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slammed her office door shut.

Chapter Six
    Sabotage
    JACK AND I were in the kitchen preparing Saturday’s dinner – spaghetti bolognese with lamb mince. At least, that’s what Jack was doing. I was slouching about getting in his way mostly. Occasionally I’d give the mince a half-hearted stir but that was about it.
    ‘Are you still angry with your mum?’ Jack asked.
    The shrug of my shoulders was so slight, I’m not surprised Jack missed it.
    ‘Well, are you?’ Jack prompted.
    ‘I’m the one who messed up her demonstration. I’m the one who made all the suits and uniforms back off, unimpressed. I could cost Mum her project, even her job. Why should I be angry?’
    Jack smiled drily. ‘I agree with you – your mum’s the one who should be angry, not you. But that doesn’t alter the fact that you are.’
    ‘Liam and I didn’t touch VIMS.’ The words exploded from me.
    Jack’s smile vanished. He and I regarded each other.
    ‘You believe me, don’t you?’ I asked uncertainly.
    ‘Of course I believe you.’
    ‘Do you?’
    ‘Yes,’ Jack said, his voice serious.
    ‘Thanks,’ I breathed. ‘It’s nice to have someone on my side for a change.’
    ‘But that still doesn’t excuse what you did.’
    ‘I know.’ I sighed. ‘I’ve been racking my brains all day, trying to come up with a way to make it up to Mum but I can’t think of anything.’
    ‘I think your best bet is to stay out of your mum’s way for a couple of hours when she gets home,’ said Jack.
    ‘What d’you suggest? Should I hide under the table? I’ll tell you what! If you cut a hole in the skirting board, I’ll try to disappear through it.’
    ‘That’s exactly the wrong tone to take if you want to get back in your mum’s good books,’ Jack told me evenly.
    ‘Don’t worry. I’ve got more sense than that,’ I sniffed. I glanced up at the kitchen clock. ‘Where is Mum anyway? It’s past six o’clock.’
    ‘I was wondering that myself,’ Jack said.
    An hour later, Jack and I sat down for dinner and Mum still hadn’t arrived. We started eating in a strange, gloomy silence. And then I heard a key in the front door . I wanted to leap up and run into the hall, but something held me back. Mum came into the living room. I put down my fork and spoon and looked at her. And that one look told me that Mum’s mood hadn’t changed from that morning. No, I take that back. Her mood had changed. It was worse. She obviously hadn’t had a very successful day. Jack was at her side in a moment.
    ‘All right, love?’ Jack said gently.
    ‘No.’
    ‘Couldn’t you find out what the problem was with VIMS? Maybe if I went into work with you tomorrow …’
    I groaned inwardly but had the sense to keep my mouth shut. I hated it when Jack and Mum worked at the weekends, especially on Sundays. I should’ve been used to it by now, but I wasn’t.
    ‘There’s no need. I found out what the problem was. Now I just have to find a way to fix it,’ said Mum.
    ‘Isn’t that good news?’ Jack frowned. ‘Why the long face?’
    ‘Because I’ve checked and rechecked and there’s only one possible explanation for what happened to VIMS today.’
    ‘Which is?’
    ‘He was sabotaged.’
    I stared at Mum. ‘What d’you mean – sabotaged?’
    ‘Just what I said,’ Mum replied grimly. ‘Someone reprogrammed VIMS so that when I ordered caution on approaching the car, he interpreted the command as moving an obstruction out of the way. That’s why he kept slamming into it. The car was against the wall so he didn’t get very far but that’s what he was trying to do.’
    And even though I heard Mum say the words, I kept trying to convince myself that I’d heard her wrongly. That somehow I was misinterpreting what she was telling us.
    ‘So who reprogrammed him?’ Jack asked.
    ‘I don’t know – yet. But it was done either late last night or early this morning and reprogramming VIMS before a demonstration is strictly forbidden unless