Tim stepped away and looked in the girls’ direction. They ducked back behind the wall. Jasmine’s heart was thumping. She looked to see if there was anywhere for them to go. What if he came past them? What if he confronted her? Instead, Jasmine saw him disappear into the side street that led to the car park. The charity shop they were headed for was just a few metres up the road. When the coast was clear Jasmine grabbed Felicity by the arm and pulled her quickly down the street. Once they were safely inside the shop, Felicity started laughing. Jasmine joined in, but in the back of her mind she couldn’t help thinking about what she had just witnessed. This wasn’t the man that she saw helping out around the house; there was something very sinister about the way he had been talking to that man. What had her parents brought into their home?

Chapter Twelve

Jasmine woke up early, with a couple of hours until her revision class at school. It was just too hot today; the relief from the bit of rain yesterday had been short-lived. She tried to go back to sleep but the heat was frustrating. Her sheets clung to her and she felt the anger building inside as she wrestled against them. She decided to give up and get out of bed. The thought of putting on her school shirt made her feel even hotter; the poor-quality fabric would cut into her armpits and make her sweat more. Her hair was wet at the temples and her face felt clammy to the touch. She could barely breathe and it wasn’t even six a.m. A cold shower was the only way she could think of to cool down. She was out in less than five minutes and she pulled out a white T-shirt and some shorts to dress in until the last possible moment before school. The lingering smell of paint inside her bedroom was doing nothing to make her feel refreshed and so she grabbed her Spanish homework and went downstairs.

She cut up a melon from the fridge and went to sit in the garden to eat it. It was early enough that the part of the garden where the sun loungers lived was still in the shade. Yesterday Tim had started painting the facing wall white at her parents’ instruction. It had a Mediterranean vibe about it. Jasmine’s mother loved geraniums and the bright oranges, reds and pinks looked almost neon against the white backdrop.