A/N: Thanks everyone for reading, commenting and following. Disclaimer – I have no expertise in forensics (or police work for the matter) and after reading a multiple page FBI document on hair specimen, I decided that Hardy seriously dislikes them ;-) Needless to say, Hardy is not a friend of TGIF, especially if he has a case to work on...

CHAPTER 7

Hardy stared at the pictures of Pippa and Lisa. This time not in the police file but in the local morning paper. The headline was as sensationalistic as it could be. "Murdered Girl Left to Rot in River" – from there, it was only downhill. Implications and half-truths were alternating with alluding to the incompetence of the police and speculations over the whereabouts of Lisa Newbery. It was despicable.

Hardy threw the paper in the trash, snorting in disgust. It was under Karen White's byline inclusive of a picture of her with a smug smile on her face. He could only hope that she would leave the families alone, which was not likely to happen. And he sure hoped that Lisa's mother had not read any of the ludicrous speculations that were put forth.

Hardy spent the rest of the morning catching up with paperwork while anxiously waiting for the preliminary forensics report. SOCO had fine combed the Gillespies' house once again and did the same at Lisa Newbery's home. Pippa's diary was still sealed away until copies could be made. He was growing rather restless which wasn't doing anything to improve his already foul mood.

His gaze fell on the picture of Daisy that was on his desk. He had dropped her off at school before coming to work. She had been rather tight-lipped this morning and even growled at him a few times. And she didn't make him tea which was always a sure sign that something was up. He had the feeling she was mad at him but he had no idea why. He had seen her so little this past week that it was almost impossible to have done something wrong to offend her. Or maybe that's what it was, that he had not been around much. That both her parents had been absent for most evenings. He would have to talk to her and hopefully there would be opportunity on the weekend to spend time together.

He breathed in deeply and let the air out slowly, running his hands over his face. It wasn't even noon yet and he already felt fatigued. Even with a halfway decent night's sleep, he didn't seem to be able to catch up. Ever since he found out that his heart for most of the time wasn't beating as steady as he had thought all those years, he had become increasingly aware of all the many moments in the day when it happened. What used to be normal, was now a constant reminder of his treacherous body failing him. It put him on edge, more than he wanted to admit and more than once he wished he could go back to the state of blissful ignorance prior to his first cardiac arrest at Daisy's bedside in the hospital.

Unconsciously, his hand wandered up to his sternum, trying to rub away the tightness in his chest, a tightness that wasn't solely a result of physical ailing but just as much due to the overwhelming emotional toll this was taking on him.

A knock at his door ripped him out of his thoughts, making his heart jump a few beats, forcing it into an uncomfortably fast rhythm, leaving him slightly breathless as if he had just sprinted up the stairs.

"You alright?" Tess was scrutinizing him.

"'M Fine. Just tired. Didn't sleep well last night," he conceded.

"I saw that. Daisy felt bad for you when she found you sagged out on the bed. Fussed over you without you even waking up once. I told her to just put a blanket on you and let you sleep." Tess gave him a small smile.

"Is that why she was grumpy with me this morning?" he asked, frowning.

She shrugged. "No idea. You'd have to ask her yourself." Hardy couldn't help himself and get the feeling that Tess was holding something back. She dropped a file on his desk and changed the topic.

"Preliminary forensics report. Prints are mostly the family and what we are assume are Lisa's. There are two other sets that are common. We are running them against the neighbors'. SOCO also found hair in Pippa's room that on first microscopic inspection doesn't look like Pippa's. Color and length are different. But the final comparison will take a few days."

He nodded, mouth slightly open. "Is there enough to run nuclear DNA? Or can they only do mitochondrial?" He hated hair specimen. Most of the time they couldn't be used to conclusively include someone unless there was enough genetic material which was rare to happen.

"They don't know yet, the hair guy is out for today and over the weekend, so it'll have to wait."

"Ach, for God's sake, we are running a murder investigation here and the guy goes… what? For a fun weekend in the country?" Hardy's voice shifted pitch with his annoyance.

Tess just raised her eyebrows. "He's never in on Fridays. Works only part time."

"Oh, really? Now that's great for him. Maybe we can tell the families that we're running a part time operation here and invite them to join us on the weekend extravaganza," Hardy spat out.

"Alec! The man is recovering from cancer. Show some decency," Tess scolded him like a school boy.

"If he can't do his job, he shouldn't be here." As soon as he said it, his phone buzzed reminding him to take his medication. He stared at it, his own words ringing in his ears. Tess glared at him, face pulled into a deep frown, disapproving of every word he'd uttered. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking in a deep breath.

