the blood from his eyes. Lilly raised the urumi again. It caught Mann across his face, his chest and his legs. It had cut him to the bone. In the pause when the three strands left his body and wheeled back into the air to join together and become one again he gritted his teeth and caught the ends of the weapon around his fist and held on to it tightly. Victoria seized her opportunity to run along the ledge and out of reach. The Outcasts stared frightened at the approaching Africans, they retreated towards the parapet, pushing Lilly ever closer to the edge. She held on to the handle of the urumi and Mann held on to the other end as he beat the kids back with what he had left of his baton.
Lilly screamed as she was driven over the edge by the mob. Mann wound the ends of the urumi round his hand and Lilly dangled at the other end. Its razor-sharp edges bit into his hand. He clenched his teeth against the pain. Blood dripped onto Lilly’s upturned face. She looked at it, horrified. David and the Africans forced the Outcasts to the other side of the roof, away from Mann.
‘Don’t drop me, please, please.’
‘Hold on, Lilly.’ Mann tried to pull against her weight. ‘Reach with your other hand.’ Lilly looked at him, terror and panic in her eyes. ‘Come on, Lilly, try…reach for me…do it.’
Lilly was terrified. She was dangling off the roof of a skyscraper and she was crying. He could see the whites of her knuckles around the hilt of the urumi. Her hand was slipping. Mann reached down with his other hand and tried to grab her, but she was too far away. He wrapped another coil around his wrist. He was so far over the side of the parapet now that he was struggling to stop from toppling over. He pulled with all his might and the urumi bit further into his hand; it was now cut so deep it had became stuck. He looked at her face and saw the splashes of blood, his blood, as the razor blades bit deep.
He heard Victoria screaming in his ear. She was holding on to him. ‘No, Mann, you’re bleeding. You’re losing your hand.’
He pulled harder as he saw Lilly’s hand weakening. She looked at him, terror in her eyes. ‘Hold on…hold on…’ He shouted down to her and with one almighty pull he lifted Lilly two feet upwards. Mahmud reached down and grabbed her other arm and pulled her up onto the ledge. The urumi snaked in the air as its coils unravelled. The only thing still attached to it were three of Mann’s fingers. The Outcasts scattered from the rooftop like scalded ants as they ran back down the stairs and through the Mansions.
Mann lay on the roof. His wounds were deep. He was losing blood fast. He felt the cold of the concrete under his back. He shivered. He closed his eyes. He heard Victoria talking to him and he heard the whoop-whoop of a machine overhead and then the world went dark.
Chapter 107
Shrimp lay in the absolute darkness trying to work out where he was and how he had got there. It was so dark he didn’t know whether his eyes were open or not. He tried to move his legs and arms and couldn’t. He was aware that he was naked. The last recollection he had was of being with Nina and now he was here in a place that smelt of death. There was an odour in the room of guts, faeces, carnage. He was lying on plastic. There was only darkness around. Next to him Sheng’s body lay. Shrimp felt its presence but he couldn’t see it. He could hear someone in the room with him.
‘Nina?’ he called. He could hear the sound of someone moving closer. ‘Nina?’ he said again.
The heat in the room was unbearable.
‘Nina?’ He was beginning to feel fear now. Then soft hands reached out to touch him in the darkness. ‘Nina, is that you?’ Someone ran their hand over his body lightly and then he felt the sting as a knife dragged across his thighs. Just once. Shrimp heard movement again, she was gone.
Ruby left Shrimp with a taster of what was to come later. For now she was busy. She went into the other room. She had to get her nurse’s outfit on, ready for the hospital. She took her spare urumi out from the cupboard, She had unfinished business with Mann. She knew which hospital they would take him to. There weren’t many capable of reconstructing a hand. Ruby slipped on her mac over her uniform and left.
Chapter 108
Mann lay in the hospital bed. His dreams took him flying on the back of the eagle. His eyes were on the horizon. He soared on the air currents, turned and faced the wind and then swooped. The wind was in his face, feathers beneath his hands, the sun on his back. Then he was falling through the air, hearing Lilly scream, seeing the terror in her face and hearing Helen calling him. ‘Wake up wake up sleepy head.’
Mann tossed and turned. He felt the stitches throb in his hand. Three hours of surgery had reconnected two of his fingers, but the third one, the forefinger, the eagle had recovered from the gardens below the Mansions and eaten it; it had developed a taste for fingers. The wounds from the urumi had cost him two hundred and forty stitches. Thirty of them were across his face; one more scar to add to his collection. He touched his face as he came out of the anaesthetic, prodding it with his numb bandaged hand. The fingers weren’t going to be working for a while.
He looked around the room. He heard Mia’s voice. He felt panic. He didn’t know why.
He heard the footsteps in the corridor. He lay there listening, hearing his heart hammer as he fought to come out from the anaesthetic. Mann heard the swish of a uniform, starch, shoes, leather soles slapping on linoleum. Mann stirred in his drugged stupor. Helen was talking to him again now. ‘Get up! Move. Run…run…she’s coming for you, darling.’ Click, clack down the corridor…He stumbled out of bed and doubled over with the pain. He pulled his clothes from the locker and rested against the bed as he got dressed.
Chapter 109
Run, Johnny, run. He staggered as he bounced off the walls of the hospital. He felt the adrenalin in his body as it met drug sedation head on and had nowhere to go. In the middle line they fought for ground. He ran down the corridor, his legs buckling. Click, clack.
He heard Mia’s voice. ‘Where’s Mann? He’s not in his room. Find him, quick.’
Mann didn’t know why but he knew he had to get away. Turn left at the end of the corridor, first right, now stay, stay, stay…breathe…wait, listen. Shush… He slid down the wall and stayed there. Click, clack…click, clack…
He crawled along on his hands and knees, his eyes struggling to keep focused, he was seeing double on double. His bandaged hand was bloody now.
He turned a corner and looked down the empty corridor – he could see the empty reception. He stood, found his balance, lurched on his feet and very carefully inched forward.
Now Ruby came click-clacking down the corridor, the urumi coiled in her hand. She would finish him off. She would flail him to death whilst he was lying in his hospital bed. Ruby could be anyone; nurse, patient, saviour, murderer. Ruby was Ruby.
He felt a hand on his arm, guiding, supporting. A young police officer looked at him. ‘You all right, Inspector?’
‘Yes. Where’s your car? I’m borrowing it.’ He took the keys from the flustered young officer. He staggered outside and unlocked the car door. He slipped into the driver’s seat and managed to manoeuvre his body into a position where he could drive. He switched on the engine, slammed it into reverse and then sped forward and away from the hospital.
He got halfway back to his flat when he got a call. It was CK.
‘Hello, Inspector. I heard about your unfortunate accident this evening. I do hope you will feel recovered enough to accept an invitation from me.’
