Broadchurch: Blast From The Past

Chapter 6

TW: foul language

"MILLAH!"

Ellie experience a solid five seconds of panic, wondering why the hell Alec Hardy was waking her up. Looking around, she remembered: she and the boys were bunking at his house for protection.

"What?" she yelled.

"Are you decent?"

"What?"

"I have to get clothes," Alec called sheepishly.

"Hang on." Ellie put her on dressing gown. "You can come in."

Alec slipped into the room and dug through the dresser. "Thanks."

"Is Fred up yet?"

"He and Tom are at my kitchen table, eating oatmeal and drinking almond milk." He came back to her, the day's clothes folded over his arm. "But I'm not runnin' a bed and breakfast, so if you're hungry, get downstairs.

Ellie shoved him into the hall and got dressed. She clattered down to the kitchen where her boys were, indeed, eating oatmeal, courtesy of Daisy.

"You're a lifesaver," Ellie told her.

"I know, right? Kettle's hot. The real tea is above the sink."

Daisy's mobile played a cheerful tune; she read the text and sighed.

Alec ruffled her hair fondly on his way past. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"Mum can't come get me until this afternoon," Daisy said bitterly.

"She's, erm..." Alec put bread in the toaster, buying time to come up with something diplomatic. "She's...very busy with work."

"So are you, and you took in a whole family last night. No offense," she added to Ellie.

"None taken."

"You'll have to come to the station with me until your mum gets here. Can't leave a feral child on her own," Alec said, rolling his Scottish r's playfully. He was trying to make her smile, and it worked.

"Dad, I couldn't get into trouble in this town if I tried," Daisy assured him.

"Well, you could--" Tom started to say. His mother slapped the back of his head.

"Finish your breakfast and pack up," Ellie ordered him and Fred. "We'll drop you at Aunt Lucy's on the way to work."

No one suggested that Daisy go to Lucy's with the boys. Last time they met, Ellie's sister made a lewd comment about Alec—how she would shag him senseless if not for his heart condition—which set Daisy off. The pair ended up in a stand-up screaming row that almost made the neighbors call the police, until they realized that the police were already there.

"I wanna stay with Uncle Alec," Fred piped up.

"Mummy and Uncle Alec have to work," Ellie told her little boy. "But if you ask nice, maybe Uncle Alec will have Christmas dinner with us."

Alec shot her a Don't you dare look, and received a devilish grin in return. Daisy snorted a laugh into her granola.

---

Ellie, Alec, and Daisy were at the Broadchurch Police Station by eight; Alec sent Daisy to his office with orders to be quiet. A team briefing was underway by eight thirty, and by nine everyone scattered to do their assigned tasks. Alec went to his office to review CCTV footage.