Chapter Two
Hope woke before the alarm.
For several seconds she didn't know why.
The room was grey, the curtains breathing slightly with the air-conditioning, and somewhere beyond the glass doors a bird made a sound like a hinge being opened and closed. Her phone lay face down on the bedside table.
No alarm.
She reached for it anyway.
5:47.
She stared at the number until it became meaningless.
Then she remembered the gate.
Hope sat up.
The memory didn't arrive like a dream. Dreams blurred at the edges when you looked at them too hard. This didn't. The figure stood in her mind exactly as it had stood on the road, two hands at his sides, face lifted toward the terrace.
Waiting.
She pushed the sheet away and put both feet on the floor.
The tiles were cool now.
That felt wrong too.
She dressed quickly, pulling on yesterday's shorts and a clean shirt, then paused with one hand on the door.
For a moment she considered waking Dani.
She didn't.
There was something humiliating about saying it aloud.
There was a man at the gate.
He didn't do anything.
He didn't say anything.
He just stood there.
It sounded ridiculous before it had even left her mouth.
Hope opened the door.
The villa was quiet.
She moved through the hallway without switching on the lights. The others were still asleep. Somewhere upstairs, a tap dripped at regular intervals. Three seconds. Pause. Three seconds.
She hated that she noticed.
At the end of the corridor, the glass doors opened onto the terrace.
Hope stopped before touching the handle.
The pool lay beyond the glass.
The chairs.
The table.
Her sunbed.
And beyond all of it, the drive.
Empty.
She opened the door.
Morning air came in damp and warm, carrying the smell of the sea.
She walked barefoot across the terrace.
At the bottom of the drive, the gate stood exactly as it had the night before.
Closed.
Hope looked at the ground between the terrace and the gate.
Nothing.
No footprints.
No disturbed gravel.
No sign anyone had been there.
She almost laughed.
It came out as a breath instead.
"You're up early."
She turned.
Bayu stood in the doorway.
He had changed his shirt. Dark this time. His hair was still damp, as though he'd showered before coming downstairs.
Hope looked at him.
Then at the gate.
Then back at him.
He didn't ask what she was looking at.
That was the first thing that made her uneasy.
"Did you sleep?" she asked.
"A little."
"You?"
"No."
He stepped onto the terrace.
His eyes went to the gate.
Only for a second.
But Hope saw it.
"You saw him," she said.
Bayu's jaw moved once.
"I saw someone."
"That's not what I asked."
"I know."
The answer was so quiet that it irritated her.
Hope folded her arms.
"Who was he?"
Bayu looked toward the harbour.
"Hope."
"No."
She surprised herself with how sharp it sounded.
He turned back.
"I don't need you to tell me everything," she said. "But don't stand there and make me feel like I'm imagining things."
"I don't think you're imagining anything."
"Then tell me."
He looked at the gate again.
"Not here."
A cold line ran down Hope's back.
"Why?"
"Because if someone was there last night, they may still be watching."
She stared at him.
The villa seemed much too open.
Too much glass.
Too many places to stand and look in.
"Watching for what?"
Bayu didn't answer.
Instead, he crossed the terrace and went down the steps.
Hope followed.
They walked halfway down the drive before he stopped.
"Don't go closer."
She looked at him.
"You just said we might be watched."
"Yes."
"And you're standing in the middle of the driveway."
"I know."
"That doesn't seem very clever."
"No."
He said it dryly.
Hope looked toward the gate.
"How far away was he?"
Bayu was quiet for a moment.
"Far enough."
"That's not a measurement."
"He wasn't close."
"How close?"
"About there."
He pointed.
Hope followed his finger.
The place he indicated was perhaps thirty metres from the terrace.
Exactly where she'd seen the figure.
Her stomach tightened.
"You remember where he stood."
"I remember."
"Did you know him?"
Bayu's eyes stayed on the road.
"No."
The answer came too quickly.
Hope watched him.
He knew something.
She didn't know what.
But he knew something.
Behind them, a door slammed.
They both turned.
Theo appeared on the terrace, rubbing his eyes.
"Why are you two standing down there like you're about to bury somebody?"
Hope almost smiled.
Almost.
"Couldn't sleep," she called.
Theo yawned.
"Pool?"
"It's six in the morning."
"That's not a no."
"Go back to bed."
He disappeared.
Bayu watched until the door closed.
"He's not going to listen to you," he said.
"Nobody listens to me."
"That's not true."
"Marcus does."
Bayu smiled faintly.
"Does he?"
Hope looked at him.
It was the first real smile she'd seen from him.
It changed his face.
She didn't like noticing that either.
"Come on," she said.
They went back inside.
By seven, the villa had become noisy again.
Coffee. Showers. Music from somebody's phone. Theo complaining that someone had used all the hot water. Dani accusing Marcus of stealing her sunglasses. Priya sitting at the table with a bowl of fruit, cutting everything into pieces too small to eat.
