He glanced around for her. Ahead was the harbour, dotted with colourful fishing boats, and beyond that was the salt marsh, the sun highlighting the glittering paths of the creeks that wound from the quay down to the sea. The main quayside road stretched in both directions, lined with gift shops and restaurants, and although it was early morning, it was still alive with the bustle of activity from those getting ready for another day of trade.

It was a beautiful morning, the sky a cloudless blue, and it was going to be another warm day, likely to bring with it a last flurry of tourists wanting to make the most of the end-of-season weather.

A handful of side streets led off the road and Hannah could have disappeared up any one of them. As Liam cursed under his breath, the dog gave him a bored look, as if to say, ‘Ready to call it a day?’ Breakfast baps and stakeouts Tank was all for, walking and exercise not so much.

‘It’s your fault we lost her. Now we’re going to have to find out where she went.’

Tank’s response to that was to squat down on the pavement and go to the toilet.

‘Nice,’ Liam muttered, glad he had remembered to bring poo bags.

As he cleared up the offending mess and deposited it in a nearby bin, Hannah appeared again from one of the side roads, this time accompanied by a pretty little black and white terrier.

‘Now you’re interested,’ he commented, as Tank’s head shot up.

This time, Liam had no trouble getting the dog to his feet as they followed after Hannah, keeping a safe distance away.

Here on the quayside was not the place to have a confrontation, and remembering how she had been the previous day, Liam had no doubt their next encounter would be heated. He planned on getting Hannah to talk, but knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

He soon learnt they were heading down to the sea, though it seemed she had other charges to pick up en route. By the time they were on the beach road, she had three of them in tow, the terrier joined by a black poodle and a scruffy little dog.

Her love for animals was how Liam planned to try and break her. Tank was big and stubborn and lazy, but he was also a handsome son of a bitch. When Hannah met him, then when she realised how much Liam adored him, he hoped she might start to thaw.