Witness Protection

Author's Note:

I have tried writing this fan-fiction before, but for whatever reason, I never got around to fully completing it. Recently however, I've rewatched the second series of 'Broadchurch', and was once again inspired to try writing again. Of course, because it's an AU, some of the details won't be as accurate to that of the 'Broadchurch' storyline, and will be altered accordingly to fit my narrative.

Please let me know if you have any thoughts or constructive criticism. Hate of any kind however, will NOT be tolerated.

Chapter Two

To Rose's relief, Pete agreed for her to apply for the babysitting job, and within a few hours of applying, a new number popped up on her mobile.

"Hello?"

"Hi there, is this Rose? You applied for my babysitting advertisement."

"It is, yes. Thank you for calling."

"It's a pleasure. You'd be doing me a great service if this works out? My name is Ellie Miller. Are you free this afternoon to meet up for a coffee? We could have a chat and see if we could sort something out?"

"I am free all afternoon. I have no plans."

"Brilliant. Does two o'clock suit you? Are you familiar with the the Coffee Nook in town?"

"Yes, I've been there a few times already."

"Perfect. I'll see you at two o'clock."

Rose arrived at the Coffee Nook just before two o'clock, and was seated in one of the more comfortable booths by the window. She wasn't nervous, more anxious about the prospect of doing an informal interview.

She looked over her mobile for a few moments as she waited, and was alerted to the door when the bell rang, indicated that somebody walked in. Rose saw an older woman - perhaps in her mid to late thirties - with short, dark, curly hair and wearing a bright orange raincoat. The woman's eyes met with Rose's, and Rose held up her hand in greeting.

The woman came over, greeting Rose with a smile. "You must be Rose. I'm Ellie, Ellie Miller. Thank you for meeting on such short notice."

"It's nice to meet you, and you're welcome. I had no errands, so it wasn't a bother." Rose smiled. "Would you like a drink? I can get us one if you'd like?"

"I'll get the drinks this time, to say thank you for coming." Ellie said. "What would you like?" Ellie took Rose's order, and went to place them. Ten minutes later, she returned with the drinks and sat opposite Rose. "I guess you'll start with a basic question - truth be told this'll be my first time doing a professional interview -, can you tell me about yourself?"

"Um, well, my name is Rose and I've recently turned nineteen. I also moved down here a few days ago, and I was hoping to get a job to fit around my schedule. I start college classes next month."

"Nice. What will you be studying?"

"Mostly fine art and some history. I don't really have a future career plan in place yet, but those are my interests as of right now. I like having my own art projects to work on in my free time."

"That sounds perfect." Ellie had pulled out a notebook and was jotting notes as they spoke. "Fred will love arts and crafts or anything messy." She chuckled, and brought out her phone, showing Rose a picture of a two year old little boy, with light ginger, curly red hair. He was smiling in the picture, with an older boy of around eleven holding him. "That's his big brother Tom. You wouldn't have to worry too much about him, he's going through that independence stage right now, where he thinks he can do everything by himself. When he gets home from school he'll do his homework and then spend the rest of the night on video games. You know what young preteen boys are like."

"Tell me about it." Rose giggled, drinking some of her latte. "My little brother Tony is turning ten next month, and he's already acting like a know-it-all and trapped inside a fourteen year olds body."

"Boys eh, who'd have them?" Ellie shook her head fondly. "What sort of times would you be available?"

"I'd be free anytime after one o'clock, as the majority of my classes will take place in the morning and online." Rose explained. "I would be available whenever really."

"Okay, that is good. With my job it is ongoing, and there's never usually a set timetable." Ellie noted. "My sister can babysit on Tuesday's and Thursday's, so why don't we start with Wednesday and Friday, and the occasional Saturday? It'll give you a break in between, and time to do your studies?"

"That would be great." Rose agreed, nodding in acceptance.

"As far as I'm concerned, you've got the job. I just need to do a background check, and we should be good to go. Is there anything I should know about before I run it through?"

Rose gnawed on her lip, having dreaded this part. "I'm sort of down here because of something that happened in my hometown." She started to say, deciding to be honest. "I wasn't involved directly, but my friend was. She was murdered, and when people started catching on that I knew her, my Dad decided to send me here for my own protection where nobody would know me. He's a well known business man, so he was worried I would become a target."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear about your friend. Were you close?"

