‘Videos are super popular. We had a burst water main washing cars down Koval Lane a few months back that got over two million hits. The construction worker bit my hand off when I offered him three hundred bucks for his video and it’s earned twelve times that in ad clicks.’

Charlie did the math in a flash. ‘You made twelve hundred bucks from someone else’s video?’

‘Eleven after paying for the video,’ Harry explained. ‘It’s the biggest site for local information. I get invites to grand openings, shop vouchers and tons of other freebies from people who want me to plug stuff on the home page.’

‘Smart,’ Charlie said admiringly.

Her favourite thing about Harry was that while most teenagers were all bravado and half-baked ambition, he was an unassuming guy who’d achieved more at sixteen than most thirty-year-olds.

‘A laptop is important,’ Charlie said thoughtfully. ‘The only way I can realistically afford a top college is with a scholarship, which means top marks in every subject. Plus a ton of extra-curricular achievements to make me stand out from the herd.’

‘Maybe stop erasing that big brain with booze,’ Harry teased as Charlie used a thumbnail to pop the seal on the laptop box. Then he turned serious. ‘I’ve also been keeping my ear to the ground on the Janssens. They’re running dive casinos and half-empty strip malls, but their business finance records show profits of fifteen to twenty million a year. They’re laundering drug money or something, but the cops don’t seem to care.’

‘They’ve certainly got powerful friends,’ Charlie said, more interested in her new laptop.

‘Did you hear that Fawn and JJ got married?’ Harry asked.

Charlie reared up on the bed. ‘I don’t give a shit about Fawn,’ she snapped. ‘And you need to steer clear of the Janssens.’

‘They destroyed your life,’ Harry said furiously.

‘I’ve had a lot of time to fantasise about revenge,’ Charlie said, narrowing her bloodshot eyes. ‘But they’re powerful, Harry. You’ll get steamrollered.’

‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,’ Harry said grandly.

‘Who said that?’ Charlie asked.

‘Edmund Burke.’

‘Who was he?’

‘I have no clue,’ Harry admitted.

But Charlie looked worried. ‘Fancy quotes are great, but I want to forget my old life and start from scratch.’

‘I get it,’ Harry said. ‘You’ve been through hell.’

Then he changed the subject. ‘You know what you were saying about extra-curriculars? I knew you didn’t have regular internet access at White Boulder, so I asked on the Vegas Local forum about charity work and stuff that might interest you in North Vegas. There’s a maker space fifteen minutes’ drive from here.’

‘A what?’ Charlie asked.