The big built American smiled stiffly at his partner’s sense of humour. He hated the name Garry. ‘I’ll help, she’s a nice kid, certainly beat me at my own game.’Their search of Athens was extensive. Alexis had recruited several Greek police officers, and one holidaym^ police officer from Britain, who was a friend of Garry’s.They all met outside the bakery to be briefed as to the last time Carrie been seen. They tracked her down to the tavema just up the harbour where the waiter told them about her taxi.‘She was not very well, I think,’ said the waiter to James.‘Alexis. Over here. She got in a taxi, he believes it was to the harbour front where they hire the boats. He said she looked shocking, and very tired.’Alexis was at the end of his tether, tormenting himself with guilt. ‘If anything has happened to her ...’‘Come on, she’s a sensible girl. I know she’ll be all right,’ commented James without a frown. Inside hewasn’t feeling quite that confident. He wondered why she had gone

‘Champagne, anyone?’ Graham said as he popped the cork, ‘By the way, congratulations, love. I’m pleased all’s going well with the baby.’‘Thank you.’ She knew he was a man of few words so his good wishes meant a great deal to her. He lifted the bottle of champagne at her. Carrie shook her head, ‘I’ll have fruit juice.’‘Peter has been so looking forward to this. He’s going to love living next door to you. We’re just so grateful.’ He looked at Alexis. ‘You really don’t know what you’ve done for us. We love Peter, we’d do anything for him.’‘Oh, don’t you worry, you’ll work hard at the sanctuary.’ Alexis drank from his champagne flute. ‘I couldn’t believe it when Carrie told me you were with the police, working within the dog-handling section. Your experience is bound to come in handy.’‘I’m pleased you think so, Alexis.’The young crewman came in to serve dinner, but Carrie looked away, not sure she could eat anything at the moment, even though everything looked so deliciously appetizi

‘Great. Kerrien it is. And please call me Ashton. Can’t all live under one roof and be starchy and formal, can we Kate?’ His sister said nothing but the glare spoke volumes. There was definitely a problem here that Kerrien needed to sort out, if she was to make a success of this new job. After all, she had taken a huge gamble, travelling round the world, leaving everything she had known. When Mum had died, there seemed to be nothing to keep her there, in the little English Midlands town where she had lived all her life. Mum’s illness had always made it impossible for her to move away before. Memories of her father, who had left them when she was only eighteen months old, were non-existent. Her mother had coped single-handedly. When Kerrien had seen the job advertisement in a specialist magazine, the idea of a completely fresh start had seemed appealing. Not really expecting to hear any more, she had been pleased to get an interview at the rather exclusive agency. She was even more s

Hand in hand, they wandered back to the car and he helped her in. He drove her home in almost total silence. When they arrived, he leaned over and kissed her again, gently but very thoroughly. ‘Call me when you’re free and we'll do a spot of sightseeing. I only need short notice. Dad is pretty cool about time off.’ Brett worked in the family electrical business and, as with most things, seemed to be very free and easy — about their lives. As she was getting out of Brett’s car, she noticed a light go on in Kate’s room. Obviously, she had been looking to see who was outside. She turned back and leaned over to plant another kiss on Brett’s cheek. He looked surprised. ‘That one was for Kate’s benefit,’ she chuckled. She awoke early the next morning and collected the children for breakfast before Ashton himself was ready. The two children sat quietly at the table munching their cereal. Kerrien had put the coffee on and was making toast when Kate came through. ‘Conscience pricking is it

He was not pleased. He promised to call during the next week, just to make sure she was all right. Ashton was most apologetic and promised to make it up to her as soon as he could. In fact, he only had one call during the morning and he was away for just over an hour. The rest of the time, he joined in the games with the - children. They loved every minute of the precious time their father spent with them, especially away from the watching, disapproving eyes of their aunt. Even Ashton seemed more relaxed with her out of the way. ‘Now I feel even worse,’ Ashton said as they all sat down together for an early tea. ‘I’ve done you out of a day off, being taken somewhere really nice, I don’t doubt, and I’ve hardly been out all day. Still, I must say, I’ve really enjoyed myself.’ ‘And me, Daddy,’ piped Ben. ‘I’ve really enjoyed yourself as well.’ They all laughed. ‘I’ve never played swimming cricket before, have you, Daddy?’ Jodie asked. ‘It’s a strange old British custom,’ he laughed.