Boldt wrote on the pad, faster than Beth was supplying answers, and then tore the piece of notepaper loose and, leaning across toward Liz, left a laundry list of questions sitting in front of her.

Descriptions?

Timing?

Exactly what happened?

Demands?

Two cell phones?

Liz thought there might be something to the order he’d written them in. She felt privileged to be included and wanted to do this right. She and Beth could not be considered best friends, but Beth had, on several occasions, unloaded onto her about her fertility problems, talking extremely personally and graphically. Every relationship was viewed differently by those involved. Lou took her affair with David much more seriously than she ever had; Beth might believe them far closer friends than she did, so Liz proceeded, combining sympathy with a forced intimacy.

She asked Beth what “they” looked like, and when Beth stammered and began sliding back toward emotion rather than reason, Liz salvaged her by prodding with descriptions of her own: tall, fat, loud, dark?

“There were two of them,” Beth repeated, her eyes darting between Lou and Liz.

Lou said softly, “We know they told you to say nothing about it, Beth. Tony’s going to get better, and when he does, he could be in some trouble here, and no one wants to see that happen.”

“They made him do it!” Beth shouted loudly. One of the patrolmen poked his head out from the kitchen and then retreated. “They told him they’d hurt the twins if they didn’t get a call within the hour. Then, when they did get the call, I don’t think it was what they expected. They panicked and took off. They must have heard he’d collapsed.” She added cautiously: “I’m afraid to leave. They told me not to leave.”

Liz asked again if Beth could describe them.

Beth explained once again that there were two of them, both wearing nice suits. Good-looking men whom she’d initially taken to be FBI agents or cops. They’d arrived at the back door the night before, just after dinner. “Tony was careful. Wouldn’t let them into the house. But then when they mentioned the embezzlement investigation and that they’d rather talk in private, he let them in.”

Liz repeated, “Two men. Dark suits. Good-looking.”

“The man who spoke… the one on the left… didn’t have much of an accent. But the other one… once they were inside the door… I knew something was wrong.”

“What kind of accent?” Liz asked.

“Thick. I don’t know. Italian? Russian? Not French, not Spanish.”

She glanced at Lou’s list. Description and timing taken care of, she moved on, asking Beth what happened.

Beth wormed her fingers as she spoke. “They were polite at first. I had no idea… ” She was interrupted by a muted peal of joy from the upstairs. The twins were clearly enjoying themselves, oblivious to their mother’s contained terror a floor below. Beth looked up toward them, her face bunching as tears threatened.

Lou asked, “What did they say they were doing here?”

“All I remember is that all at once they were pushing Tony. The other one pulled me, turned me, and covered my mouth. It happened so quickly.” She rubbed her wrists where Liz could see thin but deep red bruises. “They had the twins then. I don’t remember how, exactly. Tony and I… we did exactly as they asked. I stayed with the children in the living room. The one who couldn’t speak so well watched us while the other one took Tony into the kitchen. There was talking but I couldn’t hear.”

“For how long?” Lou asked.

“Five minutes? Ten? Everything slows down, you know? Did you know that? Slows down to where it feels like forever. All I wanted was them gone. To leave us alone. It seemed like forever.”

Liz asked, “You don’t know what they said to Tony?” She saw immediately that this question frustrated Lou, and she resolved that before asking anything more, she would wait for a signal from him.

“The one who could speak… it was something to do with the bank. Tony came in and told me to do whatever the man asked, that all he had to do was go to the office for a few minutes. Everything was going to be okay as long as we did what they asked. They’d stay at the house until they confirmed Tony had done whatever it was they were asking him to do.”

“You said they panicked and took off,” Lou said. “When was this?”

“I couldn’t tell you,” Beth said.

Liz reminded her that Lou wanted to get Beth to the hospital, if possible.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Beth said. “I’m not leaving the children, and I’m not going without them, and I’m not taking them with me. You see? I’m staying.”

“It’s over,” Lou said.

“No!” she replied sharply. “Just because you say it’s over doesn’t mean it’s over.”

“No, of course not,” Lou said, shooting Liz a quick look, which she took to mean she should continue.

“You don’t know for sure what they asked Tony to do?” she asked.

“Just something at the bank. That’s all. That they would hurt him-us-if he didn’t do this… ” She looked up at Lou and burst into tears. “I did what they told me to do.”

Liz moved over to comfort her. “Of course you did, Beth. It’s not your fault.”

Lou excused himself and walked into the kitchen. A lot of male voices in there, but Liz couldn’t make out what was said.

Liz said gently, “We need to get you down to the hospital, Beth. That’s why Lou asked me here. Mary’s with the twins. The police can protect them better here, but Tony needs you right now. These men wanted something from Tony, wanted him to do something-we think we know what it might have been.”

Beth jerked her head up to meet Liz’s eyes, some of the brightness returned.

“Tony’s security clearance allows him a great deal of access at the bank,” Liz said. She knew another possibility existed, but didn’t mention it: that Tony had been part of the earlier embezzlement, that everything that had happened here this morning connected directly to the past, just as what had been happening to her also connected to her past.

“Tony’s a good man,” Beth mumbled. “You’ve seen him with the twins.”

“He needs you, Beth. We’ve got to get you down to the hospital. Why don’t I check with Mary and make sure everything’s okay?” Mary was Tony’s older sister and the mother of five. “If she’s got it under control, we’ll let Lou take you to see Tony. Okay?”

Beth nodded, though appeared off in another realm. Lou signaled a patrolwoman, who came over and sat across from Beth. Liz hurried upstairs, knowing in advance that Mary had everything under control. Finding it so, she returned to the living room and won Lou’s attention through the kitchen door.

She told him somewhat loudly so Beth could hear, “Beth has agreed to go see Tony with you. I told her there’d be plenty of officers here while Mary looks after the twins.”

“Absolutely,” Boldt said.

Beth stood up from the couch, and the patrolwoman hooked an arm to steady her.

Liz said, “Let’s get you freshened up, and Lou will drive you over there.” She felt nearly desperate to get back to the bank and keep her people on point, in Tony’s absence. Like it or not, the merger quickly approached, and her team was directly responsible for a smooth transition. She contained her impatience, willing to give this a few more minutes.

Not long thereafter she pulled the Boldt minivan back into the bank’s subterranean parking garage and her reserved spot. She shut off the engine and collected her purse. Climbing out of the van, she was immediately jolted by the ringing of her cell phone, and she scrambled to answer it.

Occupied as she was, her left hand holding her purse while her right hand dug down into a pocket for the phone, she jerked back but did not scream as a hand clapped over her mouth. Broad daylight, was her first inexplicable thought. The garage glowed beneath a gloomy twilight of tube lighting. By the time her panicked brain registered anything beyond the time of day, she’d been catapulted through the van’s open sliding door, a bag placed over her head and a wide piece of tape slapped around her head, holding it to a headrest while wedging open her mouth. She heard the tinkle of keys along with the contents of her purse spill. She heard her cell phone beep and the familiar sound of the van’s seat belt warning buzzer, but the engine did not start. In the course of events her arms were yanked and taped together behind the seat, although her wrists did not touch. All this in a matter of ten to fifteen seconds.