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Hardy blew into his hands before pushing them under his armpits as he curled into an even tighter ball under the duvet. He could feel the cold creeping in through from everywhere. He imagined it passing through the glass like ghosts or swirling into the room under the door like smoke. When he closed his eyes he could almost see the white tendrils in his mind, reaching out to him with icy fingers. Alec shivered and contemplated getting another sweater to put on over the one he was already wearing or another blanket, but then he would have to leave his comparatively warm bed.
At least Daisy was warm, he thought with a relieved grunt as he clenched his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering. He was glad she was staying with Chloe for the weekend and had been able to go there early. The house had been well chilled through when they got home and it had only gotten worse since then. Minus five degrees outside, a lot colder than it got down in Broadchurch on average and that was the moment his heating decided to pack it in. Just his luck.
Well, Alec reasoned, it would be fixed soon enough. He had called Mark straight away and the man had promised to take a look as soon as he got a chance. Surely that would mean Saturday. Mark could not be that busy in a town so small.
Alec shivered again and drew the duvet up over his ears, trying to keep as much warmth in as possible. He briefly wondered if he would be able to find Daisy’s hot water bottle, but again it would mean leaving his bed and it would be even colder when he returned. Nah. Best to stay where he was and try to get some sleep.
---
Ellie groaned and blindly reached for her mobile that was buzzing around on the nightstand. She did not even turn on the light as she rolled onto her back and pressed the little device to her ear, mumbling a sleepy ‘Miller? ’ into the receiver. It was Bob Daniels, again covering one of the night shifts at Broadchurch CID. There had been an incident at the estate involving some rowdy youths and she was needed there. Ellie groaned as she sat up and got out of bed, pulling her clothes from where she had left them chucked over the chair when going to bed last night. She hated night calls, especially with the weather like it was.
Broadchurch was seeing a rare episode of true wintry temperatures well below freezing and gusts of icy winds. A thin, powdery sheet of ice was covering the town with the glittering crystals swirling in the winds. Ellie equipped herself with a thick scarf and her winter coat instead of her usual North Face. It was longer and would keep her thighs warm as well, which Ellie appreciated in the biting wind.
After scribbling a quick note to Tom and leaving it on the kitchen table, Ellie pulled her scarf high onto her face and headed out. The wind had picked up since the early evening and Ellie hoped whatever it was Bob had called her for would be solved before too long. Ellie already regretted that she did not have time to take a thermos there with her for her own and Hardy’s sake. Her first cuppa of the day would have to wait until later, either at the station or back at home. Ellie knew she preferred the latter but it would depend on what awaited her at the scene before she knew if her very early morning might turn into a late Saturday spent at Broadchurch CID.
It was Ellie who arrived first and by the time Hardy’s car pulled up, she had already managed to get a pretty good idea of what had happened. Apparently a night at the pub had taken a turn when a group of at least four young men were on their way home and started to get into a drunk argument over something – a girl, as far as her inebriated witnesses could be trusted. One of them had drawn a knife and things got nasty. An ambulance was already there to patch up the unlucky loser.
“Good morning,” Ellie greeted Hardy when he approached, then frowned. Even taking into account that it was four in the morning and knowing his usual demeanour, he looked awful. The lights were flashing on one of the Uniform’s cars and the blue cast an eerie shadow over his face and made him look even paler than normal , but what really bothered Ellie was that Alec looked to be wearing more layers than she had ever seen him. He almost seemed bulky in them. It seemed weird considering that Alec was usually much more unbothered by the cold than she was. He even wore his mac the whole year through, but on this very early morning Ellie saw him wearing a wool coat for the first time and he still looked pale and frozen to the core.
“You alright?” she asked softly as he approached to get some information on the case and Hardy nodded, not bothering to reply. He was still feeling cold enough that it was best if he kept his jaw pressed together for the moment. Daniels’ call had come almost as a relief, even though changing into clothes suitable for work had left him shivering, with goosebumps all over his body. At least he had something to do now instead of trying in vain to fall asleep.
