"Paulie was obsessed with your mother," Eddie said. "I knew that when he found out about us, there would be hell to pay. But I never thought he'd do this. I still can't believe he let them kill her. Not in a million years."

"From jealousy?" Sophie said.

"From a sick, vindictive mind," Eddie said. "I should have seen it coming."

"She wouldn't blame you," Sophie said. "I know what her heart was like and I saw your gentleness and kindness. I saw that when I watched you with your little one. Your granddaughter. I knew you couldn't have hurt my mother."

"You've said enough, Sophie," Borodenko said.

"Such a sad, beautiful love story," Sophie said.

"Beautiful?" Babsie said.

"Tell me something about her," Sophie said. "Please. Give me one memory of my mother. One special thing, please."

"Are all Russians this nuts?" Babsie said.

"Lana liked to sing," Eddie said. "She'd sing in my ear in this soft, whispery voice. I taught her to sing Irish lullabies. We were on a blanket in the marina, but she liked to pretend we were in the South Seas. And when she sang too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral in that whispery Russian accent, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry."

"I will learn this song," Sophie said.

"That's just peachy," Babsie said. "Just tell us where to find Zina."

Sophie took a folded piece of paper from her pocket. She handed it to Eddie.

"Is this a joke?" Eddie said, looking at the note.

"No, you will recognize it," Sophie said.

"Maybe you should look harder for a relative of your father's," Babsie said. "They have professional services that do that now. Might save you a lot of trouble in the long run."

"I don't need such services," Sophie said. "Zina did DNA test with Kate, with different laboratory. Eddie Dunne is my father."

Chapter 44

Friday

4:30 P.M.

They crossed the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in the thick of the homebound traffic. Everybody was escaping for the weekend except Eddie Dunne's two-person contingent. A sea of taillights stretched out ahead of them on the Staten Island Expressway, but he swung off just past the bridge toll plaza, taking Fingerboard Road to Hylan Boulevard, which extended in a series of traffic lights through small, townlike neighborhoods. His third trip down it in eight days. This time, he'd go past Jimmy's Bistro to Great Kills Harbor on the south shore of Staten Island. If he had been more patient on either of the first two trips to Jimmy's Bistro, he would have tailed Sophie and Zina right to his daughter.

"Sophie is a collar," Babsie said coldly.

"We'll talk to the DA."

"What's to talk about? She's part of a kidnapping."

The note Sophie had given him contained only the name of a boat and the marina. She said the marina belonged to a friend of Zina, someone whose parents had once owned Coney Custards. Zina had kept Kate on the boat ever since that first night in Freddie Dolgev's apart-ment. Sophie said Eddie would recognize the boat. It had been a special gift from Zina. Six months earlier, she'd bought it from a man named Stark in Gerritsen Beach, then changed the name back to the original Bright Star.

"You put me on the spot back there," Babsie said, "telling them that everything said would stay in that room. That wasn't right. I can't go along with that, and you know it."

"So I lied. I would have done whatever it took, Babsie. Why don't we forget my sins for now and focus on how we're going to get Zina off that boat."

"With lots of backup, that's how," Babsie said, dialing her cell phone. "I'm calling Boland."

"Let me take a run at her first."

"She sees you, it's war. She sees an army, maybe she gives up."

"I can handle her."

"Eddie, Sophie's been your daughter for about an hour. Think about the one in Coney Island Hospital who's had to put up with you for the past thirty-four years. Kate doesn't need you to get blown away right now."

"So I just forget about Sophie?"

"Yes. Your role here is to not risk your life to please an overemotional Russian barracuda. You don't owe Sophie a thing. What is it with you guys? Is it the sound of the door slamming that causes male amnesia? You walk out of the house and-bang-you forget all about the family. The next pretty blonde gets all the quality time."

"This has nothing to do with pretty."

Babsie was already talking to Boland, giving him the address, the Sophie story, the whole megillah. Eddie wondered when the balance of power in this relationship had shifted to Babsie. He was suddenly stunned by how little control he had over his life. He'd always thought of himself as a tough guy, doing it his way, but now he realized how dependent he was on the opinions of women.

"Boland has two guys from the task force working out here," she said. "Apparently, they have a big Russian enclave near Great Kills. They'll meet us at the marina. He's also notifying Emergency Services, and the One-two-two. He says we're going to need bodies out here for crowd control."

"It's going to look like St. Paddy's Day with all the uniforms."

"Better safe than sorry," she said. "Harbor Unit is going to be there in case she pulls a Miami Vice. But there's no way I'm getting on any boat in this skirt."

"They'll need me to identify Zina."

"I can handle that. Let's be clear about one thing. This woman hates your guts, and mine. She tried to kill me and most of your family nine hours ago. And she kicked your ass already. Remember that debacle? This time, you and I are going to let the young studs handle it. The best thing we can do here is nothing stupid."

The setting sun, a bright orange ball burning through a purple-green haze, reflected on the dark Atlantic. The joint effort of nature and escaping gases of New Jersey blended into a spectacular, if not pristine, sunset.

"I didn't see the barracuda you're talking about," Eddie said.

"Sophie plays men," Babsie said, her voice softer. "And she's good at it. She does this Poor Little Buttercup routine and every guy wants to protect her. She plays Borodenko, and she played you. I figure she played Zina until she got her doing her bidding. But she wants everyone to think Zina was the aggressor. It's everyone's fault except poor sweet Sophie's. But I see big holes in the princess's fairy tale. Other people had to be involved in this. Who guarded Kate? There had to have been someone here watching her. And who dropped Kate off in Coney Island last night? Not Zina, I bet."

"So we can't even give her the benefit of the doubt?" Eddie said.

"Have you gone nuts, too? That shit never works when you're dealing with people like this. I know you want to mellow out in your old age, but sometimes you have to drag out your old ass-kicking personality. Give this woman a hard look, Eddie. And save the benefit of the doubt for the people who love you."

They followed a line of traffic into the marina parking lot. Some people were coming early for the restaurants. Others, in SUVs and pickup trucks, looked like they had supplies to load onto their boats for the weekend. Sunny skies and temperatures in the low seventies were predicted for Saturday. Eddie spotted the task force car parked behind the marina building. He recognized the two guys from the Flushing Salvage raid-one agent, one NYPD detective-going into the marina office. Eddie parked next to them. They were about fifty yards from the water.

"We have to figure a way to control this crowd before it gets out of hand," Babsie said, getting out of the car. "If she starts with the firepower, we could have a massacre. Let me talk to these guys. Maybe we can start isolating the area around the boat. Try not to turn into Mister Rogers while I'm gone."