Behind him Evan heard Manny curse at him in Spanish.

“About that.” René lifted one dripping foot from the tank and then the other. “There’s something I’d like to show you.”

Pulling on a heavy robe, he knotted the sash. Then he leaned over and sprayed down the zero gravity chair with mist from the clear cylindrical bottle.

“What is that?” Evan asked.

“Privacy spray. It removes ninety-nine-point-five percent of DNA from surfaces. And obscures the remaining point-five percent by layering it over with a blend of genetic material.” René stomped his feet into a waiting pair of moon boots. “You’re not the only one who can make himself disappear. When I decide I don’t want to be found, no one ever finds me.”

For now Evan let that go.

Manny and Nando got Evan moving back through the gauntlet of steam rooms and up various hallways, René keeping well ahead of them. At last the giant chandelier of the foyer bloomed overhead.

Tightening his thick bathrobe, René stepped out onto the porch, then turned and faced them across the expanse of the foyer. Wind fluttered his hair. Snow had fallen last night. Standing there in the doorway, he was silhouetted against the vivid white backdrop.

He curled a finger. Come.

Manny and Nando prompted Evan, and he walked across the frigid marble floor. Already he could feel the bite of the outside air. The minute he stepped out, the air assailed him. His boxers provided scant cover. Manny and Nando put him on the opposite side of the porch, safely away from René, who stood waiting in his cozy robe and moon boots.

Evan tucked the bag of chips into the waistband of his boxers so he could blow into his hands. His cheeks and lips felt raw. He wasn’t sure how long he would be made to stand out here.

Before he saw anything, he heard the faint drone of an engine reverberating around the walls of the valley. Then a plume of exhaust came visible, thin as a straw, way up the gravel road at the horizon. Soon he made out the dot of a black vehicle. It resolved as one of the Mercedes Geländewagens.

The autumn chill burrowed beneath his flesh, firing the nerves inside his scrapes and bruises. Muscle throbbed over aching bones. He thought he might freeze solid before the vehicle—and whatever it was carrying—arrived.

He bounced on his bare feet, doing his best to keep warm. He could no longer feel his face. On the far side of the porch, René whistled a chipper tune.

It took an eternity, but at last the G-Wagon pulled in to the circular driveway, the tires clicking over the cobblestones. It stopped. The tinted windows threw back Evan’s reflection. His skin was tinged blue.