Silencing his phone, he quietly continued, all anger gone. "I'm sorry, Tess. You're right. That was uncalled for. I'm just…" he trailed off.

"We all are," she admitted not needing him to finish his sentence. "We'll get them, Alec." She gave him a reassuring nod and another small smile. He pulled up the corner of his mouth, a sad attempt to mimic her optimism.

"Are you coming with me to question Claire Ashworth later on?" He didn't like how insecure his voice sounded.

"If you want me to. You might not have a choice anyways. Dave said he refuses to ride in the car with you again." She grinned.

"God, he's such a wimp," Hardy blurted out before he could hold himself back. Tess' face was impassive, the grin gone. She didn't say anything which confused Hardy.

"Did I say something wrong?" He was puzzled by her reaction.

"No, you didn't. Sorry. Was just distracted by thinking about the last time I talked to the Ashworths. They are an odd couple."

Hardy looked at her and was quite sure she had just lied to him. He had no idea why she would do that, but he was willing to let it go for now as they had more important things to do than argue again.

"Fine. We'll go there in the afternoon. Hopefully she'll be home this time around."

Tess nodded. Once she was gone, he was left with an unsettling feeling that he just had missed something important, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He shook away the gloomy thoughts, took his pills and started reading the forensics report. Maybe it would come to him later. Engrossed in the report, he soon had all forgotten about it.

Lunch time came and went without Hardy even noticing. The grey light from the rainy day was filtering through his office window. After being hunched over all the paperwork for hours, his body felt stiff when he straightened himself. He stood up, shoved his hands into his pockets and walked over to rest his forehead against the cool glass, staring out into the rain. Nothing felt right about this case. There was no sign of forceful entry so abduction was less likely. There was also no good motive for a kidnapping. Neither parent had money to make that scenario in any way interesting unless there were personal issues involved. The fact that Pippa was close to the neighbors and liked going to their house made their involvement possible. Yet again, why?

They had gathered very little information about Lisa so far which he felt was sorely needed. Her phone record had triangulated the last signal to Portsmouth about 18 hours after the last call was made. This made even less sense. How would it get there? Was it possible that Lisa took it there herself? Or was it one of the perpetrators? He needed to go back and talk more to Lisa's mother and possibly her father, Ricky's brother.

He turned around, hands still in his pocket and stared at his wall with the map. Cate's and Ricky's movements were colored in. His eyes drifted to the river. The sound of the rain drumming against the window was growing louder, he could almost feel the water dripping off of him. He rubbed his arms, trying to make the eerie feeling of her weight pulling at them go away. He leaned back on the window, looking up and resisting the urge to close his eyes, knowing what he would see. The ceiling tiles were blurring and he recognized too late that the pauses between his thudding heart beats were too long. He took a step towards the desk but never made it there, his legs giving out from under him. He barely caught his fall on the sofa.

The door to his office swung open.

"Hardy, did you…" Baxter abruptly stopped talking when he saw Hardy kneeling on the ground, rather obviously struggling to clamber to his feet.

Shitshitshit. Baxter couldn't have come at a less inopportune time. For once being startled actually did a good thing to him and jolted his heart back into a more normal rhythm. Before he could get back to his feet, Baxter had pulled him up. He put all his effort into not swaying and he didn't, when Baxter let go of him.

"Did you trip over your own feet, or what?" Baxter joked, but Hardy very well recognized the questioning undertone.

"Ach, don't ask," he grunted, faking what hopefully looked like an embarrassed face. He sounded annoyed enough to give his cover story credibility. At least Baxter seemed to be willing to buy it.

"Hm. Alright then." Baxter plopped down on the sofa, handing him a piece of paper.

"What's this?" Squinting at the writing, Hardy fished out his glasses. It was a record of one of the many phone calls they had received.

"Don't know why that landed on my desk and not yours, but it mentions someone lurking around the Gillespies' house in the past weeks." Baxter explained.

Hardy was reading through the transcript. It had been phoned in anonymously last night. A female caller mentioned 'a hooded figure hanging out on the street' opposite of the Gillespie home. She had seen the person several times in the last weeks, most recently the day before the girls disappeared. She said it looked like a man but she couldn't describe him any further. Upon being asked to provide contact information, the caller hang up.

He tossed the paper on his desk, plucked his glasses of his face and rubbed the bridge of his nose while still holding them.

"We'll look into it. Maybe there are other callers or we can send someone around to do more house to house inquiries."

He leaned against this desk and crossed his arms over his chest, eying his boss with an upward gaze.

