"Then ask me now Alec," she told him. "We used to have no secrets between us, remember?"
"I know love but I thought I had spoiled that?" he replied sadly.
"Hey, just you listen to me Alec, Tess did that, not you. Yes, I trusted you, with all my heart and my heart was broken and I don't know what I would have done without my mum and James. I hate to think how it was for you. I was the selfish one, I got on with my life, which is more than you seemed to have done."
"I didn't deserve to be happy," he replied. "Rose what I have to ask you could put this case I'm working on to rest and I can finally get out of here. We can move away, hopefully to Broadchurch. We can sort something out with Jamie but we don't make him feel left out."
"He won't, he has my mother anyway and he knows we're tryin' to sort things out," Rose assured him. "How can I help ya solve the case?"
"I talked to my chief, he's not keen on the idea but he'll agree. The main suspect's wife, I think she knows more than she's letting on, she's keeping something back for some reason. She won't talk to Tess and she's hardly likely to talk to the girl's mother now."
"Well can't say I blame her not wanting to talk to Tess," Rose tried to lighten the mood. "Was she friends with the girl's mother?"
"Yes, they were fairly good friends by all accounts," Alec told her. "We need an outsider, someone Claire doesn't know that she may confide in if she gets to know them, maybe as a customer of the hair salon she runs then as a friend. Know anyone?" he asked, hoping she'd get the hint.
"Ya mean someone who's new to the area who wants to find a regular hairdresser?" Rose smiled over the video chat.
She could always tell when he meant her.
"Well you women like to talk while you're having your hair done, don't you?" he tried to be serious.
"And you blokes don't?" Rose tried not to laugh. "Geez Alec, she's not dangerous is she? I mean if her husband's guilty and she was also involved?"
"Rose, I have no proof either of them were involved. Claire has changed her story, I don't have enough on him yet, I've had him hauled in several times but she gets him out. He has some kind of hold over her or she him and they are playing games," he admitted.
Rose felt sorry for him. If he could solve this, they could get away and start again, just the three of them and maybe Daisy would want to join them some of the time.
"Let me settle in for a few days Alec, then tell me where her hair salon is. Is she still there though?" Rose asked.
"Well he's not worked much, Claire will have to work I expect," Alec replied. "Rose, if there was any other way, I would not ask you love."
"Alec, I'll do it, I want us to be able to settle down once you get your divorce," Rose told him. "Now, you'd better call Jamie, Luke's with him," she smiled.
"Rose, I don't deserve you," Alec admitted.
"Well I'll be glad when ya come up here for me then. Or I could drive down there tomorrow?" she suggested.
"No, don't leave Jamie any sooner than you need to," Alec replied. "I will talk to you tomorrow, then I will be setting off for you."
"Can't be soon enough for me," Rose smiled. "Bye Alec."
"Bye love."
"He asked ya to what?" Jackie stared at Rose.
"Mum, it's fine, I agreed as long as it gets us nearer to moving to Broadchurch sooner," Rose told her mother.
"Ya want to be careful, she could easily turn on ya," Jackie warned her.
"Mum, I grew up on a tough London estate, remember?" Rose reminded Jackie.
"Didn't he tell ya where she was from?" Jackie asked.
"No, he'll tell me when he gets here. His chief agreed, when I get to Sandbrook, they'll explain what they want me to do. Just as long as Tess stays out of it. I don't want her anywhere near me Mum. I can't ever forgive her for what she did, there was no excuse for it. I can't understand her."
"Neither can I Rose," Jackie agreed as Jamie and Luke burst into the sitting room.
"Mum, did I leave my phone here?" Jamie asked, seeing it on the oak sideboard as it started to ring.
"Ya knew ya dad was gonna ring," Rose laughed. "Hi Luke, you okay?"
"Yeah, thanks Auntie Rose," Luke greeted her.
Rose was still trying to get used to the fact she'd gained another family although it wasn't by marriage just yet but it would be as soon as Alec was free to marry her. John was going to be her brother-in-law and it was going to feel very strange because he'd always been like a big brother to her firstly in Paisley looking after her in school, then when he used to bring Alec to see her.
