‘And your brother?’
‘I have no idea. I haven’t been able to contact him since the day of the hijack.’
Libby shut her eyes tightly as she tried to digest Noah’s version of events. She couldn’t deny he made a compelling case and his body language indicated a man tormented by remorse. ‘Why now?’ she asked. ‘Why did you come and find me?’
‘I don’t care what the rest of the world thinks of me, I only care about you. I need you to know the way I was with you that night in Manchester and as a Passenger was the real me, not the me you’ve spent the last six months doubting.’
‘Doubting?’ she repeated, raising her brow. ‘That’s one hell of an understatement. You manipulated me and you used my brother’s death to do it. You took the single worst moment of my life and used Nicky to make me buy into your lies. Isn’t that who you really are?’
‘It’s not, I promise. Let me prove it to you. Come away with me.’
Libby thought she had misheard. ‘What?’
‘I have contacts who can get us anywhere in the world we want to be. Then we can get to know one another properly away from all of this. We can start again.’
Libby’s laugh took her as much by surprise as it did Noah. ‘Are you being serious? Why would I do that?’
‘Because you know as well as I do, despite everything, there is still something between us. It’s something I’ve only ever felt once before, with my wife. And I have to see where it goes. You can’t deny that you still have an attraction to me. Despite your bravado and all you think you know about me, you’ve still come here because there’s a part of you that wants to believe the man you have feelings for is not a bad person.’
‘This is ridiculous,’ said Libby, shaking her head vigorously. ‘I have a life, I have a new purpose, I’m doing well, I’m making changes in the world. Why would I give all of that up for a man whose friends murdered more than a thousand people? You’re mad.’
‘Libby, I swear to God I didn’t want it to happen. And I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to put things right if you let me. You can help me to make up for the terrible things that evolved from my idea.’
Libby rose to her feet and began pacing the room. ‘How can I?’ she asked. ‘Even if you’re telling the truth, you were still the catalyst. If you really do regret what happened, why don’t you hand yourself in to the police? Explain to them everything you’ve told me tonight. Proveto me in more than words that you are the man I first thought you were.’
Noah ran his hands through his hair then clasped his hands together as if in prayer. ‘I can’t, Libby,’ he pleaded. ‘They will throw everything they can at me, and some. I have only a few names I can give them, no details of where to find anyone, no proof that I didn’t orchestrate the whole thing. I can do more good on the outside than I can behind bars. Yes, I know there will be people who’ll feel they’ve got justice if they see me locked up, but with your help, I can offer so much more as a free man.’
Noah moved towards her for a second time and, again, she backed away.
‘What about if I recorded my confession and made it public once we reach wherever we’re going to?’ he offered. ‘Would that help change your mind?’
‘Jude …’ she began, then corrected herself, ‘Noah, are you listening to yourself? We’d be constantly looking over our shoulders, we’d never be able to rest. I can’t, I won’t, live my life like that. I want the things normal people want and none of this …none of it… is normal.’
‘We can have everything we want, just under abnormal circumstances. And you can continue your campaign work with proper funding behind you and an extended global reach. You can even start a charity under your brother’s name to help people with mental health issues if you like – I can access money to allow all of that to happen. I’m offering you the world, Libby, and I’m throwing myself in with the bargain. The real me. Please, I’m begging you to consider it.’
Libby’s eyes brimmed with tears, before she wiped them away with her cuff. ‘You know what really hurts? That you made a fool of me … that I let down my guard and you made me believe that you were something you were not. How can I ever get over the lies and the manipulation? If you were me, could you?’
‘I have risked so much to be here, doesn’t that tell you something?’
Libby couldn’t deny that it did. She remained motionless and studied Noah with unwavering attention. His eyes appeared filled with hope and desperation. If the man in front of her had been the man she had met in Manchester, she would have believed him. But this was Noah, and she didn’t know him any more than she did a stranger. Yet try as she might, she couldn’t deny something was pulling him towards her, an invisible magnet that made her want to go against her rationale and believe him.
‘How can I ever forgive you for what happened?’ she asked. ‘We have everything – and I meaneverything– going against us.’
‘We can work through it, I know we can. Just say you’ll give me a chance. Me appearing out of nowhere, making you this offer … I know what I’m asking you is utterly insane; I’m one hundred per cent aware of that. But I was willing to give up my freedom to come here because of what I’m sure is between us.’
A trickle of sweat made its way from the nape of Libby’s neck and down her spine. She refused to let her gaze leave Noah’s until she was ready to answer him.
Then, almost imperceptibly, she began to nod her head. In response, Noah’s eyes opened wide and his face lit up.
‘Really?’ he asked. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes,’ she said quietly. ‘But we have to leave now before I come to my senses.’
This time when Noah approached her, Libby didn’t recoil. She allowed him to throw his arms around her and draw her in close to his chest. As he leaned in to kiss her, Libby closed her eyes and forgot everything that had gone before it. For a moment, she was back in the pub garden a year ago, surrounded by the creamy glowof lanterns hanging from the trees. A stranger’s lips were locked upon hers and she breathed in the scent of his cologne and his warm skin. Back then, it was the start of a new chapter, she had thought; something inside her was awakening. The memory was fleeting and when it left, she pulled away from him.
‘Where will we go first?’ she asked.
‘I know people who can get us out of the country tonight.’