“What…” Alec suppressed a shudder and much disappointment when he saw that this time Ellie had not brought her overly bright sunflower yellow thermos to push into his hands. He had looked forward to something warm, if he was being honest. Sighing he continued. “What do we know so far?” An icy gale of wind made him pull his shoulders up high and he visibly trembled, but ignored the searching gaze of his colleague.
With reluctance Miller relayed the facts she had gathered so far, only stopping when Hardy pulled his coat tighter around himself again, pushing his hands deep into the coat’s pockets. The harsh yellow lights of the street lamp only brought out how pale his face was and even though he tried to hide it, she could see him shivering.
“Are you sick?” she hissed when they were walking back towards their cars to speak to Daniels, who had been first to arrive on scene.
“Leave me alone, Miller, I’m not sick,” Hardy grumbled, swatting her hand aways as she tried to reach for him to check his temperature or some other nonsense.
“Your hands are like ice,” she pointed out, casting another long look over him while thoughtfully chewing her bottom lip as if he was the case that needed solving, not the knife-wielding youths.
“Look, if you are sick then get yourself home and let me deal with this. No one wants you in CID spreading germs,” she huffed angrily, moving in front of him to block his path towards Bob and force Hardy to meet her gaze. He stopped, startled and annoyed. CID was the place he longed to be. At least it was warm there.
“I’m not sick, Miller,” he carefully enunciated every syllable, but when she did not budge, added more softly. “My heating’s broken.”
Ellie immediately relaxed her stance at his admission and her eyes softened to molten chocolate as concern crept into her gaze.
“Why didn’t you say so?” she asked. “What about Daisy? Have you called Mark?”
“Of course I called Latimer, he’ll take a look as soon as they get round to it. Daisy’s spending the night with Chloe anyway. She just went over a bit early to indulge in a hot shower.” Alec snarked back, huffing and shaking his head as if he was a child being reprimanded.
Ellie rolled her eyes. The times when he was being especially difficult were becoming less frequent the better she knew Hardy, but on some days she still wanted to throttle him.
“And what about you?” she demanded.
“I’m Scottish, I can handle a bit of cold,” Alec replied indignantly and pushed past Ellie to finally get back to the case and sort things out so they could all go back to CID. Inside. Where it was warm.
Behind his back she rolled her eyes, following him. That battle was not over yet. He was a walking and talking icicle with a heart condition and self-destructive tendencies bordering on martyrdom. Ellie would not let him get away with that when she had a perfectly good guest bedroom available now that her father had finally moved back to Dorchester.
Biting her tongue she did her best to focus on the case and followed Hardy where he was talking to Bob. The ambulance had left to take the victim back to hospital, though he would thankfully need just a few stitches and they had taken witness statements from everyone including the elderly neighbour who had called it in. Their culprit was detained in the back of a police car for the moment but one look confirmed what Ellie had already suspected. He was much too inebriated to give a statement and would need sobering up first.
“We’ll just pop this one in one of our cells and let him sleep it off, I’d say. He’s in no state to tell us much.” Bob confirmed Ellie’s suspicions as the sergeant continued. “There’s no reason for you to come back to the station, Sir. Let the night shift deal with it until the bloke’s sobered up. Won’t be before Saturday afternoon, I reckon. You can get another good kip until then.”
Hardy’s lip curled at Bob’s suggestion but before he had opened his mouth to argue, Ellie shot Bob a radiating smile. “Thanks Bob, you’re a good egg,” she told him and the sergeant waited for a nod from Hardy before taking his leave.
Ignoring MIller, Hardy turned and walked briskly back to his own car, where Ellie intercepted him and wedged herself between him and the driver’s door.
“What do you think you’re doing, Miller?” he asked coolly.
“That discussion wasn’t finished earlier,” she said angrily but Hardy disagreed. “It was.”
“No. You really think I’ll just let you go back to your cold home with no heating and no hot water at four in the bloody morning, with minus five degrees outside?”
