‘That’s the whole problem,’ Harry said sourly. ‘People like you never give people like Charlie a chance.’

Kirsten scoffed. ‘People like what exactly?’

‘Oh, you know,’ Harry said, holding his arms out to the designer kitchen and the twinkling infinity pool out through the sliding doors. ‘The six-million-dollar house. Your Bentley. Flying to publishers’ meetings in New York in Clark Corp’s executive jet.’

‘Hard work got me where I am,’ Kirsten said irritably as she fiddled with an earring. ‘I’ve employed young offenders and drug-rehab kids in my restaurants. Dealing with people like that can be rewarding, but a lot of the time it’s bloody hard work and they throw everything back in your face. So I don’t think I’m crazy to worry when I see you running her errands and buying expensive gifts.’

‘She’s a science geek,’ Harry explained. ‘She’ll need a laptop for schoolwork. If people help Charlie, she could get into an Ivy League college.’

‘You’ve got a good heart, Harry,’ Kirsten said as she cracked a slight smile. ‘And I guess some girl’s gonna break it sometime, no matter what I say.’

17 MAD BOMBER

After more than two years inside, everyday details felt like strange adventures. Pulling on a skirt, paying for Snickers ice cream and sunscreen in 7-Eleven, crossing a road, plugging her cell into a charger and seeing long-forgotten apps and games when it fired up.

Obama Independent Living was eighty per cent boys. Some released from lock-up, but mostly sixteen- to eighteen-year-olds who’d been booted by parents, or caused trouble in foster homes.

Charlie was one of the youngest, and felt intimidated when the high-school bus dropped off, filling her eight-room corridor with Friday-happy lads blasting tunes, banging doors and mercilessly tormenting a kid called Jamal who had a club foot and a stutter.

Brad introduced the only other girl on the corridor. Juno was black, with a stocky build and neon nails. She donated Charlie a couple of tops to go with the stuff she’d rummaged from the unit’s spare-clothes cupboard, and a pair of cheap beach sandals that still wore shop tags.

Charlie felt a connection when she spotted Juno’s shelf of high-school math and science books. Juno was seventeen and explained that her plan was to join the US Navy scholarship programme to pay for college. She’d already had the interview and passed the academic requirement, but was swimming regularly and dieting to lose fifteen pounds, because she had to retake the physical.

‘Just naturally got a big fat ass,’ Juno said, laughing noisily as she slapped a thigh.

Charlie decided it was time to share some of her story. ‘I was up at White Boulder,’ she began.