No Second Chance

Marc narrates as Rachel returns to the car. She thinks Denise likely called someone from the gas station. As they continue following Denise, Rachel draws routes on Verne’s road atlas. Verne calls to offer help after leaving his sons with his sister. Marc directs him to Denise’s town of Ridgewood, NJ. As they approach Denise’s home, Rachel has an idea and asks for more time. Marc reluctantly drives them downtown to meet Verne at a coffee shop.

Near 10 in the morning, Rachel borrows Marc’s phone to call her freelance contact. Verne asks if Marc and Rachel are in love, calling Marc a “dumb-ass” when he says things are complicated. Verne thinks if Marc gives up on a woman who has gone through so much for him, then he is “a professional dumb-ass. You give up your amateur status” (284).

Rachel returns and shows the men the road atlas she has been marking. The kidnappers had not known about the trackers until someone leaked Marc’s mention of them at the hospital. Rachel’s contact has Denise’s phone records, which Rachel cross-references with the kidnappers’ route from before Heshy drove in circles to buy time for Lydia’s ambush. Bacard’s number at the office complex where the tracker stopped in Chapter 32 has received six calls from Denise this month. Bacard is an adoption attorney, answering Marc’s question about how the adoption ring avoids paperwork. Katarina returns from the restroom, and Verne fills her in.

Meanwhile, Lenny calls. Marc asks if Stacy ever mentioned adoption, since Lenny was her lawyer. Lenny says no. He is calling because Pavel’s body has been found, alongside Marc’s missing gun. He says he will check regarding Stacy’s connection to adoptions, then ends the call. Marc tells Rachel about the gun. She concludes erroneously that Lydia, Pavel, and Heshy must be tied to the initial shootings, but Marc remains doubtful.

Marc suggests visiting Denise and Bacard simultaneously so that neither can alert anyone. Rachel warns against threatening a lawyer, as Marc has already “threatened a teenage girl with a gun” (287). Marc replies that he “would have never really hurt her” (287). Besides, they must act without the police, who are convinced of Rachel’s guilt. This revelation shocks Rachel. Marc ends the conversation, leaving for Bacard’s office.

Lydia is at Tatiana’s motel disguised like Denise. She knocks on Tatiana’s door, mentioning Pavel’s name, and she eventually coaxes Tatiana to the window. Lydia shoots her in the eye and forehead. Lydia disposes of her disguise as she makes her escape.

Marc narrates again as he and Rachel are outside Bacard’s office and Denise’s house, respectively. Marc enters Bacard’s normal-seeming offices and demands to see Bacard. The receptionist tries to give him the runaround, but Marc insists until the receptionist threatens to call security. At that point, Marc takes a step back, closer to the couple in the waiting area who have been watching his exchange with the receptionist. The husband tells Marc that Bacard left around 30 minutes before, so Marc goes to wait by the entrance of the building to avoid the receptionist warning Bacard of his presence. As Marc watches another couple walk into Bacard’s office, he hears screams and cries for the police coming from the complex’s underground parking garage. Marc runs to investigate and finds Bacard’s dead body, shot in the head.

Third person narration focuses on Rachel. Katarina and Verne have accompanied Rachel to Denise’s expensive house in a wealthy neighborhood in Verne’s pickup truck. Rachel rings Denise’s doorbell, introducing herself as a former FBI agent. Denise tells her through the intercom to speak to Denise’s attorney. Denise is surprised that Rachel already knows of Bacard and opens the door when Rachel threatens to ask her neighbors about her involvement in a child-buying ring. Denise denies any wrongdoing. Rachel calls Katarina out of the truck, saying Katarina will testify that Denise purchased her child. Denise then allows Rachel inside, alone.

When Rachel states that she wants one particular child, Denise replies that she does not find homes for the children. Rachel lays out what she knows about the ring bringing over pregnant women from the Balkans. She continues over Denise’s obfuscations: “Anyway, the women have the babies. You pay them. You turn the baby over to Steven Bacard. He works for desperate couples who might be willing to bend the rules. They adopt the child” (296). Denise initially denies everything, but folds when Rachel threatens to go to the FBI with Katarina’s testimony. Denise talks, framing her activities as a positive alternative to Eastern European orphanages. Rachel notes that Denise’s humanitarian rationale masks how profitable it is to sell babies to desperate, wealthy adoptive parents.

