With a clattering heart, Mark makes it across the ten or so metres of open space without being noticed, and quickly slides down between a Honda CRV and Volvo XC90. He bends his knees into his chest and leans against a tyre. His phone is out of juice – he hasn’t thought to charge his battery while the spice has been the priority – but it doesn’t matter. He’s inside the school boundary, and it will be break time at some point. He remembers enough about school to know it will be mayhem for those twenty minutes, so as long as he’s quick, he shouldn’t get caught.

Especially as he knows exactly who he’s looking for.

Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Beth

Beth climbs the stairs one at a time, hoping the measured pace will slow her pulse rate. It makes sense that the Macmillan nurse would put a hospital bed in her and Eddie’s old room; it’s not like either of them has needed it over the last two decades. She just wishes she’d considered this in advance, given herself chance to prepare. She has so many reasons to hate the room – first the growing humiliation of sharing such a small space with her brother, then seeing his body lying there in all its filth, and of course the final humiliation, the revealing photo that made its way into the local paper. She’d promised herself that she’d never walk inside again.

But now she’s got no choice.

The room is to the left of the staircase, but she needs a moment to compose herself, so she slips into the bathroom opposite and slides the lock across. She rests her head against the MDF panel for a few seconds, then turns to face the sink. She twists the tap and waits for the steam to appear, the tell-tale sign that the water is hot enough to clean her skin properly.

When it’s ready, she pushes her hands under the burning tap and stares at her reflection in the mirror. She spends a lot of money on her face. She’s never had surgery and hasn’t yet resorted to thread lifts or fillers. But she uses the best make-up and luxury face creams. She visits expensive salons and invests in an array of different treatments. In the beginning the pampering felt alien, undeserved, and she kept imagining being exposed as a fake, of being dragged out of posh salons by her hair. But she persevered, and after a while she started to enjoy it. She’s worked hard to build this life, and she won’t let herself be pulled backwards.