“Just the spotlights. They come on after dark, so stay close to the house.”

“Trip wire?”

“What do you think this is? No, they don’t have trip wire.”

Zak snorts and says, “If I was hiding something, I’d have them.”

“Then it would be pretty obvious, wouldn’t it?”

Their house looks normal. Absolutely massive, but normal. “There are no trip wires or trapdoors or laser rooms. That’s why I think getting over the wall is key. They have patio doors at the back and windows at both sides and the front. Look closely and take pictures, and, if anything seems weird, it probably is.”

Zak sighs, and, for a moment, I think he’s changed his mind. I wouldn’t blame him. I’m getting carried away. But, eventually, he says, “Okay.”

“That’s it?”

“If it shuts you up, yes. You enjoy your dinner party with your sort-of-but-not-really-girlfriend and her potentially psycho family, and I’ll try not to spike my privates.”

“Thank you.”

Zak doesn’t say anything for a while, then sighs. “I know the stick figures are proper creepy, and Amy’s a bit odd, but how far are you prepared to take this?”

“There is something,” I reply. “I’m certain there is.”

“You know I love you, Tom. But this is starting to feel a bit much.”

I get what he means. I’m not daft enough to think this is normal behavior. But too many things have happened for it to be just one big coincidence.

“I’ll do it,” Zak says. “But only if you agree that, if we’re no closer to answers after Saturday, you’ll quit.”

“Deal.”

66

“Have you finished the bathroom?” Mum asks, and Jay turns to me.

“Do you see what you’ve done?” He has a smile on his face, but Mum doesn’t see the funny side.

“It’s clean,” he says. “Everything is clean. You can take a breath, now.”

She starts walking away, but Jay pulls her into a hug and whispers, “The place looks amazing.”

A dinner party is one of those things Mum has always wanted to do, but, at the same time, it terrifies her. She wouldn’t like me saying it, but she’s still fragile, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Even now, her nerves creep out sometimes, causing the final word of a sentence to tremble or her eyes to fidget like a fly with nowhere to land.

I love her for it, and I’m not ashamed to say that. When you’ve seen what we have, you don’t hide your feelings. For a long time, they were the only things that kept us strong.

“When are they coming?” Aaron says as he runs past, and then, when he’s done a circuit of the house, “Are they nice?”