“I understand—”

“No, you don’t understand a whit. ’Cause if you did understand, you wouldn’t be here!” He yanked the cigarette out and pointed it at her. “You want to stay married to me, you stay out of my business. We are not partners. You do not pick up my slack, because you don’t help me when you do. You are hindering me. I get so goddamn nervous trying to baby-sit you, I can’t do my friggin job.”

“After this, no more.”

“I’ve heard that before.”

“I promise, Peter, no more. It’s just that Noam is a special case.”

“He’s my special case, not yours. Rina, I hate talking to you like this, but I feel that unless I do, nothing’s going to get through.”

“It’s okay, I’m not upset. See, I’m smiling.” Rina smiled. “See, I’m happy.”

The smile looked as if it was going to crack her cheeks. Decker had to laugh. He sighed and hugged her fiercely. “You’re such a pain in the ass. But I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Rina hugged him back. “Sorry for worrying you. It was stupid, but all I could think about was Noam. And Paul looked so sick.”

“You think he’s sick now, wait until I’m done with him.”

“Don’t take it out on him,” Rina said. “I wouldn’t let him have the fliers.”

“I don’t expect him to be able to reason with you.” Decker put the cigarette back in his pocket. “Lord knows I can’t. But he should have told me what you were up to.” He grimaced, then looped his arm around her shoulder. “C’mon, let’s finish up and go home.”

Rina said, “Peter, if Hersh is a suspect in such a horrible murder, why aren’t there other people looking for him?”

“Because we really don’t know where Noam and Hersh are. This is just a guess, a precaution. In case they decide to leave the city. Marge is checking out the bus terminal and the railroads. I did find the motel where they’d been staying. They checked out in a hurry. The clerk had no idea where they were headed.”

He glanced around the gates. They were all closed, the next flight out an hour away. A male body was stretched out over a row of chairs, a newspaper over his head. From under the comics came deep grunts and snorts. A Hispanic janitor, dressed in navy-blue coveralls, was mopping the floor. Muzak was being piped through the loudspeakers.

They walked for a moment in silence. Though bone-weary, Decker found a current of energy in Rina’s touch, her arm around his waist, her fingers tucked into his seat pocket. He hugged her shoulder as he walked, almost lifting her off her feet. Then he stopped abruptly.

“What is it?” Rina said.