Hey guys! I got a chapter done early, so here you go! Enjoy!
Chapter 6
"How would you like to work here full-time?"
Lisette startled at the words. She turned around quickly, staring at Jack Marshall.
"I can't. I can't…I can't be on record," Lisette said. Jack nodded to her and shook his head once more.
"I don't keep my records digital. I don't trust computers. I'll keep it on file, here in the store, so that you can have legal work. I don't want you having to go out and have to scrounge for work," Jack Marshall said.
"You want me to work for you? All the time? Even with the children?" Lisette asked.
"I do," Jack Marshall said, "I'm getting older. I'd enjoy some free time."
"I…I guess, yeah. I would like to. But…I'm pregnant," Lisette told him. Jack eyed her for a moment before shaking his head.
"It's only near the end you won't be able to lift boxes. You'll be fine. I can help, around that time," Jack said.
"Thank you," Lisette said, feeling thankful. Jack gave her a smile.
Jack spent the rest of the day showing Lisette how to do everything in the store she would need to do if she was alone.
When the day had ended, she left the children with Jack to run to the library and laundromat to tell them she wouldn't be working anymore with them.
Neither was overly upset.
She was a bit jumpy by the time she made it back to the newsshop. Her hands were shaking. She made her way into the shop, only to see the reporter, Karen, talking with Jack.
Lisette's heart started beating incredibly fast. She kept her hand on the doorknob, ready to take off running.
But the children. The children were behind the counter with Jack.
But they were with Jack.
Lisette turned on her heel and took off running.
She ignored Jack shouting after her. She ignored the pain in her bandaged ankle.
She didn't stop running until she'd made it to a phone booth. She locked herself inside and with shaking hands pulled out the paper Alec had given her.
Ever since Danny's murder, she'd kept change in her pocket. Enough for a few phone calls. She barely managed to put the change in the phone before dialing Alec's mobile number.
"Hello?"
"Alec?" Lisette asked. She took a breath, trying to steady her breathing.
"Lisette? What's going on? Where are you? Are you alright?"
"The reporter's at Jack Marshall's, where I was working. She was questioning him," Lisette whispered. Alec was silent.
"Look, I'm in the middle of a briefing. Stay where you are. I'll come to you, as soon as I can. Are the children with you?"
"No. I..I left them with Jack. I'm in the phonebooth on the corner a ways from the shop. Corner of Newsburry and Holloway Lane," Lisette said.
"Okay. I'll call Marshall and let him know you're safe. I'll come get you."
Lisette hung up the phone and slid to the ground of the phonebooth, wrapping her arms around her legs.
Alec waited until after the briefing to call Jack Marshall to let him know where Lisette was. Jack sounded worried and offered to go get her, but Alec told him he'd take care of it. He ignored DS Miller as she yelled at him for making her do the briefing.
"Where are you going?" DS Miller finally asked him.
"I'll be back. It has nothing to do with the case," Alec told her.
DS Miller followed him nonetheless.
Alec walked towards where he knew she was. She wasn't too far from the police station – she mustn't have been thinking too clearly when she'd taken off. He approached the phone booth and knocked lightly on the door.
No one moved.
"Lisette, it's me. Open up," Alec called. The door cracked open and Lisette peeked out at him. Her face was pale and she was shivering slightly. Alec pushed the door open and tugged her out, pulling off his own jacket and wrapping it around her shoulders. She continued to shiver.
"What's going on?" DS Miller demanded.
"Ms. Coates had a scare today while working at Jack Marshalls. I told her to call me if she needed anything," Alec said.
"Where are the children?" DS Miller asked.
"Jack has them…he was talking with a reporter," Lisette said shakily.
"And you ran?" Alec wanted to know. Lisette nodded.
"You probably made her more interested in you in doing that," Alec warned her. Lisette limped a step on and Alec sighed, slipping her arm around his shoulder before wrapping an arm around her waist. Her head rested on his shoulder, eyes closing.
"Come on. Let's get you back to the shop," Alec told her with a sigh. DS Miller stared at him with wide eyes, but Alec pointedly ignored her.
Slowly, he helped her back to Jack Marshall's shop.
Inside Emmaline and Jasper were running around the store. Neither touched or moved anything, but they were running laps.
When they saw Lisette, they all but threw themselves at her, knocking her back. Alec ended up fully supporting her as he helped her back up.
