"Rose, sweetheart, what are you doing? Where's Hardy?"
"Alec's at home, he was tired, hanging around all day yesterday waiting for me. I'm just getting a few things from my apartment."
"I'll come with you then and give you a ride back."
"I have to call at the store on the way back, for essentials. I don't have that far to go. Any news on Claire?"
"No, none. Did Hardy tell his ex about her maybe having that evidence bag?" Ellie asked as they came to Rose's block.
They walked up the steps, slowly and Rose got her key out.
"Are you here to make sure Claire's not lurking around Ellie?"
"Yes and no, I always wanted to have a look in one of these. You're really moving out?"
"Yeah, I don't want to be on my own and Alec doesn't want to move but I'll miss the view."
Ellie crossed to the window.
"Can't really say I blame you though he doesn't seem to like water."
"There's a reason for that, you'll have to ask him, it's not my place to tell you."
"You're his girlfriend, you have to keep his secrets I suppose. You should have seen him when we had to examine Mark Latimer's boat, I thought he was going to throw up."
"Yeah, he told me about it, he questioned why you couldn't have just climbed over other boats instead of going the long way around, he was really pissed off about it."
Ellie smiled, anything to get on his bad side.
"Are you going to Jack Marshall's funeral?" Ellie asked her as she stood in Rose's bedroom doorway.
"Was that his name, sorry. I expect Alec will be showing his face. There's been so much going on, with Claire, I feel guilty."
"What for?"
"Distracting him from his job, for starters."
"Listen Rose, don't go thinking you are less important than finding Danny's killer. You had a serious problem that required police intervention and look where it all ended? You could have been seriously injured and lost your baby, Claire needs stopping. I don't know much about that other case but it's obvious she's hiding something and the only reason Hardy got involved with her was to find out what it was. Thanks to you, his suspicions have been confirmed, he has the proof now. Maybe she hit you because she thought you'd seen it and would tell him?"
"Alec thought it was something else, why she hit me. I can't say what it was but the lies she told me, about him, she wanted something with him Ellie and she went all loco when Alec and I hit it off. Alec said he suspected things between her and her husband weren't going that well, that he had some sort of hold over her. Maybe her stealing the evidence he killed that girl was her way of getting revenge."
"Well I'm not getting involved in that part of it, it will all come out, once she's been caught. The only question is, who gets to keep her, South Mercia or us."
"I expect the charges against me will be added, once she's been caught. Do you think she'll be stupid enough to go back there?"
"She's a piece of work Rose, she'll be arrogant enough to do just that if she thinks she can get away with it and if she knows there's no love lost between Hardy and his ex wife."
"Yeah, she probably thought no-one would look for her there. Right, I'm done, Alec told me not to carry too much."
"Rubbish, get what you need, I'll carry the rest."
Rose didn't know how to refuse or tell her Alec didn't want his DS to see him lying on the sofa, which he'd better be when she got back. She filled a small case she'd picked up and went into the bathroom, Ellie picking up the testing kit that had been left on the floor and Rose blushing.
"I've seen one before Rose," Ellie grinned as she handed it over.
"Wasted my money on that, didn't I? Can you pick that holdall up for me, I'd packed a few things on Thursday."
"To stay over?" Ellie grinned.
"Never got there, did I?"
Ellie carried two bags downstairs then went back for the small case, telling Rose not to dare lift it.
"Have you given notice then?"
"Yeah, I'd gone on Thursday morning, I never get chance to do anything on Saturday now. I have to call my boss and apologise."
"For what? Her employing a psycho?"
"Well she wasn't to know, was she? Maybe Claire would have been different if I'd never met Alec."
"No Rose, he was right, she was hiding something and you caught her out. Who's to say she wouldn't have tried it with someone else?"
Ellie waited outside the mini-market while Rose went to get the groceries and they walked back across the river and turned into the street, Rose half expecting to see Claire lurking around somewhere.
Ellie noticed Rose's looked worried.
"Nervous Rose?"
"Yeah, it's just that the other day, Alec saw her sitting on that wall we just passed and she was watching my apartment before that. She must have followed me to find out where he lived."
"Some officers moved her on again, I don't know why she came back Rose, maybe because he had her hauled to the station?"
"I told him to let her go, didn't he say anything to you about it?"
