Archie looked at the screen and then back at her. Susan was a snoop by nature. She needed to know everything, especially if it concerned her even in the most tangential sense. Most of the time Archie found that rather charming, but right now it was not charming at all. He needed to see that footage. She had no idea what was at stake.

“Leo used a choke hold on me,” Archie explained. “He had his reasons. Which he shared with me later.”

“A choke hold?” Susan asked, arms still crossed.

Archie sighed. Fine. “He stepped next to me,” Archie said, pivoting slightly behind Susan. “Close, like this. I thought he was going to tell me something he didn’t want overheard, but instead he put his arm around my neck and pressed his forearm here.” Archie reached around Susan, hooking his elbow lightly under her neck, and anchoring his wrist with his other hand. The move required him to tuck his body against hers, as he pulled her back into his arms. He could feel her pulse on the inside of his elbow, but she didn’t protest. “It compresses the carotid artery,” Archie explained, his arm pressing ever so gently against her neck. “Your brain can’t get enough oxygen.” His mouth was next to her ear, just as Leo’s had been next to Archie’s when he’d told him not to struggle. “This warm blackness just sort of overwhelms you,” Archie told her. Her hair smelled like peppermint. He could taste it in the air. Her lashes fluttered, her eyes straining to access her peripheral vision. “When it’s done right, it just takes a few seconds before everything shuts down. Your arms and legs go numb, and you black out.” She was very still. She did not move out of his arms. Instead she leaned back into him, releasing her weight into his arms, the back of her head resting in the hollow of his shoulder. “He left me on the floor,” Archie continued. “Blackouts from a choke hold usually last a few minutes. Assuming you don’t break someone’s neck. But when Leo came back, I was gone. He assumed I had come to, and gotten out of there.”

“But you hadn’t,” Susan said. She was pressed against him. Had he pulled her that close, or had she backed into him more tightly? He could feel the heat between them, clouding his head. Archie dropped his arms and stepped back. “I didn’t come to until shortly before I saw you this morning,” he said. “About five hours later.”

Susan’s cheeks were pink. She reached a hand to her neck. “So how did you get to the boathouse?” she asked, looking sideways at him.

Archie pointed at the screen.

“Okay, okay.” Susan started the video loading again.

They stood together in awkward silence, watching the status bar.

Seventy-five percent loaded.

Eighty-two percent loaded.

Ninety percent loaded.