He mashed at the face of the machine, pressing all the buttons, trying to turn it off. It only got louder. He then backhanded the screaming box, sending it to the ground before ripping out his IV. Blood spurted from his wrist and sprayed the blue divider that was drawn shut. Jax pressed against the wound as he swung his legs off the bed, but he had to let go of his bleeding wrist to push himself up and off the bed. And that’s when he saw the guard. The man mountain. The Hulk. Turner.

‘What are you doing?’ Turner asked as he bent down and punched a four-digit code into the screaming machine.

Silence.

Jax considered pushing past the guard, but thought the better of it, Turner being too big, too strong and Jax all busted and broken.

‘Easy,’ Turner said. ‘Relax. Back up. You need to rest.’

‘I can’t,’ Jax said. ‘I’m fine. I need to get back to my cell.’

‘Why?’ Turner asked. ‘Have you worked it out? Do you know who it is?’

Jax froze. The adrenaline was sucked from his veins and replaced with ice. And then he smiled. He was right. Turner was an agent.

‘Are you—’ Jax stopped himself. He had to be smarter than that. He could be wrong. He could blow his cover. He could also end up in a loony bin.

Turner looked left and then right. Coast clear.

‘Yes,’ he said softly. ‘Who do you think cleaned out your cell after the bomb? All that evidence didn’t magically remove itself. I have been checking on you every day and then giving them updates. Now, tell me what you know? What were you going to report before this happened? Can you remember?’

Jax could. He remembered everything up to the moment when the world went black. He thought it was strange that he could remember so much, crystal clear and in detail, after having his skull crushed, but still couldn’t remember shooting a man dead in his room. But now wasn’t the time for such thoughts.

One day and counting . . .

Jax told Turner about his list. About his eleven suspects. Told him he had been talking to Said and Baz, but only about fast cars and football.

‘I was also going to start tracking phones,’ Jax continued. ‘But it’s too late for that now.’ It was clear they hadn’t found the man behind the blasts, as Turner wouldn’t have asked him if they had.

‘Do we know anything about the target?’ Jax asked. ‘Where and what they are going to attack?’

Turner shook his head.

‘I’ve got to get out of here,’ Jax said. ‘Gotta get back to the wing.’

‘Why?’ Turner asked. ‘It’s too late. What are you going to do?’

‘I don’t know,’ Jax said. ‘But I can’t do nothing.’

Turner nodded. ‘I’ll have it arranged,’ he said.