They had reached the path to the cottage and Rose thought she should give Ellie the option to leave, Alec wouldn't thank her for bringing his DS back with her. Ellie just waited though, not knowing where her boss now lived, he'd kept it very quiet.
Rose took the lead and knocked on the second door and waited.
"Not got a key then?" Ellie asked.
Rose didn't want her new friend to know but thought it would seem a bit odd that she didn't already have one.
"Yeah but I think I left it when I came out."
She wanted to give Alec some warning and hoped he'd forgive her for letting Ellie help her back.
When Rose had gone out, Alec had laid on the sofa and tried to relax but Tess had rung.
"Alec, are you home yet?"
"Yes, why?"
"Rose said you were staying at a hotel near the hospital."
"It was convenient, in case they wanted to keep me in but I said since I wasn't going that far, that Rose could take me there. I went back earlier."
"Well I'm surprised they let you out so soon, after what happened."
"Rose told me it was touch and go."
"That's just putting it mildly and if it hadn't been for that strange man, claiming he was your doctor, it would have been over for you. Did she tell you?"
"Yes, he was her ex boyfriend's brother."
"Don't give me that Alec, Rose told me he looked like you. Did he have a facelift or something? He did look older though."
"I'd never met him Tess, how would I know? What are you calling for?"
"To tell you Daisy wants to see you, when you're fit to travel. How about next Saturday? You could come up and stay overnight."
"I'll be bringing Rose with me, while Claire is still on the loose."
"Well she's not staying with us. You could have slept on the sofa."
"We'll find a place, don't worry about that though I will meet with Daisy on my own for a while, see if she wants to meet Rose."
"I've not told Daisy Rose is pregnant, you can explain that to her Alec, that's down to you entirely. Don't expect Daisy to welcome your new girlfriend so easily."
"Why not? She gets on with Dave, does she not?"
"Not really, she pulls faces at him behind his back and no, he's not moved in yet."
"Well, we know why, don't we?"
"I'm not discussing this with you Alec, you almost died yesterday and you're acting like nothing even happened. That's just like you."
"You care?" he asked, wondering where this was leading.
"Of course I do Alec, we were married, it counts for something. Rose said some very strange things yesterday."
"Tess, she had been through a lot and she was on painkillers."
"She seemed perfectly fine to me, considering, well apart from her crying before that doctor turned up. He said he was from Edinburgh but you were fine before you left Scotland, weren't you? How did Rose know to contact him anyway?"
"Tess, just leave it eh? Rose was just worried for me."
"He said he'd come back, to save you and you don't know who he was?"
"Some things can't be explained. Rose had another life before she arrived in Broadchurch."
"She said she was from another world."
"No, she went to live in another world, she came back recently, when she broke up with someone."
"This doctor's twin? She said he looked like you, were they identical twins?"
He knew he was never going to hear the end of this now.
"I don't know, she said her ex looked like me, she never mentioned his brother. She was confused and upset Tess, cut her some slack eh?"
So when a while later he heard a knock on the door when he knew Rose had a key, he suspected she'd brought someone with her, hopefully not Claire.
Rose stood there with her best smile on her face.
"Hi. Look who I found? She helped me back with my things so I brought more than I was going to."
"Thanks for helping her Miller," Alec responded, taking a holdall from Ellie and she thinking she'd been invited to follow.
"You look like crap Sir."
"I'll take that as a compliment. You want the truth?"
"Rose said you were tired from yesterday."
Alec thought since Rose had told the nurse he was having minor surgery, he may as well take advantage of it, she would back him up.
"I stayed at the hospital Miller, I had minor surgery, for a mole removing from my back, I was not going to tell the whole bloody station about it."
Rose almost couldn't stop from bursting out laughing, that was better than she was going to come up with.
Ellie wasn't so bothered about hiding her amusement.
"Seriously? Well I can see it was a bit embarrassing. So it turned out Rose being in hospital saved you making an excuse to have time off?"
"Yes and don't you go telling anyone either, if I hear people sniggering on Monday morning, you'll be doing the school crossing patrol."
Rose put her arm in his after putting the groceries away and switching on the kettle.
"Want a drink Ellie?"
"No, I better get home, I was just checking any reports on Claire."
"Well she never turned up in Sandbrook, Tess called me a while a go. I have some good news Rose, Daisy wants to meet."
