Rain lashed against the windscreen as Kate pulled onto her road. After last night’s late return and lack of sleep, she couldn’t wait for her head to hit the pillow. It had been another tough day, with more questions raised than answered. But she was sure they were doing everything in their power to find Daisy.

Picturing her innocent face out there on a night like this sent a shiver down Kate’s spine, suddenly reminding her of the tenderness of her shoulder. The tattoo artist had given her a tub of cream to use to smear over the image, to help it heal.

‘You’ll experience some skin irritation over the next few days,’ she’d warned when she was done. ‘But that’s just the ink settling into your pores. You should be right as rain in about a week.’

Humberidge’s attitude was another irritation she’d have to put up with. She could understand his cynicism; with thirty years in the force he’d seen more than his fair share of horrific crimes and supposedly innocent suspects, but then so had she. But that didn’t mean he should question the direction of the investigation in the middle of a meeting. If he had concerns, the time to raise them would be privately, somewhere they could discuss and argue their points. But undermining her in front of the rest of the team was tantamount to mutiny.

Humberidge was from the DI Underhill ilk of police: assume everyone’s guilty of the worst crimes until they prove otherwise. Whilst the approach had historically proved effective, there was no place for it in modern policing. With advances in technology, and information on police techniques readily available for all to find, the criminal mind was more advanced than it had ever been.

Kate was certain that Barry and Val Emerson genuinely didn’t have any idea where their daughter was, but some of the points the team had made had planted seeds of doubt in her mind. Nobody had seen Daisy walking home, so there was a convincing argument that she hadn’t walked home. But no witnesses had come forward to confirm they’d seen Daisy anywhere else either. When someone vanishes into thin air, was it wrong to assume the worst had happened? That someone had grabbed her from the streets?

But who?

Whilst Southampton suffered crime as much as any other major city outside of London, mindless abductions and murders weren’t commonplace. But Kate knew better than anyone that serial killers did lurk in the shadows, as she’d experienced more than once.

---

Kate parked the Audi in her space, and climbed out, darting through the rain to the communal entrance to the small block of flats.

‘Kate?’ a voice called out from the shadow of a tree in the car park.

Turning and squinting into the darkness, Kate tried to make out who’d called to her, her heart racing at the possibility that Daisy had sought her out.

The figure of the young girl stepped into the light shining through the main door, an umbrella over her head, and a thin denim jacket over her shoulders. Kate continued to watch in shock as the figure moved towards her.

But as the girl reached the steps, Kate realised exactly who it was. ‘Tara? What are you doing here?’

The girl’s face was stained where her tears had run with her makeup. ‘Can I come in?’

Glancing up at the heavy cloud overhead, Kate didn’t think twice before opening the main door and heading up the flight of stairs to her flat on the first floor. Once inside, Kate switched on the central heating and set the kettle to boil, showing the supe’s daughter through to the living room.

‘Hang your jacket on the chair by the radiator,’ Kate suggested. ‘It’ll dry quicker.’

The girl obliged, before edging to the sofa and perching on the end. ‘I didn’t know where else to go.’

Kate had first met Tara at the supe’s birthday barbecue last summer. Only a select few of the team had been invited to the event, held on the expansive lawn behind the supe’s house. It had been a beautiful Saturday afternoon, at the height of a long heatwave. The booze had flowed and the party had continued long into the night. It had been the first formal occasion Ben and Kate had appeared as a couple, and despite Kate’s initial anxiety, nobody had batted an eyelid. The supe had even commented what a handsome pair they made.

And when Tara had stepped out of the house, resplendent in a faded yellow summer dress, beads around her neck and wrists – souvenirs from her recent holiday with friends on a Greek island – the supe was almost moved to tears as he told everyone that Tara had just been accepted to study medicine at Oxford University. It was a day when everything seemed possible, the horrors of their day jobs forgotten for just a few timeless moments.

Kate lowered herself onto the sofa next to the shivering girl. ‘What’s going on, Tara? Why are you here?’

‘I didn’t know where else to go. I’m sorry.’ Fresh tears glistened from her cheeks.

‘Whatever is the matter?’

But Tara didn’t answer, burying her face in her hands.

‘Has something happened? Is it your dad? Is everything okay?’ Kate pressed, but this only brought more sobs.

Kate returned to the kitchen, as the kettle boiled and fixed two mugs of hot chocolate, adding extra sugar to both mugs, and locating a packet of chocolate digestives in the cupboard. She carried the items through on a tray, not sure how she would get through to the girl she barely knew.

Kate placed one of the mugs on the table nearest Tara, before offering her the packet of digestives. Tara slipped one of the biscuits from the packet and nibbled on it.

Kate retook her seat, sipping from the mug. ‘I… I don’t want to upset you, Tara, but you need to help me out. I feel like I ought to call your parents and—’

‘No,’ Tara suddenly interrupted. ‘Please don’t call them.’

Kate frowned. ‘Why not? Have you had a fight with them…? Or… I don’t know. I’m sorry, you need to give me something to work with here…’

Tara’s brown locks, which were sodden from the rain outside, hung down almost to her waist, her frame slight, and deep brown pools for eyes. Kate could see why Daisy’s disappearance was affecting the supe so much.

Tara straightened, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. ‘I’m pregnant.’

Kate blinked several times, as she tried to process the information. ‘You-you-you’re pregnant?’

Tara’s eyes remained closed, as if she couldn’t bring herself to see the reaction in Kate’s expression. ‘I did a test.’

But Kate didn’t react; she didn’t know Tara well enough to express any real emotional response to the news. Her mind was stuck on asking why Tara had chosen to break the news to her.

‘These tests can be wrong,’ Kate offered, in an effort at reassurance.

Tara nodded, eyes still closed. ‘That’s why I did five. All positive.’

Kate knew she had to tread carefully here. ‘I take it you haven’t told your parents yet?’

Tara’s eyes opened wide. ‘Are you kidding? Can you imagine how my dad will react? You can’t tell him, Kate. You have to promise me!’

Kate was taken aback by the outburst. ‘Okay, I won’t say anything, but you can’t keep something like this from them. This really is something you should be discussing with them.’

‘I only found out today. I’m not ready to tell them yet. I need to get my head around the news first.’

‘Do you know who… I mean, does the father know yet?’

‘It’s nothing to do with him. It’s my body and I need to work out what to do for the best.’

‘I know, but this isn’t a decision you should take lightly, and it isn’t something you should decide without speaking to those involved and those who care for you the most.’

‘You can’t tell them, Kate.’

‘I said I won’t. But you can’t keep something like this from him. Or your mum.’

‘I’ll tell them, but when I’m ready.’

Kate suddenly remembered the time. ‘Where do they think you are now?’

‘I told them I was going to stay with a friend, so they’re not expecting me home. I don’t suppose…?’

The last thing Kate wanted was to be caught in the middle of this drama, but she couldn’t send Tara back out into the rain either. ‘You can sleep in my daughter’s bed. But tomorrow you need to speak to your parents.’

Tara reached out and pulled Kate into an uncomfortable embrace. ‘I knew you’d understand. Dad always says how great you are. A real role model.’

Kate wasn’t convinced the supe had ever described her in that way, but gently rubbed Tara’s back, hoping Chloe would never feel too scared to tell her anything.