Gina pulled up outside Luke’s house and gazed through the bay window. The boy, Max, was playing with a plastic dinosaur and making it attack the voile. The girl passed him, snatched the dinosaur away then held it behind her back. She ran off and the boy disappeared after her.

She gazed up the road at the wall where Luke had reported seeing the stranger watching him and Brooke. He’d been loitering there, scoping the house out and planning his entry, which had thankfully been ruined because of Luke’s quick reactions.

Was the watcher the intruder? Was the watcher something to do with Deborah’s disappearance? Would the watcher be back? If so, when? Gina shivered.

The murky sky had darkened as she’d been driving. Rain began to trickle down the windscreen. She looked back at Luke’s house and watched as Cathy pulled the curtains closed. The woman stopped and stared at Gina, then waved. Gina held her hand up and stepped out of the car. Time to tell Luke what he and everyone else already knew.

Cathy had already opened the door before Gina reached it. Gina smiled and wiped her feet. ‘Go through. Luke’s in the kitchen with the baby.’

Gina continued along the hallway, stepping over a pencil case and book bag.

The girl yelled and the children ran down the stairs. Max pushed Gina out of the way with the plastic dinosaur as Heidi almost got hold of his jumper. ‘Daddy, she’s after my dinosaur. She keeps saying my dinosaur is stupid and that I’m stupid. She was going to put him in the loo.’ The baby began to wail. ‘Sorry, Daddy.’

Gina entered the kitchen and smiled. Luke grabbed the dinosaur with his free hand and placed it on the table. ‘Go upstairs, kids, and can you not fight for just a few minutes?’ He bobbed up and down while pacing, trying to calm the baby down.

‘But I want my dinosaur. It’s mine,’ Max yelled as his face reddened. A tear fell down the boy’s face. Luke sighed and passed him the dinosaur.

‘Just take it. Heidi, it’s his toy. Leave it alone and play with your own toys. For God’s sake.’ The baby continued bawling into his ear.

‘Daddy. Is this lady here about the baby?’ Heidi asked, waiting in the doorway, suddenly shy.

‘Stop asking so many questions and just take your brother upstairs while we talk.’ The little girl stared at her father, then back at Gina. ‘Please, Heidi. We’ll talk in a bit.’

‘Is Mummy coming home?’

‘Heidi, please?’

Cathy entered. ‘Go on up you two. Nanny will be up in a minute and we’ll play a game, I promise.’

‘Okay, Nanny. Come on, Max,’ Heidi said, beckoning the boy over. The children left the room and walked upstairs. The baby was only wailing intermittently now. The children’s footsteps stopped.

‘All the way up! I can hear you both,’ Cathy called. The footsteps continued until they reached one of the bedrooms and slammed a door behind them.

‘What can we do for you, Inspector? Have you found the creep who tried to break into our house the other night? Or, even better, have you found my wife?’

Gina looked down. ‘I’m sorry, Mr Jenkins. We have no news on either, I’m afraid. We’ve had officers on foot contacting everyone who lives locally to try and flush out more witnesses.’

‘I know. I saw them walking up and down earlier.’

There were tubs of baby milk, used bottles, nappy bags and all manner of things strewn over the worktops and table. It was obvious that the family had been busy caring for their unexpected addition. ‘Have you got everything you need?’ Gina asked.

‘Apart from my sanity and my wife. I suppose I have everything else.’

‘Do you have any news for us?’ Cathy asked.

‘Only that Luke’s DNA results came back. I thought I’d just pop by in person and confirm what you already knew. Your DNA doesn’t match that of the baby.’ Luke stood in silence. ‘I know you weren’t happy when you came to the station, but we were just following procedure. We have to rule the obvious out sometimes, just so that we can move on.’

Luke passed the grouchy baby over to Cathy and gave his stiff arm a shake. He placed his hand on his forehead and stared out of the kitchen window. The wind howled and there was a bang. The little trampoline had toppled over. ‘Everything’s falling apart, just like my life at the minute,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry about the way I was at the station.’

‘I understand. You were right, but we have to do what we have to do. And what I really want to do is find Deborah. I still need you both to keep a look out all the time, tell me straight away if anything seems strange, anyone seems out of place or anything happens, however small. If you so much as have a phone call you can’t account for, I want to know.’

Luke stepped closer to Cathy and placed his arm around the woman. ‘Are we in any danger?’

Gina wanted to reassure them, tell them everything was okay and that they were all safe, but after the intruder the other night, she couldn’t be sure. ‘We’re doing everything we can, and if I feel at any point you are in any danger, I will let you know immediately.’

‘And that’s meant to make us feel safe? Debbie is out there somewhere, missing her baby. Her children live here and they want her home too, and they know something’s wrong. I don’t care about myself, but I care about them. I need to know if my children are safe because I don’t feel safe,’ he said as he broke away and walked over to the kitchen window. ‘I was this close to someone trying to break into our home. This close.’ He turned and held his finger and thumb apart by a fraction. ‘This close,’ he said as he broke down. Cathy placed the now sleeping baby into the carrier and walked over to Luke. She placed her arm around him and patted his back as she embraced him.

‘I’m sorry, officer. Unless there’s anything else you have to tell us, it might be better if you leave us be,’ Cathy said.

‘Give me a call if you hear anything.’ Cathy nodded and Gina walked away. As she reached the hall, she looked up and saw Max and Heidi sitting on the top step. Heidi was covering Max’s ears as she held him close to her. ‘It’s okay, Max,’ she said, as she cried. The children could see the anguish Luke was going through. How would he ever to be able to explain what was happening to them?

She left the house, closed the door and hit the side of the wall. She flexed her fingers and noticed that she’d scraped a little bit of skin from the side of her hand. Maybe she could’ve handled everything better. When she’d arrived, they seemed to be coping. She’d thought turning up in person would be better than calling, but she couldn’t have been more wrong, and his children had heard everything.

Devina ran up the path, holding her bag above her head as the rain fell. ‘DI Harte, is everything okay?’ she asked.

‘Yes, just updating Luke. We took his DNA to eliminate him from our enquiries.’

‘And?’

‘He’s eliminated. How are they getting on?’

‘They’re doing remarkably well, given the circumstances. It would be a tough one for anybody. They haven’t properly explained things to the children as yet though.’

‘How come you weren’t with them when I arrived?’ Gina asked.

Devina’s smile disappeared. ‘They’ve been doing really well, from what I’ve observed. They’re an amazing, loving family, and I’d love nothing more than to eventually place little Isobel in their full-time care. I just popped to the car to make a few confidential calls. I didn’t want them hearing. Are you questioning something, DI Harte?’

‘No. I just wondered where you were when I arrived. I’m sorry. Things have just been strained. They’re all a little upset, and they could do with your support. Unfortunately the children overheard me updating Luke and Cathy. They now know about Deborah.’

‘Oh no. Poor kids. I’d best get back in there,’ said Devina. ‘Keep me updated, inspector.’