"I'm sorry," Lisette apologized to Jack. Jack shook his head.
"It's no problem. Sit down," he said. Alec helped her into a seat.
"If you need anything, please, call again," Alec told her. Lisette nodded, mustering up a tiny smile for him. Alec gave her a gruff one in return before pulling DS Miller out with her.
Alec had left his coat, Lisette realized once she'd calmed down. Her shivering had died down, but she still pulled it tighter around her.
"What set you off?" Jack asked her.
"I was already shaky. I wasn't expecting her," Lisette tried defending herself.
"Can you handle it if she comes in here again?" Jack wanted to know.
"I think so. Yeah," Lisette said. Jack nodded.
"Good. Head home. I want you here bright and early tomorrow morning. I'll show you how to open," Jack told her. Lisette gave him a small smile and left.
When she got home, Paul was waiting for her.
"How was work?" he asked.
"It was okay," Lisette lied, giving him a smile.
"Children seem tired," he observed. Both had passed out as soon as they'd made it to the house.
"They are. I'm…Jack asked me to work full time for him," Lisette said.
"Can you do that?" Paul asked immediately.
"He said he doesn't do anything electronically. It's only on file in his shop. I should be fine," Lisette said, fidgeting slightly.
"Well, I think it's a fantastic idea," Paul told her. Lisette looked up, wide-eyed.
"Really?" she asked.
"Really."
It was still dark when Lisette roused herself and the children. She bundled them up and managed to carry the two children the length of the walk to Jack's store. Her arms ached by the time she got there.
By the time she made it to the shop, Jack was standing outside, waiting for her.
"Aren't you not supposed to carry the two of them?" Jack questioned her.
"No. But I can't do anything else," Lisette said with a small smile.
"Right. Come on then," Jack said. He pulled the newspapers inside and walked Lisette how to open the shop as well as what she had to do before the paperboys showed up. Lisette scribbled his instructions down on a piece of paper for further reference.
It wasn't as difficult as Lisette had previously thought it would be. Once he had gone over it all and made sure she knew everything she needed to know, he left.
"I'll be back around one. Any preferences for lunch?" Jack asked her.
"As long as there's something the children can eat, I'll be fine," Lisette told him, giving him a soft smile. Jack nodded and left.
Lisette settled back behind the counter as the children finally began to stir.
Alec and Ellie were just leaving Nigel Carter's house when they saw Jack Marshall strolling.
"Is Lisette alone at the shop?" Alec asked him. Jack gave him a sideways look and nodded.
"She's there with the children," he said.
"Is she doing any better today?" Alec asked.
"Yes. She carried the children to work this morning," Jack said, a frown settling on his face.
"She's not supposed to carry both of them," Alec said.
"She said she has no other way of getting them there," Jack said with a shrug before wandering off in the other direction.
"Why are you so obsessed with Lisette?" Ellie asked him.
"Leave it alone, Miller," Alec said, waving her off. He was silent for a few minutes as they rode back towards the station.
"Where do you get a stroller from?" Alec asked.
"A stroller? Why do you need a stroller?" Ellie demanded.
"Lisette needs a stroller," Alec said.
"She's trying to save her money, I'm sure," Ellie pointed out.
"I never said she would be buying one," Alec said. Ellie stared at him for a moment.
"Right. She'd need a double stroller, one of those with two seats next to each other. That store next to police station, the supermarket, they have some decent ones. That's actually where we got Fred's stroller," Ellie explained. Alec was silent for the rest of the drive back to the station.
At the end of the day, Alec wandered into the supermarket. He spent thirty minutes searching before he found the children section, and then it took asking two employees before he settled on a stroller. It was expensive, he noted – he could understand why Lisette had baulked at the idea of getting one – but she needed it.
He didn't want to see her trying to carry those children and reinjuring herself again.
And he didn't know why that bothered him so much.
Well…if she was okay, she'd feel more comfortable around the area and be less likely to run.
Yeah. That was it.
He wanted to have them wrap up the stroller, but it was already assembled and he wasn't sure he could figure out how to put it back together after he took it apart. So he kept his head low as he pushed the empty stroller through the streets, grateful that Jack Marshall's shop wasn't too far from the supermarket.
When he walked into the store, both Jack Marshall and Lisette were at the cash register. Jack was just finishing up showing her how to do something, Alec noted.
