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Back Rabbit Hole Save as PDF
Chapters (73)
  1. Rabbit Hole
  2. Also by Mark Billingham
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  7. Preface
  8. PART ONE
  9. ONE
  10. TWO
  11. THREE
  12. FOUR
  13. FIVE
  14. SIX
  15. SEVEN
  16. EIGHT
  17. NINE
  18. TEN
  19. ELEVEN
  20. TWELVE
  21. THIRTEEN
  22. FOURTEEN
  23. FIFTEEN
  24. SIXTEEN
  25. SEVENTEEN
  26. EIGHTEEN
  27. NINETEEN
  28. TWENTY
  29. TWENTY-ONE
  30. TWENTY-TWO
  31. TWENTY-THREE
  32. TWENTY-FOUR
  33. TWENTY-FIVE
  34. TWENTY-SIX
  35. TWENTY-SEVEN
  36. TWENTY-EIGHT
  37. TWENTY-NINE
  38. THIRTY
  39. THIRTY-ONE
  40. THIRTY-TWO
  41. THIRTY-THREE
  42. PART TWO
  43. THIRTY-FOUR
  44. THIRTY-FIVE
  45. THIRTY-SIX
  46. THIRTY-SEVEN
  47. THIRTY-EIGHT
  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. FIFTY-FIVE
  65. FIFTY-SIX
  66. FIFTY-SEVEN
  67. FIFTY-EIGHT
  68. PART THREE
  69. FIFTY-NINE
  70. SIXTY
  71. EPILOGUE
  72. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  73. Back Cover

When Lauren couldn’t control herself any more and started waving her arms around and having a go at me, I made out like I couldn’t hear. I just shook my head and pointed at my headphones until eventually she started shouting.

‘What are you playing at?’

‘I can’t hear you.’ I deliberately said it too loudly, you know, like people do when they’ve got headphones on. I pointed at them again and said, ‘I’ve got headphones on.’

‘Take them off then.’

It was hard to keep a straight face because by now I could hear other people shouting ‘Quiet’ and ‘Shut the fuck up’ from the back. I thought Lauren was going to have a stroke or start frothing at the mouth or something, so in the end I slid the headphones off and looked at her, all innocent. ‘What?’

‘Why the hell are you watching the telly with those things on?’

‘I just like the company,’ I said.

The company was no better than it ever was and I was actually there on surveillance, keeping an eye on one particular nurse who was sitting in the corner like butter wouldn’t melt. I watched her get up and move between patients, trying to keep a lid on things, because quite a few people were on their feet and shouting by now. That’s how it works in here. One patient kicks off a bit and the rest of them tend to join in, like that Russian bloke and his dogs. Chekhov?

I watched her speak calmly to each of them in turn, a hand laid on an arm where it was needed, until some semblance of normality had returned. As normal as it can ever get when a woman is walking from wall to wall and a slightly camp bald bloke keeps pointing at the TV and announcing, ‘I’ve shagged her.’

It was funny, I thought, that the nurse never said anything to Shaun.

I watched her go back to her seat and sit there staring at me. I’m sure anyone else who clocked it thought it was because I was the one who’d started the trouble, but I knew it was because she’d seen me looking at her and that was fine, because I wasn’t trying to hide the fact.

I knew she was worried.

I knew she should be.

I stared right back and smiled until she looked away.

Once everything had settled down again, I put my headphones back on, loving how Lauren was still bristling next to me like a fat fucking cat with its fur up. I took out my phone like I was changing the track or whatever, but I was really checking my emails. It wasn’t like I was expecting Pindown to get back to me that quickly and certainly not this late, but it couldn’t hurt to have a look.