Hardy rolled his eyes. He had no intention of going back to his house. It would be even colder now and if he managed to fall asleep, which was unlikely, he would wake up with hypothermia at least. No. He would head straight to the station and get a headstart on the paperwork.
“I’m not going home,” he assured Miller and she scoffed.
---
Alec let out a deep and content sigh as he slipped under the duvet and found a hot water bottle there. Ellie had really thought of everything, he had to give her that. After arguing about it for another ten minutes before leaving the crime scene, Alec’s resolve had crumbled under the temptation of a warm place to sleep and a hot bath. His house was a proper ice palace when he threw some clothes into an overnight bag and left again, locking the door behind himself.
It was just after five when he arrived at Miller’s house and the place was eerily silent. Even wee Fred was not up yet. Only Ellie, waiting for him with a cup of hot tea and the promised bath. She had turned up the heating in all the rooms and shooed him into her bathroom to ‘take as long as he liked’ and warm up in the tub. It had been heaven, relaxing all his stiff muscles and letting the warmth seep into his pores until the lingering cold had been chased from his bones.
While he had been in the bath, Ellie had put sheets on the bed and left another warm blanket at the foot end, but Alec did not need that. The lovely down duvet and hot water bottle were almost too much, but he gratefully soaked up the warmth and wound himself around the source of the heat like a cat coming in from the cold and curling up in front of a fire. His bones felt leaden after being in the cold for so long and the shout around four am. He closed his eyes and was asleep within a few minutes.
---
Ellie smiled to herself as she passed the guest bedroom, putting her fingers on her lips to signal Fred he must stay silent. Her youngest nodded in earnest, tiptoeing past the door and creeping down the stairs into the kitchen. Ellie would not have minded a bit more sleep herself, but she was happy if at least Alec did not wake until later.
After Fred and Ellie had eaten some breakfast, Tom was still fast asleep just like Hardy, Ellie decided to take Fred out for a walk over to Beth’s. It would both allow him to burn of some energy without waking her sleeping boss and friend and give Ellie the opportunity to ask Mark if he had fixed the heating at Alec’s place already. Alec had told her that Daisy had already taken the key over, so there was no need for Mark to ring him again. Leaving a note for Alec propped up against the kettle, where he would most certainly find it, and another for Tom by his breakfast cereal, Ellie grabbed her keys and wrapped both Fred and herself in warm coats, scarves and hats before pulling the door closed behind her.
---
Just like Ellie, Beth was awake and trying to find a way to silently keep Lizzie entertained so the little girl would not wake the teenagers still sleeping upstairs. Fred’s arrival caused a short, overly loud, moment but then both children made a game of being as quiet as possible, with Fred telling Lizzie that he had needed to be quiet earlier too because ‘Uncle Alec’ was still sleeping. Beth’s three-year-old nodded solemnly as if she understood the hardships of that exactly and they both settled down to prepare breakfast for Lizzie’s family of plush animals which consisted of a rabbit and a monkey, who had adopted a shark, a fox and sheep as children, apparently.
“Actually, I wanted to see Mark,” Ellie told her friend as she leant back against the counter and took a sip of the tea Beth had made for them. She had not seen his plumber’s van in the driveway, but Nigel often took it so it was possible Mark was still home.
“Mark? He’s out, sorry,” Beth said, before continuing “So, why is Hardy crashing at your place then?”, looking quizzically at Ellie. She knew that Ellie counted her boss as her closest friend, but unlike Daisy and Chloe, Alec Hardy was well past the age of sleepovers. He also did not drink much, so Beth was at a loss why he might have taken over Ellie’s guest bedroom.
“Didn’t Daisy say? Heating’s broken at his place. I assume that’s where Mark is?” Ellie inquired, but Beth only shrugged. She had given up trying to keep track of Mark’s appointments and his comings and goings. If she was being honest, their marriage was only a facade nowadays and though things had looked like they might turn around briefly after Mark’s suicide attempt and he had even moved back in, Beth was just waiting for the right moment to sit down and have a serious talk with him.
