Surprise!! Bonus chapter.  Two in one week!  I’m hoping for that next week as well.  After the 16th chapter I’m taking a brief hiatus from this story to write my DW secret Santa story, as well as some other Christmas fluff.   After Chapter 16, the story will return at the beginning of January.  As always, thank you @rose–nebula!

AO3   Teaspoon  Previous Chapter

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Hardy’s train, although slow, somehow managed to make it back by nine-thirty.  He went straight to the station, where Ellie was still toiling at her desk.  She was hungry and angry, and he was starved and disgruntled, so the briefing Ellie gave him was quick and prickly.  “Kevin Lawry is hiding something.  The knob knows where his brother is, I can feel it.  And then there’s Genevieve.  She denies she ever had the conversation with Rose, but she’s obviously lying.  I trust Rose.”

“So do I.  So why the hell did she even go through the whole charade?”  Hardy asked, then he groaned.  

“I don’t know.  It’s ridiculous, and they’re all distractin’ us from seeing the big picture.  Joe, too.  I hope the bloke he fought with got in a few good punches.  Did you have a chance to talk to Jeannine again?”

Hardy commented,  “No, I didn’t.  She’s not answerin’ at either number she gave me.  Wasn’t at the Cavern, either.  Joe was lookin’ rough, if it’s any consolation.”

“If I wasn’t starvin’, it actually would be a consolation.  I’ve had it, though.  I want food.”

Hardy looked back at his office door, knowing that he really needed to get in there to work.  He needed to call Daisy.  His stomach rumbled.  “I’m gettin’ us some takeaway,” he decided. Ellie smiled at his announcement.  

“Get me something fried.  I don’t care what.  Chips would be good.”

He nodded as he pulled out his phone to text Daisy.  I’m back in Broadchurch.  I’ll call you after I eat.  Hope everything’s okay.

K, was her response.  He rolled his eyes as he entered the lift, once again resisting the urge to request sentences with actual words.

****

Rose was lurking about the police station when Hardy stepped outside.   All thoughts of purchasing an late dinner for himself and Miller vanished as she approached him.  

“What are you doin’ out here at this time of the night?”

“Hello and welcome back to you,” Rose snarked, but she was smirking, taking his bluntness in stride.   “I was eating at the pub and I decided to see if you were back yet.  Needed to talk to you.  Got a minute?” she asked.

“Yeah, just a minute though. My daughter’s expectin’ me to call,” Hardy answered.

“Won’t take long.  I hope, anyway.”  She took a deep breath and forged on.  “I talked to Kevin Lawry after Ellie interviewed him,” Rose confessed.  “I went over to Bay Close on my way to drop off the envelope. I needed to satisfy my curiosity about what was going on over there.  Kevin was in the crowd milling about while the scene of crime investigators were working. I didn’t get to talk to Ellie because she was busy, then my mum called and it took forever to talk to her…”  

Hardy reacted to her news by moaning in frustration.  “Bloody hell!”

Rose tried not to smile.“Well, you didn’t get anywhere with him, did you?”

His glare told her she was correct.

“And you did?” he demanded.

Rose pressed her lips together, frustrated.  “No, not really…”. He crossed his arms, looking infuriatingly smug.  “I told him about her parents’ grief.  I gave him a guilt trip.  A really good one,” she told him, mentally wincing at how lame it sounded.  “I think I gave him somethin’ to think about.”

“A guilt trip.  That’s what you gave him,” Hardy said incredulously.  

“So, that’s something you’d never do, I take it,” she challenged.  

He snorted laughter.  “No, it’s what Miller would do.”

“It’s a mum thing, I suppose.  I’m not a mum but I suppose I channeled mine.  And she’s good at it,” Rose said with a chuckle.  “You’re a dad.  Don’t you use your guilt power?”

“Not on suspects, just on my daughter and it usually doesn’t work because she calls me on my horseshit.”

Rose smirked.  “She takes after you, then.   I like that.”

“Yeah, she does.  Don’t try to change the subject,” he ordered, pointing his finger at her.   “Stay away from him.  You don’t know who he’s talkin’ to. What did you tell him?”

