“No, Nicki. I didn’t kill him. I’ll admit the way of doing it was my idea, but I wasn’t there when it happened. I was at home, writing. Jane was the one who killed him.”

My eyes move to the woman in the corner. She’s nodding. Nodding and crying. She won’t be able to breathe through her nose for much longer if she doesn’t stop crying. Fuck. I don’t want to watch a woman die. Thinking about it gives me a sharp pinch of fear in my heart.

“You made her do it, Reuben,” I say gently. “It’s not her fault. Take the tape off her mouth—let her tell me.”

If he gets off me, I can try to run. I still have a life, at the moment. A husband, two beautiful children . . .

You can’t run and leave her here with him. He doesn’t care if she lives or dies.

I think about what Gavin wrote in an email: “The only person I know whom I can never forgive is my wife . . . It was my inability to forgive her that drove me to the Intimate Links website.”

Tasker’s shaking his head. I can’t remember the last thing I said to him. I must stop my mind from wandering. “Jane’s a free agent,” he says. That’s right: I asked him to take the tape off her mouth. “Yeah, I said, ‘Do this, do that.’ She didn’t have to listen. I was upset—I didn’t mean what I said. I wanted to see if she’d do it. She’ll do anything I say, won’t you, honey?” His words speed up as his eyes start to flit around the room. As if he’s lost me and is frantically looking for me, even though I haven’t moved. He tips forward suddenly, nearly losing his balance before he rights himself. His breath touches my skin like warm poisonous gas. “She took it too literally. I was depressed. A chance encounter between a policeman and a friend of mine had ruined a promising relationship.”

“My relationship with Gavin, you mean?”

“You met a policeman and you dumped Gavin. You wouldn’t tell him why.”

“I want to hear Jane tell me what she did,” I say. “Please, Reuben. Let her speak.”