"Do you have any news as to when reinforcement is coming in? The front desk has already complained three times they can't handle the call volume and we need more people to review CCTV," Hardy impatiently asked.

"Not until after the weekend. We…" Baxter didn't get a chance to finish his sentence.

"What is it with everyone and the bloody weekend?" Hardy growled at him. "This is a murder investigation and not a tea party. The hair guy isn't in, we won't get the staff we need and next you're going to tell me to take the days off." He was fuming, pent up frustration bubbling over.

Baxter just raised an eyebrow, not fazed by Hardy's outburst. "Funny that you should mention it, but actually I did want to tell you that I expect you to not spend your entire time in this office over the next couple of days. And before you interrupt me again, I'm not saying you shouldn't work on the case, because we all know that's not realistic, but what I am saying is that you need to take a little break here and there. No more sleeping on this sorry piece of furniture." Baxter tapped the sofa he was sitting on.

Hardy scoffed and didn't say anything. In principle Baxter was right, but they couldn't afford for this investigation to drag out, and if that meant working on the weekend, so be it. It was part of the job and everyone knew it. It would be nice to spend some time with Daisy though. He missed their carefree banter. The last time he had really talked to her was when she had asked him about Pippa. He stared out of the window into the rain again. He had to admit, he was feeling lonely without his regular family life around to ground him and balance out his moody tendencies.

Baxter got up. "Look, Hardy. I know you're not going to rest much until this is over, but I also need you to last all the way through, so do make an effort and take a break here and there. It won't hurt and you'll have a clearer mind." He padded him on the shoulder and was out the door as quickly as he had come in.

When the door had shut, Hardy let out a breath. He pulled his pills out of his pocket, popped a couple in his mouth and tapped the blister pack in his hand. 'Last all the way through' – Hardy sure hoped he would.

Hardy confirmed with Tess that they had the warrant to get the DNA sample before going back to the estate. They drove in separate cars so that Tess could leave early if needed and pick up Daisy from a friend's house. They had been relying heavily on Daisy's popularity to get through this busy time. He felt guilty for abandoning her like that but they had no choice.

He got stuck in traffic and by the time he got there he was ready to yell at someone. Unfortunately there was nobody doing him the favor to serve as a target. With a scowl on his face he joined Tess at the Ashworths' door.

"You're into 'bad cop-good cop' now?" Tess asked, her voice rich with sarcasm.

"What?" Hardy was confused.

"That scowl you're wearing. Relax a little Alec, they are going to think you're after them," she reprimanded him.

"Who says I'm not?" Hardy replied sardonically and knocked firmly at the door.

A woman with long wavy chocolate brown hair opened.

"Oh, DI Hardy. How nice to finally meet you," she bubbly greeted him.

She stuck out her hand and Hardy shook it out of reflex. He caught Tess' amused grin in the corner of his eye. He could only image the baffled face he was making, surprised by the woman's enthusiasm.

"The picture in the paper didn't do you justice." She smiled broadly, revealing a tiny gap between her front teeth.

"Shouldn't have been in there to begin with. Bloody journalists," he grumped, oblivious of the compliment.

"Come on in then. I'll put the kettle on." She ushered them into the house and the kitchen. She beckoned them to sit down at the table, while she was fussing over the tea.

Hardy started with the usual formalities. "As you seem to already know, I'm DI Alec Hardy and this is DS Teresa Henchard. We'd like to ask you a few questions about your landlords the Gillespies and also about their niece Lisa Newbery."

Hardy was in the habit of making sure to use Tess' full name and her maiden name at work. They had discovered the hard way a long time ago that it worked better to not convey to people that they were a couple. When they got married, she had taken his name only to later more and more use her own. And by now that's what it was.

Claire Ashworth placed the tea mugs on the table and sat down opposite of them.

"How can I help you, detectives? I still can't believe that poor Pippa is dead. I just did her hair last week, we were having so much fun together." Her big greenish brown eyes were moist and she looked down, as if to hide her emotion.

"Can you tell us where you were on the evening of April 14th?" Hardy posed his standard question.

"We were both home. Together. Lee and I wanted to have a quiet evening, stay in, you know." Claire was quick to reply. It sounded rehearsed to Hardy, but maybe he was just going of what Tess had told him earlier about her meeting with the couple.

"Did you notice anything that night that was out of the ordinary?" Tess joined in the conversation.

"I heard the girls talk and move around. Maybe their TV. The walls are thin, you know?"

