It wasn’t until the meal was over and the speeches and toasts were supposed to begin that Greg Murphy stood, his expression glum, and said, ‘I’m afraid we’re going to have to pause proceedings for a short while because our lovely maid-of-honour, who was due to make a speech right about now, appears to have gone AWOL. It shouldn’t take long to find her, and once Rachel is back, we can continue to enjoy the rest of the evening.’

Jessica and Sean were among the dozens of guests who got up from their chairs and joined in the search. No one quite knew what to make of what was happening and an air of panic and confusion prevailed. Those who remained in the main hall spoke in hushed voices and Libby had to be comforted by her mother after breaking down in tears.

Twenty minutes after the search began Jessica was on the terrace when she spotted one of the wedding guests rushing across the lawn towards the hotel. The man started waving his arms in the air and calling to a security guard who was shining a torch into a bush.

‘I don’t like the look of that,’ she said to Sean. ‘You stay here while I go and see what’s going on.’

She left Sean standing on the terrace as she dashed onto the lawn, approaching the security guard at the same time as the guest. By then she had taken her warrant card from her purse and was holding it up.

‘I’m a police officer,’ she said to the clearly anxious guest, a man she’d seen earlier during the ceremony. ‘Am I right in assuming you’ve found something?’

He drew in a sharp breath and nodded before telling her what it was.

His words caused every muscle and sinew in her body to freeze. Turning to the security guard, she said, ‘This is now a police matter and I’m going to have to call it in.’

CHAPTER ONE

There was a time when James Walker was rarely sober on New Year’s Eve. Like millions of other revellers, he would shed his inhibitions and enter into the spirit of the occasion with great gusto.

But that was when he was single and living in London. Back then, he and his mates in the Met had used it as an excuse to de-stress after another difficult twelve months policing the capital.

Things changed when he met and married Annie. End of year celebrations became quiet, intimate affairs, usually spent at home or at the homes of close family members.

This year was the quietest yet because they had their new daughter to consider.

Annie had given birth to Bella six months ago after years of trying to conceive, and the little darling had become the centre of their world. Right now, she was on the sofa being breastfed by her mother and James was staring at them from across the room while reflecting on just how lucky he was.