“I told him that her parents were in misery.  And that he couldn’t fix that, but he could see to it that the person responsible is brought to justice.  I think his brother’s holdin’ somethin’ over his head, or he’s bullied him to the point that Kevin will do whatever he wants.  But maybe I appealed to his better nature.”

“Did you now?  Can you think of anything else you might have told him that he could repeat back to his arsehole brother?  That might give him a heads up, so we lose him?  Or that will make him come after you?”

Rose glared at him.  “I told you what I said.  Nothing more.  You’re accusin’ me of still being a stupid rookie, aren’t you?  Well, it’s true, I am just getting started.  And this is my first time in a situation like this.  But I’m not going to compromise your case.  I’m not a moron.  You might be able to get away with talkin’ to your subordinates that way, but not me!”  

Hands on hips, he weathered her tirade.  Once again he found himself a bit in awe of her.  “I’m not insinuating that you’re a moron.  And I already told you, bein’ an amateur isn’t a bad thing.   But you are in over your head, just like Moira was.  And I don’t want you hurt,”  Hardy blurted.  

She smirked, “You just don’t want me gettin’ in your way.”  Surely he couldn’t mean that he actually cared….

“I want you to stay safe,” Hardy told her.

“I plan to.  I can take care of myself,” Rose assured him.

“I don’t doubt that you can, Rose, but I’m sure Moira thought the same thing, and now her parents don’t have a daughter anymore.”  

Rose gazed at him.  He’d crossed his arms, trying his best to look stern but she saw the sincerity in his eyes.  “Okay.  I’ll be careful.  I’ll stay away from Lawry.  But not because I can’t handle the job, you know.  Because you’re right about Moira’s parents.”  

“I don’t think you’re a moron, by the way,” he mumbled.  

“S’okay.  Truce?”  She extended her hand to him and he shook it without hesitation.  His handshake was firm.  And it felt quite natural, his hand holding hers.  

“Truce,” Hardy confirmed.  She was smiling at him as well, and his heart gave another happy little jolt at the sight, much like it had when he first saw her at the train station.  And still she held his hand.

Then a gaggle of school aged children and a harried mother were dashing past them, interrupting whatever mood had arisen between them.  They pulled away simultaneously, both looking slightly pinker than they had before.  

“Well, then,” Rose said, wincing internally at her eloquence.

“So…. what did you get outta him?” he asked, wanting desperately to get the subject back on the investigation before he was completely distracted.

“Toldja.  Nothin’.”

“Nothin’ worked, huh?”

“I don’t smile and act all cute to get informants to talk, if that’s what you’re wonderin’.  I have a strict no flirting policy,” Rose informed him.

Hardy nodded.  “Good for you. You shouldn’t have to.”  He said something more but the wind and waves took his words.  The smirk he was giving her made her think that possibly she wasn’t supposed to hear them.  

“What did you say?” she asked, eyebrow arched. The tips of his ears went red in a very satisfying way.  

“Nothin’,” he mumbled.

“What?”  She grinned from ear to ear at the thought of calling him out on this.  “C’mon, Hardy, what did you say?”

He mumbled something that sounded like….

“Parsnips?  Did you say parsnips?”

Hardy was groaning inside as he tried to glare at her.  Blimey, just opened my mouth an’ my granddad came out.  And then, to his horror, he found himself blurting, “I said your smile butters many parsnips.”

“That’s what I thought you said!”

Then she did it.  She smiled at him, with the barest hint of pink tongue poking out. She was pure mischief and sunlight, and he realized he was teetering on the precipice of being lost.  Here, in the middle of a murder investigation, in the middle of a manhunt, for fuck’s sake.  Despite the horrible timing of it all, he realized he wasn’t just teetering.  He’d already fallen.

“Did I butter yours?” Rose inquired, eyebrow raised, grinning.

Hardy finally stammered, “I can neither confirm nor deny that.”  The slight grin on his face told another story, and Rose beamed.  In return, Hardy’s own smile broadened.  They stared at each other, grinning like fools for a good thirty seconds before Hardy came back to himself.  They were, in fact, still in the middle of an investigation and manhunt.  He shuffled nervously, running his hand through his hair.  “You’re quite tenacious, and I…” He seemed to be struggling for the word.  Rose found his awkwardness endearing.  “….admire you for that.  You don’t give up easily.”

