BooksBarbecue
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Chapters (75)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. About the Author
  4. Title Page
  5. Intoroduction
  6. ONE
  7. TWO
  8. THREE
  9. FOUR
  10. FIVE
  11. SIX
  12. SEVEN
  13. EITHT
  14. NINE
  15. TEN
  16. ELEVEN
  17. TWELVE
  18. THIRTEEN
  19. FOURTEEN
  20. FIFTEEN
  21. SIXTEEN
  22. SEVENTEEN
  23. EIGHTEEN
  24. NINETEEN
  25. TWENTY
  26. TWENTY-ONE
  27. TWENTY-TWO
  28. TWENTY-THREE
  29. TWENTY-FOUR
  30. TWENTY-FIVE
  31. TWENTY-SIX
  32. TWENTY-SEVEN
  33. TWENTY-EIGHT
  34. TWENTY-NINE
  35. THIRTY
  36. THIRTY-ONE
  37. THIRTY-TWO
  38. THIRTY-THREE
  39. THIRTY-FOUR
  40. THIRTY-FIVE
  41. THIRTY-SIX
  42. THIRTY-SEVEN
  43. THIRTY-EIGHT
  44. THIRTY-NINE
  45. FORTY
  46. FORTY-ONE
  47. FORTY-TWO
  48. FORTY-THREE
  49. FORTY-FOUR
  50. FORTY-FIVE
  51. FORTY-SIX
  52. FORTY-SEVEN
  53. FORTY-EIGHT
  54. FORTY-NINE
  55. FIFTY
  56. FIFTY-ONE
  57. FIFTY-TWO
  58. FIFTY-THREE
  59. FIFTY-FOUR
  60. FIFTY-FIVE
  61. FIFTY-SIX
  62. FIFTY-SEVEN
  63. FIFTY-EIGHT
  64. FIFTY-NINE
  65. SIXTY
  66. SIXTY-ONE
  67. SIXTY-TWO
  68. SIXTY-THREE
  69. SIXTY-FOUR
  70. SIXTY-FIVE
  71. SIXTY-SIX
  72. SIXTY-SEVEN
  73. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  74. CLIMATE EMERGENCY
  75. Copyright

‘Or,’ he continues, his voice darkening a little. ‘There’s another option. The traffic has moved elsewhere. Which means something is happening that they don’t want anyone to know about. Or the police.’

‘The police?’

‘What, you think that these sites can just go on preaching hate and violence without being watched? Come on, you’re smarter than that. The police know it’s there. They know about all of them. Like I said, this group I’m in, we share things with a national police network. They might not do anything about most of them, but they certainly know about them. And they’ve got a pretty good idea of who visits them.’

I think of the interview at the station, the smashed laptop at the bottom of the well.

‘Look, Josh. Ninety-five per cent of the traffic to these sites is just curiosity. Kids messing around, looking for something shocking. They like a few Pepe the Frog memes on social media and take one click too far, then U-turn pretty quick. You won’t get anyone knocking at your door any day soon. Unless…’

‘Unless what?’ Even I can hear the desperation in my voice.

‘Unless you know something? But, if you do know something, perhaps you should be thinking about knocking on their door.’

‘Yeah,’ I reply. ‘Maybe I should.’

FIFTY-EIGHT

FIFTY EIGHT

The next day, I’m walking between lessons along the science corridor. There’s a commotion up ahead. I can see Vince’s head – freshly shaved again – above the sea of bodies. I think about taking a longer route, but I’m too late; he’s spotted me.

‘Where’s Dana?’ he shouts, elbowing his way towards me through the throng.

A wall of students forms behind me – I’m blocking the flow and there’s no way out. But I haven’t seen Dana all day and I say so.

‘Where the fuck is she then?’ Vince comes very, very close to me, his nose just an inch from my own. When he presses his forehead against mine, his extra six inches in height mean it feels like he’s trying to drive me into the floor.

‘Vince, back down. He doesn’t know.’ Alan comes up behind him, tries to pull him by the arm.

Vince shrugs him off. ‘What if he’s lying? What if he’s lying like that bitch is lying?’ On either side of us, throngs of other students start pushing, shoving. A whisper goes through the crowd that there’s going to be a fight. Some students are jumping on the backs of others for a better view and the noise is getting deafening.