"Who's Kate?" Joe, one of Steve's best friends asked later that evening. On Steve's return to South London, Joe and Chris another mate had taken Steve down to their local pub for a drink to celebrate Mia's safe return and to allow Steve to debrief if he so wanted.

"What?" Steve questioned.

"Kate," repeated Joe. "You've mentioned someone called Kate quite a lot tonight," he continued giving Chris a knowing look.

Joe and Chris were also colleagues at Counter Terrorism and had known Steve whilst he was with Anna and the subsequent break up. They had helped him through his heart break and were keen to help him find someone new. Steve deserved to be happy after all the difficulties he had recently faced. They had picked him up after each subsequent failed romance although there hadn't been any recent woman in Steve's life. Maybe this was about to change?

"Have I?" Steve asked, surprised. He hadn't been aware of mentioning Kate's name all that much.

"About 10 times, mate," Chris revealed.

"She's the officer that found Mia," Steve explained.

"And you like her?" Joe asked.

"Maybe," Steve admitted.

"Single?" Chris checked.

"Yes," Steve replied.

"So go for it," Joe urged before noticing Steve's reticence. "What's the problem?".

"She lives in the Midlands," Steve answered. "Not sure how it would work,".

"It's not that far away," Chris argued.

"I know, but I don't want to start something up only for the distance to become a big deal," explained Steve. He knew it was an excuse but didn't think his heart could cope with another failed romance.

"Have you discussed this with her?" Joe asked.

"No way!" Steve replied. "I don't even know if she likes me,".

"Well we can find out for you," Joe said.

"Pardon?" said Steve worried about what his friend had in mind.

"Let's have a party," Joe suggested. "A celebration that Mia was found safely. Invite this Kate along and I can subtly find out how she feels about you,".

"You don't do subtle," Steve pointed out worriedly. God only knew what his friend had in mind. He didn't want to scare Kate off.

"It'll be fine," Joe retorted confidently. "Me and Chris will check her out and see if she's good enough for you,".

Kate was sat her desk working on leads that might link the Midland OCG with the London one when her phone rang. It was Steve. "Hello?" she said as she answered his call. Steve had only driven south yesterday so she wondered what he could be calling about.

"Hi," Steve said.

"Everything ok?" Kate asked.

"Yeah. I just wanted to thank you for the picture you sent last night of Brian with his toy. Mia loved it,".

"You're welcome," Kate replied. "How is Mia doing? Enjoying being home?".

"Absolutely," Steve said. "Got me doing as she wants already,".

Kate smiled. She could picture the three year old bossing her father around quite easily.

"Speaking of Mia, umm…., I was wondering if you were free this weekend?" Steve asked trying to sound as casual as possible. Hopefully Kate wouldn't see this whole party was just to get Kate to meet his mates,".

"Why?".

"We've decided to throw Mia a party to welcome her home," Steve said. "She says she wants you and Brian there," he added lying. Mia hadn't been told about the party at all.

"Umm," Said Kate as she thought about Steve's offer, sucking on the end of her pen. "As luck would have it mine and Brian's diary is free this weekend," she admitted.

"Great!" Said Steve enthusiastically. A little too enthusiastically he realised. She'd only accepted an invitation to a three year old's party. "Great," he repeated, hopefully sounding less enthusiastic.

"Ok," said Kate wondering why Steve was acting so strange. "Text me the details and I'll see you in Saturday," she instructed before hanging up the phone, a smile in her face. It had only been 24 hours since she had last seen him but she was looking forward to seeing Steve again.

"You found it ok?" Steve asked as Kate got out the car. He had come out of his parents house where the party was being held when Kate had texted to say she was nearby.

"No problem," Kate said as she went round to the passenger side of the car to put a lead on Brian before undoing his seat belt. "Journey was really good. Only took 2 hours,".

Brian was overjoyed to be free and happily jumped out of the car tail wagging as he strained at the lead, anxious to explore the new unfamiliar surroundings.

"Brian, sit!" Kate commanded and the dog did as requested whilst Kate got her belongings out of the car and locked it. Steve took her things from her and led the way to the party whilst Kate and Brian followed, stopping briefly to allow Brian to relieve himself against a tree. "I'll carry him through your parents house," Kate said as she scooped her puppy up, not sure if Steve's parents would want a dog in their house.

"Mia look who's here," Steve said as he reappeared with Kate in tow.

The little girl looked up from where she was playing with a few of her friends in the garden. "Kate!" she cried excitedly and ran towards her friend. Kate crouched down to hug the little girl when she approached. Brian was just as excited to see Mia, his little tail wagging furiously as he gave his latest friend a lick to her face.

"Brian!" Mia said as she giggled. "This is the bestest surprise,". Kate paused. She was sure Steve had said Mia had been the one who had invited her. "Can I show Brian to my friend's?" Mia asked excitedly.

"Sure," answered Kate as she undid Brian's lead and let Mia lead him off. Getting up slowly form her crouch she headed over to where Steve was busy getting some drinks. She wanted a word with him after realising she had been lured here under false pretences. "Why is Mia surprised to see me if she was the one who invited me?"