Rose grinned.  “You didn’t want to give up on those girls, just like I don’t want to give up on Moira.”

He nodded.  “I get that, Rose.  But Moira ended up dead.  The world would be a sadder place without you in it, Rose Tyler.”  

“I appreciate that, Alec, I do,” she told him.  Hearing his first name from her lips sounded quite natural and kind, and he didn’t correct her.   “Then I hope you appreciate that I’m sincere.  I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“I promise you I’ll be careful, Alec,” she murmured.  “I hope Kevin comes to his senses.”

“So do I, but i’m not countin’ on it.  “Look….if you do see him about again, let me know.  And I want you to call me directly, not the station.  I don’t trust them to get the message to me.  And take a taxi home.  I don’t want you walkin’ around.”

“I’ll take a taxi. Don’t worry.   I’ll be in touch,” Rose smiled.  Hardy nodded and with a final look at her, he walked back towards the station.  Taking his advice into consideration, she hailed a passing taxi.

***

From the window of a nearby pub, Kevin Lawry watched Rose get into a taxi.  He held a pint with a shaking hand.  Her words echoed in his mind, and he wished he’d never gotten involved.  It had all gotten so complicated.  His mobile began to buzz in his pocket, but he ignored it.  He knew who was calling.  

Kevin relaxed as the phone went quiet.  The taxi passed by the window.  Just as well she’s not out alone tonight, he thought.  

His phone buzzed again, and he groaned.  He had never had much resolve.  With a heavy sigh, he answered it.

*****

Hardy stepped onto the CID floor, and it was at that moment he remembered he’d left to grab food for Miller and himself, and he had planned to call Daisy.  Distracted like a lovestruck fool, he thought to himself.  “Ugh,” he groaned.  He thought briefly of the vending machine downstairs and hoped he could pass that off as a meal, but Miller was already walking towards him, hungry and disgruntled.  “Where the hell have you been?” she hissed.  “Were you following the food truck around town?”

“No, I was busy.  We are in the middle of an investigation,” he told her.

“You were gettin’ food!  Blimey, what do you have against me eating?”

“There’s food in the vending machine,” he informed her.  She raised her eyebrow, and he ignored the muttered knob as he went on.  “After Kevin Lawry left here he ran into Rose Tyler and she talked to him.  Tried to guilt him into talking.”

“That’s what was holding you up, you giving her another bollocking?”

“I didn’t exactly give her a bollocking.  I told her I was concerned and I don’t want her to get hurt.  She’s getting in over her head, just like Moira was.  I’d hate for something to end up happening to her……why are you smiling at me like that?”

Ellie rolled her eyes.  “Why do you think, you twat?” she laughed.  “I suppose I’ll accept that as a good reason for you to be distracted.  Your timing sucks, but when love strikes….”

“What?!”  He was infuriated to see her still smiling at him, looking so superior, as if she knew more than he did.  “Get back to work.”

Ellie laughed at him.  She actually stood there, eyebrow raised, laughing at him.  “You’ll need to be sure to find the time to ask her out for a proper date before she heads back to London.”

“Focus, Miller.  I want Mike Lawry found tonight,” he ordered.  “And get your own food.

Ellie chuckled again and returned to her desk, contemplating one of the more positive developments in a very long week.  At least Hardy had something good going on in his life.  Hopefully he won’t fuck it up, she thought with a sigh.

****

“Did I butter yours?” Rose groaned after she’d gotten out of the taxi.  It had been a short ride, but it was just long enough for her to replay the entire conversation in her head.  Did I really just say that to him?  Blimey!  So much for your strict no flirting policy.  You’re brilliant, you are.  And you called him Alec.  He hates that.  He didn’t correct me, though.  Maybe he likes it.  Her face felt warm with embarrassment.  At the same time, she felt that familiar swoop in her belly as she recalled how it felt to hold his hand.