"I can take ya home if ya want?" Rose offered.
"Oh it's okay, dad will come and get me, he doesn't want to put you to any trouble," Luke told her. "Are you going off with uncle Alec next week?"
"Yeah but I told ya, ya can still come round," Rose reminded him.
Jamie had gone off into the kitchen to take the call and Luke just sat on a chair waiting for him. Rose thought it a nice change to meet another teenager with some manners but she expected nothing less from John. She had no idea that as soon as Sarah-Jane and John had been told by Alec that Rose had found him again, they'd had no need to think about including her, Jackie and Jamie as family.
Alec went to work the next morning and called to see the chief to tell him Rose had agreed to try to get Claire to talk.
"It won't be easy," the chief reminded Alec.
"She knows. You've not met her," Alec replied. "Just don't let Tess interfere."
"It's your idea Alec, you're responsible but take anyone else you need to keep your girlfriend safe," the chief told him. "Just warn them not to say anything to Tess. By the way, she wasn't looking very happy when she came in."
"Good, now she knows how I've been feeling," Alec told him. "She will feel even worse once Rose is here with me. I can't believe I let her take my life over like that."
"It happens Alec, even to the best of us," the chief tried to console him. "At least you found each other again, some people aren't so lucky and lose the one they're suppose to be with for good. I don't suppose Tess was meant to be with that officer she was involved with before you had the misfortune to meet her."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Alec wanted to know.
"Sorry. No, I don't have any sympathy for her really, it wasn't a very nice thing she did to you, using you like that. I suppose she's getting her just desserts?" the chief agreed.
"Whatever it is will never be enough," Alec replied. "I'm going to get Rose and bring her down here and if Tess has any sense, she will stay out of her way."
"Oh I don't know Alec, it may be interesting to see them meet," the chief mused.
"For who?" Alec wanted to know. "About protecting Rose, if she does make friends with Claire? Will you leave that up to me?"
"It's all yours Alec, tread carefully though," the chief warned him. "I don't want any complaints that Claire Ashworth was set up. Understand? It has to seem natural that they meet. Maybe your girlfriend could claim she's just moved here and doesn't know her way around? Claire may offer to take her to the pubs and clubs. Whatever you do though, warn Rose not to let Claire take her to meet Lee."
"I will warn her. Back in Paisley, she was scared of someone, that was why she would never go back. She is somewhat scared of a certain type of man," Alec admitted. "She will be wary, trust me."
"Let's hope that's enough to keep her away from their house then Alec," the chief agreed. "I take it that it'll be sometime next week when Rose has settled in?"
"I think she will want to get it out of the way. The sooner she does, the sooner we can get out of here," Alec replied.
"Why do you want to go to Broadchurch so much?" the chief wanted to know as he shuffled some folders on his desk. "I'd never really heard of it until you mentioned it."
"It's a special place for Rose and myself," was all Alec would admit.
"I'll do my best Alec, see nothing goes wrong," the chief replied.
Alec had no intentions of letting anything go wrong and that included letting Tess get in the way of things going smoothly.
In the outer office, Tess was wondering where Alec had got to.
"I bet he's in that personnel office again," Tess snapped at Dave as he stopped by her desk.
"Maybe he's got two women on the go?" Dave laughed, trying to get her going.
"Shut up Dave," Tess warned him. "One's bad enough."
"Come on Tess, wasn't it inevitable he'd go seek out an old girlfriend at some point?" Dave taunted her.
"It didn't have to be her," Tess replied half-heartedly.
"Why, did he ever have any others?" Dave asked innocently.
Tess was trying to remember if Alec had ever mentioned any but she didn't think he had. She thought he'd said something about them being at school together when Rose had lived in Scotland for a few years.
"Oh, he never did, did he?" Dave saw the look on her face. "So he was with her all that time until you went up there and she was in London then?" he guessed.
"I'm not talking to you about it," Tess refused to reveal any more to him.
Dave shrugged his shoulders and walked off as he saw Alec approach his office. Tess gave Alec a few minutes then went into his office.
"So, when's she arriving then? I take it that it'll be sooner rather than later?" she wanted to know.
