‘Chloe!’ Taheera screams above the sound. They thud against the side of the little cream car and Chloe feels her elbow crack on the metal. ‘That truck nearly hit you.’

Dust clouds billow around the rear wheels of an empty skip lorry, chains clang against its frame and the sound of an air horn hangs in the air, as it disappears out of sight.

‘What the fuck were you doing?’

Trying to die, Chloe thinks, but she says nothing. She closes her eyes for a few seconds and when she opens them again, she thinks she sees a blue BMW following the skip lorry, disappearing in its tail-cloud of dust. She blinks and it’s gone, as if it was never there.

They sit in the car outside Meredith House. Neither of them speaks. Chloe feels a bead of sweat run down between her shoulder blades. It was cooler when the car was moving but now the heat is rising. Taheera breaks the silence first.

‘Don’t tell anyone.’

Her tone has changed. She’s not confiding in Chloe any more, it’s an instruction.

‘I won’t,’ Chloe says.

‘And I won’t tell anyone where we went.’

That’s the final deal on the table. Chloe watches her own hand reach for the door catch. Thin and white like the bones of dead birds.

‘See you,’ she says.

‘Yeah, see you,’ Taheera replies without looking at her. She starts the car before Chloe has shut the door.

Chloe tries to go straight to her room, but Emma is coming down the stairs.

‘Hiya! Tough day?’

Chloe wonders how she can possibly know about her day.

‘Takes a bit of getting used to, doesn’t it?’ Emma carries on. ‘I know I was on my knees after my first day at work. Got used to it, mind.’

‘Yeah.’

‘There’s an IT course starting tonight. In the dining room.’ Emma says. ‘Do you fancy it? It’s on three nights this week and it’s good if you’re not used to doing emails and going online and all that. I can show you how to get on Facebook, if you like.’

Chloe stands still, scanning Emma’s face, trying to work out what she knows. Is it obvious she was away for so long? That the Internet will be so different now? She never had a computer at home, just at school, and she wasn’t often there.

‘We get a certificate if we finish it. Some woman from the council,’ Emma says and her scar twitches in expectation. ‘Summat to do, anyhow.’

‘Go on then,’ Chloe says and watches the scar on Emma’s face pull back into a smile.

CHAPTER TEN

Doncaster

‘I’ve got a feeling in my waters. And still waters run deep,’ Gav said, resting his head back and drumming on the steering wheel with his thumbs.

‘What are you on about?’ Sean stifled a yawn.

‘It’s going to be a pleasantly uneventful night. That’s my prediction.’

‘Hope you’re right. I’m knackered. I can’t wait for the weekend.’

Even though his weekend came midweek, it was still something to look forward to. They would be back on the day shift after that, at least for the next fortnight, until the pattern switched again.

Sean hadn’t been back to his dad’s since the Clean Up Chasebridge meeting. Another run of nights had left him too tired to face it. He was annoyed with himself for not visiting the estate agent either. He’d settled back into a pattern of sleeping into the early afternoon and watching chat shows with his nan. Today’s offering was slightly more challenging than most: a discussion about the death penalty for child abusers.

‘What d’you reckon to the death penalty, Gav?’

‘Don’t fancy it myself.’

‘On principle?’

‘No, just rather die in my sleep.’

‘Right.’

Sean flicked down the sun visor and checked his hair in the mirror. He was trying to grow it at the front, but it wouldn’t do what he wanted.

‘It’s a relief they’re not doing anything with that lad’s complaint,’ he said.

‘Saleem Asaf? Don’t worry about him. It’s his favourite game.’

Sean got his phone out and opened up a game of Tetris. ‘Keep him in our sights, though.’

‘Oh, aye. We’ll stick him with something one of these days. I can guarantee that.’

Sean wondered if Gav meant something legitimate, or maybe this was the sort of thing Wendy Gore had wanted him to listen out for. He didn’t have the energy, to be honest, although he couldn’t imagine himself telling her that. He was vaguely aware that the car was moving and stopping, moving and stopping. He tried to keep his eyes open, but it was so quiet, he couldn’t help himself. He was fast asleep by the time the call came through on the radio and he missed the beginning of what was being said.

‘The caller is on the first floor of Eagle Mount Two, top end of the Chasebridge estate. She says there’s been some sort of fight on the stairwell and someone’s been hurt. Ambulance is on its way. We couldn’t get much else out of her, so can you go and take a look? There’s something not quite right about this one and we need a safe pair of hands. Tread carefully.’

‘I don’t like the sound of this,’ Gav said.

‘Do you think it’s a trap?’

Gav ground the gear stick around until he found first and put his foot down. ‘Fuck knows. Told you we were in for a quiet night.’

‘Funny.’

‘No, seriously, it’s gone five o’clock. It’s technically morning.’

Sean sat back and watched the town unfold around them. His heart sank at the thought of being pulled back to the Chasebridge estate in uniform. They skipped another amber light and were soon on the dual carriageway. Gav hit seventy, seventy-five. Sean wondered if they should have a blue light on, but he kept his mouth shut. They swung round one final roundabout and approached the estate along its west side where the four matching blocks of ten-storey flats were arranged round the square, like the upturned legs of a table. Beyond the blocks were the low-rises, with concrete walkways traversing them like shelves. They were empty for now, but the arrival of the squad car would soon bring an audience out to watch.

Gav lurched to the left without changing gear. Sean grabbed the door to stay upright.

‘It’s the second block from the main road, opposite the playground,’ Sean said.

The ambulance was already there; its crew got out of their vehicle as Gav pulled up on the pavement.

‘Gav, mate, the service door.’ Sean nodded towards the sheet metal door in the corner of the block. It hung a few inches open. ‘That’s where the stairs are.’

‘After you.’ The ambulance driver stood back.

Gav gave Sean the nod to go first. He peered into the gloom. There was no sound. He elbowed the door far enough open to get his head and shoulders through and switched on his torch. The beam picked out a pattern of brown marks on the concrete floor. He leant in further and saw the knees first: black jeans, narrow cut, and a pair of black Converse All Stars. He let the light play over the legs and up the torso. At first he thought the man was wearing a brown T-shirt, but as he held the torch steady, he saw he was covered in blood.

‘Gav!’ His voice resonated in the space and he heard a quiver of fear echo back at him. ‘Get the ambo crew in here.’

Sean flicked the beam up the stairwell to where the dawn was filtering through a murky window. Nothing moved. He edged closer, picking his way round the marks on the floor. There were three steps before the staircase turned and where the body lay, curled up like a sleeping child, one hand holding his stomach, the other resting on the concrete. There was blood everywhere, all over his hands and across the floor. His face was pale, but the underside of his cheek and neck were a dark purple.

‘Forget it, Gav. We’re too late. Way too late.’

He heard shuffling in the doorway and Gav telling the ambulance crew to stand down.