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

‘Hey, fuckface . . . guess who? Yeah, it’s Crazy Alice with the word from the ward. Anyway . . . you’ll be horrified to know that I’m doing much better, no thanks to you, and that I’ll be out of here soon . . . very soon with a bit of luck. I just wanted you to know that. Hope your poorly broken head’s a bit better . . . fucking Humpty Dumpty with your broken head . . . but I’m not sorry I did it. I had to, because I knew what you were up to and I still know, but there’s no point you or your friends trying to watch me when I’m around again, because I’ll be watching you. OK? Hope you feel big and clever for putting me in here, but all I’m saying, it’s going to come back and bite you in the arse . . . because I’ve had a lot of time to think and now I’ve decided what I’m going to do and you aren’t going to like it one bit. Anyway, just wanted to let you know all that. So . . . sleep well and sweet dreams, Humpty.’

‘I’m sorry,’ I say, once he’s turned it off. ‘It’s the meds.’

Andy doesn’t look convinced. I watch him put his phone away and try to scramble my way back up on to my sliver of moral high ground. ‘Those emails you’ve been helpfully sending haven’t done me any favours, by the way. But I’m guessing that was the point.’

‘I was worried about you,’ he says.

‘Course you were.’

‘I’m still worried about you. That’s why I’m sitting here, with a stupid cactus in a bag.’

Through the small window in the door, I see L-Plate walk past, then step back and move to stare in. I presume she doesn’t know it’s Andy I’m talking to, even though I’ve told her all about him, but either way she clearly likes the look of what she’s seeing. She nods approvingly, then raises her hand to her ear to make a comedy call me gesture.

Andy sees me looking, but by the time he does the same, L-Plate’s gone.

‘So when do you think you’ll be getting out?’ he asks.

‘Depends on how many more of those emails you send to my psychiatrist,’ I say. ‘How worried you are.’

‘Come on . . .’

‘Four more months, all being well.’ If I survive that long. If I can work out who the enemy is. If my head doesn’t get any more messed up than it already is, so I can manage to avoid them or take them on. ‘Why? You worried I might just turn up on the doorstep one day?’

‘No.’

‘Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to bring a bottle.’