Denise divulges how Bacard completed so many illegal adoptions: they pay American women to claim the pregnancies as their own, with Denise signing off on the birth documentation. Therefore, Bacard’s adoption paperwork is for American children with appropriate local documentation, not for the undocumented children of foreign mothers. The adopting parents know nothing. Denise adds that bringing down the adoption ring may destroy the many loving adoptive families created by Bacard and Denise over the past decade. Rachel puts this thought aside and asks about Tara. Denise only knows Tara from media reports of her kidnapping.

Heshy, hidden inside Denise’s house all along, appears with a gun pointed at Rachel as Marc calls. He disarms her and answers Marc’s call, telling him to come to Denise’s residence within half an hour to learn Tara’s fate. Heshy will kill Rachel if Marc creates difficulties. Marc agrees to come. Heshy ends the call, then murders Denise. He holds Rachel hostage as they wait for Marc.

Marc drives towards Denise’s house after speaking with Heshy. Marc calls Lenny’s office regarding Bacard’s murder. Lenny knows Bacard, and he tells Marc he remembers Stacy asking about Bacard and motherhood “three, four years ago” (302). Marc wants the police to search Bacard’s office for evidence regarding Tara. Lenny agrees to call Tickner and Regan, adding that Regan has been looking for Marc.

Marc knows Heshy wants him and Rachel dead. He takes Pavel’s gun, parks near Denise’s house, and approaches on foot.

Third person narration focuses on Rachel inside Denise’s house. Lydia arrives, and Rachel’s hands are restrained. Lydia casually declares that Tatiana is dead and reveals her past as a child star. Rachel is unimpressed and responds to Lydia’s threat of imminent death by asking about Tara instead. Lydia has Heshy gag Rachel, while confessing “it’s funny” that even Lydia herself has “no idea what happened to Tara Seidman” (304).

Marc narrates as he confidently nears Denise’s house. Verne calls, which causes Marc’s unsilenced phone to ring loudly, shattering Marc’s overconfidence. Verne has entered Denise’s unlocked backdoor and sees Marc from upstairs. Verne reveals Lydia’s presence, along with Tatiana’s and Denise’s deaths. He directs Marc to park out front as a distraction. Marc complies, then exits the car. After a moment, Rachel crashes through a ground floor window in an attempt to warn Marc off, but he runs to help her.

The narration switches to Verne as Rachel crashes through the window. He orders Heshy to disarm to no avail. Verne shoots him twice. Lydia drops her gun and weeps over Heshy as sirens draw closer. Heshy tells Lydia to follow their contingency plan, overriding her tearful objections by calling her “a great actress” (308). He dies before Lydia says she loves him. She follows their plan when the police arrive by pretending to simply be Heshy’s victim.

Marc narrates afterwards. Rachel is hospitalized while the police interrogate Marc, Verne, and Katarina. Lenny arrives. Tickner and Regan appear after examining Bacard’s files. Tara remains missing. Regan debriefs Marc, explaining Lydia’s version of events. She claims Heshy coerced her aid through abuse (308). Bacard had suggested ransoming Tara, despite not having her. Bacard gave Heshy Marc’s missing weapon to frame Marc for Pavel’s murder. Bacard also provided Tara’s hair samples and set up Stacy by sending her ransom money through Heshy to use at a bank. Heshy killed Stacy afterwards. However, the reader knows that Lydia regularly issued orders to Heshy and framed Marc by killing Pavel herself.

Lenny asks why the second ransom attempt occurred much later. Regan replies that Bacard’s records indicate he simply needed money. Marc wonders why Bacard would kidnap Tara and attempt murder when he already had a steady income stream. Regan agrees, suggesting that Stacy and a partner shot Marc and Monica, then delivered Tara to Bacard (310). But Marc cannot believe Stacy’s guilt. Thinking back, Marc specifically remembers eating a granola bar, but no sound of breaking glass. Tickner confirms only “a bite or two” of the bar had been eaten, suggesting the window was smashed only after Marc was unconscious from being shot.

