Chapters (88)
- Cover
- Title Page
- Dear Reader …
- Also by Robert Muchamore
- PART ONE
- Walter J Freeman Adolescent Mental Health Unit – East Grinstead, UK
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- PART TWO
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- PART THREE
- Walter J. Freeman Adolescent Mental Health Unit – East Grinstead, UK
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- PART FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- EPILOGUE
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- Have you read KILLER T?
- 1 SLASHED RUBBER
- 2 NOT HARRY POTTER
Julius thought he heard someone in the kitchen. It was most likely Orisa and part of him wanted to say hello. But he couldn’t be certain, and Orisa liked to think she was the boss when Bunmi wasn’t around. Julius didn’t want a grilling about why he’d come home and what his plans were.
The elegant bannister on the main stairs had been replaced by guide rails for a wheelchair lift. When Julius reached the first floor, he swept past his mother’s office and five bedrooms before stepping into a plant room.
Along with cleaning stuff, there were flashing internet routers, fuse boxes and master switches for everything from the fountain by the front gate to the solar panels on the roof. At the centre of it all were two screens, each split into nine pictures from the CCTV system.
The family rooms weren’t monitored, but there was a camera in the security booth that overlooked the front gate. Julius was sure he’d have been spotted if there was a guard on duty, but it was still good to see the booth empty, while several dead cameras suggested nobody had monitored the system in a while.
As Julius backed out, he heard a soap on the TV in Taiwo’s room. He tried imagining what he’d feel when he saw his brother in a wheelchair.
Focus, focus, focus …
Julius stepped into his own room. The air felt ancient, but the cleaning staff had done their job before the money ran out. Objects stirred memories of his old life. Graphic novels, skateboard parts and St Gilda’s uniform. Most cringeworthy were the girls he’d pinned to the wall to throw people off the scent.
Duke and Georgia would die laughing if they saw …
Julius reached deep under his mattress and was relieved to touch the gun and ammunition clip he’d grabbed on the day of the ambush. He found his old school pack in the bottom of his wardrobe. After tossing schoolbooks that simultaneously felt very familiar and like ancient relics, Julius dropped the gun in the bottom.
He added a couple of polo shirts so the shape of the gun wasn’t obvious, then grabbed a folding knife from the drawer of his desk, checked that his little LED torch had a battery and dropped both in the bag.
Satisfied with his haul, Julius headed quietly back to the stairs. His next stop would be the garage, where the security staff used to keep a good stock of stuff like extendable batons, ammunition, tactical vests and pepper spray to deal with armed thieves or a kidnap attempt.
But Julius only made five steps before his mother’s office opened behind him. He glanced back to see a spiky-haired woman leap into the hallway and before he reached the stairs she’d shot a metal barb into his thigh and zapped him with 50,000 volts.