“I only saw the girls briefly last night, sorry,” Beth told Ellie. “I was out with some colleagues and literally just popped my head in to say I am back. I was so tired, I went straight to bed knowing I would be up again soon with Lizzie. Daisy didn’t mention it.,”
“Anyway, Hardy was pretty much frozen solid when he appeared last night and when he finally admitted what was the matter, I told him he would be coming home with me and take the guest bedroom, before he froze to death because he was too proud to ask for help.”
Beth snorted. She could very well imagine how that discussion had played out. Daisy’s father was not one to back down easily and neither was Ellie.
Their conversation moved onto other topics for a while as they watched Fred and Lizzie with their quite peculiar family of plush animals, moving about very quietly because the mother rabbit was sleeping late and the other animals needed to be quiet. It was endearing.
Just as Ellie finished her tea the door opened and Mark and Nigel strode into the house, disregarding Beth’s sharp shushing sound entirely.
“Oh no worries, just passing through,” Mark waved her off while Nige chuckled in that slightly daft way of his. Both men were dressed in thick outdoor jackets and jeans, giving Ellie the strange inkling that they were not working. She watched and waited.
“Yeah Beth, just picking up some gear for fishing. It’s cold but Laurie said it’s a great day for it and…” Mark rambled as he sorted through the keys hanging by the door, trying to find the one for the garage.
“You fixed Hardy’s heating already then?” Ellie chimed in and both men stopped, startled. They had not noticed her before and seemed caught by surprise. It only made Ellie more suspicious.
“Um,” Mark scrambled for words but Nigel immediately piped up, grinning.
“Well, we tried calling him for the key but he’s not home so nothing to be done there.” At this blatant lie, Ellie could see how Mark’s face fell and he turned half towards Nige to salvage the situation, but Ellie beat him to it. If Nigel thought he was being witty and could fool her, he should have another think.
“Stop pissing me about, Nigel,” she cut any reply off sharply. “You have a key. Daisy gave it to Mark last night, Alec told me. So, instead of going fishing, I suggest you get your arse over there and sort out his heating.” Ellie was fuming. While Mark, at least, had the grace to look sheepish at being caught out, Nigel was still grinning as if this was some kind of fabulous joke.
“Come on El, what is it you guys call him? Shitface ? It’s just a bit of fun. We’ll go over there on Monday to do it,” Nigel said. At that Mark began to subtly shake his head but his mate was oblivious as ever and just kept on digging. Ellie wanted to clip both of them round the ear.
“A bit of fun?” she seethed. “He has no hot water or heating. It’s minus five degrees outside – and his place feels like something from Frozen. If we had not been called out early this morning, I would not even have known because he would rather suffer in silence than impose on anyone. He might have caught all kinds of things over the weekend. His daughter is here, staying with Chloe because their house is not fit for living in. Tell me how that’s funny to you? And what if the pipes freeze and burst, huh? What then, Mark? Did you think of that when you planned your little joke?”
“Seriously Mark, how could you?” Beth scolded hotly, shaking her head in disbelief as she stared between Ellie and Mark, listening to Ellie’s speech. A few years ago their own heating had broken down one winter morning and while it had not been half as cold then, Beth clearly remembered how she had worn as many layers as possible while Mark frantically worked to fix things. She would not wish that on anyone in this weather and, like Ellie, thought it childish, immature and not even remotely funny. Mark might still hold an, in Beth’s eyes, unjustified grudge, against the detective, but to let him suffer like that was way out of line and a new low for her husband.
“It was Nigel’s idea…” Mark began weakly but at that both women rounded on him.
“Are you out of your head?” Ellie hissed.
“And you just went along with it? What are you Mark? Twelve? Seriously!” Beth spat angrily, shaking her head.
Daisy and Chloe appeared at the top of the stairs, wearing flannel pyjama pants and baggy hoodies in matching colours.
“You didn’t take a look at our heating?”
“What the heck Dad!”
They must have woken up at the racket downstairs. While Chloe looked murderous, Daisy seemed mostly hurt and worried as she cast a helpless look at Ellie.
