Ellie had been out for the count all night after having been attacked by Nigel Carter on her way home last night. She had been vividly dreaming when something that seemed too real jolted her from her deep unconscious state and she opened her eyes. She had unintentionally scared herself and now awake felt dehydrated, disoriented and dizzy. Her head was pounding and she didn't recognise her surroundings at all. Nothing looked familiar and when she tried to pull herself up she realised that she wasn't able. She hadn't quite come to the terms with the fact that she was being held hostage or that she had been purposely restrained and so continued to struggle until by some way of luck she managed to push herself up and prop herself against the back wall.
Now that she was properly awake she could see that she was in a small metal storage shed. It was a fair size but was cluttered with all sorts of tools and bits. Ellie went to pull her hands round when she remembered again that they were restrained and her ankles the same. She tried to think things through, put it all into perspective and remember how she came to be where she was now but she was clueless.
Olly came running up the path to his mothers and was in a calmer state than she was. From outside he could hear Fred screaming and hurried inside. His mother hadn't said much on the phone about what had happened and if she hadn't had sounded so upset and distraught he wouldn't even have come. He called to her as he let himself in and she quickly emerged from the living room. He could tell she was panicking and like Fred she was crying. Fred was howling, red faced and blotchy cheeks, his little voice turning hoarse and as for his mum well silent tears just streamed down her cheeks and her mascara had run. He could see quite clearly that she was in no fit state to be looking after such a vulnerable infant and quickly went to take his little cousin from his mother. He was concerned as to what had happened and just had to ask.
"What's going on mum?" asked Olly as he went passed his mother and took Fred into the living room as he tried to sooth him.
"I lost Tom and then went to look for him and when I came back Fred was hurt and…I don't know Olly."
"Why have you got them and what do you mean you lost Tom?" he asked through gritted teeth trying to control his temper so that he didn't scare or upset Fred further.
"Well Ellie just left me with them, I don't know I bought them back here went to make some tea and he ran away Olly. I didn't do anything wrong I swear. It's not my fault" Cried Lucy hoping her son would be sympathetic.
"Where is aunt Ellie?" questioned Olly.
"Oh I don't know, doing some police thing with that boys murder" guessed Lucy.
Olly was concerned now but his mind was thinking everything through. As a reporter he was naturally curious as to why his Aunt would have been actively working again on a closed case. Right now though that was the least of their worries. His other cousin was still missing and he felt a responsibility to go out and locate him, he might not be safe out there alone. Olly knew one thing though, he was going to have to call the police and have them involved because if Aunt Ellie suddenly turned up she was going to hit the roof that one of her children was missing.
Alec had just been given the all clear from the nurse to be discharged but he was under strict orders to rest and not go over doing it or stressing whether it was about work or anything else. He'd never been one to listen to advice he was given and he certainly never followed it. He now felt like a failure and he needed the help of Ellie Miller to finish solving the Latimer case and in revealing the whole truth. That was his focus now he was leaving the hospital, find Ellie and get right back on the case.
The fresh air hit him making him feel a little dizzy and lightheaded. Stopping for a moment Alec took a few deep breaths and waited until he felt a little better. It was a fair walk back into town and once he had started the journey he already felt it was a mistake that he was trying to walk. He stopped again and stood in the bushes at the side of the road, out of the way and only to take a rest stop. He looked around at his plain and empty surroundings and didn't think them as beautiful as the coast that was part of the actual town below. It was only when he looked down that something caught his eye. It was a mobile phone, covered in drops of dew where it had obviously been laying in the ground since early morning. Without thinking he reached down and picked it up. Squinting he looked around again to see if maybe its owner was lurking in the distance but there was no one there.
The phone looked familiar to him but he wasn't able to place where from. Pressing one of the keys he tested to see if it had any power in it. The screen lit up and on it was a picture, two beautiful little boys that Alec recognised instantly as Ellie's. Now he wondered what was her phone doing out here? There were a few missed calls, texts and voice messages but he did not know the code to get it unlocked and view any of them. He started to panic, fearing that something might have happened to her last night. His rest was over, swiftly he headed off to the town, determined now to find Ellie and put his mind at ease that she was ok. He shoved the phone in his pocket as he walked and hoped that she had just dropped it on her way back to Becca Fisher's B&B.
Ellie was cold, shivering now in fact and she was beginning to feel wary. She had figured out now that someone was holding her hostage but she just didn't know whom. She was completely on her own and had no form of contact to get some help. Just as she was wracking her brains trying to think what she could do the door opened and the darkened space was illuminated by sunlight that crept in around the clear silhouette of a man. Ellie's eyes widened in fear, she could see no features or who he was but she was scared. He stepped further inside and then closed the door behind him. That's when Ellie got a better look and she screamed even though the tape muffled the sound. In his hand he held something that resembled a bat and she grew ever fearful the closer her attacker came. She was shocked to see Dean hovering over her and he was equally as shocked to see that this was who Nigel had sent him to guard. He had been instructed to make sure that if she was conscious to return her to an unconscious state. He was sorry to do what he was about to do but felt he had no choice. Taking the bat and lifting it high he screwed his eyes up tight and swung at her. The bat only just caught her and Ellie fell back against the wall unconscious once again.