"I thought I had told you?" Alec pretended he didn't care. "I will be getting her tomorrow night. Then when we get settled, our son will be joining us but we might be out of here by then, hopefully. I hope you're pleased with yourself Tess? Yes, we might have had Daisy but that's no excuse for me never knowing I had a son by Rose."
"What do you want me to say Alec?" Tess asked him. "Are you just going to disown Daisy?"
"That's not me Tess and you know it," Alec tried to keep his temper. "Rose wants to meet her and for Daisy to get to know Jamie. Has she said anything about it?"
"Not to me but why would she Alec?" Tess replied. "Why do you even want to leave here?"
"You are joking Tess? We may stay in London a while, if we have to but Rose is hoping to sell her house easily and we have somewhere in mind where we want to go."
"Well don't mess Daisy around," Tess warned him.
"As if I would?' Alec replied. "I have work to do Tess."
"Don't let me stop you," Tess huffed.
"I want something solid on this case, Lee Ashworth is not going to just turn himself in," Alec reminded her.
"I hope your old girlfriend's not going to distract you from the case?" Tess dared asked him.
"You dare ask me that when you were seeing Dave?" Alec half got up. "Get out Tess, you've cause enough trouble, you don't get to cause any more."
He was tempted to say Rose would help him but didn't want her to know just how much. He still didn't know what the chief meant by her being in a mood but she'd been in one every morning since she'd found out Rose was back. Had it never occurred to her that it would never happen? She must have been so sure he would always stay with her.
He set about thinking of a way to get Rose talking to Claire without arousing any suspicion and keeping Rose safe so he sent for a newly promoted detective constable and asked if he could be trusted to keep the plan quiet. Alec was being careful not to let on he was going to use his own girlfriend as the bait.
"I'm going to use someone new to the area to make friends with the suspect's wife, who will hopefully get Claire to talk about him," Alec started to tell the young officer.
He then went on to outline the rest of his plan.
"I want you to be in charge of keeping our spy out of danger. Use any means necessary Bates, understood?" Alec asked him. "She will be in the area from next week, only you and myself will know who she is at first until the rest of the plan is put into place. No other officers, including senior officers are to be involved."
"Sir, what about the officers working on the case?" he was asked.
"Refer them to me should they ask," Alec replied. "Tell them you are under my orders not to say anything and you will be in trouble."
"Yes Sir, got it," the young man grinned at Alec. "Sir, does that include DS Hardy?"
"Yes, especially her. Don't pretend you don't know we are separated," Alec replied.
"Sorry Sir. It's not my place to say anything," Bates told Alec. "You can rely on me not to say anything. She doesn't seem to like me."
Alec wanted to say she didn't like anyone.
"Yes, well. I'll tell you when to go ahead. The woman who will be helping is called Rose, she will be moving here next week and she has agreed to help us find out if Claire Ashworth knows any more than she's told us already," Alec admitted.
That sorted, he hoped his plan was going to work and he wasn't going to put Rose into danger. It was somewhat risky but Rose was tough enough. Before she went ahead, he would see how things were going with the Ashworths and if Claire seemed unstable, he would call the whole thing off.
He knew he would be glad when he finally got something to say the divorce was going through and hopefully it would be quick if they abided by the Scottish court. Tess was in for a shock if she thought it was going to drag on for some time. He still hoped he was right about it. This weekend though, he was going to ask Rose properly.
He was going to take her out somewhere nice on Saturday night, after asking her if she'd kept her engagement ring then he'd ask her again to marry him. If she wanted a new ring, he would buy her one but he somehow thought she would want to wear her old one.
All day, Tess was wondering what Alec was up to when she saw the new DC leave Alec's office and she decided to pay a visit to the personnel office before she left.
"We can't tell you anything Tess," she was told. "He's not been in here today though."
So where had he been earlier, Tess then wondered. She got home and caught Daisy.
"Mum, I've not had time to think about it yet," Daisy told her when asked about her newly-found half-brother.
"Don't give me that Daisy," Tess objected. "Your father just comes out and says you have a brother that he never knew about? Well so he says."
