Witness Protection

Chapter Six

"You really shouldn't have done that."

Rose span around with a gasp, coming face to face with Lee Ashworth.

"Hello Rosie." He smiled cruelly. "Long time no see."

After receiving the frantic phone call from Rose, Ellie contacted Alec, and got into her car to meet up with him. She sped off into the night, and not even ten minutes later she arrived at Rose's house, where Alec was waiting by the gate.

"Have you heard anything?" Ellie asked, rushing to the door and banging on it several times.

He shook his head. "No. Nothing. I've already tried calling in, but I've not heard her at all." Alec tried not to sound too concerned, having met Rose several times now, he'd quickly understood her to be an increasingly independent and adaptable young woman. "I'm sure she'll be fine." He assured his colleague, who was still banging on the door. "Why don't we check round the back?"

Alec walked along the path that brought them to a side gate. He pushed it open, and he followed the path to the back door, which was now locked. He noticed that the wood around the handle had been splintered, as though somebody had used the boot of their foot to break in. As a result, even with the door locked from the inside, it wasn't properly closed. Anticipating a potential crime scene, Alec pulled on some gloves and passed a pair to Ellie, who pulled hers on.

The first thing Alec did, was observe the scene in the kitchen. He avoided the broken glass on the floor, and spotted one of the dining tables were overturned. There was definite signs of a disturbance.

"I don't like this, Sir." Ellie murmured as they walked around the side of the chair and approached the living room. "Shouldn't we call for back up?"

"Let's find her first." Alec advised, stepping into the living room. Turning on his torch, he shone it into the living room, and like the chair, the coffee table was overturned.

Ellie saw her first. "Rose!" She dashed to Rose's side, from where she found her laying prone on her front on the other side of the overturned coffee table. "Call an ambulance!" She demanded of Alec, who was merely watching, not really doing much other than standing there. Without moving her too much, Ellie reached down and felt for a pulse. "She's still alive." She breathed with relief, and took note of the young girls injuries. In the darkened room, Ellie could easily make out the fresh bruises and cuts marking her skin. Ellie breathed a sigh, seeing Rose stir slightly. "Easy, easy, don't move. Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere." Rose whimpered, following Ellie's advice not to move. "Has he gone?"

"Has who gone?" Alec asked gently, having called for an ambulance and cautiously approaching Rose where she lay.

"I don't know." Rose lied. "I didn't see who it was, they had a mask on."

"That's fine, we can talk about it more at the hospital. The ambulance is on its way."

"No, no hospitals." Rose pleaded, rolling onto her side with a groan, and trying - and failing - to sit up. "I don't need to go to hospital."

"Shut up, yes you do." Ellie sounded harsh, but she meant it. "God you're bloody stubborn, you're as bad as him! You're going to go to the hospital and at least get checked out, no arguments."

"If you don't go, I'll call your Mother." Alec teased lightly, trying to lighten the mood as they waited for the ambulance.

Rose had enough strength to open her eyes and glare at him. "You wouldn't."

"Oh he would." Ellie nodded with encouragement. "And if he doesn't, then I will."

As soon as they arrived at the hospital, Ellie greeted Rose's parents, and informed them of the events that had taken place whilst Rose was being checked out.

"Oh my baby!" Jackie gasped, hand covering her mouth. "Thank God you two were nearby to help her. Thank you!" She hugged Ellie gratefully. "Are there any updates?"

"They're checking her over right now." Alec explained. "When we got to the house there were signs of a struggle, and then we found Rose semi-unconscious with fresh cuts and bruises. You can go and see her when they've finished the assessment." He glanced at Pete, who surprisingly hadn't said a word. He had his hands shoved in his pockets, shoulders hunched. Alec recognised the look well. It was an expression father's used when they were ridden with guilt. "Mr Tyler, why don't we go and get some fresh air?" He suggested. "I don't know about you, but I can find hospitals to be quite stuffy."

Pete nodded, seemingly grateful for the distraction. "After you, Detective."

"Message me if there's any updates." Alec said to Ellie, who nodded and took a seat with Jackie outside of Rose's room. "I have a daughter too, you know." He started off saying as they walked to the entrance of the hospital.

"I didn't know that."

"Not a lot of people do." Alec admitted. "I've not intentionally kept her a secret, but because of my job, I've thought it best to keep her out of it. I believed it was the right thing to do to keep her safe." The two walked out of the hospital and approached one of the benches that overlooked a scenic river. The cool air felt refreshing, and Alec felt as though he could breathe. "Daisy, her name is, she'll be fifteen in about two months. Although at this rate, she might as well be eighteen."

Pete snorted. "Watch out for that age, mate. They can be right little terrors. Rose certainly was." He was about to speak, when he hesitated, before he decided to ask his question. "Did Rose tell you who attacked her?"

"No." Alec said, shaking his head. "I asked her when she was semi-conscious, but all she could tell me was that the intruder had a mask on."

"Do you believe her? From a father's perspective, I mean?"

"I tend to believe the victim until proven otherwise."

"Did you read my daughter's journal that my wife gave to your colleague?"

"I did."

"Did you read the parts where it led to the girls' disappearance?"

"Yes."

"And? What did you make of it?"

"It sounded like a typical journal belonging to a teenager." Alec noted, wondering where Pete was going with the questioning. "Why do you ask?"

"There was an entry in there, regarding Lee Ashworth, one that makes my blood boil. I believe that that man sexually assaulted my daughter, once or maybe more. I believe she knows more about what happened that night, but she won't tell anybody about what took place. I brought her to Broadchurch in hopes of a fresh start, to move on, but that didn't happen. I want this all to end, and I would appreciate your help."

"You can start by doing one thing for me?"

