‘Are you for real? Now I’m glad I didn’t give you the reward, you don’t deserve it. Here I am, searching everywhere trying to find my dog. How do I know you didn’t kidnap him in the first place?’

‘What? Why the hell would I kidnap him and then put up a post saying I’d found a lost dog?’

‘Maybe to try and make money from rewards?’

‘I didn’t want your stupid money!’

‘Look, whatever, I’m getting out of here. You’re an arsehole, giving me the third degree after everything I’ve been through.’

Tia stormed towards the door and Darren followed after her. ‘Hang on, you never showed me any photos.’

He reached out a hand for her and she spun around and roared at him. ‘Don’t you dare even think about touching me. If you lay a hand on me, I’ll call the cops and tell them you’re stopping me from leaving your apartment.’

Darren pulled his hand back, bewildered. Tia opened the door and pulled the dog through it. Then she strode off down the hall with Doggo at her heels. He probably thought he was off for a nice walk; he wasn’t even looking back at Darren. But then at the lift, Doggo turned, cocked his head and barked.

A second later, they were gone.

*

Andrea

‘We can put the roof down if you want?’ Andrea offered. ‘Feel the wind in our hair while we’re driving up the freeway.’

They’d just hopped in the car in the undercover carpark and were about to get moving. The sun was setting but with the temperature being in the high thirties today, it was going to be a warm evening. Andrea’s Mercedes was a late nineties model and it was pretty rundown, but she loved her old convertible. Even when Tony had offered to buy her a new, top of the range Land Rover, she’d declined. She was too attached to the Mercedes.

‘Yes, please,’ Violet said from the back seat. ‘It’s hot in here.’

‘Watch this.’ Andrea pressed the button and they both looked up as the roof retracted and folded itself neatly away. ‘Pretty cool, hey?’

Violet nodded and Andrea started to back out of the parking spot. A twinge went through her body. Should she really be doing this? Taking a child that wasn’t hers? Could she be arrested for kidnapping? But she’d left a note. And really, wasn’t she protecting an unattended child? Well, maybe she could make that argument if she took her straight to the police station. But that’s not what she was doing. So yes, most likely she could be arrested for kidnapping. But she wasn’t willing to leave Violet alone on Christmas Eve. She wanted to give her a magical Christmas with a real family, like she deserved. So, fuck it, she’d deal with the consequences later.