The memory of the feeling made her cheeks redden even more.  It had been a long time since she’d felt the flutter of those particular butterflies.  She thought of John, wondering what he’d think of this taciturn Scotsman.  They’d probably have a lot in common, she mused.  Both grumpy as hell.  They’d probably like each other.  Deep in thought, she walked back to her chalet.  Do I like him because he reminds me of John?  That’s not fair to Alec.  I can’t do that to him.  Maybe it is time to get back to London.  Figure out what I really want.  I have no real reason to be here.  God, if I could just get it together.  Whatever I do, I can’t keep driftin’ like this.  She sighed, feeling the migraine that had been threatening for a couple of days begin to really throb behind her left eye.  She didn’t suffer from them often, but when she did, it wasn’t pleasant.

She didn’t notice that she’d been watched, and followed.  Her mind was too full of Alec Hardy, and in that distracted state, she didn’t pay attention to what was happening around her.  Inside, she made a report to her father and tidied up her work area, leaving the copies of her case findings in a folder by her laptop on the desk.  She didn’t notice that the window over the desk was open a couple of inches.

****

“Do you really think we have enough people out looking for Mike Lawry, though?” Ellie questioned.  She’d been debating the wisdom of staying back at the station with Hardy for the past twenty minutes.

“He’s not a popular guy.  We’ve got people watching for him all over town, and they’ll bring him in if he turns up in Broadchurch.  We’ve got eyes watching out for him here to Weymouth.  Liverpool, too.  We’re focusing on the development with Lily and Cybus Industries.”

“I…just have a weird feeling, I don’t know.  Like a premonition, I guess,” Ellie admitted.

“Don’t turn into Steve the Psychic on me, Miller.”

“You’re worried, too, I can tell it,” she argued.

He pressed his lips together.  She was right.  He wouldn’t tell her that, of course.  She probably already knows….  He was jolted out of his thoughts by the vibration of his phone.  Checking the screen, he said, “Gotta take this,” as he retreated to his office   It was Daisy, and he heaved a sigh of relief.  Back at his desk, he immediately typed back, Hi Darlin.  You okay?  I was worried.

I’m fine.  I still want to come home.

Through his office window, he saw Kevin Lawry talking to Ellie and his stomach lurched.  I want you to come home when we get all this mess taken care of.  This case is about to break wide open.  Hang in there just a little longer.  I talked to your mum.  Dave won’t be a problem anymore.

There was a pause, long enough for Hardy to worry.  Through the window he could see Lawry being lead off towards the interview room and Ellie heading in his direction.  Defeated, he typed, Something has come up.  I will call you.

Ellie leaned in.  “Lawry’s here, wanting to talk.  I have him in room two.”

Hardy nodded, then quickly typed again.  I love you, Daisy.  I’ll see you soon.  I think this case is close to being over.

Daisy replied OK.  Once again, he wished he’d heard her reply so he could gage her mood.

“What’s wrong?  You look worse than usual.  You feel okay?”  Ellie asked.

“Worse than usual?  That’s lovely,” he groused as he turned the interview room door knob.

He put his thoughts of Daisy aside as they entered the interview room together, facing Kevin Lawry, who fidgeted in his seat.

“Where is he?”  Hardy asked flatly.  He was in no mood for messing about.

“He’s out of the country,” Kevin stated.  “He got in touch with me and said he’s in America.  He’s been there since March.”

“Horseshit,” Hardy growled.  “And even if that was true, it still doesn’t get him off the hook for Lily.  Try again.”

“It was Joe Miller all long.  It was,” Kevin blurted.  

Ellie’s eyes narrowed and she hissed, “He’s been sitting in a bloody cell.  The bastard’s guilty of plenty of things, but this ain’t one of them.  It’s late, I’m tired and hungry, and you’re a fucking liar.  Tell. The. Truth.”

Kevin stared at Ellie in shock.  He appeared terrified, to Hardy’s satisfaction.  

Hardy advised, “I’m gonna remind you that it’s in your best interest to come clean.  What does Mike have over you that has you this scared?”