When they saw him, their eyes got wide. The children, who were giggling at each other from around a display, dashed up to him to examine the new contraption he had.
"Alec. What are you doing here?" Lisette asked, glancing at the stroller and back up at him quickly.
Jack eyes shifted between the two of them.
"I'm going to go grab the box of new papers from the back," Jack said, making a hasty escape.
"What's that?" Lisette asked, her voice quiet and barely steady.
"It's a stroller. So you don't have to injure your arm carrying the children," Alec said. He didn't know what else to say.
"Why did you buy a stroller?" Lisette asked, her voice unsteady now.
"Because you need one. You keep hurting your arm," Alec repeated. Lisette stared at the stroller before raising her eyes to Alec.
"What do I owe you?"
Her voice trembled, although she held his stare. She looked like a girl – no, a woman – who had been offered kindness before only to be told she had to give something in return.
Alec wondered just how much she had had to endure on the streets before reaching Broadchurch.
"Nothing."
She stared at him. He stared back.
"Why?"
"Because you need it," Alec repeated for the third time. Lisette moved out from behind the counter, walking around to stare at the stroller. She ignored the children, who tugged on her sleeves and held their arms up to her.
She stared at the stroller before dragging her eyes up to him. And then she threw herself at him.
One arm wrapped around his neck and the other around his upper back as she squeezed him tightly, her soft warm body surrounding his.
"Thank you. You have no idea what this means to me," she whispered, her breath brushing against his ear.
Alec tentatively wrapped his own arms around her. His wife hadn't hugged him in ages, even before the divorce. And Claire…no. He didn't want to think about Claire. Claire was an entirely different story.
"You're welcome," Alec said slowly as she pulled back slightly. She stared up at him, face inches from his.
And he pulled back.
"I should get going. Lot of work to do, tomorrow," Alec said. Lisette nodded, releasing him.
"Thank you," she repeated once more.
"Don't worry about it," Alec told her, giving her an awkward wave before hurrying out of the shop.
Jack Marshall chuckled from behind her. Lisette turned around, staring down at stroller once more.
"Let me help you get the children in there. We'll do the same thing tomorrow, and if you have it down you can take over after that," Jack suggested.
The two of them spent twenty minutes figuring out how to strap the children securely in it before Lisette bid Jack goodbye and headed home. It was so much easier, being able to push the children instead of carrying them as well as having something to lean on. It was dark by the time she made it home once more, and Paul was waiting for her.
With a blank expression.
"Where'd you get the stroller?" Paul asked her.
"Alec. He…he gave it to me," Lisette said.
"For free? He just gave you an expensive stroller?" Paul asked her dubiously.
"Yes?" Lisette said quietly.
"I wouldn't trust everything he tells you. You don't want him to take advantage of you," Paul warned her.
"I don't think he is though," Lisette murmured back.
Paul didn't look convinced.
"But you can't know that, can you? What if he's biding his time? What if he's trying to buy you?" Paul demanded.
Lisette wilted at his words.
Paul noticed this and gave her a strained smile.
"Come on. Come in the house," he murmured, pulling her inside.
It didn't take much work for him to get Lisette to bed. She was exhausted after being up all day and working the whole time, as well as minding the children. Paul took over that for her, making sure they had food and baths before tucking them into bed next to Lisette.
Paul spent much of the night sitting at the table, thinking. Trying to see what DI Hardy's angle was. Why he was trying to use Lisette. How he was trying to use Lisette.
He only had more questions by morning.
By the time Lisette had stumbled out of bed, ready to head back to work, Paul had pretended nothing had happened. Lisette herself didn't seem to remember the altercation, much to Paul's relief.
She did remember the stroller though.
Paul could have gotten her a stroller too. He would have, had he realized how much she needed it. Now, DI Hardy had done it and left her feeling indebted to him.
Paul waited awhile after she'd woken before he got himself around. He had a few calls to make that day.
He went to Beth's house first though. He didn't want to be angry when he saw her, and if he went to her after seeing DI Hardy, he would be infuriated.
"How's Lisette doing?" Beth asked anxiously as he entered their house.
"She's doing fine?" Paul responded, puzzled.
"It's just…she fell the other day. We helped her back out of the ditch, but she was injured," Beth said.
"She didn't tell me," Paul said, worry rising.
"She probably didn't want to worry you. We had Joe bandage her up," Beth explained.
