Read Online After the Fire by Jane Casey - Free Book Online

still here?’
    ‘Yeah, but we’re better than the firemen,’ Derwent said. ‘We catch baddies.’
    ‘I don’t like baddies,’ the boy said, starting to shuffle towards Derwent. ‘They’re scary.’
    ‘The police are scarier. The baddies are scared of us.’
    ‘And prison.’ He eased forward another couple of inches.
    ‘That too. They don’t like prison.’
    ‘Why don’t you put them all in prison?’
    ‘That’s what I keep saying, Sam. Lock them all up. Then we’d have some peace.’
    He crawled over the last bit as Derwent wriggled back to make room for him. I stood up and came round the side of the car in time to see the boy stand up. He was small, his shoulder blades sticking out through the thin material of his t-shirt. His ears stuck out too, and his neck seemed impossibly slender for the weight of his head. His jeans were damp where he had wet himself. How long had he been hiding there, terrified? Hours, anyway.
    Derwent sat back on his heels, looking at him. ‘What’s your name, Sam? Do you know the second bit?’
    ‘Sam Hathaway.’ In a rush he added, ‘Not Thomas. I don’t know why I said that.’
    ‘Don’t worry, mate.’ For a second I thought Derwent was going to hug the boy, but he was reaching out to brace himself on the cars as he straightened up. I heard the groan he was trying to suppress and filed it away to tease him some time he was in a good mood.
Getting old …
    ‘If you lock all the baddies up,’ the boy said quietly, ‘then Mummy won’t be scared any more.’
    Derwent looked down at him for a moment, his face unreadable. Then he smiled. ‘I’m working on it, Sam. I promise you, I’m working on it.’

Chapter 6
     
    ‘ HOW IS IT possible for no one to know who he is or where he came from?’ Derwent snapped. I took a step back.
    ‘Don’t shout at me. I’m as frustrated as you are. I’ve been going through paperwork in the management office. There’s no one named Hathaway listed as a resident here. I cross-checked with the PNC and the electoral roll. Not a thing.’
    ‘So where did he spring from?’ He turned and peered through the back window of his car. The boy lay across it, fast asleep under Derwent’s coat, his head on Derwent’s suit jacket. I assumed Derwent was cold, standing there in his shirtsleeves, but he didn’t show it and I didn’t dare ask.
    ‘Illegal sub-let?’ I suggested.
    ‘Which would mean no paperwork for us to follow.’
    ‘No.’
    ‘So we have to assume his mother didn’t make it out. And she’s either one of the injured—’
    ‘Or one of the dead,’ I finished. ‘They’re still searching the flats for bodies.’
    ‘Either way, until we find someone who can identify her for us, he’s on his own.’
    ‘Social services,’ I started, and Derwent rounded on me with a look that was pure rage.
    ‘Don’t even say it.’
    ‘They’re on their way.’
    ‘For fuck’s sake.’ Derwent turned away, clasping his hands at the back of his skull, the picture of frustration.
    ‘There isn’t anyone else. You can’t keep him.’
    ‘I know that. He’s not a puppy.’
    But that was exactly what the child had reminded me of, following Derwent around as if he and he alone could be trusted to look after him and find his mother. Derwent hadn’t made a fuss of the boy. He hadn’t tried to get his attention or gain his trust. I couldn’t tell if he was pleased or irritated that he’d acquired a shadow, but certainly he hadn’t tried to get rid of him. When Una Burt had arranged for a female uniformed officer to look after the boy, he’d backed away to hide behind Derwent, who shrugged.
    ‘He can stay with me.’
    ‘You have other responsibilities,’ Una Burt said tightly.
    ‘I’m aware of that.’ He dropped his voice. ‘Let’s not make it too hard on the poor kid, all right?’
    And Una Burt had muttered something under her breath about priorities before walking off. I wasn’t totally sure how he’d managed to put her