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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

All very sordid and, believe it or not, it’s the aspect of my somewhat chequered past I’m least proud of. That’s probably because of where one such encounter led. Because of who it led to.

I can’t even remember where I met Andy, but the morning after wasn’t quite as terrible as usual and he stuck around until the afternoon. I told him a bit about myself, but not all of it. He told me about his boring job in an office and I remember feeling quite jealous. We saw each other a few times after that and suddenly we were going out. Restaurants and the pictures and stupid cards on Valentine’s Day.

All fine and dandy.

It’s how things are supposed to be, isn’t it?

He knew exactly what he was getting into, I want to stress that right now. He knew. How could he not, for God’s sake, the state of me back then?

When he suggested that I move into his flat, I wasn’t convinced it was a good idea, but Sophie certainly was. I must have been a total nightmare to live with, so I don’t blame her for encouraging me.

‘New start,’ she said.

Looking back now, it’s quite funny, because I can see how desperate she was.

‘Could be just what you need, Al . . .’

It wasn’t, and you already know that things with not-as-nice-as-I-thought-he-was Andy went tits-up very quickly – before I’d taken all my stuff out of the boxes, more or less – but there’s all manner of fun and games you don’t know about yet, and I think I’ll save the more lurid details for the next instalment.

The cutting and the masks and the hospital.

The plot to murder me.

You really don’t want to miss that. Watch this space.

FOURTEEN

FOURTEEN

Half an hour or so after I’d talked to Banksy, Marcus knocked on my door. I shouted ‘fuck off’, which is my standard reaction, to be fair, but I was angry that Banksy had rubbished my fake voluntary idea. I still thought it was something worth following up.

Marcus knocked again and this time he didn’t wait for an answer. The bedroom doors can be locked and we’ve all got our own keys, but most people don’t bother because we’re in and out all day and the staff have to come in so often for checks. We’ve each got a small cupboard inside our room with a padlock. That’s useful for any valuables, because sometimes phones or iPods can go walkabout, but the doors themselves tend to stay unlocked.

Marcus walked in and sat down on the end of the bed, like we were best mates. ‘Back to WEO,’ he said.