Rachel looked at him blankly and Archie realized that she had no idea what he was talking about. He didn’t talk about his work with her. She didn’t know anything about the island. It was possible that she didn’t even know that Gretchen was back in the area. “Never mind,” he said. “This little show tonight, that was her idea?”

“I got an e-mail,” Rachel said. “And a ten-grand bonus.” Rachel glanced at the laptop at Archie’s elbow and her mouth tightened. “You know, she’s watching us,” Rachel said. “Probably right now.”

Archie turned and put his face in front of the laptop and waved for a moment and then turned back to Rachel, who was looking at him like he had gone crazy. “She can see us,” Archie explained. “She can’t hear us.”

Rachel looked at the door again, her face frantic. “What’s your plan?” she asked.

“Oh, I have no fucking idea,” Archie said brightly. “I’m feeling a little exposed here, pretty epically mind-fucked, so you’ll have to excuse me if I just play this by ear.”

“Maybe you should call for backup?” Rachel suggested.

“Then she won’t come,” Archie said. He leaned back against the counter on his elbows. “I want her to come. I want to see what she does.” He glanced out the window again. The sky was black, like someone had rubbed out the stars with their thumb. “I don’t think she’s very far away.”

“Uncuff me,” Rachel pleaded.

“I don’t want you to leave,” Archie said.

Rachel lifted her chin. “Am I in trouble?” she asked.

“For what?” Archie asked. “The prostitution? Or the aiding and abetting an escaped killer?”

“You don’t get to judge me,” Rachel said, eyes hardening. “You’re the one who fucked her. What happened, Archie? Did you like it when she was cutting into you in that basement? When she’d drag that scalpel across your chest, did it make you hard? Did you beg her to push it in deeper?”

“Something like that,” Archie said. He walked to the window and gazed out. He didn’t see any sign of the patrol unit that Sanchez had mentioned. “She didn’t even have to seduce me,” Archie said. “I went to her house one night. I knocked on her door, knowing what I wanted to happen.” He could see Gretchen even now, opening her door in a white satin robe, her smile when she’d seen it was him, and his relief when she’d asked him inside. Gretchen had a beautiful smile. It lit up a room.

“You’re a fool,” Rachel said gently.

Archie glanced back at her. “News flash,” he said dryly.