"Alec, that's great." She saw the look on Ellie's face. "She's Alec's teenage daughter, I've not met her yet."
"Aye but she doesn't know about us yet."
"That should be fun. Right, I'll leave you two and if you want to talk Rose, you know where to find me."
"Yeah, thanks for coming back with me. Maybe we can have lunch again? Bring that cute little boy of yours with you."
Rose went to let Ellie out, Alec behind her as she closed the door so she almost bumped into him. He raised his hand above her head, leaning over to kiss her neck, sending a shiver down her back as his hand wandered up the front of her t-shirt or rather his t-shirt she had borrowed that she'd tucked into her jeans and he'd pulled out in a second.
"Alec, you're supposed to be taking it easy and I'm not supposed to make any sudden moves."
"Then don't make any sudden moves love and I am taking it easy. This is me, taking it easy."
He pulled the t-shirt up and began kissing above her bra, making Rose melt and since she couldn't reach her arms around his back due to her side still hurting had placed them on his rear instead, making him smile and resulting in them making out for what seemed like ages to both of them.
They stayed in the rest of the weekend, Alec phoned for takeaway later on Saturday night but venturing across the street to the pub for a late Sunday lunch. By early Monday morning, they were both feeling much better and Alec was already showing signs he wanted to take things further as Rose woke up to her alarm.
"Hey babe, you been awake long?"
"Yes, you sleep forever Rose. Mornin' darlin' feeling better?"
He reached over, putting one hand on the mattress and avoiding her still slightly hurting side and kissed above her sleep top, working his way across and then up to her neck.
"I guess you are babe but I have to go back to work and so do you. You won't get any sympathy from Ellie."
"Good, I don't want any but you had better get some from the people you work with. You are giving your notice in?"
"Yeah. If you have time, can you look up Mickey Smith?"
"Rose, do you know how many Mickey Smith's there might be love?"
"Then look for Dr Martha Jones, she used to work with UNIT. James told me."
"I've heard of them, it should be easier to find her then. Leave it with me eh?"
"Yeah, 'course I will. Now, I have to go and get ready for work, do you need the bathroom first?"
"No love, you take your time, I have only a few minutes walk to work, I'm not going to drive just yet though, best be on the safe side eh?"
"I've still got time for a snog though."
Rose took her time walking up to the salon, she would only be doing it for the rest of the week which she was glad about, the others would have loads of questions about Claire but she'd already decided she wasn't going to go into details. She wondered if she'd ever see the Doctor again, in whatever form and what he'd meant, was her device never going to work again or did he mean not in the next few years? If Alec had died in that timeline, she would have taken the child and gone back to face everyone, her mother deserved to know she had a grandchild. Maybe now, things had changed.
She half expected to see Claire when she opened the salon door but the other three women were sat in the staffroom and all looked up when the bell rang.
Amber was the one to speak. "Rose, are you ok? Maureen said something had happened to you."
"Yeah, I'm fine now, got a bit of a headache and a sore side, I'll live. Is she in her office?"
Amber nodded and Rose left them, no doubt to talk about her and Claire finally coming to blows, since she still had a plaster on her forehead, Alec had put a clean one on, with great care before he had left.
Maureen looked up.
"Feeling better? I had a call from DS Miller, she said you'd been attacked. It was Claire, wasn't it?"
Rose nodded as Maureen indicated for her to sit down.
"I'm sorry Rose, I should have known it would come to that, I never should have taken her on but your boyfriend vouched for her. I never realised it was him at first then I didn't want to say anything to you."
"It's ok but I'm sorry for the trouble we caused you, I know Saturday's are the best day of the week. I have to give my notice though, Alec doesn't want me to work, I'm moving in with him."
"Oh, well I know Claire won't be back, just let her try. I'll have to advertise for someone else and someone part-time. Do you want to do two days a week by any chance? Then I'll only need one full-time stylist."
"I'll see what he says but if it's no, I'll need to finish on Saturday. You won't be seeing Claire, she left her cottage, DS Miller told me. Alec's put a warrant out for her arrest, for assaulting me."
"I don't blame him, she's been a load of trouble, he should have never brought her here. Why did he?"
