A schoolgirl, Lily Walmsley, causes concern for Pcs Mel Ryder and Leon Taylor when she's reported missing by one of her teachers. Has she become the target of a paedophile? Or has she run away back to Manchester, where her family lived until recently? Lily's anxious mother, Maria, tells Mel and Leon that her daughter's father died a year ago and they moved south with her new partner, Simon Morris, and Lily's little brother. But it's Lily's friend, Rebecca, who tells the police how unhappy Lily has been � and that she's seen her with some horrible bruises. The only other family Lily has is her gran, Eileen. But Maria's banned Eileen from seeing her grandkids because she doesn't approve of the family's move from Manchester with Simon. Could Lily have run back up north to see her gran? That's unlikely because Eileen has secretly moved south, too, and has been seeing Lily. She's desperately worried when she hears Lily is missing and is horrified when she hears about the bruising on her granddaughter. The mystery of Lily's whereabouts is solved when the frightened girl phones her mother and tells her she's lost in the middle of London's West End. Lily would be easy pickings for the low life that prey on vulnerable runaways. Can Mel and Leon find her before she comes to any harm?
