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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

Later, after I’d shouted for a while and kicked the door until my foot hurt, I lay down and tried to sleep. I thought the weed would help, because it usually did, but there was too much rattling around inside my head. Mine would be the first name mentioned at the following morning’s staff meeting and my next assessment wasn’t likely to go well, but I decided it had been worth it.

A short-term fix, I’m well aware of that, but it was what I needed.

TWELVE

TWELVE

There aren’t too many secrets in this place – there are plenty of patients and staff members with big mouths – so I wasn’t the least bit surprised that several of my fellow sectionees were keen to join me for breakfast and get the skinny on my escapade the previous evening. They all chipped in or had questions. I told them it was just a bit of weed, that it was no big deal and it’s not like I’m the only person in here that’s ever tried to smuggle drugs in, but I suppose anything that breaks up the monotony is exciting.

You’d have thought I was Pablo Escobar or whoever.

Lauren was smirking, like I’d made her day. ‘Should have come to me and we could have sorted something out together.’

‘Sorry.’ I raised my arms and mock-bowed like I wasn’t worthy. ‘I’ll know next time.’

‘Fuck you,’ she said.

‘Should have used the old “prison wallet”,’ Ilias suggested. ‘Stuck it up your arse. I don’t reckon they’d have looked up there.’

I thanked him and said I’d bear that in mind as well.

‘You reckon somebody snitched on you?’ L-Plate asked.

‘I didn’t tell anyone,’ I said. ‘Because I’m not stupid.’ If I had then someone would almost certainly have had a quiet word with Marcus or one of the others. Donna, because she was trying to help me. Ilias, because he thought it was funny. Lauren, because she’s a bitch.

‘They bump you back to Within Eyesight obs?’ The Thing asked.

‘If you’re lucky,’ L-Plate said.

‘They haven’t told me yet.’ But they would, as soon as the morning staff meeting had finished. I wasn’t massively worried, because even if they wouldn’t be letting me outside again in a hurry, I knew I could be on basic hourly obs again quickly enough. I knew how to behave to get back into Dr Bakshi’s good books, besides which there simply weren’t enough staff around to keep an eye on everyone all the time.

‘Careful who you talk to,’ Tony said. ‘I still reckon one of the nurses is the Thing. The Scottish one.’

Graham, who hadn’t spoken up as yet, patted me on the shoulder. He whispered, ‘Nice try, though,’ then grabbed a plateful of porridge before setting off to mess with some cameras.