Hardy's ears perked up when she answered the question so differently from her husband, almost repeating his own words that he had used with Lee. He scribbled in his notepad and there was a brief flicker of concern on Claire's face.

"Did you hear anything that would have made you worried?" Tess continued.

"No." Claire shook her head. She turned away from Tess and leaned in closer to Hardy, trailing her finger over the table towards his untouched tea. She looked up and found his eyes.

"Did you find Lisa yet?" she asked with a hushed voice, still holding his gaze. Hardy felt uncomfortable. He wasn't sure what game she was playing at. He could feel his ears heating up and was annoyed at himself.

He cleared his throat. "We can't answer that question, Mrs. Ashworth."

"Oh, please call me Claire." She put her hand on his arm. He flinched with the uninvited touch. She blushed, blinked her eyes, and slowly trailed her fingers away from him.

"What's going on here?"

All three of them spun around to see Lee standing at the door. His forehead was sporting a deep furrow, suspicion dripping off of him. Claire's face lit up with a big smile. She hurried over to her husband and wrapped herself around him. His arm circled around her shoulders, pulling her closer.

"I thought you already asked all your questions?" Lee's tone was aggressive.

Hardy stood up, unconsciously placing a protective hand on Tess' shoulder. "Mr. Ashworth, we are just here to talk to your wife."

"You didn't have my permission to come into my house. You better leave now." Lee moved forward, pushing Claire behind him.

Hardy didn't budge, but he made an effort to not tense up. No reason to provoke a fight. He was keeping his voice level. "I have a warrant to obtain a DNA sample from both of you on the grounds that you were frequent visitors in the Gillespies' house. I'm asking you and your wife to come to the station tomorrow so we can get the sample and record an official statement. 10 o'clock would be a good time."

He gently pulled up Tess by the elbow and tried to pass by Lee in the kitchen doorway. He just had about enough room to get through without touching the other man. Tess followed him and they left the house without appearing to rush.

"Now, that went well," Tess said as soon as they were out of ear shot. Hardy just snorted and stomped away. He was unlocking his car when somebody tapped him on the shoulder. It was Claire.

"Sorry about that. He can get rather concerned when he thinks I'm in trouble." She smiled shyly, still standing too close for his comfort. Over her shoulder, he caught sight of Tess, who was frowning at him, clearly annoyed. She rolled her eyes and got into her car.

"You should go back inside. He's watching you." Hardy nodded towards the window where Lee was lingering behind the curtain again.

Her smile vanished. "I know he is. But I want him to know that I'm not afraid of him."

Hardy was keeping his face neutral as to not let on what he just had heard. "Are you telling me that you don't feel safe at home?"

She laughed. "Ah, you're sweet. No, I'm perfectly fine. Just didn't like the way he was taking control over the situation. He doesn't say who I can talk to or not. See you tomorrow then. Bye."

She turned around and gave him a small wave on the way back to her house. Hardy didn't move, taking in the encounter. His instincts were all tingling. This was going to be an interesting interview. He felt better than he had all day. He climbed into the car and sped off, tires squealing. Probably breaking more traffic laws than only the speed limit, he found himself back at the station rather quickly and in a much improved mood than when he had left.

He lost track of the time while writing his report for the day and planning ahead. Eventually, he tore himself lose from the case file and left. When he reached his home, it was dark outside and raining again. He ran from the driveway to the door, panting even with the quick dash. He shook the rain off when he walked into the hallway. The house was quiet, no talking or any other signs of activity.

He padded into the kitchen, loosening his tie and tossing the suit jacket over the banister. Tess was cleaning up dinner. He snuck up on her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She jumped and dropped the plate she was holding. It broke.

"Jesus, Alec. What'd you do that for? You scared the shit out of me," she exclaimed angrily.

He stepped away, chewing his lower lip. "Sorry, love."

Tess snorted and returned to the washing up, taking care of the broken plate. He eyed the leftovers, realizing he hadn't really eaten much all day. It was pasta with Alfredo sauce, one of Daisy's favorite dishes. And his as well. Up until now. He stared at it, anger at his bum heart rising until he couldn't handle it anymore. He stormed out of the kitchen up the stairs to say hello to Daisy. He had to pause at the landing to catch his breath, only making his frustration worse. He balled his hands into fists, short from punching the wall.

He took a few moments to settle down before knocking at Daisy's door, shoving away his personal problems. She didn't reply.

"Darlin'? It's Dad. Just wanted to say hello," he quietly said.

No answer. He frowned. She couldn't still be grumpy at him, could she? Tired, he leaned his forehead against the door and knocked again.