Suddenly, Dina Levinsky’s words return to Marc: “Did you love her?...You know who shot you, don’t you, Marc?” (310). Marc finally suspects Monica.

Marc privately calls Edgar about Monica’s psychiatrist. Edgar knows nothing, so Marc speaks to Carson. Marc says he knows Carson paid for Monica’s surveillance photos and asks if Monica’s psychiatrist was Stanley Radio (Dina Levinsky’s doctor). Upon Carson’s confirmation, Marc bids Verne and Katarina a fond temporary farewell before again borrowing Verne’s Camaro to visit Dina Levinsky.

Third person narration focuses on Lenny’s secretary. An envelope for Lenny is on her chair, labeled “PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL” with a return address that says, “From a friend of Stacy Seidman” (313). She hands Lenny the envelope, who opens it after noting the return address.

Marc narrates at Dina’s Greenwich Village apartment. They sit in her kitchen and Dina expresses regret for directing Marc to Monica’s surveillance pictures, which Dina knew Monica had hidden with Dina’s diary. To confront her past, Dina had repeatedly visited her old house (now Marc’s house), eventually meeting Monica. They formed a friendship based on their shared experience of abuse: sexual abuse from Dina’s father and physical/emotional abuse from Monica’s mother. Dina referred Monica to her therapist, Dr. Radio, but Monica preferred action over talking about her feelings. Her mother’s abuse contributed to Monica’s suspicion that Marc did not love her, but she comforted herself with Tara’s unconditional love. As Dina says, “She trapped you, Marc. You probably realize that. It wasn’t an accident. She wanted to get pregnant” (314). Marc knows Dina is correct.

Dina adds that Monica knew Marc kept a secret picture of Rachel. Monica had already felt insecure about Marc before Rachel’s drunk voicemail. Her subsequent surveillance appeared to prove Marc and Rachel’s nonexistent affair. Marc deduces that Monica feared Marc and Rachel would use their professional connections to take Tara, so she shot Marc.

Dina explains that Monica approached Stacy for a gun after asking Dina first. Knowing of Dina’s involvement, Stacy visited Dina on the morning of the shootings to ask why Monica needed a gun. Dina was unsure, so Stacy left. Dina called Marc’s house later that morning, and Monica answered, distraught from shooting Marc. The line died and nobody picked up when Dina redialed. Dina later saw reports about the kidnapping, but nothing mentioning Monica’s photos. Confused that Tara remained missing, she pointed Marc towards the photos in case they helped.

Lenny calls, claiming to know Tara’s location. He directs Marc to Newark Airport.

At 6 PM, Marc meets Lenny at the airport. The anonymous package Lenny had received earlier that day contained the names of Abe and Lorraine Tansmore, along with an address in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. The Tansmores adopted a daughter a year and a half before whose age matches Tara’s. Marc and Lenny are visiting Missouri to investigate. As they await their flight, Marc explains his current theory that Monica used his old gun to shoot him as Stacy arrived at his house after visiting Dina. Given the ballistic evidence, Monica likely tried to shoot Stacy, who probably killed Monica with her own gun in self-defense, or to avenge Marc. Stacy likely panicked and took Tara, later giving her to Bacard to place in a stable home. Marc connects his theory to known facts, stating that Bacard, with access to Tara’s hair samples, faked her kidnapping with Lydia and Heshy, then framed Stacy (318). Marc notices a change in Lenny’s expression, but they board before Marc can question him.

They arrive late and check into their hotel. Marc calls Rachel’s hospital room the next morning, and Zia is there to assure him that Rachel is okay. Marc and Lenny head towards the Tansmore’s neighborhood, which is less ritzy than Marc had imagined, given Bacard’s generally wealthy clientele. Lenny states that Abe teaches 6th grade and Lorraine is a daycare worker. Both are near 40 and have had a stable marriage for 17 years (319). As they approach, Marc can see their house is vibrant and well cared-for. Lorraine gardens in the yard as Marc and Lenny watch from their parked car nearby. Lenny mentions that Tara, whom the Tansmores call Natasha, goes with Lorraine to daycare three times a week. As they watch, Abe exits the house with Tara, and Marc sees his daughter alive for the first time in a year and a half.

