Leonie had been handed a bottle of apple juice with a straw sticking out of it, and she sat, dangling her legs on the stainless-steel kitchen counter, slurping the sweet liquid and humming.

“Nearly two,” said Ruby, thinking, Why did I come in here? She needed to get away, get back to the boat. Every second she spent here, every bit of information she gave to this woman, would put them in danger of being caught.

Just then there were footsteps on the stairs above them. It was too early for the pub to have any customers yet. They both looked up. “That’s the landlord,” said the chef. “What’s your name, lovely?”

“Lonie!” shouted Leonie.

“Ha ha,” said Ruby, picking her up and making for the door. “I don’t know why she says that. Her name’s Anna, actually. Funny, the things they come out with, isn’t it? Better be off—thanks for the first-aid kit.”

Ruby hurried through the bar. As she did so, she caught sight of the TV, where a news channel was silently rolling along. She read the words on the banner. Police are still searching for a man who escaped from hospital after seriously assaulting a member of staff. The man, who was using the name Gregor Franks, until recently was in a coma after being found unconscious on Friday. The public are being asked to help search for a woman in relation to the inquiry, who was last seen traveling with a young child who may answer to the name Leonie.…

The chef followed Ruby’s eyes to the TV and then looked at the child. Ruby saw her frown, look again at the TV, again at Ruby.

“Which house did you say you were looking at, love? The Simonsen’s? Maybe I could put in a word for you.” But her face had changed. She wasn’t friendly anymore, she was suspicious.

Without saying another word, Ruby backed into the swing door and went through. It was bad enough that the police were after her, that she might have given away their location by talking to this person. But the thing making her heart pound was the other part. Gregor was no longer in hospital. He was on the run, and he’d be coming for her. She needed to get moving as quickly as possible.

“Hey,” shouted the chef, as Ruby held Leonie close and started to run across the green and back to the gate.

CHAPTER

44

NOW

The Injured Man

Wednesday, December 26