Lawry swallowed.  “I came to you.  I wouldn’t have if I wasn’t tellin’ the truth.  He’s out of the country.”

“Where is he in America, then?”

“He told me Orlando.”

Hardy and Miller looked at each other.  “We’ll check into it,” she told him.

“Good.  I want him caught,” Kevin stammered.

“If you wanted him caught you wouldn’t be lying through your teeth,” Hardy reminded him.  “I believe that you want us to arrest him.  Why are you covering for him now?  Is he threatening you?”

Kevin shook his head, but he wouldn’t meet their eyes.  

“You spoke to a friend of mine, didn’t you?”  Hardy asked.  “She tried to get you to understand just what Michael’s done.  Your brother has hurt people, Kevin.  He’s destroyed a family.  And you’re covering for him.  Why?”

Kevin pressed his lips together, staring hard at the scratched wood grain of the table.  His body began to shake with barely surpressed sobs.  

“You want him caught,” Ellie said, this time gently.  “We can all see it.  You are terrified of Mike.”

Kevin rubbed his eyes, shuddering.  Taking a deep breath, he confessed, “He’s threatenin’ our mother.  She’s in a care home in Sheffield.  He told me he’d hurt her if I didn’t do as he said.”  Hardy glanced at Miller.  Her mouth was twisted in an expression of pure disgust.

“Is he there with her now?”  Hardy demanded.

“He’s not in America, we know that,”  Ellie told him.

“He’s there,” Kevin blurted.  “He always… harassed me and bullied me and I was terrified of him as a child.  I did what he told me to do.”

“S’hard to get out of that habit,” Ellie filled in.  

He nodded.  “I left the hammer because he told me to.  Joe gave him the idea of the hut.  Not to kill Moira, just to scare her.  He was only tryin’ to scare her.  He expected her to wake up and…..’

“He’s an EMT, Kevin,”  Ellie told him.  “He’d know the proper dosage.  He meant to kill her.  Now, where’s your mum?”

Through his tears he gave them the phone number and address of the care home in Sheffield.  Ellie ran to make the call.  Kevin put his head down on the table, completely broken, unwilling to talk anymore.  

****

Kevin wasn’t under arrest, but Hardy kept him under the supervision of a PC as he dashed out to find Ellie.  “Is he there, then?” he asked her.  

“No, but they have officers guarding her now.  Her name’s Martha and she’s 87.  She doesn’t understand why they’re there and doesn’t remember any visits from Michael lately.  Her memory’s dodgy, but the chief security officer at the home says he isn’t aware of any visits. So is Kevin lyin’ again?”  She rubbed her dry, exhausted eyes.  Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was going on midnight.   “Hardy, what the hell do we do now?”

As Hardy was pondering the logistics of holding the one Lawry they did have for being an accessory, Jonas dashed up, like an overeager puppy.  “There’s been a couple of people on River Close reporting a man skulkin’ about in their yards.  From the description, it could be Mike Lawry.”

Hardy turned to Miller.  “I want to go out on this one,” he said.

She nodded in agreement.  “What if it’s him?”

****

As Hardy and Miller struggled with Lawry, Rose struggled with the beginning of a plan.  She had sent all her current case information to Pete.  After a long talk with her father she had to admit that her heart was torn.  She enjoyed helping people, at least until this case had happened.  She wondered if going back to school, finishing up the art therapy degree, and quitting detective work would be the best idea.

And then there was Alec Hardy.  He was the first man to turn her head since John.  The thought of leaving Broadchurch to return home made her panic, just a little.  She’d come to enjoy talking to, and sparring with Alec.  He was definitely attractive.  What if I am ready for this?  But what if I’m attracted because his grumpiness reminds me of John a bit?  They’re really not all that alike, but what if that is the attraction?  

In her heart, she suspected that it wasn’t the case.  She genuinely liked Alec, had done so since she met him, even if he had managed to piss her off. He had challenged her in a way the pretty boys she met never did.  She suspected that Alec felt the the same way about her.  

That was a bit exciting.  Her butterflies set flight again.  That, accompanied with the migraine that was asserting itself painfully, was making her feel nauseated.   

