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
‘My mother’s campaign hotshot, Teddy, was at the club. He’s this creepy American, who claims he worked with Obama. He made sure nobody left the VIP area until they’d deleted all the videos from their smartphones. They found a doc, who squirted glue in my cut. Collins got taken to the heliport. He’s got to see a plastic surgeon in Lagos.’
‘Quite the night,’ Duke noted. ‘Where are you at now?’
‘Home. In my shower cubicle so nobody can hear us talk. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I thought I’d booked my ticket for military school, but Mother sort of took my side. She screamed at the twins for being in on the prank and flaunting Julius’s defect in public.
‘When my uncle called in a rage, Ma told him I’d stood up for my dignity in the face of humiliation and done nothing to be ashamed of. But she’s always like that. She can rip into us, but any outsider who says something bad about her boys is in trouble.’
‘Maternal instinct,’ Duke said thoughtfully. ‘My ma is the same.’
‘School will be unbearable once everyone hears what happened.’
‘A lot of people hate Collins,’ Duke pointed out.
‘But everyone hates queers,’ Julius sighed. ‘And you’ve got enough problems, without me calling you at all hours.’
‘It’s no problem,’ Duke said firmly. ‘My uncle’s a good guy, but I’m lucky if he’s home two nights a week. I’m a lonely soul and your friendship means a lot to me.’
Julius sighed, then managed to sound more upbeat. ‘Skating at Arctic Zoo was the best afternoon ever, but everything that’s happened since …’
‘We’ll ride the penguin pool again or die in the attempt!’ Duke announced with a defiant laugh. ‘Just one question.’
‘What?’
‘After you smashed up your knee, I thought something was about to happen. But when I made my move, you sprang away …’
‘I-it’s …’ Julius stuttered. ‘The whole world tells me the thing I want most is wrong.’
‘The world can lick my salty ballsack,’ Duke said. ‘We’ll put our heads together and get through this.’
PART TWO
TWO WEEKS LATER
TWELVE
It was a few minutes after ten as Julius peeked between heavy bedroom curtains, watching Orisa load empty shopping bags in the trunk of a black Lexus. The boot shut electronically as the dark-suited driver opened the rear door, giving a polite nod as Orisa slipped inside.
The twins had been out partying and were unlikely to surface before noon. Gabe was at Saturday-morning soccer practice and Bunmi had an early meeting at the governor’s mansion. That left a security guard and a maid in the house, plus two soldiers on the front gate.