He takes the bottle and drinks deeply.

She moves up close to him, brushes some sand away from the skin on his thigh.

“You know what else is tradition on this night?”

He looks down at where her hand is still on him, light and easy. He shakes his head no.

“We girls get to play with whoever we want.”

A grin spreads on his face. “I like that tradition. Very much.”

When the wine is gone, he rises and reaches for her hand. “I’ve got a place we can go to. It’s not far.”

“I don’t have long,” she says. “We swim with the tides.”

“Swim?” he looks out to sea. There’s nothing there, not for miles.

Her face twitches, very slightly. “I meant sail. We sail with the tides.”

“I don’t see a boat.”

She’s already walking away, a dark-colored coat thrown over one shoulder. “Do you want to or not?”

At the rented cottage, he offers her a drink. Only half an hour after that, she is out cold. He hauls her unconscious body into the trunk of his car. He drives through the night, back to the soundproofed apartment. He has plans for the beach-find girl. It’s going to be fun.

CHAPTER

35

THEN

Ruby

Thursday, December 20

RUBY NO LONGER felt safe anywhere. She carried the phone he’d given her, even though it felt wrong to do so now that she knew it was tracking her. The night she’d realized he was listening to her in her flat, she’d stopped spending time there alone. It was better when she slept over at Gregor’s on the sofa. Something about the fact that they all knew the cameras were there made it less sinister. Occasionally she would wake, sweating, in the small hours, stare up at the light fitting and think about phoning Joanna, telling her everything, asking her to come rescue them. But then she’d remember, she couldn’t do that without him knowing, and if he found out he’d been betrayed, then what? He was clearly capable of violence. He had her old phone with all her contacts—did he therefore realize who Joanna was, that she was a police officer? No, she was just listed as Joanna, so there was no reason he would know that. The idea that she still had secrets from Gregor was a comfort. Something she could use against him, if it came to it.

She thought of the Yoga Man days, when she would spy on him in the dark, convinced she was being so secretive, watching him when he didn’t know. But he did know; he’d always known. At the time she’d enjoyed the fantasy that he was performing for her, but now the thought of it made her shudder. She’d started to take sleeping pills again, and several times found herself dosing up on beta blockers during the day for the anxiety.