"What were her injuries?" Paul wanted to know.
"She needed a few stitches to the back of her head, and twisted her ankle, as well as popped her shoulder out of place. Again," Beth said.
"And she left the house yesterday carrying the children," Paul realized. He shook his head quickly.
"I didn't come here to ask about my sister. I came here to ask about you," Paul said.
"I'm…fine," Beth said.
"Have you told anyone else? About the…baby?" Paul wanted to know.
"Only you and Lisette. Lucky you," Beth said bitterly. Paul hesitated – she didn't seem to be in a very good mood that morning. He considered being polite and making his excuses before leaving, but knew if he did he'd never come back.
"I know you can't have a funeral yet, but if you want, we could do a memorial for Danny," Paul said carefully.
"I don't know," Beth said dubiously, "I don't know if I want something religious."
"It can be as religious as you want it to. Just let me know. We would love to do whatever we can for you," Paul told her. Beth nodded.
"Can you tell Lisette I'd like to see her again?" she asked as Paul headed for the door.
"I can. Or you can tell her yourself. She's working at Jack Marshall's," Paul said before leaving.
His second call was nowhere near as civil. He wasted no time in heading straight for the police station.
It took a bit of talking to the people on the first floor before they would direct him to DI Hardy's office, but he was nothing if not relentless. He marched straight to DI Hardy's office, ignoring everyone who was staring at him.
DI Hardy looked up from his desk to see Paul standing there, fury etched on his face.
"What are you doing here?" DI Hardy asked, squinting slightly at him.
"I want to know exactly what you're trying to pull with my sister," Paul said angrily.
"I'm not trying to pull anything with her," DI Hardy said automatically.
"Then why did you buy her a stroller? Those are not cheap," Paul pointed out.
"Because she needed one. The more comfortable she is, the more likely she is not to run," DI Hardy said simply.
"I don't believe you. And I really don't like you, following my sister around, buying her things," Paul said.
"Wow. You really have the wrong impression," DI Hardy said, giving Paul a new expression. One Paul couldn't quite read.
"I just got my sister back. I'm not about to have someone taking advantage of her or manipulating her," Paul threatened him.
"Paul?" Ellie Miller's voice pulled him from DI Hardy. He turned to see that the entire station was staring at him.
"I don't think DI Hardy is trying to take advantage of Lisette," Ellie tried reasoning with him. Paul gave her one last searching look before heading out of the police station.
"Who's Lisette?" Darryl, who sat at the desk next to Ellie, asked.
"Paul Coates's sister. She's new in town," Ellie explained.
"The girl with the two children?" Darryl asked.
"Yeah. She was missing for years. Kidnapped," Ellie explained.
"What does DI Hardy have to do with it?" Jillian, from the other side of Ellie, asked.
"He's the one that discovered who she was. She saw Danny the night he died – she tried to call DI Hardy and let him know. He's worried that if Lisette gets scared she'll run off and we'll lose a witness," Ellie tried to explain.
"So he bought her a stroller? Isn't that bribery?" Darryl asked.
"He wasn't bribing her," Ellie responded automatically.
"Is she pretty?" Jillian demanded.
"I…she's twenty. But I guess she's pretty," Ellie said.
"I think DI Hardy has a crush," Jillian said with a devious smile.
"I seriously doubt that Shitface has a crush on anyone," Darryl said with a cruel laugh.
"Pretty young thing comes to town? DI Hardy starts buying her things? Are you sure the children aren't his as well?" Jillian asked.
"I…no, they're not," Ellie sputtered.
"I'm just saying, it would make sense," Jillian said, leaning back to her desk.
"No. Don't. And I'm going to warn you right now, don't go telling people. Lisette's kidnapper is still searching for her. He's a wanted murderer, and if he finds her…" Ellie drifted off.
"Shit. A murderer? Why haven't we been notified?" Darryl asked, his face losing color.
"Did he kill Danny?" Jillian asked.
"No. He doesn't know where she is. And his MO is that he drowns people. And we're trying to keep her identity as secret as possible to keep it from getting out," Ellie pointed out.
"Say no more," Darryl said, leaning back.
"I won't say anything, but I do want to see these children. See if they look like DI Hardy," Jillian said.
"For Christ's sake, they're not his children!" Ellie protested.
But neither of them seemed to listen to her.
:D Review! I'd love some feedback!