As the sun came up on another new day in Broadchurch nobody knew yet that a member of their community had disappeared last night apart from those involved. Having been dragged away and not a soul had seen nobody actually knew that Detective Ellie Miller had disappeared. Her sister assumed she was still with her colleague as she had been all day and Alec had assumed she had made it home safe so neither was worried.
Lucy woke up still trapped at the hotel with the nightmare task of watching her sister's kids. It was beyond a joke now, she had been away from them for nearly twenty-four hours and Lucy was dying to get back to her own life. Angry that Ellie thought it acceptable to dump her with them like this, like she was some sort of on tap babysitter she grabbed her phone and called her sister. It just rang and rang before again rolling to voicemail, what was Ellie thinking she thought as she waited for the beep.
"Ellie, this is your sister, where the hell are you? Anyways I am not staying here any longer I'm taking the kids back to mine and we'll be there if you want us"
Packing little Fred's bag Lucy shouted at Tom to get up. The quicker she got them out of there the better. He was dazed as he woke and confused as he listened to his aunt almost bark at him to pack his bag. She was frustrated alright and Tom could tell, Aunt Lucy often did act irrationally and get like this when she was panicking or desperate. He didn't question her and gathered his things but he was a little concerned his mum hadn't come back last night and began to wonder where she might have gotten to.
Alec was doing much better to this morning. The nurse had been impressed with his overnight progress but had still said he couldn't leave yet. He hated just wasting time lying around in a hospital bed but he had no choice yet again. His health was definitely working against him but he was determined he would fight it. Alec wanted to get back to full health and get his life back on track. It was all he had ever wanted since Sandbrook. He decided though that if he was going to be stuck there he was going to at least use the time constructively and he started going over all the Latimer case information he had stored in his head.
The more he thought things through the more he started to analyse what had happened yesterday and Susan's behaviour. Upon reflection he did now think something was a little odd but still couldn't place just what. One person would know though he thought and he pressed the call button to get the attention of the nurse. He couldn't reach his own phone in his jacket pocket on the chair and needed it to call Ellie. The nurse came running in, thinking there was an emergency but her patient seemed fine. He cleared his throat and almost snapped at her to get the phone. He was so rude that if it hadn't been her job to aide the patient she would have corrected his manners.
It wasn't that Alec meant to be rude or it be intentional it was just he was a forceful man and beside himself that he was so useless when confined like this due to health. He scrolled through his phone looking for Ellie's number and then rang it. He frowned at the fact she didn't answer straight away and his expression changed to a scowl when it rolled to messaging. He hated being ignored, but it wasn't like Ellie not to answer. He left a message but he was concerned and the compassion within him just hoped she was alright.
Poor Ellie had been abducted on her way home very late last night. Her attacker had come from behind and she hadn't seen them. In fight she had failed to break free and then she had been knocked unconscious from a brutal whack to the back of her head before she had been loaded into a van. Nigel had driven away at top speed until he had arrived at a lock up he had just outside the town. To drive up the road that led there he had turned off his head lights and slowly driven along in the dark praying he wouldn't have an accident due to the fact he couldn't see where he was going. It was in a rural and neglected area, no one living close by and definitely no one to witness him moving Ellie's unconscious body from his van and into the garage type area but he kept glancing round just to be sure.
He'd never held anyone hostage before and he assumed it would be easy but already he had run into a problem. He hadn't thought about how he would secure her there and amongst the scraps in there was nothing suitable for the task. He knew that in the back of his van he had some duct tape and so made a dash out to get that hoping that Ellie was out for the count long enough to not wake in his absence. Climbing into the back of the van he threw around everything as he scavenged in the dark for the tape and his fingers caught on many of his tools before he actually managed to source it.
He then ran back from the van to inside just praying she hadn't woken. He was in luck, Elle's body still lay on the floor as he had left her. Hurrying and panicking now that he had been there too long he lifted her wrists, pulled them behind her back and forced them together as he started to wrap the tape around them. He made sure he applied plenty of tape so that she couldn't wriggle free or try and snap it. He then moved to do the same with the ankles and finished by biting of a single piece to slap across the detectives mouth.
Now with Ellie safely locked away and Detective Hardy otherwise engaged Nigel had chance to finish what he had started and run his mother from town again. At the moment he knew that they were both back on the case but what he didn't know was it wasn't official. He was just panicking, one word from his mother again and everything could lead back to him. Right now with Joe Miller's confession he had nothing to worry about unless his mother, who had already told the police it was him she saw, told them this information again because further evidence came to light. He couldn't get caught, he just couldn't and so come morning it was time to pay Susan Wright yet another visit.
Lucy had just arrived at hers with the kids, one now screaming in her ear because he was only a baby and he was hungry and the other moping quietly behind and now causing her concern that he didn't seem himself. What these kids needed right now was their mother so where the hell was she, though Lucy as she sighed placing Fred beside Tom on the sofa before she disappeared through to the kitchen. Between her shoulder and her ear her mobile was clamped and ringing Ellie as her hands frantically searched the cupboards, fridge and freezer for something she could give her starving nephews to eat. It rolled to voicemail again as she threw boxes around in the freezer draws. You could hear the frustration and anger in her voice as she left her sister yet another message. She was fed up of this she had her own life too or did Ellie just not realise that.
"El it's me again. Where the hell have you got to? Call me"
"Tom" she yelled through to the living room. It had been years since she'd had to feed a baby and she had no idea what was appropriate for Fred. "Tom" she yelled again when the little boy didn't come running but still no answer.
Lucy headed through to the living room, asking her question as she entered and holding two frozen boxes but Tom was gone. Only Fred remained on the sofa. Frowning Lucy headed out to the hall and the bottom of the stairs to call up them. That was when she noticed the door open, just ajar mind and figured Tom must be outside. Stupidly she left Fred unattended inside and dashed out into the front garden. No sign of Tom though. Dashing out onto the pavement she looked up and down the street multiple times and shouted his name two or three. He had completely disappeared. Frustrated by this she slipped her hands into her hair and pulled at the roots.
"Crap" she cursed loudly.
Suddenly from inside came loud crying, Lucy turned and dashed back inside. As she arrived at the living room doorway Fred was on the floor balling his eyes out and had obviously fallen from where he had been sat. Now she felt terrible, she had lost one child, hurt the other and had no idea when there mother would return. She decided to call her own son, Olly, he would help her she was sure he would. Today was just getting worse and worse.