“What about Dad? His heart…” she asked fearfully and Ellie gave her a reassuring smile. “No harm done. He’s at my place, perfectly warm and cosy and will stay with me as long as it takes to fix your heating.”
“Same goes for you, Daisy, of course, you’ll stay with us for the time being,” Beth added and the teenager smiled weakly as Chloe wrapped an arm around her friend. Daisy nodded.
“Now, you two,” Ellie’s ire had not abated in the slightest and she turned back to Mark. “You’ll give me that key right now and I’ll call Thomas Plumbing to get the heating fixed. You can be sure, Mark, that I’ll never call you again for my house either,” Ellie told him in no uncertain terms. Mark blanched, trying to come up with some kind of excuse, but Ellie was having none of it.
“No. Maybe that’ll teach you to think before going along with such a stupid thing next time. Great business conduct, well done. Now, the keys.” Ellie held out her hand and patiently waited until Mark dropped a keyring with two keys and a silly anchor keychain into her palm.
“Really sorry, El,” he mumbled, his shoulders dropping and staring at his feet like an insolent school boy. It did not make her change her mind. If Mark was letting personal sensitivities cloud his professional judgement, she wanted to have nothing to do with him.
“Just get out. Both of you. I don’t want to see your faces round here again today,” Beth told her husband and his best mate, and the two men retreated with tucked tails under the scathing looks of four women. Ellie continued to fume.
“God, what an idiot!” Chloe exclaimed, casting a slightly sheepish look at her mother right after her outburst, then added. “Sorry Mum.” Beth only waved it away, drawing a deep breath, presumably to calm herself.
“Ellie? Dad’s okay? Really?” Daisy piped up again, coming down the stairs to stand into the kitchen. As was always the case where her father was concerned, Daisy immediately grew anxious because of his heart.
“He is. He argued for a bit about how he could withstand a bit of cold, but that’s just him. I took him home, he had a warm bath and was still sleeping when I came over,” Ellie assured her. Daisy however did not look entirely convinced.
“The nickname? What Nigel said…” she asked, looking unsure and saddened hearing someone speak about her dad like that. He was not the easiest person to be around, she knew that, but she had thought that people liked him here well enough. She did not know anyone spoke about him like that.
“Ignore Nigel,” Ellie said. “Your dad is doing a great job here and there are a lot of people who are happy to work with him. True, he is not the easiest to be around sometimes and has a bit of a temper, but that’s because he cares so deeply for the victims and wants things done properly. The team respects him,” Ellie finished and gave Daisy a warm hug. “You’re both very much loved here.”
“You are,” Beth added from the side. “I always felt he was doing everything he could, when he first came here and I lost my Dan.”
“Yeah, Dais, he’s a good one,” Chloe chimed in as she came down the stairs to stand by Daisy and they all shared a hug with Hardy’s daughter in the centre.
When they separated, Ellie smiled at Daisy again, knowing that Alec’s daughter would most likely need some more reassurance her dad was fine.
“Tell you what, I doubt the heating will be fixed today, but your dad will stay with me as long as it takes and you can stay with Beth,” Both Beth and Chloe nodded at that and Ellie continued. “So why don’t we all meet up for pizza or something tonight at my place? We can order in,”
Daisy grinned. “Dad’s not a big fan of pizza though,” she added carefully and Ellie rolled her eyes.
“Oh, I know. He’ll moan about it being unhealthy, but then ask me to order some extra cheese for him,” she winked and Daisy had to laugh. It seemed Ellie knew her dad quite well, which reassured Daisy that he was well loved here in Broadchurch and had a home and friends in the town. Just like she had. It was a different kind of warmth that blossomed within her chest then. Perhaps her dad had been right about them moving to Broadchurch after all.
A few houses over, back at Ellie’s place, Alec Hardy was still oblivious both to the evening’s plans and the support that had rallied behind him and his daughter as he turned over in bed and pulled a pillow against his chest with a soft sigh.
—