. “I liked the whale.”

“The whale was cool.” Jacob was rolling a carry-on bag. “Very big.”

“We also took her to the old Hayden Planetarium,” Sammy said.

“Sounds like a busy day,” Decker said.

“Yeah, my feet are tired,” Sammy complained. “Can we sit down?”

“Let’s give Eema a few more minutes, okay?” Decker suggested.

The kids weren’t happy with the suggestion, but, for a change, no one argued. The boys were dressed similarly-dark sweaters and jeans. Jacob had on a thick denim jacket; Sammy wore a nappy, flannel plaid shirt that subbed as an overcoat.

“How’s it going?” Sammy asked his father.

“Well, this is certainly the highlight of the trip,” Decker said.

“That good, huh?”

“It’s good to see you guys.”

“There’s Eema,” Jacob announced. “At least, I think that’s her. She’s sort of buried underneath all that cargo.”