"What's that?"

"I've asked Rose to fill out a witness statement form." Alec told him. "But since then she's been reluctant to do so. You could start by getting her to fill it out, and if you do, I could see about ensuring she has some formal witness protection in place considering you and your wife live a distance away."

Pete nodded, feeling a sense of relief washing over him. "Don't you worry, DI Hardy. I'll make sure she fills one out."

Rose was half asleep when the door opened, and she groaned when she saw who it was. "What are you doing here?"

"DI Hardy called us, and I'm glad he did." Pete pulled up a chair beside the bed, and leaned over to kiss his daughter on the forehead. "You look like you've seen better days." He said lightly, sitting down on the chair and holding her hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired. Sore." Rose muttered. "As well as you'd expect after being beaten up during a home invasion." Her sarcasm was on point, making light of a serious situation. "Seriously though, why are you here?"

"You're my daughter." He told her with a shrug. "If something happens to you, I'm going to come running. Just be glad I came in first before your mother, she was about ready to break in had DS Miller not stopped her.

Rose snorted. "Thank God she didn't." She sighed, resting back on the pillow. "I just want all of this to be over."

"There is one way for this to be over."

"What's that?"

Pete withdrew a clipboard that he'd brought along with him, which contained a new witness statement form. "DI Hardy said if you filled one of these out and came in for a formal interview, then he could see that you get some form of witness protection. He also mentioned that if you don't, and they happen to find new information connecting you to the case that they weren't made aware of before, then you could be charged with perverting the course of justice. This is serious Rose, and if you end up charged, you could face up to five to seven years in prison."

Rose stared at him in shock and disbelief. "You're not serious." She whispered, shaking her head.

"We let you run away from this as a teenager, thinking you needed time to grieve and get over what had happened." Pete stood up, placing the clipboard on the table in front of her. "But that wasn't the right thing to do, as parents. You're old enough now to know what's right and wrong, and we can't keep taking the wrap for what happens. Take responsibility for your actions, Rose, we'll support you every step of the way, but as long as you face up to your own conduct. Think about it, let me know what you've decided and we'll see about getting you a lawyer. If you really were a friend of Pippa's, you'd help get her justice. I'll see you later."

She remained silent, a range of emotions whizzing through her mind. Anger at Pete and DI Hardy, for what felt like an underlining threat of an arrest, fury at Lee and Claire Ashworth for all of the pain that they had caused, and annoyance at herself for having not dealt with the situation sooner.

It was now two days after Rose's attack, and Alec Hardy sat alone in his office late that evening, observing the Sandbrook files that were spread out in front of him on his desk. He was trying to retrace his steps from when this case first broke, and was observing the timeline from different perspectives.

Something wasn't adding up.

He was disturbed from his thoughts by a knock at the door, and was surprised to see who it was. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"To be honest, I wasn't expecting to be here either." Rose Tyler confessed, leaning against the doorframe with her arms folded.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better, thank you." Rose nodded, stepping further into the office. "I'm only here because my Dad partially blackmailed me into coming." She slapped a piece of paper onto his desk, and Alec saw that it was the witness statement form that had been filled out, even the statement itself. "Before you read it, just remember that at the time I was barely fifteen years old, and I was easily led. I'll let myself out. I suspect you'll want to see me tomorrow. See you later."

Bemused, Alec watched her go, and waited until he heard the doors close shut before he reached out to read the witness statement.

Before you read this statement and start making your own assumptions, I would appreciate it if there was no judgement on any of my actions.

Regarding the evening of the 11th April, I had initially told the police that I was meant to go to the sleepover of my best friend, Pippa Gillespie. I told the police that the sleepover was cancelled, because my parents had asked me to babysit my little brother Tony, so that they could go to a wedding with Pippa's parents, who were mutual friends.

This statement was a lie.

I was at the sleepover that night.

Lisa Newberry - the older cousin of Pippa - was supposed to be babysitting Pippa and I, but she never took this role too seriously. She was going through the phase of chasing boys, or as she put it, having boys chase her. Originally, we were having the sleepover at Pippa's house as planned, but when Lisa was being bothered by a boy that she didn't like - one that followed her a bit too much -, she had us move next door to Lee and Claire Ashworth's house.

At first, there was just Lee there with us, and he'd apparently scared Lisa's stalker away by punching him. After watching a movie and with Pippa half asleep, Claire returned home. She was surprised to see us all initially, but accepted the reason behind it and agreed that it was probably best until the grownups came home.

She said we could spend the night at hers, as they had a guest room and a fold up bed. That was when Claire brought out the alcohol and the weed that she'd promised, and we started having a good time. We were dancing with Claire, Pippa and I, and I can remember Lee filming us all at one point, laughing.

I started feeling funny, maybe because of the wine or the weed, and I needed to sit down. Claire and Pippa were still dancing, and Lee went to get me a glass of water to help with the headache. I drank some of the water, but it tasted funny. I didn't think much of it at first, but then I started feeling worse.

I think Lee might've put something in my drink, but I have no proof. From what I remember, I started to feeling sick, Claire and Pippa came upstairs with me whilst I threw up, and Claire got me settled into the bed once I felt better. Not long after that I fell asleep, and when I woke up the next morning, both Pippa and Lisa were gone. Lee and Claire were cleaning downstairs, and when they saw that I was awake, Claire took me home.

I didn't realise how serious the situation was until the girls were reported missing.

Since the new broke out, my Dad practically banned me from getting involved at all. At first I wanted to help the police and tell them what I know, but I wasn't allowed to because I was underage, and there was drinking and smoking involved.

There's a lot of things that I've regretted in life, and not speaking to the police earlier was one of them.