Now, he heard movement outside his door and wondered if they were coming for him. He felt rage building up inside him.
It was working.
The door opened and all he saw was enemies.
And the iPad.
They were here for one of two reasons: either to end the experiment and release him of his duties, thereby frying his brain and locking him up in a safehouse somewhere, like the other assets, or complete the set up for Jamie’s murder, which they’d already begun. The pieces fell into place. He’d be the fall guy this time. He’d walked straight into it. Thinking he could get rich from taking a few drugs like a lab rat had been beyond stupid. It was reckless. They’d played him all along.
‘You should have taken me back to the USA,’ he told them.
They closed in.
‘It’d be easier to kill me there,’ he said.
They were slow.
But Neurohydroxy-14 made him quick, agile and terrifyingly strong. He took them by surprise and produced a heavy glass globe paperweight from behind his back with expert precision. He brought it down on Tilda’s smug face first and rather enjoyed the feeling it gave him.
The long nights spent in her bed meant nothing, he realised now. Hurting her felt good.
Next, he caught Hank’s iPad and it thundered out of his hands and into the wall, then he swiped at the big Texan and caught him square on the ear, and he went down like a sack of Texan cattle feed. Then he dropped the paperweight and dashed out into the corridor.
They had no one else with them. Fools.
From there, he leapt over the balcony and landed on the soft grass underneath the ballroom, and he sprinted away towards the woodland on the edge of the property. He felt superhuman.
He knew exactly where he was going. Because Jamie had told him.
His priority wasn’t just to seek justice; perhaps it was too late for that. It was finding the other patient and stopping anybody else from getting hurt.
Chapter 55
Kelly and Johnny were driving around Rydal Water when they heard the crackle of Kelly’s radio reporting a 999 call from Dow Bank House.
‘That way,’ Kelly said. She turned the car and headed to the manor estate, which was only a couple of miles along the road.
It was Johnny who saw the man running away from the grounds first.
‘Look,’ he shouted.
She pulled into a narrow layby off the road and from there they could just see through the woods to the house beyond. She recognised the size and gait of the man.
‘That’s Paul Burlington.’
Kelly shot out of the car and shouted at him but he didn’t hear her. He didn’t look back as he continued running. He looked like a crazed madman.
‘Damn.’
‘Is he one of the people you’re looking for?’ Johnny asked her.
‘He’s Jamie’s business partner. He looks like he’s lost his mind.’
‘He looks like he’s being chased,’ Johnny added.
Iron railings prevented them from giving chase themselves and Kelly tried to hoist herself up but they were too high. They watched Paul disappear then Kelly spotted Hank Hampton shuffling across the gardens in the same direction, closely followed by his bodyguards, who soon overtook him.
‘They’re after him,’ Johnny said.
