Free Black & Blue (Lord & Lady Hetheridge Book 4) by Emma Jameson Page A

zipped into his plastic body bag. "All right, Mr. Wainwright. Let's go to the Yard, get a medic to see to your hands, and get this sorted."
    * * *
    Kate's impatience to interrogate Buck notwithstanding, his arrest had set a painstaking process in motion, no part of which could be expedited or omitted without jeopardizing the Crown's case. By her estimate, it would be another hour or two before she'd have the opportunity to take him through his story again, point by point. That meant there was time for a detour. So when she left East Asia House, she walked back to Tony's place— their place—to look in on the boys.
    To her great relief, Henry was asleep. She wasn't ready to talk to him yet. But in the morning, she owed him an explanation, perhaps even an apology. She knew she cared about what he wanted, that she would do anything for him, even act against her own wishes if they violated his best interests. But perhaps at not quite nine, he didn't know that or felt shaken by what he'd witnessed. Tomorrow, she'd make it right.
    Ritchie, who kept highly individual hours, was still up, watching his favorite Blu-ray, The Lego Movie . Since receiving it as a Christmas gift, Ritchie had given the film an unswerving devotion that put Henry's Star Wars obsession to shame. In the morning, Ritchie watched it while eating breakfast. In the evening, he watched it again with the commentary on. Any attempt to interrupt this pattern resulted in a meltdown. Fortunately, Wellegrave House was large enough to accommodate Ritchie's viewing patterns. Back in the old flat, commandeering their lone telly for a single program, day in and day out, would have tested Kate's patience and pushed Henry to the brink.
    "Did you get something to eat?" Kate asked, leaning over the sofa to hug Ritchie from behind. He accepted the embrace with his eyes still locked on the screen.
    "Yes."
    "What did you have?"
    "Takeaway."
    That was better than a Cornetto and Coke, a duo he would eat at least as often as he watched The Lego Movie , except Harvey wouldn't allow it.
    "Sorry family dinner was scuppered," she said, mussing Ritchie's curly brown hair until he swatted her hand away. "You know the drill. Work calls, and I have to answer. Catch the bad guys and put 'em away. I'm leaving again in a few and might not be back till after midnight."
    "Okay. Where's Tony?"
    Kate bit back a smile. There it was again—her brother's growing fascination with the new man in his life. Henry had fallen for Tony almost as quickly as she had. Ritchie was thornier. He didn't relate to others in the traditional sense, didn't hold what might be called normal conversations, took little interest in most people he met. But after all his tantrums and breakdowns about leaving their South London flat, he'd settled into Wellegrave House. And though he'd done so with utter indifference toward its history, antiques, and comparative splendor, he'd latched on to one feature—Tony.
    "Also working. Remember, he's the chief."
    "Beefeater?" After his visit to the Tower of London, Ritchie conflated all police officers, and indeed all of Scotland Yard, with the venerable yeoman warders. She suspected that in his mind, Tony spend a portion of each night guarding the White Tower and performing ceremonies to do with Queen Elizabeth's keys.
    "Something like that."
    "Who was shouting before?"
    "Shouting?" she stalled. "I didn't hear any shouting."
    "Sounded like Maura. I hate her. Manky minger."
    Kate swallowed a laugh. Ritchie's animosity didn't surprise her. He'd spent most of his childhood terrified of Maura, especially when she turned up loaded or high.
    "Richard Wakefield, that was a very rude thing to say about your own sister. Who taught you that?"
    "Henry. I wasn't supposed to tell you. Snitches end up in ditches." Breaking contact with his beloved red and yellow bricks, he turned to her and added, "I don't want Henry to go."
    Kate caught her breath. "Oh, Ritchie, baby. Henry isn't going