Time flew past and before Hollie knew it she was in the back of Sam's Mercedes heading up the M6 towards home. She curled her legs up underneath her and leant against the door with her head resting on the window. In the front of the car Jo and Sam chatted quietly, occasionally breaking into soft bursts of laughter. Hollie blocked it out, concentrating on her own thoughts.
It was just gone three o'clock when they finally arrived in Greenock. Jo suggested heading straight to Waterloo Road, but Sam and Hollie immediately dismissed the idea, arguing that going to the hotel was a much better idea. Pulling up in the car park outside the Travelodge, Hollie was immediately hit by the realisation that her first night in Greenock had been spent in that very building.
"You OK?"
She turned and smiled at Jo, who was watching her carefully. "Fine."
As Sam checked in, the teenager leant against a pillar in the middle of the lobby, staring blankly through the double doors and out into the car park. Her aunts had suggested that they book a room for her to stay there as well, but she had decided to take up Tom's offer to stay with him. She knew that things between her and Nikki would be rocky, to say the least, for a while and didn't fancy being under the same roof as her mother until things were more sorted.
After a short conversation with Hollie's stepfather, Sam ushered them back into her car and drove across town to Tom's house. He was just pulling into the drive when they arrived. Holding out his arms, he didn't say anything. Hollie launched herself at him, clinging on tightly.
Gently, Tom extricated himself from her grasp, but kept hold of her hand. He led them into the house and settled Hollie on the sofa, before offering drinks. Impatiently, the teenager waited until everyone was seated in the living room with a mug of their preferred drink in their hands, before leaning forward and making eye contact with all three adults in turn.
"So, what's the plan? What do we do?"
Jo chuckled. "This isn't Scooby-Doo, Hol. There's no grand plan."
"So…?"
"You're going to act normally, sweetheart." The brunette detective informed her firmly. "You're going to go back to school, you're going to visit Kevin in hospital, you're going to hang out with your friends and you're going to make sure you get into Edinburgh University to study English Literature, just like you wanted."
"I don't want." Hollie snapped. "I've changed my mind."
Jo rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm not. I don't want to do it."
"Hol–"
"NO!" She shook her head vehemently. "No. I don't want to go to Edinburgh. I don't want to do English. I don't want any of it."
"OK!" Tom held up his hands. "OK, fine. Listen, love, you can… you can renounce all your wordly possessions and live in a tree for all I care. As long as you're happy, that's all that matters to me. And to your mum, whatever you might think." He glanced at his watch. "I've got to collect AJ from nursery."
"We should get going, too." Sam said, standing and brushing invisible dust off her trousers. "We're starting on the case first thing tomorrow."
As she watched the trio of adults leave the house together, Hollie knew that they would be talking about her. She peered carefully through the curtains, trying to assess just what they were saying. Tom was standing with his back to the house and Sam was standing side on. The only one she could really see was Jo, but her aunt seemed to be listening to what was being said, rather than contributing, so the teenager had no idea what was going on. Frustrated, she let the curtain drop back into place and retreated to the sofa to wait for Tom and AJ to come home.
As soon as Hollie strode into school the next morning her friends immediately pounced on her. Scout and Zoe grabbed her arms and pulled her over to the seating area, where they dislodged several younger students in order to begin questioning her about what was going on.
"Where've you been?" Scout demanded. "We tried asking your mum, but she just made excuses not to answer us."
"She's been well moody the last couple of days. I thought her and Vix sorted things out?" Zoe added.
Hollie nodded. "They did. It's me that's pissed her off. Well, me and Auntie Jo."
"Why?"
"Auntie Jo told her that she still doesn't like or trust Vix and I... well..."
The two girls facing her narrowed their eyes immediately, knowing that there was something big happening in their friend's life. "Hol?"
"OK... don't freak out."
"What's happened?" Zoe demanded.
"Gavin's been released."
Scout gasped, while Zoe leant back in her chair, looking at Hollie in disbelief. "You're kidding?"
"No. Auntie Jo told me on Monday. I had a bit of a meltdown, got drunk and argued with Mum. Then I ran away to stay with Jo and Sam. That's why I haven't been here. But then they made me come back and I'm staying with Tom because Mum still isn't talking to me."
"Like... not at all?" Scout frowned in confusion. "That doesn't sound like Miss Boston. Surely if that Gavin's been released she'd have gone into super-mum mode and be refusing to let you out of her sight?"
"She doesn't know." Hollie admitted quietly.
Her friends gaped at her. "What?"
