Chapters (73)
- Rabbit Hole
- Also by Mark Billingham
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Preface
- PART ONE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- 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
- PART TWO
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- 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
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- PART THREE
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- EPILOGUE
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- Back Cover
Either way, the message was the same and I received it loud and clear.
Wherever he is, Graham would be proud of me, because the moment the breakfast service is done with and the meds hatch opens, I’m out of the dining room and first in line to get drugged up. I take the three different doses that Femi hands over and signs off on – three, because I’m assuming the new Alzheimer’s pills are among them – and go looking for Malaika.
Ten minutes later, I still haven’t managed to find her, so I collar George on his way from the nurses’ station to the MDR and ask him where she is.
‘Malaika’s not come in this morning,’ he tells me.
‘Really?’ Malaika was my best bet, same as always. I’ll need to find someone else fast.
‘Bit bloody short-handed, tell you the truth,’ George says. ‘I think Marcus is on his way in, and he won’t be best pleased having to give up his Saturday—’
‘Can you take me outside?’
George rolls his eyes. ‘Morning gasper, is it, pet?’
‘Yeah, but . . . I just need some air.’
‘Well, you’ll have to give me ten minutes. Something I have to finish, then I’m all yours. Just one fag, mind.’
‘You’re a star,’ I say.
George carries on towards the MDR and I nip back to my room to grab my tobacco. I’m in and out as quickly as I can, but I still make sure the door’s locked while I’m in there. I lock it again when I leave, because the last thing I want when I come back is to find someone in there waiting for me, then hurry out to wait for George at the airlock.
I’ve only just got there when Tony arrives carrying his suitcase. He sits down next to me.
‘They’re coming early . . . flown in from Detroit.’ He grins and pats his case. ‘So I packed as soon as I woke up.’
‘I saw the Thing last night,’ I say.
‘Where?’
‘In my room. Well, I didn’t see it exactly, but I saw what it would be like if the Thing was there. The shape and everything.’
‘That happens to me all the time.’ Tony lifts his case on to his lap, holds it against his chest and whispers, ‘What I’m hoping is . . . that when I go, the Thing might stay behind.’
‘I thought it always followed you.’
‘Yeah, so far. But I was thinking . . . maybe it’s getting tired of always changing into different things, or it’s stopped being angry with me. I mean it could have killed me by now, if it really wanted to.’ He looks at me. ‘Yours might give up, too.’
‘I’m not going to let it have the chance,’ I say.