Chapter 9 - Arrival

"It's alright, Luke, nearly there. We'll see them all soon enough."

Brenda wrapped an arm around her son's shoulder, giving his tense, worried shoulders a squeeze. She had been able to sense his unease since he got the phone call from flora two days ago, and she had to admit that she was pretty shaken up herself.

"We'll do everything we can to help find him, Luke. You know we will. We owe it to Emmy and Hershel for everything they did for us in Misthallery."

"I know, Dad," Luke sighed. "But I'm worried about how they're dealing with this. Emmy's been through so much recently..."

"I know, Luke. But she has Hershel and Flora and we'll be there for her too. And personally, i won't rest until Andrea McIntyre is brought to justice," Brenda said darkly.

"Here we are," Clark interrupted, pulling the car into the professor's estate.

As soon as the car came to a halt, Luke ran out of the car and banged on the professor's door. "Professor! Emmy! Flora! It's Luke!"

There was no answer.

Luke stood there, confused. "where are they?"

"I'm not sure," Brenda said, also confused. She looked worried.

Suddenly, the door opened and Bronev stood before them.

"Bronev! Where's the professor and Emmy?" Luke asked hurriedly.

"Emmeline has come to stay with me. I am here to collect some more of her belongings."

"And Hershel?" Clark asked.

"He is gone."

The professor took a long drought from his cup of tea and checked his watch. It was eight o'clock now. "He should be here by now..." he thought.

As if on cue, a tall man with pale skin and dark brown hair entered the cafe with a briefcase in hand. He sat down opposite the professor and held out his hand.

"Agent Alexander Bronev. I hear you are in need of my services."

The professor nodded curtly and shook his hand. "Allow me to explain-"

"No need. Leon told me everything. I hear that ms McIntyre has proven to be quite troublesome."

"Indeed."

"So why do you think she has done this?"

"Well, she has admitted to... Er... Having some sort of a crush on me, but..."

"You think there's something else going on behind the scenes concerning Emmeline?"

The professor nodded, frowning.

"Leon told me about that too. He said that you suspect that she is hiding something." Alex opened his briefcase and pulled out a file. "I gathered some information on Emmeline, and trust me, I don't think there is anything in this file that you don't already know about. Everything about her is in this file."

The professor read the first page of the file. He shook his head.

"I don't believe that this is all of the information. I think there is a strong possibility of there being a connection between Emmy and Ms. McIntyre that not even Emmy knows about. I believe the answer lies in Prague."

Alex frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Andrea McIntyre is an alias. As of yet, I do not know her real name, but I have a suspicion." He pulled a piece of paper out from his pocket and handed it to Alex. "I found this in Aleksander Chovanek's Scotland Yard file. Look at the crimes he committed between 1982 and 1991."

"He raped all these women..." Alex said, frowning. "You don't think..."

"I do. Andrea is one of these girls, and I am going to Prague to figure out which one she is. I need to speak to a source as well."

" Alecksa?" Alex asked. "Let me help. I can get onto a few of my contacts in Prague and track him down for you. It's the least I can do to help."

"Thank you," the professor smile appreciatively. "There is also something else I need you to do."

"Anything."

"Chovanek has broken out of prison."

Alex's eyes widened. "What?!"

"I need you to track him down. I believe that his break out has got something to do with Andrea."

Alex nodded. "Of course. And, naturally, I will try to gather as much intelligence on Andrea as possible."

"As soon as I discover her real name, I will contact you," the professor nodded.

"Excellent." Alex got up.

"How much will you be charging for this?"

"Nothing."

The professor stared.

"Emmeline may not be a blood relative of mine, but she is still family. And I suppose you are family too... With Emmeline and Leon... Let me do this as a favour to you and Emmeline." he smiled and they shook hands again.

"Thank you."

"I understand why Hershel is gone, he thinks he's found something, but why has Flora left as well?" Emmy sobbed.

The Tritons had followed Bronev back to his place, only to realise that the professor had gone early that morning and that Flora had mysteriously disappeared as well.

"You think she's gone with Hershel?" Brenda asked worriedly, biting her lip.

"Where else would she go? She doesn't have the first idea of where to look for Andrea. Neither do I..." Emmy wiped her eyes and stared at her feet.

"Emmy..." Brenda wrapped her arms around her as Bronev placed a hand on her shoulder.

"She doesn't want to be around me..."

"Don't be daft, Emmy. Flora loves you," Luke reassured her.

"Hershel and I... We were fighting last night... I was horrible to him when we found out he was leaving... I don't blame Flora for going too."

"Are you sure that she's gone with him though? Did either of them say anything to you?" Clark asked.

"Hershel said nothing about flora going with him, but all her stuff is gone..."

"She didn't leave a note or anything?" Luke asked.

Emmy shook her head. "I looked all over the spare room, but everything she brought over from our place is gone with her... Her clothes, her laptop, everything..."

"Where is the professor even going? Does Flora know?" Luke asked.

"Hershel refused to tell me anything. He said I didn't want to know..."

Luke shook his head, confused. "But... There must be a good reason for him going like that... The professor's actions always have a purpose..."

"He thinks I'm hiding something," Emmy said.

"But you aren't... Are you?" Luke asked.

"No she is not," Bronev said coldly. "And it would probably be better for Emmeline if you actually believed in her as opposed to questioning her like that."

"It's fine, Uncle Leon."

"No it's not. He had no right to ask you that, and neither did Hershel. After everything you've been through with your father and Targent and McIntyre, what else could you possibly have left to hide?" Bronev turned to Luke. "Well?"

"Er... I dunno... Sorry, Emmy." He looked down at his feet sheepishly.

"I said it's fine," Emmy insisted. "I hope Flora is with Hershel. I don't like the thought of either of them being out there alone, especially at a time like this." She sighed and turned to Bronev. "I suppose there's no other option, is there?"

Bronev frowned. "What?"

"I'm making a public appeal for information. Today."

The professor was sat in his first class seat on the plane, which was preparing for take off. A young lady with blonde hair and a glowing tan sat beside him as he did up his safety belt.

"Good evening, miss," the professor said politely, tipping his hat to her.

She smiled and nodded.

They sat in silence for about ten minutes before she spoke up.

"I'm getting better at this whole 'mastery of disguise' thing, huh?"

The professor jumped at the familiarity of her voice. "It can't be..."

"Flora?"

She smiled and pulled the blonde wig off and wiped off the make-up with a wet wipe she pulled out of her bag. "You didn't think I'd let you run off on your own and just sit there while Emmy went out of her mind with worry, did you?"

The professor smiled. "No, I suppose not."