"I haven't told her." The girl sighed. "And you can't say anything, understand? I've made Jo and Sam and Tom promise not to either."
"What, exactly, are you hoping to achieve by keeping this from her?" Zoe asked, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow. "No wonder she's so pissed off with you if she doesn't know why you're acting like a brat."
Hollie glared at her, offended at the accusation. "I'm not acting like a brat!"
"No? So what would you call going on a bender, running away and then moving in with Tom for no apparent reason?"
There was a long pause. "OK, fine, I'm a brat," Hollie conceded impatiently, "but you still can't tell Mum."
"Why?" Scout asked exasperatedly. "Miss Boston would just want to help! I know she would."
"I'm protecting her."
"From what?"
"D'you think Gavin's coming here?" Zoe asked, chewing her lip nervously.
Hollie shrugged. "Maybe. Probably. I don't know."
"He wouldn't?" Scout looked between her friends anxiously. "He wouldn't be that stupid?"
"He would." The other two chorused.
"But it's not just that." Hollie told them. She leant forwards and lowered her voice. "There's something else. Vix... she's not who she says she is. She's lying to Mum... using her to get to me."
There was a pause while her claim sank in. Then disbelieving expressions appeared on Scout and Zoe's faces.
"To get to you?" Scout asked.
"What the hell are you on about?" Zoe demanded.
Briefly Hollie told them what she knew about Vix and what was happening about the whole situation. They listened open mouthed until she stopped speaking and just looked at them seriously. Scout's eyebrows had risen so far up her face that they were in danger of disappearing into her hairline. Zoe looked as though she was torn between laughter and hysterical tears.
"And Miss Boston hasn't got a clue?" Scout asked in disbelief.
Hollie shook her head. "No… Sam and Jo think it's better if she doesn't find out yet."
"And you? What do you think?"
"I think... I think I want to find some concrete evidence that she can't dispute." The brunette said slowly. "I want to tell her, but... I don't think she'll believe me."
Zoe sighed. "I don't get it. I just... I don't get it! All of this, it's so... your mum is like some batshit crazy force of nature when she thinks you need protecting. Why is she suddenly so... apathetic about it all?"
"It's Vix." Hollie reasoned angrily. "It's got to be. She told me that Mum blames me for Kevin's stroke… that she thinks it's my fault because we argued."
"Hollie, that's not…" Scout looked at her sadly, shaking her head. "That's not true."
"I don't think Mum would blame me, anyway. But Vix went out of her way to tell me she did. She's got some kind of hold over Mum and I need to break it. I don't know what it is, but she's controlling her somehow. I've got to break them up; to get Vix out of our lives for good."
"Yeah?" Scout looked unconvinced. "How are you going to do that?"
Her friend grinned. "I've got a plan. I need your help, but you can't say anything to anyone."
"Hol?"
"We need to dig some dirt on her, right? So first things first, we need to learn about her background. Where she's from, her childhood, basically everything before we met her."
"How are you planning on doing that?" Scout asked, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow.
"And what's all this 'we' about?" Zoe added, copying her pose.
"Like I said, I need your help."
"With what?"
"Step one... getting Mrs Lowsley's address."
Zoe and Scout gaped at her. "What?"
"She's Vix's sister, right?" Hollie pointed out needlessly. "There's bound to be something useful at her house. If not, maybe we can find their dad's address because there'll definitely be something at his."
"Are you insane?" Scout hissed, glancing around quickly before leaning closer. "We can't just go round breaking into people's houses and looking for incriminating evidence to break your mum and her girlfriend up! That's crazy!"
"She's right, babe." The other girl agreed. "I love you, but not enough to get arrested."
"Fine, I'll do it myself."
Grabbing her bag, Hollie strode purposefully in the direction of the head's office and reception area where she was sure she'd be able to find the address she was looking for. Sonya would definitely have the Lowsleys' home address stored in her computer. She would have to think of a reason to get the secretary to leave for long enough that she'd be able to navigate the system and find what she was looking for, but she was confident it wouldn't be too difficult to achieve.
She had barely reached the end of the corridor when two sets of hurrying footsteps behind her alerted Hollie to the fact that her friends had rushed to catch up with her. She paused, turning to look at them and being met with two pairs of extremely irritated eyes. She could cope with their irritation, as long as they were willing to help her.
"Fine." Zoe conceded. "We're in."
"But if this goes tits up it's all on you, Boston." Scout added.
"Yeah, I know." She grinned at them. "Thanks. I promise it'll be fine."
"It better be..." The blonde muttered darkly, shaking her head as she followed the other two along the corridor. "I can't afford to get into trouble."
