He shrugged. *Still shopping.' There was no hint of irony in his voice.

Sas walked over from the jewellery department.

*How'd you go?' I asked.

*No good. Let's go somewhere else.' Her eyes twinkled.

As we neared the doorway, I stood taller, feeling confident, strong and happy.

*Excuse me.' A hand tapped my shoulder. *Would you three come with us, please?' A blonde woman dressed in jeans and a T-shirt motioned for me to follow her back into the store.

The confidence and happiness rushed from me. She was the one I'd stepped around to reach the make-up stand. A guy with a walkie-talkie hanging from his belt stood behind Sas and Khaden, blocking any chance of escape.

*Why should we?' asked Sas, hands on her hips.

*Because it would be less embarra.s.sing than doing this here.'

*Doing what? Kidnapping us?' Sas's face was red. *If you have a problem, deal with it here. This is so unfair. You're picking on us because we're teenagers and that's no different to racism.' Sas's noise attracted the stares of shoppers.

If only the whole complex would collapse and swallow us.

*When you're finished making a fuss,' said the woman. *Come this way or-'

*Okay, we're moving,' said Khaden, pushing Sas.

We followed the woman through the shoe department to double white doors.

*Actually, this is racism,' said Sas, her voice edged with victory. *You stopped us because Khaden's skin is darker than ours.'

I cringed.

*Whatever,' said the woman, punching numbers into a keypad outside another door.

She ushered us inside. The room was plain, with only a table, four chairs and a water dispenser in the corner.

*I'm Molly and this is Sal,' said the woman, pointing to the guy. *Take a seat.'

Sal slipped out of the room.

Molly stared at me. *Want to take the mascara from your shorts?'

With shaking hands I pulled it from its hiding place and tossed it on the table. The mascara rolled to the floor, landing at Molly's feet.

Sas's eyes widened. *Ruby, how could you?'

Molly shook her head and gave Sas a thin smile. *And the bracelet.'

*I find that offensive, as if-'

Molly's laugh was breathy. *We can do this the easy way or the hard way.'

Sas's eyes widened. *Look, I...'

Molly drummed her fingers on the table.

With a sigh, Sas reached into her bra and pulled out a men's leather bracelet with silver beads.

Molly turned her attention to Khaden. *Your turn.'

Khaden stared at the bracelet on the table, smiled at Sas, and took a pair of earrings from his pocket.

*Nothing else?' asked Molly.

Khaden shook his head.

I slipped my hands under my thighs to stop them shaking, and fought back tears. Dad would kill me, rip me apart and kill me again.

*So what now?' asked Sas, folding her arms.

*We call your parents.'

The colour drained from Khaden and Sas's faces.

Maybe, if I played this right, Dad wouldn't kill me. I cleared my throat.

*Molly, Khaden's dad is out of town for work and Sas's mum is in Tasmania on holidays.' I hoped Khaden and Sas would follow me.

*So who is their guardian at present?'

I shrugged. *They're staying with me. So I guess it's my dad.'

I heard Sas's sharp breath.

Molly handed me a pen and notepad. *What's his number?' She took the pad back from me and tapped it. *Won't be a minute.'

*What gives?' asked Khaden the moment Molly left the room.

Sas leant forward. *Yeah, Ruby, your dad went mental at the vet's and you hadn't done anything really wrong, but this ... he'll blow a fuse for sure.'

*It'll be right. Dad will sort this out.'

*This better work, otherwise, we're screwed.'

I wondered where the tough Sas had gone.

The door opened and two cops came into the room, one young and serious, the other older with a softer face. Molly followed them. *Stuart Martin's working on that new development on North Road and should be here in five minutes.' She nodded at me. *This is his daughter, Ruby, this young lady is Sarah Donohue and-'

*h.e.l.lo Khaden,' said the older cop.

My chin just about fell to my knees. Sas looked as stunned as I felt. Khaden, slumped in the plastic seat, folded his arms.

*A moment? Outside?' said the older cop to Molly.