Marc and Lenny watch the Tansmores with Tara for “several hours” from the parked car, witnessing how well the Tansmores care for Tara. It is clear that she is happy, well-loved, and has made at least one friend her own age, who comes by with her father to play with Tara. Eventually, the family goes inside, and Marc tells Lenny to head back to their hotel without interacting with the Tansmores.

Marc sends Lenny back to New Jersey when they return to the hotel. He calls Rachel, who is feeling better and sympathizes with Marc. He asks for her freelance contact to investigate the Tansmores. Rachel calls back, reporting that the Tansmores are model citizens. Marc thinks for hours into the night about his suitability for fatherhood and how to proceed. He wonders if it is selfish to want Tara back, especially as he can see that “Tara had looked so damn happy” with the Tansmores (323).

He sleeps but is woken at 5:19 AM by a door knock from Abe Tansmore. Marc notes that he and Abe have both been crying. Lenny had returned to the Tansmores and explained the situation before leaving for New Jersey. Lorraine and Abe have decided after a long, tearful night of discussion to return Tara to Marc. Abe is distraught, but has moral clarity, saying, “You can’t do the wrong thing for the right reason [...] If Lorraine and I don’t do this, we’re not fit to raise her. We want Natasha to be happy. We want her to be a good person” (324). He explains that Bacard’s usual fees of “over a hundred thousand dollars” were too expensive, but they should have been suspicious when Bacard called back about an abandoned baby available instantly if the Tansmores asked no questions.

Marc suggests that the Tansmores might be better for Tara’s happiness, but Abe rejects this notion, arguing for Marc’s parental rights. Marc momentarily sees his own reflection in the mirror, then tells Abe they should raise her together.

Abe is taken aback, questioning how any such arrangement could possibly work. However, Marc can see how Tara has flourished with the Tansmores and argues that many varieties of nontraditional families exist beyond nuclear families. He sincerely wishes to co-parent Tara with the Tansmores. Abe leaves to talk with Lorraine, who is in the hotel lobby with Tara. They return quickly, and Lorraine embraces Marc tightly without saying a word, which Marc welcomes. Abe enters with Tara, who is asleep. Marc narrates, “I held her, and my heart burst into flame” (325). Tara begins to wake, but Marc rocks her until she sleeps again in his arms.

Back in New Jersey, Marc continues to ponder events. The unresolved issues of the presumed police leak to Bacard and Monica’s corpse’s state of undress do not support Stacy shooting Monica. The case comes together when Marc realizes the original attack had occurred on a Wednesday.

Marc calls Tickner to confirm which of the two guns from the attack killed Monica. Tickner replies that Marc’s old gun had killed Monica. Marc hangs up as he hears Lenny enter the house as he always does, without knocking.

Marc confronts Lenny, stating that Lenny always enters without knocking and did so on Wednesday mornings for their weekly racquetball game. When Marc had theorized that Monica shot him with his own gun, Lenny, as Marc’s lawyer, knew the ballistics evidence showed Marc’s gun had actually killed Monica, but never mentioned it. Lenny replies that perhaps Stacy had given Monica a gun earlier, came over to prevent Monica from shooting Marc, then used Marc’s gun in self-defense when Monica opened fire. However, Marc states that Stacy knew neither his gun’s location in his safe nor the safe’s combination, unlike his trusted best friend and lawyer, Lenny.

Lenny explains that fateful morning: He had entered as Monica, armed, was on the phone with Dina. Marc had no pulse, and Monica began “screaming...about how she wouldn’t let anyone take away her baby,” before she fired at Lenny, who ran upstairs for Marc’s gun (328). Lenny returned downstairs and shot Monica at an angle where authorities might mistakenly think her back was turned. To avoid arrest, Lenny staged a break-in, including smashing a window and removing Monica’s clothes to hide gunpowder residue from her attempt to murder Marc. Lenny took Tara because Edgar would otherwise gain custody, since Marc had no will and appeared to be dead like Monica. Marc’s mother’s old DUI conviction and limited resources from caring for Marc’s father meant she would lose any custody battle against Edgar’s wealth. Lenny, who blames Edgar for his father’s death and for Monica’s downward spiral, told Bacard to place Tara with “the best family he had. Forget money, forget power. I wanted good people” (330). Lenny did not know the full extent of Bacard’s activities, however.