"Please, Daisy. Talk to me. I know I was home late again today, and I'm sorry that your mother and I haven't been around much this week. Let's try to do something on the weekend, right?" he was pleading with her.

It was going to be her birthday next week and… he stopped in the middle of his thought.

Fuck. He gently banged his head against the door. The party. He had forgotten all about the party and his promise to find something special that would make it the talk of the school. A promise he made a life time ago, before his heart went to shit and a dead girl's face started haunting him. That's why she was so mad at him. What was he going to do? He sure had no brilliant idea and even less time to figure something out. The party was supposed to be on Sunday.

"Listen, darlin'. I'm really, really sorry. I know I messed up. I'll make it up to you, I promise." He was still talking to the closed door.

"I'm not speaking with you. And don't even think about using the damn ladder. I'm not going to open the window," she angrily yelled from inside her room.

"Please, open the door, Daisy. I just want to apologize while I'm actually looking at you," he was begging now.

"No. Go away!" Her voice sounded so mad. He would never live this down.

"Alright. Again, I'm really sorry. Maybe we can talk about it tomorrow morning." After a silent pause he added, "Good night, Daisy. I love you, darlin'."

He walked down the stairs slowly, dragging himself to the living room. He slumped down on the couch and rubbed his face down with his hands. He felt like a total failure. He had promised to help her with the party after she had been so disappointed when those girls a few weeks back had declined her invitation because she wasn't 'cool' enough. He probably shouldn't have as he had no idea how to make a 13th birthday party special for a budding teenager.

Tess came into the room. "You finally figured out what's bothering her?" There was an accusatory tone in her voice.

"You could have reminded me," he sighed.

"If you were to involve yourself more in this family, I wouldn't have to remind you," she snapped at him.

"Excuse me? I spend more time with her than you do," he countered, getting angrier.

"Really? Not lately. You need to get your priorities straight, if you want to be part of this family, Alec."

God, she could be such a smart ass at times. He suppressed the urge to raise his voice, not wanting Daisy to hear that they were arguing.

"Ach, for fuck's sake, Tess. I'm leading what looks like a double murder investigation of two teenaged girls and you can't give me a break?" he hissed at her.

"I guess then it's good that your teenaged girl at least has her mother to make sure she's going to have a proper birthday party," she spat at him and marched out of the room.

He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. This wasn't even a week into the case and everything around him seemed to spiral out of control already. He barely had a grip on his health, his daughter didn't want to talk to him and all he did with Tess these days was fight. He draped his elbow over his closed eyes. Exhaustion was settling in. He moved to get up and go to bed, but in the end didn't have the energy. 'No more sleeping on the sofa' – take this Baxter, didn't say anything about the one at home. There was a small grin on his face when he fell asleep, pleased to have at least won one tiny battle.

The trees were casting long shadows over the field of blue flowers which were hanging their heads in the rain. Alec was walking along the river, rain pouring down on him. His heart was pounding, making it hard to breathe. The sense of dread was growing and he wanted to run but he couldn't, his legs refusing to take him away from the water, but only closer and closer. Until he saw her, floating in the murky boiling stream. He had to get to her, save her, make the unthinkable undone. He tumbled down the river bank, no holding back, alone, nobody there to be with him. The water was cold as ice, burning him to the bones, invading his body until there was no warmth left. His feet lost the ground and he was being pulled under, deeper and deeper, light vanishing above. His world was upside down, spinning, whirling around, nowhere to hold onto. He couldn't breathe, struggling for air, gasping. But all there was, was the water, gushing down his lungs. He felt life leaving his body, getting weaker and weaker until he was ready to succumb to the dark. Something bumped against him and when he opened his eyes with the last bit of strength he had in him, the dead bloated, blue-pale face of the girl stared at him. Daisy's face.

He screamed, waking up coughing, choking on the water that didn't fill his lungs. He couldn't breathe. The pain in his chest was excruciating. He clawed at it, gasping for air. The world around him was spinning, disorienting him. In his panic, he struggled to get up, but his legs gave out under him. The coffee table caught his fall and his head thudded hard against the glass, hitting the corner when he slid down to the ground. Blood was trickling down into his eyes, stinging. He blinked to clear his vision, only to be welcomed by blackness closing in on him. He dragged himself up to lean against the sofa, shaking hands frantically searching through his pockets. He couldn't remember finding the pills or getting them out of the pack, but they were in his mouth so he swallowed them, still gagging and coughing. The last thing on his mind was the bitter taste they left in his mouth, then oblivion engulfed him and there was only black.