A Father's Love by David Goldman

secret from me. In it, she alleged that she and Sean had already been living in Brazil for an extended period of time, and that Sean had already been enrolled in school—both misleading statements. Bruna had indeed enrolled Sean in school as soon as she arrived in Brazil, without my knowledge or consent. She also had Sean seeing a therapist, ostensibly to “help him deal with the loss of his father,” thus attempting to give the impression to the court in Brazil that our situation had resulted from a planned separation. She even told the Brazilian courts that her parents had assisted her in negotiating the terms of our separation, an allegation her parents would later attempt to deny.
    Nothing could have been further from the truth. If there had been a planned separation, it had been orchestrated by only one partner in our marriage, Bruna, most likely with the support and assistance of her parents. When Bruna disclosed to me in one of our early conversations that she had enrolled Sean in school and that he was seeing a therapist, I was appalled. “Bruna, what are you doing?” I asked.
    â€œOh, Sean loves school, and he is seeing a wonderful therapist.”
    I later discovered that she knew exactly what she was doing, and was following a well-orchestrated plan to give the impression to the courts that she and I were legally separated.
    Â 
    Â 
    WITHIN A WEEK or so after Sean’s abduction, following Tricia Apy’s instructions, I began recording Bruna’s telephone calls to me. When Bruna realized that I was not cooperating with her plans, the calls took on a less friendly, more aggressive tone. “You need to come here,” she urged. “We need to take care of all this here. Why should I come there? You are the one alone.” At times she begged me, at other times she cajoled me, but the message remained the same. “Come here and sign over custody of Sean to me.” She promised that if I did so, she would bring Sean home for visits every few months. But then she dropped some frightening hints.
    â€œWe can do this together and do it friendly, but if you are not going to come here, things are going to change.”
    Still surprised at Bruna’s new tone, I countered, “You’re threatening me, too?”
    â€œI’m not threatening you,” she answered. “I’m telling you.”

7
    Angels and Demons
    W ORK WAS GOOD THERAPY FOR ME, ESPECIALLY DURING THOSE first few days after Bruna’s calls. Getting in my boat and heading back out to sea was a tonic for my soul as well as my body. I’m not sure that I was such good company for my charter customers, however, during those early days after Sean’s abduction. I was often sullen and moody, trying my best to help my clients have a good time and catch the big fish they sought, but becoming melancholy if not downright morose as the six-hour charter went on. Thanks to stories like Moby-Dick , fishing captains are often perceived as a crusty Captain Ahab types, or like the cantankerous shark hunter Quint in the movie Jaws , so maybe my new clients weren’t surprised. Actually, most modern captains are pretty nice guys, and I felt bad that some of my clients thought I was an unfriendly sad sack.
    About ten days after Sean had been taken, I was down at Sandy Hook Bay Marina preparing my boat to go out when a guy who looked to be about my age showed up. “Hi, I’m Mark DeAngelis,” he said. “My father and I are on your boat today.” I checked in Mark and his dad and we boarded the boat.
    Mark was about my height, and looked a bit like the actor Toby McGuire, with a light, scruffy beard. Winsome and articulate, Mark was quick to engage in conversation as we headed out to sea. He told me that he worked on Wall Street, as do many of our Shore Catch clients, given our proximity to the Big Apple, and that he and his fiancée, Denise, had just moved to our area less than two weeks