‘So when will I see my dad?’ asked Libby.

‘And when will I see my mum and Callie?’ I said.

‘Soon, I promise. Once we get to my house, you can both have a shower and freshen up and phone whoever you want. Deal?’

Libby and I exchanged a look. I wasn’t feeling this plan – at all.

‘Where d’you live?’ Libby asked.

‘In Norwood, Meadowview. It’s not far,’ said Jarvis. ‘You two must be starved. I can order a takeaway while the two of you clean up if you like?’

‘Oh yes, please.’ Libby was all relief. Why weren’t her insides tumbling like mine? ‘Can I have a ham-and-pineapple pizza, please, with a side order of garlic bread and then something like chocolate cake or cheesecake for afters? Can you make that two side orders of garlic bread and both puddings?’

Jarvis laughed. ‘You got it. And you, Troy?’

I met Jarvis’s eyes in the rear-view mirror. The hairs on the back of my neck were bristling.

‘Troy?’ Jarvis prompted.

‘I’m still thinking. First meal of freedom – important choices.’ I hoped my smile made it look like food was all I had on my mind.

Jarvis eyed me without blinking. In the driver’s mirror, I couldn’t see much more than his eyes, but the expression in them was intense. This guy had just killed two people, but from his demeanour you would never have guessed it. Yes, he was keen for us to leave the scene, but surely he should be more … shaken by what he’d just done? Or was shooting people an occupational hazard?

I shook my head. I’d definitely been in the basement too long. I was being overly suspicious and cynical. Libby and I were on our way home. OK, so we’d have to spend some time at Jarvis’s house first, but Callie had made a plan for us. We’d have food, hopefully a bed, and I could phone her and Mum. Mum must be worrying herself sick. She got nervous if I was half an hour late from school without explanation. School. How I longed for my normal, boring life.

‘What’s today’s date?’ I asked.

‘The thirty-first of October. Halloween,’ Jarvis replied. ‘Why?’

‘It feels like we spent weeks down in that basement,’ I said.

‘It must’ve been a terrible ordeal, but you’re safe with me,’ said Jarvis.

But, if we were so safe now, why was Jarvis driving like the devil himself was behind us? I guess he was afraid the friends of the three men we’d left behind in the kitchen and the hall were following us. The neighbouring houses were a blur as we passed them. Pretending to lean my arm against the window, I felt the steel mesh with my fingers, surreptitiously pulling at it. There was no give to it at all; the edges were sharp, biting into my fingers.