"I can't tell you that but I can tell you this much, she claimed her husband was after her, for some trouble he got into where Alec used to work, he thought by bringing her here, she could have a fresh start and maybe she would have, if she'd not introduced us. Now she's on her own. Alec even called his old station, in case she went back there."
"Well, if you can work two days, my day off and Saturday, it will stop you getting bored at home."
"I'll have to give up in around six months anyway, I'm pregnant."
"That's great Rose, congratulations. Look if you want the part-time job, I'll get the other girls to do the sweeping up and you can use the chair that's adjustable, to save you leaning down or stretching up, it was Claire's anyway and on the days you work, whoever I get in her place will be told."
"OK, I'll tell Alec, I'm sure he'll agree to that."
While Rose had been discussing that, the girls and Carlos had been discussing Rose and Claire.
"Do you think they had a real fight?" Amber wondered.
"Oh, it looked like it girls, shame we missed it," Carlos chuckled as he arranged his combs and scissors the way he liked them. "I don't think Claire will be back, I never liked her anyway, she was a bit too catty for my liking."
"Yeah and her face when Rose's new boyfriend came in that time, I wish we'd been allowed our phones. Mind you, Rose seemed a bit embarrassed when he came in, she clearly wasn't expecting Claire to be here though I was surprised she didn't snog his face off."
"Ooh, I'd loved to have seen them, he's a bit of alright," Carlos smiled.
"I think it would have been you and Rose fighting, she's clearly got him where she wants him."
Maureen choose that moment to leave the office when Rose went to hang up her jacket.
"Nothing to do?"
They all scurried to start as two women came in the salon.
Alec had arrived early to catch up with the report Ellie had put in about Rose and was reading through her statement but the part about what may or may not have been in Claire's jacket pocket had been left out. When Ellie arrived, Alec called her into his office.
"You alright now Sir?"
"Never felt better Miller, it's Rose I'm worried about."
"She's tougher than she looks. Has she gone back to work?"
"Yes. Did she tell you she was giving up her apartment?"
"She mentioned it on Saturday, a daft idea if you ask me. I hope she knows what she's doing. You read Rose's statement? I left that other piece of information out, it's not relevant."
"I know, I'm pleased you left it out."
"So, if South Mercia catch her, who gets her?"
"They do, Rose's assault is lesser charges, if they get the missing evidence, the Gillespie case gets re-opened and maybe they find the other missing girl. It's been going on too long but do you know what Miller?"
Ellie just shook her head.
"I've got new hope now, thanks to Rose but I never intended for her to get hurt in the process."
"She knows that, you didn't know what Claire would do. She's unstable and now she knows everyone's looking for her, she'll hole up somewhere until she thinks it's all blown over."
"Well, I'm not giving up this time, if that's what she thinks. My ex reckons I should have left her locked up that night, so Rose told me."
"It would have saved all that trouble. Hang on though, didn't Claire get searched that night?"
"No, she was never charged. Hell, if I'd had her searched, we would have found whatever was in her pocket."
"You weren't to know."
"I should have done Miller, damn. If I'd charged her with stalking, she would have got a court order to stay away from Rose."
"Yes, then she would have used that to her advantage and gone after you, to get back at Rose plus tell everyone you did it, that you locked her up for going after your girlfriend, the press would have been overjoyed with that bit of news. You wanted to stay out of the papers, remember? You and Rose should go public, be seen together."
"We went to that church service together."
"Yes and you turned down a social gathering at the Latimer house."
"That would have been wrong to accept, the Latimers should be distancing themselves from those investigating their son's death."
"Excuse me, I'm not ending my friendship with them over this, I can't desert Beth now."
Alec thought about it. "Fine, stay friends with her but I'm not making friends with them. Introduce Rose to Mrs Latimer then, if you must."
"Rose needs all the friends she can get now, with a baby on the way. I just found out Beth's expecting ."
"Tell her congratulations then, she and Rose will have plenty in common, they can go to the clinic together."
"When does she have a scan?"
"They will send for her, she'll have to go to Dorchester."
"No, she can go to the local hospital, Beth's going there. It's one of the departments they kept open."
"Then I will tell her but I give you fair warning Miller, I will be going to the appointments with her."
"I'd expect nothing less. If you'd said she could go on her own, I would have strangled you."
"Well talking of her making friends, you can do something for me."