Normal.
Hope clung to it.
Normal was useful.
Normal meant nobody had to talk about the man at the gate.
She made coffee.
Four cups.
Then five.
She stopped.
Bayu hadn't asked for one.
She poured the fifth anyway.
He took it when she handed it to him.
"Thanks."
"You looked like you needed it."
"So do you."
"I have mine."
He looked down.
She realised she had given him her own mug.
The blue one.
The one she'd brought from home because she didn't like drinking coffee out of unfamiliar cups.
She reached for it.
Bayu held it out immediately.
"Sorry."
"No."
She hesitated.
"Keep it."
He nodded.
Across the table, Dani watched them over the top of her sunglasses.
Hope saw it.
Dani saw Hope see it.
Neither said anything.
Then Marcus came in from outside.
He stopped in the doorway.
"Gate's locked."
Hope's fingers tightened around her coffee.
"What?"
"The gate."
He looked at her.
"I went to check the car."
"And?"
"It's locked."
"Obviously."
"No."
Marcus shook his head.
"That's not what I mean."
He put something on the table.
A small piece of metal.
Hope stared at it.
"What is that?"
"Found it by the gate."
Bayu had gone completely still.
Hope noticed before anyone else did.
She looked at him.
Then at the metal.
It was small enough to fit between two fingers. Dark. Scratched. Maybe part of a key.
Marcus picked it up again.
"I think it's from a lock."
Bayu stood.
"Don't touch it."
Marcus frowned.
"Why?"
"Because you don't know where it's been."
"Bit late."
He had already touched it.
Bayu's face changed.
Not much.
Just enough.
"Put it back."
Marcus laughed once.
"Mate, relax."
"Put it back."
Something in his voice made Marcus stop laughing.
He looked at Hope.
Hope looked at Bayu.
For the first time that morning, something unmistakable showed in his face.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For them.
Dani slowly removed her sunglasses.
"What happened?"
Nobody answered.
Priya looked from one face to another.
"What happened?"
Hope reached for the piece of metal.
Bayu caught her wrist.
His hand closed around it gently but firmly.
"Don't."
She stared down at his fingers around her wrist.
Then up at him.
"You're going to have to start telling me things."
"I know."
"Because I'm done being the only person in the room who doesn't know what's happening."
Bayu let go.
For a moment nobody moved.
Then something sounded from outside.
A knock.
Three slow knocks.
Not on the front door.
On the gate.
Everyone looked toward the glass.
Three more.
Every hair along her arms rose.
Theo said, "Who's that?"
Bayu didn't answer.
The knocking stopped.
Silence settled over the villa.
Then the gate began to move.
Slowly.
One of the heavy metal panels opened inward.
Hope stared.
Marcus moved first, stepping in front of Dani.
Bayu was already walking toward the terrace doors.
"Stay inside," he said.
Hope followed him.
"No."
He turned.
"Hope."
"You don't get to do that."
Another sound came from the driveway.
A car door closing.
Then footsteps.
Measured.
Unhurried.
Coming up the drive.
Her pulse beat in her throat.
The person appeared at the bottom of the steps.
A man.
Not the man from last night.
Older.
Tall.
Grey at the temples.
He wore a pale shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, and he carried no bag, no phone, nothing that explained why he was there.
He stopped.
Looked at Bayu.
Then at Hope.
His eyes settled on her.
"You're Hope."
It wasn't a question.
Hope said nothing.
The man smiled.
It wasn't a friendly smile.
"I was beginning to wonder how long it would take you to realise the gate wasn't the important part."
Bayu stepped between them.
The man's smile disappeared.
"Bayu."
Bayu's voice was low.
"Leave."
The man looked past him.
Straight at Hope.
"I've brought something for you."
Hope's stomach dropped.
"What?"
The man reached slowly into his pocket.
Bayu's hand moved beneath his shirt.
"Don't."
The man stopped.
Then he smiled again.
He took his hand back out.
Empty.
"No need for that."
He looked at Hope.
"Not yet."
Hope couldn't breathe properly.
"Who are you?"
The man glanced toward the road.
Then back at her.
"Someone who knows what happened here."
The villa shrank around them.
Hope looked at Bayu.
His face had gone pale.
The man took one step backward.
"Ask him."
Then he turned.
Walked down the drive.
And disappeared through the open gate.
Nobody moved.
Not for several seconds.
Then Hope looked at Bayu.
"Who was that?"
Bayu didn't answer.
She waited.
His eyes stayed fixed on the road.
Finally, he said, "We need to leave."
Her jaw set.
"Now you're going to tell me everything."
Bayu looked at her.
And this time, he didn't argue.
"Yes."
He looked toward the gate.
"Because they're not looking for me anymore."
A pause.
"They're looking for you."