‘Nah. Nah, mate. Xanthe’s gone, int she. When she heard what they was planning she said she’d had enough, wasn’t going to risk getting involved in it all by proxy. I think she’s had this in mind for a while, to be honest. She popped out to the phone box, then a woman with a van came and picked the two of them up about six. Didn’t even say much of a goodbye.’

Sammi had been aware of Gaz’s crush on Xanthe but didn’t really feel able to offer any comfort right then, so she patted him on the shoulder a couple of times and went to bed. She’d been curled up in her sleeping bag for a couple of hours, her brain spinning out with the worry of it all, her blood pulsing fast around her stomach and thighs, when a loud metallic clanging reverberated through the house. It didn’t stop, took her a while to realize it was the shutter.

Downstairs, barefoot, with a torch, bumping into an equally confused and very stoned Gaz in the corridor, the two of them reached the entrance space, the noise making them wince. Gaz nudged her, indicated that she should be the one to speak.

‘Who is it?’ she yelled, over the din.

‘Spider. And Utti. Can’t get this thing open. Sammi, matey, you’ve got to let us in.’

Over cups of tea, Utti and Spider managed to piece together a story. They’d broken into the McDonald’s site with the intention of occupying the space and disrupting the building work the next day, but Mark and Giancarlo had got into an argument about who could go further, both of them apparently daring the other one on to do something more. Clio had tried to stop them, pointing out that there were flats above the space, but Giancarlo, after Mark had goaded him, had set something alight. Clio had walked out at that point, leaving the rest of them unsure what to do, and the police had shown up almost immediately.

‘Like they was waiting for us or something,’ Spider said, and Utti nodded. ‘Si, si, this is not a coincidence, this one.’

Utti and Spider, having been furthest back, had been able to sneak out without being seen, but they were definitely sure that Fran, Giancarlo and Mark had all been arrested, had watched from round the corner as they were put into vans.

Sammi and Gaz just sat there, watching them, neither of them in a fit state to cope with any of this information.

Clio showed up after eleven the next day, as Sammi was getting ready to leave for work, having managed maybe an hour of crappy sleep, worried about Mark. Smell of drink off her, make-up smudged.

‘What happened to you last night?’