When they were sure no one was behind them they went inside to hear Alice crying and Alex singing a nursery rhyme to her. Jake held his arms out for the gorgeous bundle of baby who was dressed from head to toe in pale pink. Instantly she stopped crying and lifted a tiny finger to touch his cheek. Annie didn’t think she’d ever seen anything so sweet in her whole life. Jake began to talk to Alice and she responded by blurting back at him. Alex looked at Annie and mimed wiping his brow. ‘Thank God the big man’s home to take over. She’s been hard work all day. She’s either cutting her back teeth or she knows something is wrong.’ He passed Jake the bottle of milk and Jake began to feed his daughter, who was now almost asleep.

‘I never thought I’d see the day. He actually looks kind of cute holding a baby.’

‘No, me neither, but I’m glad he does because imagine how awful it would be if his big, ugly face scared her.’

Jake stuck a finger up at them both and they giggled. Jake turned to leave the kitchen, leaving the pair of them alone.

‘How are you doing, Annie?’

‘Okay, thanks. I just wish he’d make his move and get this over with. I can’t stand this feeling that I’m dangling over the edge of a cliff.’

Alex began to take trays of food out of the oven, then stirred the pans, which were simmering on the stove.

‘I bet you do; I think we all do. I’ve been so worried about you both all day. In fact, I bet that’s why Alice has been so unsettled. They say babies can pick up on their parents’ anxieties.’

Annie clenched her fists. Another bloody reason to make her feel even worse. Henry Smith had a lot to answer for.

‘I’m so sorry about this whole mess.’

Alex slammed the oven door shut. Pulling off the oven gloves he walked over to her and wrapped an arm around her. ‘None of this is your fault, Annie. Just remember that.’

She smiled at him, but inside her stomach was rolling. She wanted to see Will. No, she needed to see him now, before she walked out of here on her own and started looking for the bastard. As if he’d read her mind, not two minutes later there was a knock on the front door and she went to take a look out of the window. Will stood there, running his hands through his sandy, blond hair that needed a trim. He hadn’t had a shave for a couple of days but, damn, the stubble made him look even sexier than normal. She ran to open the door and threw herself into his arms. He pushed her inside, shut the door behind him and then held her as tightly as he could. She kissed him and didn’t want to stop. He kissed her back then pulled away, smiling. ‘Wow, did you miss me or something? It’s only been nine hours since you last saw me.’

‘Miss you? I’ve been wanting to hold you since about ten minutes after I left his morning. It’s been one long day without you.’

Will kissed her again. ‘Yes, you could say that. We need to sort something out. I can’t stand not being with you or knowing what you’re doing all day. You can throw a sickie tomorrow or you can tell them you’re working from down here. I don’t care as long as you’re with me and I can see you. I will not let that bastard drive us apart. I swear to God, Annie, I’ve had enough of his games.’

She hugged him hard and whispered, ‘Please don’t leave me on my own, Will. I’m scared.’

Will felt as though his heart had just been ripped in two. After everything they had been through in the past two years, not once had he ever heard her say she was scared. He didn’t want her to feel like this. It made him feel even more helpless to hear his tough, brave, beautiful wife admit that she was out of her depth. He held her tight. He didn’t want to let her go and she was happy enough to bury her head in his chest and stay that way until another knock on the door behind them broke the moment.

Will turned to peer through the glass and was relieved to see the hulking great figure of Kav standing next to Cathy. There was definitely something going on there, but that was good. They all needed to be paired up until they caught Smith. He didn’t want any of them putting themselves in danger. He opened the door and turned to see Annie wiping at the corner of her eye with the sleeve of her top. Another nail in his heart. She didn’t do crying in public either. For Christ’s sake, he wanted to strangle Henry Smith with his bare hands until the bastard was dead. Kav walked in and straight over to Annie, wrapping his arms around her in a bear hug, making them both smile.

Cathy rubbed her stomach. ‘I never knew what a big softie he was. Just goes to show you should never, ever judge a book by its cover. I hope tea’s almost ready. I’m starving.’ She looked across at Will. ‘Have Thelma and Louise told you their great idea yet?’

Annie pulled away from Kav to glare at her boss. ‘No, we haven’t. Will only arrived a couple of minutes before you did. I want to forget about it for at least an hour until we’ve all had something to eat – pretend we’re normal people for a while.’

‘Fine by me, doll. Just lead me to the food and I’ll say no more.’

Will looked at Annie, who rolled her eyes at Cathy. She took hold of his hand and squeezed it tight. ‘Come on, I need a drink and I should imagine you do too.’

Alex had opened a bottle of wine and had several bottles of lager on the table. He poured Annie a glass first but her stomach lurched at the sight of it. After forcing herself to pick it up, she took a sip, but gagged. Thrusting the glass into Will’s hand she turned and ran for the downstairs bathroom, where she ended up throwing up everything she’d eaten that day. Will put the glass down and went after her. He opened the door to see her kneeling down in front of the toilet, her face ashen. ‘Go away, I’ll be fine in a minute.’

Ignoring her, he walked over to her and began to rub her back. ‘No, I don’t want to go away. I’ll hold your hair up for you.’

Cathy looked at Kav. ‘Poor kid, I think it’s finally getting on top of her. It was bound to happen. You can’t go through everything she has and not get affected by it. We need to get this sorted.’

He nodded his head in agreement. Alex carried on serving up the food. His stomach was churning, but he wasn’t directly involved in any of this, so he couldn’t imagine what the others were feeling. Jake wandered in. ‘See, I have the magic touch. She’s out for the count. Where’s Annie? I thought I heard Will’s voice.’

Alex pointed to the bathroom. ‘She’s not feeling too well. Will’s gone to make sure she’s okay.’

Jake shook his head. ‘Bless, she’s kept it together pretty well up to now. I’d be a quivering wreck if some psycho killer wanted to murder me.’

Alex’s eyes almost popped out of his head. ‘Shh, you big idiot, she can hear you.’

Kav opened a beer and passed one to Jake. ‘So tell me something, good Jacob. Did you find out where our little friend is hiding today? Any good news that might lead us to him so we can put him out of our misery? In fact, any news at all?’

‘Not really. One caravan park was a bit difficult because I’d arrested the manager the other week, so he was being a bit unhelpful. Oh, we do have a bit of a lead. Apparently he’s stopping in a brown caravan, which is situated next to a hedge with a hole in the middle of it.’

Cathy touched Kav’s arm. ‘I wouldn’t bother asking how they came by this information. Let’s just say it was Annie’s special friends.’

Kav frowned, not having a clue what she meant, but he was happy enough to take their word for it. ‘So what next? I’ll go in first thing in the morning, if you want, in plain clothes and have a wander around. If anyone asks I’ll tell them I’m thinking of buying one. That should do.’

‘Sounds like a plan, but I’d rather you didn’t go on your own. I really think we need to be in pairs. Just in case, you know, he remembers us or something.’

‘I’ll go with him, then. I don’t mind spending the morning in my jogging pants instead of those bloody tight combat trousers that don’t give you room to breathe in. It will be nice to walk around pretending we’re a married couple – won’t it, Kav?’