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peroxide to my load, paid for my purchases, and headed back to the hotel.
    By the time I got back, my fantasy of soaking in a pool of warm water had changed to one of lying in an ice bath. The problem was that the bath in my room wasn’t really big enough to do any real soaking. I was in the elevator, contemplating the logistics of my problem when the doors opened to reveal Trent.
    ‘Hey,’ I said. ‘Where’s Mum?’
    ‘Getting dressed,’ he said. ‘She’ll be down in about fifteen minutes. Where have you been?’
    ‘Buying stuff to remove this ridiculous tan. Problem is,’ I said, ‘I need to soak it, but the bath in my room isn’t big enough.’
    ‘Use ours,’ Trent said. ‘It’s a spa bath.’
    Mum answered the door with a dreamy satisfied smile on her face that made me wonder if they had already tried out the spa bath.
    Their suite was much bigger than my room. A partial wall separated the bedroom from a lounge that housed an enormous flat screen television. The bedroom opened onto a large bathroom, the star of which was a ginormous free-standing spa bath.
    ‘Mind if I use your bath? I need to soak this,’ I waved my arm at her, ‘so I can scrub it.’
    ‘Sure, but don’t go overboard. You don’t want it to scab.’
    She had a point. That would probably look worse.
    I put the plug in the bath, turned on the taps, and wandered out to watch her get ready.
    ‘What’s the plan for tonight?’ I asked as she applied her mascara.
    ‘Well, we have a dress rehearsal at 1am.’
    ‘That’s late.’
    ‘They’re closing the club early for us.’
    ‘On a Friday night?’
    ‘It’s Thursday night here.’
    It was going to take a while for me to get my head around the different time zones. ‘And then tomorrow night is the first performance?’
    ‘Uhuh.’
    I watched her apply her lipstick and then checked on the bath. It was three quarters full and the perfect temperature.

4
Bad To The Bone
    It took longer than it should have to get my clothes back on. I tripped on the cuff of my pants and cracked my head on the corner of the vanity, and then I couldn’t get my arm back through the sleeve of my shirt. It was still hooked up around my bra-line when I scooped up my sandals, dumped them in my bag, and then opened the door slowly till I could peer down the hallway.
    I could see Mum, with Mickey, Tommy and Riley, hopping into the elevator. I contemplated running for the elevator and playing a giddy, excited girl on her first visit to Las Vegas (which wouldn’t have been a stretch for me because until 5 minutes ago that was exactly what I was), but if they knew who Trent was, then they probably knew who I was.
    The only advantage I had at that moment was that they didn’t know I had seen them take Mum. I didn’t want to blow that one thing.
    As soon as the doors closed I raced down the hallway, hoping that the second elevator might be close by. It was on the ground floor.
    ‘Fuck,’ I said, tears of frustration welling.
    I turned to the fire escape but a large sign warned me that an alarm would go off if I opened the door. I contemplated doing it anyway but the last thing I wanted was confusion caused by an alarm. It could possibly work against, not for me.
    ‘Come on, come on,’ I muttered as the elevator slowly rose to the tenth floor.
    It felt like an hour, but it couldn’t have been more than a minute, before the doors started to open. Trent was about to step out when I barged into him and hit the ground-floor button. I slapped at the close-door button, holding it down until the doors started to shut.
    ‘They’ve got Mum,’ I said, my voice trembling. I must have looked a sight. My feet were bare, my shirt was still hooked up around my bra, and my arm was still bright orange.
    ‘Who?’ he said, his voice tense.
    ‘Mickey, Riley and Tommy Tiger.’ I plucked at the edge of my shirt till I had freed it.
    ‘Did you get a look at them?’
    ‘Not great, but I could I.D. them if I had