Page 73 of The House Guest

‘I need to go inside,’ she said, suddenly dizzy.

‘Of course.’

They stepped back into the room and Gabriel pushed the buttons again. The balcony slid back with hardly a sound into the floor beneath their feet, and the windows swung slowly out and snicked closed. It was utterly insane, and beautiful.

They sat back at the table. She sipped at her coffee but it had gone cold.

‘I’ll get you another,’ Gabriel said.

‘No. Please. It’s fine.’

‘If you’re sure. Perhaps I should let you rest now. Think about what I said. I’m sure you’ll have lots of questions.’

She nodded.

‘But I’d like you to stay here a little longer, so we can have a chance to talk again once what I’ve told you has sunk in. And you should talk to Eden and Marie and the others.’

She found herself nodding.

He rose to leave.

‘Wait,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry, but I’m confused. You say you can help me. That you want me to join you. But I don’t understand what that means. What it entails. And I really don’t understand why I have to stay here.’

‘You don’t. Of course you don’t. But I wasn’t sure if you had anywhere else to go.’

‘I thought I’d go back to Mona and Jack’s.’

‘Ah.’ He frowned. ‘Eden didn’t tell you?’

‘Tell me what?’

‘About what happened to Jack ... I’d rather let Eden tell you.’

He opened the door – and Emilio almost fell into the room.

‘Is everything okay?’ Gabriel asked.

Emilio gathered himself. ‘Sorry, I was about to knock. I need to talk to you.’

‘Of course.’ Gabriel turned back to Ruth. ‘Apologies. I’ll send Eden in. But we can continue this tomorrow.’

To her surprise, he dashed back into the room and took hold of her hands, gripping them enthusiastically. ‘You’re so smart, Ruth. So special. Never let anyone tell you different. You deserve the world.’

He let go of her hands and moved towards the door, where Emilio was waiting, but then turned to her a last time.

‘And I can give it to you.’

PART THREE

Chapter 32

I got off the PATH at Newark Penn Station and took an Uber to the address Wanda had given us. It wasn’t her cabin this time, but a diner outside Newark.

‘Can’t risk you leading them anywhere near my place,’ she had said on the phone. Callum had told me Wanda constantly switched burner phones. ‘Not now you’ve raised the stakes so much.’

The Uber dropped me outside the diner and I went in, spotting Wanda in a corner booth. She seemed nervous but excited. She had her baseball cap on and, instead of the yellow-tinged glasses, a pair of aviator shades.

‘Are you one hundred per cent certain no one followed you?’ she said, checking over my shoulder.

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