He handed her a piece of paper with Jack's, Martha and Mickey's names.
"What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Find them. An address, a phone number. Rose lost contact with them before she came here, Doctor Jones should be easy to find, she worked for UNIT at one time."
"Do you want me to find her ex while I'm at it? Are you sure that baby is yours?"
"Stop it Miller, yes, it is. You know she's only two weeks. Did she tell you about Claire almost stranding her in Weymouth?"
"No, when was that?"
"Two weeks ago last Saturday. Remember I met Rose for lunch on the Friday?"
Ellie nodded, hoping she was going to get something juicy out of this.
"I gave her my phone number and told her if she had any trouble with Claire to call me so when Claire dragged her down to Weymouth and tried to set her up with a bloke, she called me. I set off to go get her but Rose managed to get in the taxi with Claire so I was waiting for them but Claire got mad and locked Rose out of her cottage so I took her home and she invited me to stay."
"You took advantage of her."
"No Miller, she wanted to forget her old life and nothing happened until the next morning, not that you need to know that."
She did but it didn't look like he was going to tell her much more.
"Well I'll try and get the information, since it's for Rose but you haven't forgotten we're in the middle of a murder investigation have you, Sir?"
"No Miller, I have not forgotten. Have you heard when the newsagent's funeral is? Rose said I should attend and since you seem to think I should be seen out in public with her?"
"Yes but at social gatherings, not church services, what is it with you?"
Alec thought he didn't need a social skills lesson from his irritating DS but she did have a point, he and Rose had hardly been at the centre of the town's attention in their albeit short relationship, opting to stay in or just go to the pub. She had told him of her reasonably glamorous life where she had just come from, she must be finding him boring. He'd arranged to meet her as usual but wasn't sure she should be climbing up that cliff path back to work afterwards. He was about to leave to meet her when Ellie handed him the piece of paper back he'd given her earlier.
"The information you wanted. This Martha Jones no longer works for UNIT but I managed to track her down. It seems they were independent trouble-shooters but gave up, they have a young baby now."
"Thanks Miller, I'll give it to Rose. What about that Jack Harkness?"
"It seems he's vanished off the face of the earth, so to speak. There's nothing after that incident a few years back with the school kids. Did your daughter get caught up in that? We were terrified for Tom and thankfully, we didn't have Fred at the time."
"Yes, it scared the hell out of me and Tess, must have been something to do with that mad Saxon bloke, even though no-one knew what happened to him."
"Some say his wife shot him, she disappeared as well but you remember a few years back, well just before everyone thought they were him, that women's prison got blown up?"
"No but go on."
"There were rumours her trial was held in secret and some of his supporters were trying to get her out of there and blew the place up in the process."
"Rumours Miller though after that incident, it did all go quiet. Right, I'd best go meet Rose, this will cheer her up."
He picked up the piece of paper after putting his coat on. Ellie wondered if he even realised he never went anywhere without it.
The morning had passed quickly for Rose, the first time for over a week she'd not worried about Claire glaring at her and telling lies. She hoped Alec would agree to let her work Thursday and Saturday, now Maureen was going back to her original day off since Claire was no longer a problem. Alec was waiting for her and though that pleased her, she missed not looking over at the balcony to see if he was watching out for her.
"Hey sweetheart," he greeted her as he got up to pull a chair out for her. "Hungry?"
After ordering, he got the folded piece of paper out of his pocket.
"A number for you."
"You found Mickey and Martha? What about Jack?"
"Sorry love, he's nowhere to be found, not for a good few years. You missed a lot, being away."
Their food arrived but Alec was interrupted by his phone ringing, wishing now he'd turned it off. It was Tess.
"Alec, I've had a report Claire was seen in Southampton."
"Really? She said she'd had a salon there before she met Ashworth. Was she not picked up?"
"No, Southampton police didn't know she was wanted, we just sent them word, she was picked up for sleeping by the river but they let her go. If they see her again, they'll pick her up and I'll send someone to get her. Are you still coming up on Saturday? Daisy's looking forward to it."
"Yes, we are both coming up. If Claire gets transferred to you, let me know, I'll send you the report on Rose and you can find out if she has that evidence or not. If she has, you get priority, get the chief to contact my boss."
"Right, I'll do that but does your boss know about your involvement with Rose?"
That was a very good question.