She still wasn't convinced Alec didn't have some idea Rose might have been pregnant when he'd stayed behind that weekend when he'd meant to be going to see her again. He'd been easily persuaded to stay, it could have been he did know and wasn't ready to face up to it. It was still a mystery why he'd easily been led into giving Rose up.
"It was a bit of a shock Mum," Daisy admitted. "If he wants me to meet his old girlfriend and my brother, how can I say no?"
Tess shook her head. It seemed like her daughter had already made her mind up. Well if Alec thought she was going to make it easy for him to turn Daisy's head, he could think again.
"Daisy, just be careful," Tess warned her. "You don't know anything about his past."
"You never talk about anything Mum," Daisy reminded Tess. "All you say is you met dad while you were working up in Scotland."
"That's all you need to know," Tess replied. "Don't bother asking your father either."
"That's not fair Mum," Daisy told her.
Alec wanted to get away early, have a bit of a rest before driving up to get Rose. He'd already packed what he needed, he'd been out earlier and got some chocolates for Rose and Jackie and he'd found out that Jamie collected vintage car models so he'd messaged Rose a picture of one in a shop to ask if Jamie had that one.
He'd just got home when Tess called him.
"Not now Tess, I'm setting off soon," he told her.
"Charming Alec. I hope you're going to come and talk to Daisy before introducing her to your old girlfriend?" Tess asked him.
"Rose has a name," Alec reminded her. "Yes, I will come and see Daisy on Monday night, then she can meet Rose if she wants to. It's up to her."
"Fine. I still think it's a bit insensitive bringing her here Alec," Tess told him.
"You'd know all about being insensitive Tess," he reminded her. "Bye Tess, I don't have time for this."
He hung up, put a meal in the oven and called Rose.
"Alec, get a few hours sleep before you set off," Rose insisted when she saw he looked tired.
"I'll be fine love," he insisted.
"Alec, I'd rather ya got here late than not at all," she replied.
Then he saw the look on her face, she still remembered the night James had died.
"I'm so sorry love. I will just get something to eat then grab a few hours. It should be quiet and I will try not to get lost eh?" he smiled.
"Tess giving ya a hard time?" Rose smiled back.
"What do you think love? She cannot accept she has lost. She even had the nerve to ask why you were coming here. Rose, don't take any notice of her," he warned her.
Rose didn't look happy.
"Well, she doesn't know me very well, does she?" Rose told him. "She might have won before but things are different now. Things just got complicated."
"Yes love, I believe they did," he had to agree. "I take all the blame, I should never have let her take me in like she did. Rose, you know we have something serious to discuss when I get there?"
"Yeah, I already gave ya the answer Alec. I still have my old ring, I couldn't part with it," Rose admitted. "I kept everything together, all the cards and presents ya used to send, all the photos. I cried so much that night when James saw them and he went off."
"Rose, don't get upset love. I'll be there in just a few hours, then we won't have to be apart again," he promised.
"Just drive carefully Alec," Rose reminded him.
"Rose, maybe it will help if you talk to me properly about the accident?" he wondered. "Let me see if there were any other factors involved? If John saw him without realising, maybe someone else did?"
"I'll think about it," Rose agreed. "I don't want Donna to know why he went off, it would destroy our friendship and I need her."
"I know you do Rose, I won't say anything but maybe she would understand?" Alec suggested. "I'll see you soon. I love you Rose."
After the call, Rose went to her room, where she now kept the box James had found that fateful night. She got out the ring box that contained the ring Alec had bought her all that time ago and looked at it. She had been so happy when he'd given it to her. It had been heart-breaking as she'd begun to realise they were drifting apart because she couldn't set foot in Scotland.
It was different now. Alec would want to take Jamie to meet his dad and uncle and to show him where they used to live. She wished again his aunt Mary was still alive to see Jamie, it would make her happy. She went to join her mother.
"Well is he on his way?" Jackie wanted to know.
Rose nodded.
"Well not before time. You two needed your heads knocking together, honestly," Jackie mumbled to herself. "Rose, I know ya loved James, he was so good to you and Jamie but you and Alec always belonged together."
"I know Mum," Rose admitted. "It's time to put things right."
