Alec Hardy: A Short Story

7

- 2 months later -

"Mummy!" You hear Ellie squealing as she runs into your room. You sit up slightly and she jumps on the bed. "Alec's trying to tickle me!"

She hides behind you and Alec runs in.

"Have you seen Ellie anywhere?" He teases and winks to you. You smile and shake your head. "Oh. I'll just check the bathroom then."

He walks round the bed to where Ellie is hiding.

"There you are!" He starts tickling her again and she's squealing. Eventually he stops before anything gets out of hand.

"Come here, you little monkey!" You grin as you lift Ellie onto the bed and kiss her head. Alec also comes up and sits beside you. "I was talking about Ellie." You tease.

"I know. I know." He chuckles then kisses you. "Morning, beautiful. Did you sleep okay?"

"Of course. I always sleep well when you're round." You kiss him again. "Have you guys had breakfast yet?"

"Nope! Alec said he was gonna make pancakes though!" Ellie grins.

"I did. And I never break my promises, do I?" He asks her and she shakes her head. "Come on then. Let's go so Mummy can get ready." He picks Ellie up and carries her out on his back.

You get up and get ready for the day. It was Saturday which meant the weekend and no work. Just spending time with your favourite people.

Once you're ready you go out to the kitchen. You can hear them both singing along to the radio. Ellie sat on the worktop mixing the batter and Alec is cooking.

"Oh there's a letter here for you." He passes the envelope over and you open it. It's a letter from the court.

"It's from the court, about the sentencing."

"Hopefully he's gonna go down for this. There's enough evidence. When is it?"

"Next week. It just depends if he pleads guilty or not."

"Of course he's guilty."

- A . H -

flashback

"Joseph Miller, you are under arrest for the abduction of Ellie Campbell. You do not have to say anything but, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?" I recited to the man I had arrested a few years prior. He nodded and got into the car.

Once we got to the station, he was taken in to be questioned.

"Why Ellie Campbell? You didn't know the family, never met them before so what gave you the motivation to take her?"

"Well I'd seen you with your colleague, (Y/F/N) (Y/L/N) and you seemed to be getting close. I wanted revenge. For what you put me through all those years ago. Even though I was proven not guilty, my life was ruined because name had been dragged through the mud. I lost everything from the day you arrested me so I wanted you to be hurt too. Not directly but to have someone you love in pain."

"You took someone's child for 3 weeks to hurt me. You didn't get very far. I mean look where you are now. Back where you started." I chuckled. He stayed silent. "So you admit to abducting Ellie Campbell?" Joe nodded. "For the tape, the suspect is nodding in response to the question."

I sighed as I realised it was only us in this room.

"The thing is Joe... I can't have any of my colleagues to interview you with me. One of them attacked you last time you were here because she was your wife and the other... you stole her child. But that means that there's no one here to attack you so this evidence won't be dismissed. You're definitely going down for this and maybe they might just revisit your original case too." I grinned as I leant towards the tape recorder. "Interview terminated."