“I’ll take her back to Brooklyn. That’s a given—”

“You and me need to have a good, long talk when you get in tomorrow.”

“I’ll tell you everything I know. Start to finish, Randy, I promise.”

“I love that guy. He’s the only brother I got. And I’m rather fond of you.”

“I won’t do anything stupid.”

“I wish I believed that.” A pause. “Okay.” More resolute this time. “Okay, I’ll cover for you. I have to talk to Pete anyway. He asked for some information, and I may have something for him tomorrow morning.”

“He called you?”

“A couple of days ago, yeah.”

“What did he ask you about?”

“That’s not for me to say. Rina, I swear to God, you better know what you’re doing, because I’m Hannah’s legal guardian. If something happens to both of you, do you want me raising your daughter?”

Randy was on wife number four. He was making a very strong point.

“I think you’re a fine man.”

“That may be, sis, but we have differing styles. I’m bringing it down to a level you can understand.”

“I hear you. Thank you very much.”

“I’ll feel a lot better when you thank me in person.”

By the time she got back to Manhattan, it was almost midnight. To her surprise, she made it uptown in twenty minutes, amazed at how fast she could cross the city without traffic as an impediment. Still, she didn’t get out right away, sitting in Sora Lazarus’s old Honda, staring at the building. She was on a tight schedule. It was do or die. Finally, she pulled the door handle and made the plunge, locking the car with the remote. A quick glance around, then she ran over to the building’s lobby.

No listing for Donatti.

Either he was unlisted or she had the wrong numbers. By now, it was way too late to start pushing random buzzers, but having come this far, she wasn’t quite ready to admit defeat. Noting that the fifth and sixth floors were taken up by one tenant, MMO, she figured that maybe that was her best bet. But before she could depress the corresponding white button, the door barked out an irritating drone.

She went in, stopping in front of the elevator.

Where to?

No idea.

He’d come get her.

And he did—sunken eyes, pale lips, and a complexion that was florid and pallid at the same time. He wore black sweatpants and a loose white T-shirt. His feet were bare. He crooked a finger and she followed. The silent ride up was incredibly slow. As they got out, he put his finger to his lips, then took her through an anteroom with a metal detector. When Rina set it off, he shushed her silently and waved her forward, through a door and into a spacious loft filled with windows that framed city lights. A pile of broken glass and tangled metal took up most of the center area. To the right was a zone devoted to photography equipment; three doors took up the left-hand wall. He opened one of them, then stepped aside, indicating that she should go in first.