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everyone outside.’
    Tom turned from the mirror and blinked at her. ‘I didn’t know that.’
    ‘I just said everyone looked like they were having a good time and you and Karyn had your arms round each other.’
    ‘What did you say that for?’
    ‘Because the police need to know she fancied you. Was that wrong?’
    ‘It’s OK,’ he said. ‘There’s no need to get upset. It’s me they’re going to grill, not you.’
    ‘She was flirting with you all night though.’ Ellie curled her fists tight and pinched her thumbnails into her palms. ‘I bet when you went into the bedroom to get the sleeping bag, she just pulled you down on top of her, didn’t she?’
    Tom winced. ‘It’s not something I’m proud of, Ellie, but yeah, that’s pretty much what happened.’
    She nodded. ‘I thought so.’
    He pushed the chair back under the desk. ‘You reckon we can stop talking about this now? A sad little shag with a crazy girl is a bit humiliating to discuss with my sister. Maybe we should go downstairs and see if they need any help.’
    He wrapped the newspaper into a parcel and put it in the bin. Ellie picked up the handful of hair from the corner and did the same. She was an idiot. It was horrible for him to be reminded of that night when he was supposed to be feeling safe with his family.
    ‘Are you going to dress up?’ he said. ‘Team Parker and all that? Best foot forward.’
    He was trying to make her laugh. This was how their father would speak.
    ‘All hands on deck,’ she said, because she wanted to give him something back.
    He patted her quickly on the head. ‘Don’t forget.’
    Another expression from their father. Don’t forget who you are .
    Don’t forget whose side you’re on.

Six
    They parked the car by the river and walked up the lane to the house, Jacko still feeding Mikey last-minute bits of information from Tom Parker’s Facebook page. Jacko had checked it out on the computer at work and now they both knew the bastard liked golf and sleeping and that all the friends on his page were girls.
    ‘His favourite celebrity’s Vin Diesel,’ Jacko said, ‘though I don’t think we need to let that worry us, because he also likes Where’s Wally? ’ He snapped his fingers, laughing. ‘We’re gonna take him easy!’
    But at the gate, even Jacko was silenced. They stood open-mouthed, taking it in. The house was lit up like Christmas, with fairy lights strung in the trees and torches with real flames staked along the path.
    Jacko whistled. ‘Man, they’ve gone to town!’
    ‘They’ve got no shame. I told you.’
    The place seemed even bigger than before. There must be at least five bedrooms and the lawn wrapped itself round the whole house. There were flowers that showed up their colours even in the dark, like flowers from a shop stuck in the earth. The windows seemed bigger too, all glaring with light. They obviously didn’t worry about heating bills, could just chuck cash away, probably had radiators at full blast and doors open and everything on standby all night long. There was a confidence to it that Mikey admired and hated at the same time – how come some people had so much? How come some kids got this for free?
    ‘You think they’ll suss we don’t belong?’ he said.
    Jacko screwed up his forehead and looked offended. ‘We belong everywhere.’
    ‘What about the scratched-up Jag? You think they’ll know it was me?’
    ‘Nah, plenty of people hate the guy. Just keep the spanner out of sight.’ Jacko drew in a last chestful of smoke before chucking his fag on the gravel. ‘Right, remember what we said? First one to see him sends the other a text, then we reconvene for phase two.’
    Mikey checked his mobile. He supposed it was some kind of plan.
    Jacko went first, straight through the front door and inside like he knew the place. Mikey made his way round the side, following a trickle of guests just arriving. Round the back of the house, the garden opened up. It felt different