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Chapters (88)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dear Reader …
  4. Also by Robert Muchamore
  5. PART ONE
  6. Walter J Freeman Adolescent Mental Health Unit – East Grinstead, UK
  7. ONE
  8. TWO
  9. THREE
  10. FOUR
  11. FIVE
  12. SIX
  13. SEVEN
  14. EIGHT
  15. NINE
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. PART TWO
  19. TWELVE
  20. THIRTEEN
  21. FOURTEEN
  22. FIFTEEN
  23. SIXTEEN
  24. SEVENTEEN
  25. EIGHTEEN
  26. NINETEEN
  27. TWENTY
  28. TWENTY-ONE
  29. TWENTY-TWO
  30. TWENTY-THREE
  31. TWENTY-FOUR
  32. TWENTY-FIVE
  33. TWENTY-SIX
  34. TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. TWENTY-NINE
  37. THIRTY
  38. THIRTY-ONE
  39. THIRTY-TWO
  40. THIRTY-THREE
  41. THIRTY-FOUR
  42. THIRTY-FIVE
  43. THIRTY-SIX
  44. THIRTY-SEVEN
  45. THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. PART THREE
  47. Walter J. Freeman Adolescent Mental Health Unit – East Grinstead, UK
  48. THIRTY-NINE
  49. FORTY
  50. FORTY-ONE
  51. FORTY-TWO
  52. FORTY-THREE
  53. FORTY-FOUR
  54. FORTY-FIVE
  55. FORTY-SIX
  56. FORTY-SEVEN
  57. FORTY-EIGHT
  58. FORTY-NINE
  59. FIFTY
  60. FIFTY-ONE
  61. FIFTY-TWO
  62. FIFTY-THREE
  63. FIFTY-FOUR
  64. PART FOUR
  65. FIFTY-FIVE
  66. FIFTY-SIX
  67. FIFTY-SEVEN
  68. FIFTY-EIGHT
  69. FIFTY-NINE
  70. SIXTY
  71. SIXTY-ONE
  72. SIXTY-TWO
  73. SIXTY-THREE
  74. SIXTY-FOUR
  75. SIXTY-FIVE
  76. SIXTY-SIX
  77. SIXTY-SEVEN
  78. SIXTY-EIGHT
  79. SIXTY-NINE
  80. SEVENTY
  81. SEVENTY-ONE
  82. SEVENTY-TWO
  83. SEVENTY-THREE
  84. EPILOGUE
  85. Discover more books and sign up to the Robert Muchamore mailing list at muchamore.com
  86. Have you read KILLER T?
  87. 1 SLASHED RUBBER
  88. 2 NOT HARRY POTTER

‘Pie Oven,’ Duke said, pointing towards a double-fronted fast-food joint, crisply done out with white tiles and green plastic chairs. ‘Always busy, but worth it.’

It was only eleven, but Pie Oven had a bum on every seat and a line down the street. As Julius and Duke shuffled forward, a bunch of well-dressed women wearing yellow sashes from the Healing Prayer Church passed along the queue, giving out leaflets.

Julius smiled as he took a leaflet with a metal lapel badge attached. There was a headshot of his uncle, followed by blurb, which Duke read aloud.

‘Re-elect SJ Adebisi as Ondo State Governor – Four More Years of Decency & Excellence in Government.’

‘I’m with Rotimi Rotimi,’ Julius joked. ‘But don’t tell my mum …’

Orisa had made breakfast, but Julius’s appetite stirred as he shuffled through the door and caught a steamy whiff of spiced meat and just-baked pastry. He ordered a jerk chicken pie with gravy and rice, while Duke went for stewed beef pie and a Scotch egg. With no hope of a seat inside, they found a concrete bench at the edge of the precinct.

‘Stupendous pie!’ Julius said brightly.

Pigeons chased the rice Julius dropped around his feet as he shovelled with his plastic fork.

Duke tilted his clamshell food tray towards Julius and spoke with his mouth full. ‘Try the Scotch egg.’

Before Julius could take the offer, a woman shrieked at the opposite side of the precinct. Careful not to spill food, the boys rose slightly and looked behind.

The women from HPC who’d been handing out leaflets were now trying to unfurl a long Vote Adebisi banner and tie it between two concrete posts. This had angered a group of men, some shouting This is our area and You have no right to be here, while a couple of younger, fitter men tried to tear the banner away.

‘We live in a democracy,’ one of the HPC women shouted as she fought to take the banner back. ‘We’ve had banners here before.’

As Julius scoffed more pie, women who were handing out leaflets around the precinct came to reinforce the group with the banner. One had a walking stick and led with the crook end, cracking a young man over the head.

‘They’re only handing out leaflets,’ Julius said. ‘What’s the biggie?’

‘Do you follow politics?’ Duke asked.

‘Not if I can help it.’