Evelyn is still crying. Nicole is sitting at the kitchen table, the fingers of her left hand splayed across the wood. ‘Alex is right.’ Nicole stares at her hand. ‘We need to calm down. This has nothing to do with us.’

Evelyn looks desperately back and forth between the two of them. ‘How can you say that? This is all our fault. My fault.’ She glances at the TV again. The same images play over and over. ‘It has to be.’

‘Evelyn, stop it.’ Nicole steps toward her and enfolds her into a hug. ‘It’s not your fault.’

Evelyn ducks away. Her hand pulls at her hair. She wipes her eyes. ‘I think we should go to the cops.’

Alex is suddenly floating above her body, looking down at herself and her friends. ‘We can’t,’ she whispers. ‘We can’t do that.’

‘Alex, please.’ Evelyn is crying now, her pretty face mottled, the skin pulled tight over her skull. ‘This isn’t okay, none of it. You know it isn’t.’

Alex is tempted to put her fingers in her ears. Yell like a child. ‘Nicole’s right.’ She gestures at the TV. ‘I know this is awful, but it has nothing to do with us.’

‘You’re both crazy,’ whispers Evelyn. She goes to the sink. Pours a glass of water, drinks it, then cries as she swallows, water dribbling down her chin.

‘Hey, hey.’ Nicole walks over to her. Takes the water glass and holds her.

Alex watches her friends. They are like strangers.

Evelyn pulls away. ‘I just keep thinking about it, you know? Taking the photos. And I’m pretty sure one of them had the house number in it. We were in the front yard with the sprinkler, even though it was freezing.’ Her pupils are so large that her eyes look black. ‘I think someone must have recognised the house. That’s how they knew where to find her.’

‘You don’t know that,’ soothes Nicole. ‘It’s just a horrible coincidence.’

‘It can’t be.’

Nicole tucks a strand of Evelyn’s hair behind her ear. ‘Horrible things happen all the time.’

‘I can’t do this anymore,’ whispers Evelyn. ‘Before I could separate it from everything else, you know? It felt harmless. But now I can’t. I’m out.’

Nicole pulls Evelyn to her again as she crumples, rubs her back and stares at Alex over her shoulder. ‘Let’s just see how we all feel in the morning.’

CHAPTER FORTY: TUESDAY, 15 SEPTEMBER 2015

CHAPTER FORTY

TUESDAY, 15 SEPTEMBER 2015

SUDDEN PRESSURE ON THE SIDE OF HER TEMPLE, COLD AND HARD.

Dean is on the floor next to the upturned table, his face twisted in pain. He clutches at his leg. A whoosh of air leaves Oli’s body.

‘Don’t move.’ A low voice, like the rumble of a train.

She doesn’t. She barely breathes.

The pressure relents slightly. She slides her eyes sideways.

A gun. Aimed at her head.