"Of course I like it! But you know what property values are like in this area- there's no way we could afford something like this even if we pooled our salaries-"

"Just wait before you make a judgment. See the rest of the house."

"But-"

"Trust me."

Following him up the stairs to the first floor, she mulled over her situation. She must make a change, she knew that. The garage flat she rented was much too small for another child, and Kincaid's Hampstead flat was no more suitable- especially since it looked as though his twelve-year-old son would be moving in with him over the holidays.

Since she had told Kincaid about the baby, they had talked about living together, combining families, but Gemma had found herself unwilling to face the prospect of such momentous change just yet.

"Two good-sized bedrooms and a bath on this floor." Kincaid was opening doors and turning on lights for her inspection. They were children's rooms, obviously, but again the walls bore pale patches where pictures and posters had been removed.

"Now for the pièce de résistance." Taking her hand, he led her up to the top floor.

Gemma stood riveted in the doorway. The entire top floor had been converted to a master suite, open and airy, with the balcony she'd seen from the street at the front.

"There's more." Kincaid opened another set of French doors and Gemma stepped out onto a small roof garden that overlooked the treetops. "That's a communal garden beyond the back garden. You can walk right into it."

Gemma breathed out a sigh of delight. "Oh, the boys would love it. But it can't be possible… can it?"

"It very well might be- at least for five years. This house belongs to the guv's sister-"

"Chief Superintendent Childs?" Denis Childs was Kincaid's superior at the Yard, and Gemma's former boss as well.

"-whose husband has just accepted a five-year contract in Singapore, some sort of high-tech firm. They don't want to sell the house, but they do want it well looked after, and who better than two police officers vouched for by the Chief Super himself?"