In the seminar room at Stone Edge House Hotel most of the teambuilders had taken their seats around the large conference table.

There was quiet chatter in the room, mainly about the night before. Sunlight shone in through the large sash windows and onto the polished flawless surface of the huge mahogany table that dominated the space. The room was bright, too bright for some of those sitting at the table. Some of the team members had drunk hard into the early hours. Fresh coffee was on offer and most participants had taken hot steaming cups to soothe their heads from the night before.

Jean Innocent, smartly dressed in a mid-grey trouser suit was chatting to the team-building consultant, explaining that almost everyone was in attendance but there were just a couple of others to come, who, she said, would certainly be here very soon.

Hathaway, overhearing the conversation, knew she was referring to Laura and McLeod and he noted an odd discomfort on Innocent's face. Clearly she felt it incongruous that McLeod and Laura had left together the night before and that it was peculiar, apart from anything else, that at least Dr Hobson hadn't turned up on time to the seminar. Laura's punctuality was something that she was notorious for. Hathaway too felt an odd disquiet. He didn't give two hoots if Laura had spent the night with Iain, but he felt the consequences for his boss. Lewis, he knew, would quite possibly be in private turmoil at the turn of events. That aside, like Jean Innocent, Hathaway felt a stab of anxiety at the very absence of Laura Hobson to an event she should have been at with her usual effervescent punctuality.

Hathaway glanced again at Jean Innocent who had gone to pour herself a coffee from the large pots that were stationed on an adjacent table. Instead of going back to her seat she made her way over to where he was sitting.

"James" She said quietly but with a barely concealed irritation in her voice "Would you kindly ask Inspector Lewis if he is going to grace us with his presence?"

Hathaway was about to say that Lewis was on his way and was just wondering whether to tell innocent that actually, he wasn't her secretary, or Lewis's for that matter, when Lewis burst through the doorway from the reception area.

"Thompson!" He shouted causing the whole room to fall silent at the force of his voice and presence.

"Have you got your car keys?" Lewis barked at the sergeant having garnered his attention

"Yes Sir?" said Thompson, snapping into professional role at the command that the tone and volume of Lewis' voice had brought and clutching rapidly at his trouser pocket where his keys were residing.

"Carpark. Now!" Robbie shouted again to a bemused Thompson who stood up immediately at the instruction

"Hathaway, you too. Now!" Hathaway too found himself rising from his seat, automatically thrust into his rank at Lewis's command. Hathaway and Thompson shot a brief look at each other, recognising that something big was happening although neither knew what. Both men also found themselves instinctively following Lewis, at speed, out into the hotel reception foyer and beyond.

Jean Innocent, just as dumbfounded at the sudden unfolding of events, found herself also in a professional capacity as a result of the proceedings. With an almost embarrassed glance at her contemporary on the team building course, Chief Super Alan Michaels from Manchester, she marched straight after Lewis, Hathaway and Thompson.

Quick on her heels out into the foyer of the hotel she soon caught up with Lewis

"Robbie what the hell is going on?" She demanded, her hand gripping his arm and forcing him to stop

"Ma'am, I know this looks odd, and I can't explain right now, but we need to get up to Laura's aunt's house. Something's wrong"

"Looks odd? You can bet your bottom dollar it looks more than bloody odd. What are you talking about? what do you mean wrong?"

"Ma'am I don't know for sure but I think Laura and McLeod are in trouble"

"Robbie have you lost your mind? We are on a team building week away; esteemed colleagues in our field are present, our integrity as a whole, not just individually is important to the department, indeed the whole of the Oxfordshire police force. . . and anyway what sort of trouble? This is completely out of the blue is it not? What could possibly be wrong? What are you basing this panic on?"

"A hunch, Ma'am and I'm sorry, I know this isn't ideal" Robbie cut her off in mid-flow "Believe me, no one but me wants me to be more wrong about all this, but I can't risk not doing something, Ma'am"

"This is completely insane, Lewis. Get Hathaway and Thompson back in that room along with yourself right now" Innocent, with a raised voice was in full managerial throttle. Her focus had slipped more onto the fact that Lewis was going against the flow, not that he seemed to be in command of some sort of emergency situation in addition to which he seemed to have little if any details to elaborate on.

Despite her command Robbie had already started to turn to make his way out of the hotel

"I'm sorry Ma'am, you have to trust me on this." He shouted back at Innocent as he broke into a run towards the hotel doors. "We have to get up to Ash Rake House right now. We're not on duty, ma am, this is my decision and if it all turns out to be a false alarm no-one will be happier than me, I guarantee." and with that he was gone with Hathaway and Thompson ahead of him.

Jean Innocent was left stunned. She was also in a simmering rage. She followed Lewis's route to the hotel doors and watched as he sprinted out into the car park and towards Thompson's car. Thompson was already in the driving seat, the engine running, with Hathaway installed in the front passenger seat, buckling up his seatbelt as Robbie leapt into the back of the car and slammed the door behind him.

"Everything ok Jean?" A voice behind Innocent said as she watched Thompson's car speed off. It was CS Michaels.

"Is Mr Lewis ok?" Another voice chimed into Innocent's peripheral senses. It was Sam, the caving guide. He had observed the ruckus as it had unfolded and like everyone else had no idea what had suddenly galvanised the weary looking Lewis into such action.

Jean Innocent looked at Sam, his eyes showed he was clearly concerned for Lewis and at the situation. CS Michaels looked just as confused and concerned. Thoughts and perceived consequences spun through Jean Innocent's mind like a flip book of moving images as she rapidly assessed the situation and what it might mean.

Jean Innocent was a brilliant Chief Superintendent. She had qualities that surpassed others in her rank, if not above her rank. She also had the ability to trust her gut. Many times, however, she had found that facts over internal emotion were the better bet. But sometimes she knew it was a matter of life or death to read what her inner voice was spelling out to her. This ability had been a double-edged sword throughout her career. Sometimes she had trusted people and she had been let down; sometimes, her character assessments had been wrong. She had been wise enough to learn from her mistakes. This, along with her hard work and resilience had propelled her towards her goals. Despite this brilliance and awareness of emotion, she had risen to her post not meteorically but in something more akin to an arduous slow mountain climb with numerous boulders and obstacles in the way of the heights she had finally achieved. The boulders and obstacles in her way were not of her making. Often, in her role, she had to make tough decisions that reflected on the whole and not particularly on the individual. She dealt with the press, the commissioning bodies, the government and the law-makers. Sometimes the decisions she made seemed almost cosmetic, a mirage of her at the helm of a watertight vessel of integrity and public service. It was a constant balance between veracity, scrutiny from higher powers and the wellbeing of the Oxfordshire police force, and, at the heart of it all, the security of her own role at the helm.

She watched as Thompson's car disappeared at speed down the driveway, the sound of the tyres tearing up the gravel audible even at a distance.

She looked at the two men again. And she knew she had a decision to make.

Hi Folks. I hope you are all well. I am having some quiet time from work, which is great amidst the uncertainty of covid and the awfulness of all the other news headlines at the moment - there seems little joy about -so writing has helped distract me from it all. I've already had time to write as much as I had hoped – so far - and I hope it can continue so I can keep posting as soon as the chapters are ready. Thank you SO MUCH for your readership and comments and I'm really looking forward to writing and sharing the next part of this story. . .