Page 61 of We Chase Shadows

Tony looks away. ‘I told you you’d think it was stupid. You said you wouldn’t.’

He’s got her there. Felicity has absolutely brought this one on herself. She needs to own it. ‘I’d say you’re right, I don’t see how your clothes could be invisible.’

‘Thank you,’ says Tony.

‘Because how would that work exactly?’ says Felicity. ‘Anything touching you is invisible?’

‘This was what I was thinking,’ says Tony.

‘And that would mean that as soon as you touched a door, or picked up a pen, that would be invisible too,’ says Felicity.

‘And you’d give yourself away that way,’ says Tony.

Felicity’s eyes are drawn to the TV screen. Martin Clunes is staring at his neighbours through a pair of binoculars. It really is not looking good for those neighbours.

‘So, I was thinking,’ says Tony, ‘if that’s the case, then you’d have to be naked if you really wanted to be invisible.’

‘I suppose so,’ says Felicity. She begins to realize that one of the big advantages of being Tony Taylor is that your mind doesn’t work the same as everyone else’s.

‘But I don’t know if I’d be comfortable with that,’ says Tony. ‘Because what if it wore off?’

‘The invisibility?’ says Felicity. The key thing about being Tony is that you can suffer the sort of shock that would floor most people, and you can pack it away someplace where it does you no harm.

‘Exactly,’ says Tony. ‘You’re in the middle of a bank vault. Or you’ve got into the cinema for free.’

‘That’s how you’d use invisibility?’ Felicity asks. Perhaps it is healthier to be Tony. To not let these things trample over you.

‘I mean, you wouldn’t be able to have popcorn,’ says Tony. ‘But yeah. So you’re sitting there, the invisibility wears off and there you are. Naked. In Cineworld.’

‘How long have you been thinking about this?’ Felicity asks.

‘Just today,’ says Tony. ‘And a bit of yesterday.’

Felicity puts Tony’s head in her lap and starts stroking his hair. She should be more like Tony. Just let things go. Should she forget her anger at the man in the alley? Forget thoughts of revenge on Jakob Eriksson? Just feel lucky to be on a sofa with the man you love, worrying about invisibility and Martin Clunes. If Tony is over it, then it is not Felicity’s place to argue.

Then she feels Tony begin to shake.

‘Tony?’

He buries his head in her lap.

‘Look at me, Tony!’

Tony shakes his head. Felicity hears him begin to sob.

‘Tony!’

Tony turns his head and opens his eyes.

‘Every time I close my eyes I see him,’ says Tony.

‘The man?’ Felicity asks.

‘The man,’ says Tony. ‘What if he comes back?’

‘He won’t come back,’ says Felicity.

‘He might,’ says Tony.