When Marc recovered, Lenny could not come clean because he feared being jailed and losing his family. Lenny claims that hiding the truth kept Tara safe with the Tansmores and his own family intact. However, Marc asks about Stacy, who had, in fact, procured a gun for Monica and hurried to Marc’s house when she realized Monica’s intentions. Stacy arrived to find Lenny staging the scene and agreed to help him. Lenny told Bacard the details when he delivered Tara. Bacard invented the kidnapping plot to defraud Edgar. Lenny’s proceeds went to a college fund for Tara. Lenny primarily agreed to Bacard’s plan because Tara would seem dead, and Marc might at least have closure. However, Bacard, Heshy, and Lydia decided without Lenny that Stacy was a liability because of her addictions, so they framed and murdered her.

Marc correctly identifies Lenny as the leak. Lenny told Bacard about police involvement during the first ransom demand because the plan was to stage the ransom drop as a failure that resulted in Tara’s death. When Bacard ran the same kidnapping scam a year and a half later, Lenny only found out when Marc informed him that a new ransom demand package had arrived. Marc realizes that since Lydia was busy killing Tatiana and Heshy was lying in wait for Denise, Lenny is the one person who had a motive and the opportunity to kill Bacard. Lenny admits as much, telling Marc, “I was Bacard’s get-out-of-jail-free card. When it all started to go wrong, he said he would turn state’s evidence against me. He’d claim I shot you and Monica and brought him Tara” (333).

Lenny explains that after killing Bacard, he could finally tell Marc the truth without fearing retaliation. Marc realizes that Lenny had left the Tansmores’ address for his own secretary to deliver back to him, giving Lenny plausible deniability. Lenny says that he did everything for Marc’s benefit, and Marc narrates that “the saddest part was, he was telling the truth” (334). Lenny asks what Marc will do next. Marc replies, “If I say I’m going to talk, will you kill me too?” (334). Lenny simply replies, “Never,” but Marc is not sure he believes Lenny.

Marc narrates events a year later. Marc’s father passed away, so Marc purchased a house two doors down from the Tansmores and moved to Missouri to be with Tara. Marc’s mother also moved to Missouri and has a nice new boyfriend. Tara is now known as Tasha, which as Marc narrates, is “short for Natasha and close to Tara” (335). She has gradually become used to spending time alone with Marc, whose co-parenting with the Tansmores is going very well.

Marc remains in contact with Verne, and they visit each other across the country. Edgar is a less constant contact, occasionally calling and sending presents for Tara/Tasha’s birthday, but clearly still feeling guilty over Monica. Zia is thriving, and Marc has opened a new branch of their non-profit in St. Louis.

Lydia has reverted to being Larissa Dane and her prediction that she would never go to jail in Chapter 22 has come true. If anything, she is a star once again. Her tearful Oprah appearance, where she blamed Heshy for everything, has led to a TV movie deal based on her experiences.

The FBI is satisfied that Denise and Bacard are both dead and will not break up the families who adopted Bacard’s bought children. Rachel has been rehired by the FBI for her involvement in breaking up the baby-buying scheme and is now posted in St. Louis. She and Marc live together, and things are mostly good between them.

Marc has never told the police about Lenny’s confession, saying, “The fact is, Lenny was right. He did do it for me...Lenny was trying to protect my daughter without sacrificing his own family. He just messed up” (337). Marc knows he will never speak to Lenny again and laments the death of their friendship. However, he also knows that Tasha’s presence in his life “is indeed a present for her from her godfather,” Lenny (338). Marc narrates this as he receives a package from Lenny and Cheryl for Tasha. He considers Abe Tansmore’s words about doing the wrong thing for the right reason and thinks again about the actions of both Lenny and Monica. He places the unopened package in a closet, compartmentalizing it away as he picks up Tasha, who has just called him “Daddy” (338).