A/N: Two updates in one day? I felt mean leaving you on such a cliffhanger and I know that I would have murdered me if I was you! I am that impatient!

However... this chapter might not make you less frustrated at me! Haha! I promise I'll put the next chapter up tomorrow... not that that'll be less frustrating either!

Oh, I feel horrible... ;)

Nikki waited until the last of her year 8 class left after the bell rang to signal break time on Wednesday morning before reaching into the top drawer of her desk and pulling out a packet of painkillers. She popped a couple out of the foil and swallowed them quickly, washing the pills down with a swig of her now cold coffee. Pulling a face, Nikki stood up and moved to pile the worksheets the twelve and thirteen-year-olds had handed in as they'd passed. She wasn't sure why they'd chosen today, but the year 8's, not to mention the year 9 class before them, had been unusually rowdy.

A sharp tap on the classroom door almost made her jump. Turning, she saw her daughter's friends standing outside and smiled, inviting them in. "Morning, girls. What can I do for you?"

"We were just wondering if Hollie's ill, Miss." Scout said, shifting her bag on her shoulder. "Just… she didn't turn up this morning and her mobile is switched off."

Frowning slightly, Nikki glanced between the teenagers as though trying to work out whether they were winding her up. "Hollie didn't turn up?"

"No, Miss. We waited until nearly twenty to, but then we had to go."

Pulling out her mobile, the woman dialled Josh's number, knowing that he would still be at her house because he didn't have a lesson until just before lunch. "Hi, Josh… is Hollie there? Are you sure she's not in her room? OK… no… no, don't worry. It's probably nothing. Yeah… see you later."

"Miss?" Imogen queried, taking in her anxious expression.

Grabbing her jacket and bag from the desk, Nikki turned to face the teenagers once more. "Have any of you got frees now?" As the teenagers shook their heads, the woman silently cursed. "I'm going to wish I never said this, but is one of you willing to skip your next lesson and come with me to look for Hollie?"

"I will." Scout agreed at once.

Imogen looked uneasy. "Miss Boston… are you sure Hollie's not just skiving?"

"Hollie?" The teenager in question's mother looked bemused by the suggestion. "Why would Hollie be skiving?"

The teenagers exchanged a glance, something that was not lost on the woman. After what seemed to be a silent battle, Scout sighed. "We weren't supposed to say anything… we promised Hollie we wouldn't tell you…"

Nikki's heart sank. "What's she hiding from me?"

"She just didn't want you to get upset." Imogen told her quickly, making her teacher's heart sink even further.

"Just tell me."

"A while ago Hollie's sister turned up at the School House looking for her." Scout admitted.

"Her sister?"

"Yeah, Natalie Williams."

Nikki took several deep breaths as memories flooded back to haunt her at the mention of Hollie's father's older daughter. "How long ago is a while?"

"The beginning of December." Scout admitted with a wince.

"The… that's… that's two months ago."

"I know… I'm sorry, Miss."

Uneasily, Imogen reached out and laid a hand on her teacher's arm. "She only didn't tell you because she thought you'd be upset. Natalie just turned up on the doorstep at the School House. Hollie said she didn't want to talk to her at first…"

After a glance from her friend, Scout took over. "Hollie asked me to get rid of her, but I couldn't because… well, Nat had come all that way and I thought Hols should hear her out at least. I think after a while Hols was curious so she listened to what Natalie had to say. Then… well, they talked a lot and met up when Nat could afford to come up. We didn't know about you at the time, so we didn't understand why Hollie wanted to keep it a secret. She even persuaded the rest of us not to say anything."

"OK..." Nikki decided she could try and get her head around the fact that Hollie had secretly had contact with her father's side of the family later. "So you think Hollie might be with Natalie?"

"I dunno… She hadn't mentioned that Nat was coming up." Imogen said with a small shrug.

"And Natalie usually only comes up at the weekend, because she works in a hairdressers in the week." Scout added. "She gets every third Saturday off, so that's when she comes up."

"When did Hollie last see her?" Nikki asked, still reeling from the revelation. The teenagers exchanged an awkward look. "What?"

"When you and Tom went on that school trip the other weekend… Natalie stayed over at yours."

Breathing deeply and reminding herself that now was not the moment to get angry about Hollie lying to her, the woman wrapped her arms around herself anxiously. "We went to Edinburgh the weekend before last, so Hollie shouldn't be seeing Natalie until next week, if the pattern is the same."

"And it's not the weekend." Scout pointed out.

"I don't suppose either of you have Natalie's number, do you?" Nikki asked, thinking it might be a long shot. To her surprise, Scout pulled out her phone and scrolled through the contact list before holding it out.

"Hollie borrowed my mobile a couple of times when she ran out of battery or credit." She explained, seeing the confusion on her teacher's face.

Copying the number into her own mobile, the woman held the handset to her ear and waited for the call to connect. There was no familiar ringing, however, as the call went straight to the answerphone. Redialling, Nikki's frustration rose as she heard the answerphone kicking in immediately again. Glancing at her watch, she saw that break was nearly over. Smiling weakly at the teenagers, she thanked them and advised them to head to their next class, relieved that she had two free lessons.

Her first stop was Tom's classroom where she gave him a shortened version of what had happened. His instinctive reaction had been to grab for his car keys, until Nikki reminded him that he had a lesson with his year 13 class which he couldn't miss. Instead, he promised to head out and look for Hollie at lunch and during his two free lessons that afternoon.

With that in mind, Nikki headed out to see if she could spot her daughter.

x-x

"… and you're sure you haven't seen her?" Nikki demanded into the phone, pacing around the living room and chewing on her thumbnail anxiously. "OK, well… if you see her will you let me know? Thanks…"

"Nothing?"

She shook her head. "Tom, where is she?"

"I don't know." He admitted. Picking up his car keys and jacket he headed for the door. "I'm gonna go and drive around again and see if I can spot her."

Once he'd left, Nikki moved around the room, racking her brains for any clues as to where her daughter might be. Nothing came to mind and all their attempts to track her down seemed to be fruitless. Driving around that morning and afternoon hadn't shed any light on the matter and neither Hollie nor her sister were answering their mobiles. In fact, both were permanently switched off which, for her daughter at least, was extremely unusual.

The police had sent someone round to take details, but informed her that she should keep trying to track Hollie down herself. Apparently they weren't making it an urgent case at the moment as she'd only been missing for a matter of hours. But trying to track Hollie was easier said than done, Nikki thought angrily. Hollie wasn't with any of her friends or at the School House. As far as they were aware she didn't know anyone apart from them in Greenock, so there was nowhere else Nikki and Tom could think of to look for her.

Nikki's mind flicked back to what Hollie had mentioned about seeing the same car several times over the last couple of days and, finally, she felt uncomfortable about it. She seriously regretted telling her that she was being overdramatic when Hollie had pointed it out in the supermarket car park. Suddenly wondering whether her daughter hadn't been being paranoid after all, Nikki strode over to the kitchen counter where she'd discarded her mobile and scrolled through her contacts quickly. Selecting the number she was looking for, Nikki held her phone to her ear and waited for it to connect.

"Hello?" She asked as soon as the call was answered. "Can I speak to DS Jo Masters, please? Tell her it's her cousin Nikki and it's urgent."