One Perfect Couple

Lyla tries to encourage the others, who are in despair over the ship’s departure. Santana points out that trying again may not be an option and asserts that she will die in a few days without her insulin. Later, Lyla realizes that Conor has no interest in being rescued while the others are still alive because they can implicate him in Dan’s and Bayer’s deaths. Angel puts it in the starkest terms possible when she concludes, “So we must kill him, before he kills us. It’s come to that” (299). Lyla rejects the idea, but Angel tells her that she is naively underestimating the threat represented by abusive and controlling men.

Lyla points out that Conor does have one vulnerability: the fact that none of them know whether the battery-operated cameras are still storing footage. All of Conor’s worst behavior has taken place away from the devices, except for part of the fight with Bayer. Lyla reminds the others that there is no sound recording. To Lyla’s dismay, Angel points out that the microphone malfunction works to their advantage, as no one will have evidence of the escalating tensions. Lyla has trouble sleeping that night as she recalls Conor’s expression of “calculation” (302).