*How come he knows you?' I asked as soon as they left the room.

Khaden shrugged. *His kid's a friend of Taj's.'

*Serious?' said Sas. *That has to be good, right?'

Something about the way Khaden wouldn't look at either of us made me think he was lying.

The young cop came back inside the room and the older guy stood in the doorway.

*...and thanks Molly,' he said. *We'll take it from here.'

I could see Molly's puzzled face past the cop. *But-'

*Thanks.' The older policeman closed the door.

The young cop pulled a chair closer to us and sat. *I'm Constable O'Brien.' He jerked his thumb at the old cop. *That's Senior Constable Dobson. You three are in big trouble.'

*You can't interview us until Mr Martin arrives,' said Sas.

O'Brien folded his arms. *No worries, we'll wait.' He nodded at Khaden. *Decent bruise, mate. More problems with the furniture?'

Khaden's face was blank.

The door opened. *Stuart Martin's here,' said Molly.

I swallowed the fear threatening to swamp me.

*John Dobson,' said the older cop, offering his hand to Dad. *And Nathan O'Brien.'

*What the h.e.l.l is going on?' said Dad looking from me to John Dobson.

*These three have been caught shop-lifting,' said O'Brien, looking pleased with himself.

Dad rubbed his eyes and made a sound somewhere between a growl and a sigh.

This was it. I took a deep breath. *Dad, we stuffed up, in a major way, but everyone makes mistakes, right? I mean, we've all done things we shouldn't have, right?'

Dad's mouth pulled into a frown.

*As their guardian, do I have your permission to interview them?' asked O'Brien.

Dad's eyes widened.

*Guardian?'

*Yeah Dad, seeing as Sas and Khade are staying with us, that makes you their guardian.' I stared at him, hard. *You get it, don't you?'

Dad's face flushed. *Yes, yes, interview them.' He leant against the wall, his mouth a thin line.

Constable O'Brien stood, paced and glared, firing questions hard and fast.

The three of us said the same things-we'd never done it before, didn't know why we'd done it, felt terrible. Blah, blah, blah. When Sas fake-cried-at least I think she was fake-crying-Khaden rubbed her back in slow circles, but that didn't make O'Brien let up. He gave us the drink-driving, drugs, jail and *life of crime' lecture, pointing and yelling to make his point. If he was trying to scare us, it worked.

Just when I was sure he was about to charge us, he glanced at the older policeman, who was leaning against the wall. *So what do you reckon?'

Dobson scratched his head and frowned. **It is a first offence. We could make this an official warning.' He leant towards us. *But if you do this again...'

*We won't,' I said. *We just didn't think.'

I glanced at Dad. There was anger, and something else in his eyes. Defeat? I'd made him lie for me and instead of feeling bad, I felt strong.

Dad straightened up. *Are you done here? I have a meeting I can't put off.'

*We'll take them home,' said O'Brien.

Dad shook his head. *No need, I can do it.'

*We'll walk you out,' said Dobson, watching Khaden.

It wasn't until we reached Dad's car that I realised John Dobson and Khaden had dropped back. They stood away from us, talking. At least, John Dobson was talking. Khaden listened, his hands in his pockets and his head bowed.

*What do you think that's about?' I asked.

*That cop looks more worried than mad,' said Sas.

Khaden nodded, said something to the cop and walked to us, head still bowed.

*In the car, now,' said Dad.

As Sas and Khaden climbed into the back seat, I watched the divvy van drive away.

*Ruby,' snapped Dad. *I have a busy afternoon.'

With a sigh, I sat in the pa.s.senger seat.

Dad's suit swished as he reached for his seat belt. He paused, his hand ready to buckle the belt. *What the h.e.l.l is wrong with you three?'

*You can drop us at Sas's place,' I said, turning away from him.

*Ruby, I'll have to talk to Lou and Mike.'

I twisted around to glare at him. *You know, Dad, we all have our secrets. Is there any harm in keeping this between us?'

Dad hit the steering will with his open hand, turned the key and slammed the car into reverse.