‘Hang on, Dominic,’ she says, leaning forward for her sandwich, more weapon than conductor this time. ‘There you go again, rushing seven steps ahead of where you need to be. Let me be 48quite clear on this. There is nothing of higher value to me than your and your crew’s personal safety – as evidenced by assigning our entire logistics department to monitoring your movements and encrypting your communications for the duration of this project. Lest you forget, I’ve been reading all these messages too. I know exactly what your next step is supposed to be. I’m simply making suggestions to maximise this story’s potential – as befits a project of this level of risk. Surely that’s a shared goal? You know as well as I do that it’s all too easy for the authorities to spin a distraction, especially when they’ve been humiliated. And Marie’s made a very smart suggestion indeed…’ I shiver as she nods at me, hooded eyes at odds with her approval.

‘I’ll crack on,’ I say, brushing more non-existent crumbs off my trousers as I stand, edging past Dominic and out as fast as I can without running. Their bickering fades into the background as the newsroom’s lullaby rises; the rustle of typing, the murmur of phones, the swish of newsprint.

I know Dominic can’t have tried the Salvation Army. He can’t speak its language.

49

Carly ~ Warchester ~ 1996

I sit up with a start in the dark, the front door closing below me, rattling the chain lock hanging on its frame. Jason? It can’t … but it must be? I pad over to the door in my socks, listening for any sound other than Kayleigh’s soft snoring. Creeping out on to the landing, there’s the unmistakable thud of boots moving around downstairs.

‘Jase?’ I whisper as I tiptoe down into the sitting room, blinking into the glare of the overhead strip light as I pull my skirt straight. I squint, irritated. There’s a side lamp by the telly but the bulb went, I don’t know, forever ago.

‘You’re awake,’ he says from behind me. I turn to see him in full gear in the kitchen, fridge door propped open by a bulging shopping bag.

‘Well, yeah…’ I say, rubbing my eyes. ‘What are you doing here? I was waiting up for Rach—’

‘She won’t be by tonight,’ he says, cutting me off. Even the cartons of milk are standing to attention in the fridge door. ‘Where’s Ma?’

‘In bed, for once,’ I say, blinking as my eyes adjust. ‘She even made it downstairs and back again today. I still had to feed Kayleigh though … Wow, are those eggs?’