The incident happened five days after their arrival at the safe house, in a moment so ordinary that Emma would later struggle to explain why it had affected her so deeply.

She had been in the kitchen, helping Mrs. Chen prepare lunch, when Robert entered through the back door. He had been outside checking the perimeter with Marcus, and his face was flushed from the cold, his hair windblown and messy. He looked, Emma thought, like a man who belonged in this place, who was comfortable in ...