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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

Just spam, and some funny video from my dad which I’d look at later, and a message from Dr Bakshi reminding me that I had my next assessment the day after tomorrow.

I texted a reply to confirm my attendance: Is there a dress code?

Just after half-eleven, Marcus, Malaika and Femi came in. A few extra staff always turned up around this time to make sure the TV got turned off without a row – Lauren once smashed a window when she wasn’t allowed to watch the end of QVC – and that everyone was gearing up for bedtime and given extra meds or painkillers where necessary.

I was still watching Debbie, of course, so I was well aware that when I headed out and started drifting towards my room she was following me.

It wasn’t obvious, she was far too canny for that, making out like she was gently shepherding several of us towards the women’s corridor, just doing her job same as normal, but I could feel her eyes on my back.

So I slowed down, like I was distracted or something. I let Donna and Lucy go past me, and waited for Debbie to catch up.

She had that concerned face on, the same one I’d seen just before she’d done what she did to Shaun. Someone else who thought they could fool me by wearing a mask.

‘Is everything OK?’

‘Absolutely,’ I said. ‘Is everything OK with you?’

‘It’s not me we’re talking about.’

‘Maybe it should be.’

She sighed and that mask of concern thickened a little. ‘What’s the matter, Alice?’

I said, ‘Nothing’s the matter, everything’s great,’ and for the first time in a while, I meant it.

‘Is there anything you want to talk to me about?’

I knew there would be soon enough, but right then I was happy to enjoy myself. ‘I’m fine, Debbie,’ I said. ‘But thanks for asking.’

‘You sure?’

I’d looked on Google, so I knew the right way to cross myself. Forehead, chest, left shoulder, right shoulder. ‘I swear to God.’

TWENTY-NINE

TWENTY-NINE

I was chatting with one of the janitors who was trying to clean sticky toffee pudding off the camera outside the nurses’ station when Lauren came bounding – well, waddling at speed – towards me. Having wound her up so successfully the night before, I was all set for argy-bargy, but I could see immediately that there was nothing to be worried about.

She looked like she’d won the lottery.

She winked at me, rubbing her hands together then pointing towards the closed door of one of the examination rooms at the end of the corridor. She hissed, ‘Fresh meat.’

That explained it. ‘Serious?’

She nodded and beamed, excited as a kid on Christmas morning. ‘Got here a couple of hours ago, Ilias reckons.’