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wondered if she’d spent a sleepless night hatching
her plans. “I’m sure she won’t. But what are you going to do
then?”
    “ Well, in some of the police dramas I like to watch—you’ll know
about this, son—they sometimes do a thing called good cop, bad cop. Ezekiel will take a very stern approach with Elowen, and tell
her that because Tamsyn lived alone with you and Lee for five
months, that established a precedent—you know, like when you have a
job but no contract, the employer still has certain duties to
you.”
    “ Is there any such law?” Lee asked, ignoring Gideon’s second
quarter of tomato. His face had gained a faint wistfulness during
the old lady’s speech. “Gid?”
    “ Not that I know of, but...”
    “ But that’s just the beginning,” she went on. “If we can make
her just a little bit afraid—nothing dreadful, Lee, just Ezekiel
pretending to be the bad cop—then I can tell her how much it’s
breaking my heart to lose my granddaughter. That I’m a poor old
lady who doesn’t know how much time she has left. Which is a great
exaggeration, of course, but, you see, at this point...”
    She
pulled out a handkerchief. The exaggeration wasn’t a very great
one, now she’d heard herself say it. “At this point you’re being
the good cop,” Gideon finished for her gently. “Yes, I
see.”
    “ Well, what do you think?”
    “ Does Ezekiel mind doing his part?” Gideon looked up and found
his brother’s eyes already on him, saying more clearly than
words, Gid, if you’d just spent the night
with her I have, you’d agree to anything. “Okay. I’m probably just tired, but this doesn’t sound as
crazy to me as it should. Lee, what do you reckon?”
    “ No.”
    All
three Fraynes turned to him in surprise. His hands were clenched
together on the table. He had taken on what Gideon had come to
think of as his winter-sea look—silvery and distant. It was often
the sign of an oncoming vision. Gideon took hold of his wrist. “Are
you all right?”
    “ Fine. Just... no.”
    Ezekiel
shifted uncomfortably. “Look, Lee, I know she’s your sister. And I
don’t think we’ll be able to manage it exactly as my mother says,
but it has to be worth a try. I’m willing to, anyway—”
    Lee
shoved his chair back. He banged down one palm among the breakfast
dishes, the sharp gesture so unlikely from him that everyone
started back, and Isolde gave a frightened yelp from her basket. “I
said no. It isn’t the right thing to do. Isn’t it enough that I’ve
spoken?”
    Gideon
got up to follow him out of the room. “Oh, Gideon,” his mother
wailed, clutching at his sleeve. “Do try to persuade him! I thought
it such a good idea.”
    “ Sorry, Ma. If he’s this set against it—yeah, it is enough that he’s
spoken.”
    “ Don’t you get
a say?”
    Gideon
wheeled back to face his brother. A hot snake of pain was rising in
his throat, devouring justice and sense. “Don’t you dare try to
drive a wedge in there, Zeke. Don’t you dare.”
    “ Oh, Gideon, he isn’t! I know he hasn’t been good to you in the
past, but—”
    “ Mother! Please stop apologising for me. I’ve done my best to
make amends to Gideon and Lee for the way I expressed my
convictions, but...”
    This was
all going downhill fast. Gideon took his mother’s hand—reached out
and awkwardly grasped Zeke’s shoulder. “Sorry. Sorry, okay? He’s a
mess this morning, and so am I. I have to go after him.”
    He found
Lee in the nursery, huddled up in the armchair where he and Gideon
had taken turns to bottle-feed Tamsyn. Gideon knelt in front of
him. He set aside the little girl’s favourite blanket, as if that
would make any difference in this bombed-out city of memories. “Oh,
sweetheart.”
    Lee took
fierce hold of him. He pressed their brows together. “I was rude to
your mum. I love her, and... I was rude to her.”
    “ I love her too, but she rucked up here at half six in the
morning on the day after we lost