Her mum went on, ‘Listen to Dad – he’s going to explain how we’re going to handle this. He’s got a plan to help you. Everything’s going to be all right.’

Her father leaned forward. ‘We’re going to start again, Ellie, and this time involve you completely. The trial isn’t for ten weeks, so we’ve got plenty of time. First thing tomorrow morning, we’re going to sack Barry. In fact, we’ll sack the barrister too – let’s go the whole hog.’

Ellie blinked, puzzled. ‘Why would you do that?’

‘You told Barry you didn’t want to be a witness and if a hint of that gets out to the police, it looks pretty suspicious, doesn’t it? They’re going to think you know something you’re not saying. You want to be hauled into court for cross‑examination? No, I thought not. So, we’ll get a new law firm involved and start from the top, pretend none of this conversation with Barry ever happened.’

Ellie looked at the tablecloth. This was the table where only a few hours ago they’d sat and had breakfast together as a family. There was the chopping board where her mother had cut thick slices of bread for toast. This morning. Before any of this happened.

She’d been convinced she was at the hot start of her family’s destruction, that she’d grassed up Tom and betrayed them all. But it turned out Tom hadn’t passed on the details to their parents. If Barry was sacked, it would all be covered up. Ellie was a scared little girl. Tom was innocent. Simple.

Her father was smiling at her now, holding her hand across the table. He used to hold her hand when they walked to the park together every Saturday. And when she got scared in movies. And when he read her books at bedtime. He’d sit by her bed and do all the voices and he wouldn’t let go of her hand until she was asleep. Sometimes he used to draw cartoons of the characters and prop them by her alarm clock, so she’d find them in the morning.

His hand was warm now, and as he leaned in to stroke her cheek, he smelled so familiar.

‘I’m on your side,’ he said. ‘We’re all on the same side – Team Parker, eh?’

She nodded, tears spilling freely. ‘I’m sorry.’

He stroked her hair. ‘That’s better.’

He said soft and wonderful things like how much he cared about her and how brave she was and how sorry he was not to have realized the pressure she’d been under. He asked for her phone and smiled as she handed it over. He’d hide it away, he said, because he wanted to protect her from herself. He told her everything was going to be all right now and she could go to bed and forget about today. Tomorrow would be a new start.

‘We’ll practise, Ellie – all the answers to questions you might be asked in court. When you get in from school, after you’ve done your homework, we’ll go over it. Or we’ll get up early and rehearse before breakfast, whatever suits you best. We’ll think about clothes too, get you an outfit you feel comfortable in and some shoes as well. By the time the court date comes around, you’re going to feel so confident that today will seem like a distant memory.’

She sipped her hot chocolate and listened to him. Mum and Tom joined in discussing the plan, full of ideas, their voices knitting together. Outside, rain battered softly against the windows. She thought briefly of Mikey, wondered if he was home yet, if he was safe, but then she pushed the thought of him away.

Everyone was smiling at her now. The blanket was soft around her shoulders, her knees curled warm beneath it, her slippered feet pulled up onto the chair. She was a little girl again, their little girl.

She must have a shower before bed. She’d use plenty of soap. She’d wash her hair, brush her teeth, rinse with mouthwash and use floss. She’d bury Mikey’s lighter in the garden first thing in the morning. She’d get rid of all the evidence.

Thirty‑six

Mikey knew something was wrong as soon as he walked into the lounge. Jacko was sitting in the armchair with a fag and a cup of tea, and Jacko was never there, not without Mikey. Karyn and Mum were huddled together on the sofa opposite, and all three of them looked up at Mikey as if the world had just ended and it was all his fault.

‘What?’ he said. ‘What did I do?’

Karyn did a fake laugh. ‘Like you don’t know.’

Mum said, ‘Let me handle this. I thought we agreed.’

Mikey clocked the wine glass on the table in front of her, the ashtray tipping with fag ends. He perched on the arm of Jacko’s chair and waited. Something big was happening – his mum never took charge when she’d been drinking.

She glared at him. ‘Why didn’t you go to work?’

‘Is that what this is about? Did I get sacked?’

‘I hope so,’ Karyn spat.

Mum put a hand on her arm. ‘Where have you been all day, Mikey?’

‘Different places. Out and about.’

‘Who with?’

‘Does it matter?’ He turned to Jacko. ‘What is this?’

Jacko shrugged, looked down at his feet.

‘Will someone tell me what’s going on?’

‘I’ll tell you,’ Karyn said. ‘You’ve got yourself a posh little girlfriend, that’s what. Jacko’s been filling us in.’

A pulse banged in Mikey’s head. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘I’m talking about your latest shag – Ellie Parker.’

Like her name was a cheap thing and sleeping with her meant nothing. Like special things could be chucked out like that.

‘Shut up, Karyn.’

‘So it is  true.’ She shot out of her seat and flung herself at him. ‘How could you? With her!’

She thumped him on the arm again and again. He had to grab her wrists to stop her, had to push her back to the sofa and shove her down.

His mother’s face darkened with fury. ‘Don’t you dare lay a finger on your sister, Mikey.’

‘Then tell her to shut up. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.’

‘You stupid boy!’ Mum waved her hands at him as if to say, We all know you’re guilty and I don’t want to hear any more about it.

Karyn started to wail. ‘How could he? He doesn’t care about me at all.’ Her whole face turned to tears right in front of their eyes.

Mum clutched her, whispered into her hair. ‘Karyn, love, you’re making me cry now. Let’s find out exactly what happened before we go getting so upset.’

Mikey kicked Jacko’s foot and made him look at him. For a second they were alone in a room with a couple of hysterical women and they both understood it was harsh and desperate.

‘See what you’ve done?’ Mikey said.

A look crossed Jacko’s face, like maybe he was sorry. ‘I didn’t have a choice.’

‘Bullshit.’

‘I wouldn’t’ve been the only one who saw you on that bus, Mikey. What if some random kid texted Karyn about it? Someone had to tell her properly.’

‘And that was you, was it?’ Mikey grabbed him by his jacket and hauled him out of the chair. ‘This is my flat, do you want to get out of my flat?’

‘Leave him alone,’ Mum yelled.

‘I don’t want him here!’ He jostled Jacko towards the door, heard a satisfying rip as the material of his jacket shredded under his fingers. ‘Get out. Go on, get out.’

‘I said leave him alone!’ Mum roared. She stood in the middle of the lounge, hands on hips. She was swaying slightly, but she sounded like she meant business. ‘Take your hands off Jacko, sit down and shut up, Mikey, because I swear if you wake Holly up and she gets brought into this, I will never forgive you.’

By the look on her face, she wasn’t going to forgive him anyway, but he sat down in Jacko’s empty chair. At least the bastard would have to stand up.

‘Jacko’s our guest,’ Mum said. ‘He’s been sitting here with us for two hours waiting for you.’

‘Three,’ Jacko said, ‘actually.’

‘Sorry,’ Mum said. ‘You’ve been good to us, Jacko. I can’t thank you enough.’

‘Yeah, what a great guy,’ Mikey said brightly. ‘Always there when you need him.’