Chapter 48

At least he seemed to be keeping up with basic household routine, like washing clothes:

he could hear the washing machine nearing the end of its cycle.

He

could hear…?

He

hurried barefoot out of the bathroom and along the corridor to the kitchen. Now

he could hear not only the washing machine—which he knew he’d never put on

while he was asleep, due to fears of an electrical fire when he wasn’t there to

supervise—but also the hiss of the kettle boiling. Oh, and there was the pop of

the toaster. The warm, comforting smell of toast filtered through the flat.

Bryan

never thought to be frightened. He was just angry that someone had broken into

his flat and was taking advantage of his facilities. His brain wasn’t clear

enough yet to realise how ludicrous that assumption was. He strode into the

kitchen and there was…

“Phiz!”

“Shit!”

Startled, Phiz dropped the slices of toast he had in his hand onto the kitchen