He ignored a call from Kirsten as the Mini headed north and defiance felt worthwhile when he pulled into the little lot behind OIL. Charlie had seen him arrive and dashed out for a tight hug. She looked so sexy it blew Harry away: lacy white mini dress, a brand new pair of white Converse and her hair was cut in a bob with bangs.

‘Love the hair,’ Harry said, grinning as they hugged.

‘I got a hundred-dollar advance from Mango at the bakery,’ Charlie explained. ‘Juno took me to this place she knows and I got it done this morning.’

But it wasn’t just hair and clothes. From the first day they’d met, Charlie always had a downtrodden wariness about her. Her smiles always cautious, her walk hunched. Now she was upright and bouncing in her dazzlingly white All Stars.

‘You seem happy,’ Harry noted, contrasting his own crummy day.

‘Getting a grip on life,’ Charlie said as she led the way in through OIL’s back door.

They ignored the anti-virus gel dispenser and Charlie got a compliment on her new hair from one of the girls who lived upstairs.

‘The only thing is my support officer, Ken, rolled up. He says he wants a five-minute catch-up, so if you don’t mind waiting in my room?’

‘Sure,’ Harry said. ‘I need a pee anyway.’

‘It’s not locked,’ Charlie called, starting up the stairs.

Charlie’s room looked more settled. The laptop he’d bought was on the desk alongside a neat stack of school books. He was surprised to see she’d got a tablet from somewhere and there was a bag with some just-purchased clothes at the end of the bed.

Charlie’s bathroom was in a state, with balled-up underwear and the smell of lime shampoo. Harry kicked a soggy towel out of the way and imagined Charlie stepping from the shower as he saw little dried-up floor marks in the shape of her toes.

He washed his hands after peeing, but the only towel was the soggy one on the floor. Harry pulled a Huddy’s napkin from his pocket and used it to dab them dry.

‘Ken just wanted to check my movements over the weekend,’ Charlie explained, stepping into the bedroom as Harry stepped on a bin pedal. ‘Don’t know why he was a pain about me coming to visit you. He’s been OK apart from that.’

Harry felt like he’d been shot as he looked down to aim his soggy napkin into the tiny chromed bin. Amidst cotton balls, a toilet paper core and a pair of holed White Boulder-issue socks was a strip of golden foil Trojan wrappers and a used condom stuck to the can’s liner.

36 SAMURAI COP II