A search for other contacts proved as fruitless as Rory had suspected. After feeding, watering and cleaning up after the Doberman pup, Rory braced himself for the next round of calls he had to make. The police likely wouldn't care about a woman who'd been missing for less than twenty-four hours, but he knew his family would take him seriously.

But first he tried Pippa's cell once more, gritting his teeth when he got her voicemail again. "Pippa, love, I'm at your place. What's going on? Please, mo muirnín, call me. Please."