Of course her mum would have told her, “When I met your dad I felt like I was gonna throw up from the nerves and the excitement.  And the oysters.  We never shoulda gone out for seafood.”  Well, there were no oysters involved in this situation, so she wrote that off as the impending migraine.  She dug her pain reliever out of her suitcase and took one.  Pausing to consider the pain that was creeping up on her, she made the decision to swallow a second one.  She knew that the medicine would likely knock her out for at least twelve hours.  Hopefully I’ll wake up headache free, with some idea of what the hell I’m doing with my life.    And the case will be solved.  “Is that too much to ask?”

Yup, probably.  But sometimes miracles happen, she thought.  And this time, the voice in her head sounded Northern.  

Returning to the living room, Rose eyed the sofa.  “Y’know, I just decided that I don’t care how big and empty the bed feels. This bloody sofa is too lumpy,” she mumbled, her voice already slurring from the medication.  Gathering the duvet up, she  marched it into the bedroom.  It was tossed haphazardly onto the bed and Rose crawled under it.  Rolling over onto her back in the middle, she closed her eyes and did her best to focus on the sound of the water and let it lull her to sleep.  It didn’t take long for her eyes to slide closed.  

The pills did their job as she settled into a deep sleep.  They were quite effective, indeed.  She didn’t hear the screen being pulled off, or the creak of the window in the other bedroom as it was forced the rest of the way open about an hour after she’d gone to bed.

****

Hardy and Miller passed Rose’s chalet on the way to River Close, and he gave it a glance.  He hadn’t realized how near Rose lived to the reported break-in.  

“What?” Miller asked, noticing Hardy fixating on the small chalets lining the riverside.  

“Think I need to check in with Rose?” he said, trying to sound casual.

“Oh,” Ellie said.

“Oh what?!”

“Just oh, that’s all.  You’re concerned.  Do you think Kevin said anything to Mike about her?  Do you think she’ll need protection?”

“Maybe…..I don’t know.”

Ellie pulled into a driveway and backed the car up.  “Let’s go check in, then.  It’s not that far back.”  She drove the car back in the direction they’d just come.

He didn’t argue.  Ellie parked the car in an empty spot in the car park for the riverside chalets.

“You’re gonna ask her out, right?”  Ellie asked as they got out of the car.

Hardy glared at her.  “What, like right now?”

“Maybe.”

“We’re here on business.  Stay focused.”  He was fishing his phone out of his pocket.  He dialed her number.  He was connected to her voice mail.  “It’s…” Remembering how pleasant his name had sounded spoken by her, he continued, “It’s Alec.”  He ignored Ellie’s widened eyes and sudden snort of laughter.  “We…erm….got some information and we’re walking to your house.”

“Way to not freak her out, Alec,” Ellie chuckled.  She only laughed harder at his “Ugh” of frustration.  

They were within sight of Rose’s darkened cottage.   “She’s probably not even home, or maybe asleep.  I wanna check, still, just to make sure that window is locked,”  Hardy mumbled as he disconnected the call.

“Hardy, look!” Ellie shouted, pointing frantically.  

Now there was a light, a flickering light, shining in the front window.  Hardy’s heart began to pound as he recognized the light for what it was.  He dialled her again, cursing as her voicemail picked up again.  “Rose!  Fuckin’ answer the phone….”  He glanced at the window again, praying that he was mistaken about what they saw.  

Rose’s chalet was burning.  The flames  were already encroaching the curtains.  Hardy swore under his breath as he and Ellie took off running.  Ellie was frantically dialing 999 as Hardy reached the front door.  He pounded on it frantically.  When there was no sign of life Hardy looked into the opened window, jumping back startled as flames engulfed the desk and sofa.  It had only been seconds since they’d discovered the fire, but the flames were spreading exponentially.  

“Fire squad is on the way!” Ellie yelled.  They could already hear sirens in the distance.  “Blimey, it could spread to that next house.”

“Go knock on the door and wake ‘’em up,” Hardy ordered, already turning to run around to the back of the house.

“Hardy!” Ellie yelled.  

He was already running to the back garden area, where the bedroom windows were.