They reached the office door and Hollie knocked confidently, before pushing it open and walking inside. Sonya glanced up with a bemused frown, before smiling at the trio of eighteen-year-olds brightly.
"How can I help you?" She asked with her usual enthusiasm.
"I was wondering whether I could speak to Mrs Mulgrew?" Hollie asked innocently.
"She's in a meeting at the moment, but she shouldn't be long."
"Great." Taking a seat on the other side of the room without giving the woman a chance to argue, Hollie smiled and settled herself for the wait.
"Sonya…" Scout muttered, shooting Hollie look that said she would be demanding eternal gratitude from her friend. "The vending machine down there stole my money. You've got a knack with it, right? Can you help me for a second?"
With a sigh, the woman got up from behind her desk and followed the blonde out into the corridor. Motioning for Zoe to keep watch, Hollie leapt across the room and dropped into the recently vacated chair behind Sonya's desk. She smiled broadly when she realised that the woman hadn't locked it when she left, meaning that there was no need to try and figure out her password.
Navigating through the files, she quickly discovered Sue Lowsley's address and printed the file hurriedly. Barely managing to close the folders and return the document Sonya had been working on to the screen while Zoe grabbed the paper from the printer, both teenagers threw themselves into their previous positions on the other side of the room as the door opened.
"D'you know what, I think I'll come back later." Hollie told Sonya hurriedly, sending her a smile.
They hurried past her, much to her confusion, closing the door firmly behind them.
"Did you get it?" Scout asked.
Hollie grinned. "I got it."
"So… what next?" Zoe asked. Shouldering her bag firmly, Hollie turned and started walking along the corridor. "Hol?"
"Come on!"
"Now?" Scout frowned, glancing sideways at the tallest of the trio with confusion.
Hollie just sighed and doubled back to stand in front of them. She lowered her voice and glanced around to make sure they weren't going to be overheard. "It's the best time. We know they're both here and will be for the next," she glanced at the time, "three hours. We'll be fine."
"Yeah, because no one's going to notice we're not here." Zoe pointed out sarcastically.
"You can blame me; I don't care." She shrugged. "Or don't come, whatever. I'll go on my own."
Clearly frustrated, her friends exchanged a look as she turned and stalked away down the corridor. They waited, silently debating whether to follow. When Hollie made no sign that she was going to change her mind, they hurried after her.
Jumping down the steps at the front of the building, they walked purposefully down the slope and through the gates, turning right and heading up the road. When they turned the corner out of sight of the building, avoiding the possibility of being spotted or stopped, Hollie paused and pulled the folded printer paper out of her blazer pocket. She tapped the address into the map application on her mobile and grinned as it began to plan their route.
Scout looked over her shoulder and groaned. "It's gonna take forever to get there."
Hollie shook her head. "We can get a bus most of the way. Come on."
They headed towards the bus stop and checked the timetable. Luckily buses along the route were relatively frequent and they only had to wait ten minutes or so for the next one to come along. Zoe was still unsure about the whole thing, but Scout seemed to be relaxing into their adventure. She and Hollie discussed how they would gain access to the house as they headed towards their stop, both of them worrying that there would be an alarm system.
"How are you planning on getting past an alarm?" Zoe demanded as they walked along the road where their teachers lived.
Hollie's eyes were trained on the house numbers, looking for number fifteen. "We'll think about that if we have to. You never know, they might not have one."
Finally spotting their target, a beautiful detached house with a well-kept garden, the girls walked up the driveway and stopped on the doorstep. Luckily it was private enough that they were unlikely to draw attention to themselves from the street and had time to examine the front of the house carefully. There were no boxes on the front to indicate that a burglar alarm was fitted, but Hollie was reluctant to take the chance just in case. The last thing she wanted to do was get them all arrested for breaking and entering.
Nodding her head towards a metal gate that obviously led to the back of the house, she followed her friends as they opened it and slipped through. The side and back gardens were just as well manicured as the front and all three guessed that the Lowsleys must employ a gardener because they couldn't imagine either of them having green fingers.
On the off chance, mainly because she couldn't think of anything else, Hollie tried turning the handle of the glass door that led from the garden and into some kind of conservatory. She could barely believe her luck when it swung open with the smallest amount of pressure. Turning, wide-eyed, to Scout and Zoe, she nodded her head towards the house and disappeared inside.
"Oh god…" Zoe muttered, swallowing hard and inhaling sharply. "Here goes nothing."
Scout grinned and dragged her inside by the hand, closing the door firmly behind them.