Rose nodded. "Best friends since primary school. She was fifteen when she died. But I can assure you, that I'm not involved directly, but my Dad's just doing it for protection purposes."

"No, I understand, don't worry. As long as I'm not harbouring a criminal, then we should be good." Ellie joked lightly. "Can I at least get a last name?"

"Tyler, Rose Tyler." Rose breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that for once she didn't have to lie.

"Wait, is your father Pete Tyler? The CEO of that fizzy pop brand?"

Rose blushed, ducking her head. "Yeah, that's him." She confirmed.

"Oh my goodness, Tom lives off that stuff. I daren't give it to Fred though because I'd imagine he'd bounce off the walls. I can see why he'd want to protect your identity. Don't worry, your secret will be safe with me. I am so sorry, but I have to go back to work. I'll get that background check sorted, and I'll give you a call for when you can start."

After meeting Rose, Ellie returned to the station shortly after, and sat down at her desk and prepared her computer to start the background check.

"Where've you been?" Alec called from his office.

"To interview a young girl about babysitting Fred. If I'm going to be here all the time, I'll need someone other than my sister to look after him."

"How did it go?"

"I'm going to give her a trial run, once I've done a background check. For someone so young she's clearly gone through a lot."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, without going into too much detail, she told me that her friend was killed as a teenager." Ellie told him, now filling out Rose's details into the system.

"What's her name?" Alec wondered, genuinely curious, approaching Ellie's desk with a mug in his hand.

"Rose Tyler."

Alec Hardy's eyes widened in disbelief. "Rose Tyler. Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure. She's the daughter of Pete Tyler, the CEO of that fizzy drink that's popular with the kids right now. Why? Do you know her?"

"You said her friend was killed? Did she say the name of the friend?"

"No." Ellie shook her head. "No she didn't." She then frowned suspiciously. "Why? Do you know her?"

"There's a strong possibility that I might." Alec confessed. "Do you have her address? I'd like to pay her a visit?"

Rose was putting her meal of a pizza into the oven, and setting the timer when the doorbell rang. She checked the clock and frowned, seeing it read eight o'clock. Who would be calling at this time?

"Coming!" She called, hurrying to answer. Rose then faltered when she saw who it was. "Oh. Hi."

"I thought you looked familiar when we met the other morning." Alec declared, flipping through some papers he'd brought along with him. "It's like when you know you've seen somebody before, but you can't put a face to a name. Lily Maxwell for example, straight away that name sounded fictional, and after doing some digging, I found out which book." He pulled up a piece of paper, showing the cover of a book. "'The Wolf Princess' isn't exactly my sort of read, but I know enough that it's popular amongst teenagers, my daughter for example. Then I discovered that my colleague was holding an interview to hire a babysitter, and then look whose name pops up." He held up her own photo. "Hello Rose Tyler, we meet again." He couldn't help but smirk a little when Rose paled in comparison.

"Oh."

"Do you mind if I come in? I think we should talk, don't you?"

Reluctantly, Rose let Alec into the house, a feeling of dread overwhelming her as she closed the door behind them.

"Take a seat." She offered, indicating the armchair. "I'll put the kettle on."

"No need, I'd rather do some talking first." Alec said, pointing to the sofa across from him. He waited until Rose sat down, fidgeting slightly and twiddling her fingers. "So." He placed his file on the coffee table. "I take it from your reaction you know who I am?"

"Vaguely." Rose recalled.

"I was the lead detective of the Sandbrook case." He explained. "I was investigating the death of Pippa Gillespie, and the disappearance of Lisa Newberry. Would you be comfortable in answering some questions?"

"Not really." Rose said honestly. It'd been several years since talking about Pippa and Lisa's tragedy, and she wasn't all too comfortable in discussing it now.

"You were underage at the time of the initial questioning, and your father was looking out for you, I understand that. Rose, you're an adult now, you can make those sorts of decisions yourself. If you would be willing to give me a witness statement, whether you were there or not, it could be enough grounds to reopen the case and have a fresh pair of eyes looking at it."

"Do I have too?"

"You don't have to, but it'd be a service to me." Alec said, pulling out the official documents and handing it towards her. "I'm not asking you to fill it out now, or at all. It's your choice. But if you do, then it'd be one step closer for getting some closure for Lisa and Pippa."