“Technically, you did. But that’s not what I meant, Ruby, honey. Can we start over?” How come they always ended up here, no matter how much Jo tried not to? Atkinson side-eyed her. This was no time for an argument. Don’t make her hang up and turn off the phone again. Jo took a slow breath and tried again. “I’m not blaming you. I know why you did it, Ruby. And we’re not going to arrest you.”

“We? You mean, the police? But, Jo, I thought I was talking to you. As a person, not as a copper.” She sounded hurt, then angry. “Nothing ever changes, does it?”

“Please, Ruby. I’m sorry. Is Leonie okay?”

“Yes, she’s fine. She’s the best thing in the world, actually. She’s asleep right now.”

“And you’re on the boat?”

“Yes. We should dock soon.”

“I need to ask, have you seen Gregor anywhere?”

Suddenly Ruby’s voice was panicked. “Why would I have seen him? Is he in Scotland? I know he escaped from the hospital, but I hoped, because of the injury, maybe he wouldn’t have gotten very far.”

“He went to see your friend Sam.”

“Sam? Is Sam okay? What did he do?”

“He’ll be fine. But Gregor, he knows where you’re going. He’s trying to find you, and maybe hurt you. He’s angry. Perhaps he wants to take his daughter back. And he’s ahead of us, though we’re coming as fast as we can.”

“But I’m on a ferry.” Ruby sounded shaken. “I’ve been on it for nearly five hours, and he’s definitely not here. I haven’t seen him. Although …”

“What?”

“It’s nothing. Only, Leonie said something about seeing him. But she was half asleep at the time.”

Joanna stiffened in fear. “You’re sure? You checked he wasn’t there?”

“Yes. I’m sure.”

There was a tremor in her voice, though, that neither of them acknowledged. She must be terrified. And the little girl; surely she was traumatized too. No wonder she was seeing that man around every corner.

“That’s great,” said Jo. “He must have missed it, like we thought. He might try to get on it tomorrow, but we’ll be there in time to stop him. We won’t let him get to you.”

“If he catches me, I don’t know what he’ll do.”

“I know, honey. I know what he’s capable of. I know why you had to defend yourself. Just a shame you didn’t hit him harder.”

“Me? You think that was me? I didn’t even know about it until I saw it on the news.”

Jo exhaled. “I knew it couldn’t be you.”

“But if you think I’m a criminal …”

“What are you even doing up there, Ruby? What’s on the island you so desperately need to get to?”