Chapter 10 - Appeal

Through the drama and chaos of his disappearance, Alfendi Layton was where everyone knew he was - in Andrea McIntyre's arms.

Meanwhile, he was driving her crazy.

"Will you please shut up you little brat?" she snapped as little Alfendi began to wail again. "What the hell do you want from me?"

"You know exactly what he wants," her father answered. "He doesn't want anything from either you or me. He knows you are not his mother."

"What would he know? He's only a baby," she scoffed.

"Small children have an uncanny way of picking up on things that we are unaware that they know. He is very much aware that you are not his mother, dear. He wants Emmy."

"Tough," Andrea snarled. "She can't see him until I have decided that she has suffered enough."

"And has she?" her father asked.

Andrea opened her mouth to answer but instead yelped as Alfendi vomited on her shoulder. She forcefully handed him over to her father.

"Take him away from me. Take him to Aleks. Let him meet his granddad."

"Are you sure you want to do that so soon?" he asked. "Because once you hand him over, you'll have a hard time getting him back."

Andrea sniffed the air and pulled a rotten face as a familiar pong wafted through the air. Alfendi had just broken wind.

"Positive."

Aleks, meanwhile, was sat on the floor of his make-shift cell in the basement of a strange house in an unknown location. He sighed heavily.

"Where is Adrian?" he thought angrily. "He promised he would be back with the baby by now. Is the crazed psychopath really that fond of the son of the people she hates?"

As if on cue, the man entered with Alfendi bundled in his arms and whimpering.

Aleks smiled and stood up. He took Alfendi in his arms and he set a carrier bag down beside Aleks.

"Everything you need is in there. And, by the smell of him, he could probably do with a change."

"Thank you, Adrian," Aleks said gratefully. "What took you so long?"

"She got upset," he sighed. "Thinking too much about... The past."

Aleks frowned, but he was waved off.

"Don't worry about it. That's not what you're here for. All you need to worry about is keeping this little man safe, and I'll worry about bringing her back to her senses."

Aleks nodded. "And when will we be bale to take him back to Emmeline?"

"As soon as Layton figures out my little puzzle. I have a source who tells me hat he has already headed in the right direction to be able to decipher it." he smiled.

Aleks raised an eyebrow. "Where is he going?"

"To find his roots. Well, Emmy's roots. But I think he should be back in a couple of days. Then everyone will find out." he checked his watch. "I'd best be off, or I'll be missed, and then everyone will get suspicious. Until later, Aleksander." he nodded and left.

Aleks frowned. "Emmy's roots...? He can't possibly mean..."

He shook his head. "Impossible." He turned to television and turned it on to the news channel. The mention of his daughter's name immediately caught his attention.

"Earlier this morning Mrs Emmeline Layton made a public appeal for information about the night her son went missing."

The camera view changed and Emmy came up on the screen.

"Well, what am I supposed to say? I don't know what to do. My baby is gone. Our family is a mess. Are all of you reporters here to listen to me telling you how much I miss him? To say how I miss the sound of his voice or how the house feels so empty without him? Because I never even got to do any of that."she was in tears now. "I barely got the cot together when he was born, I only got to hold him twice. He didn't even make it in the front door. I've never even been able to spend one full night with him, because that bitch took him and everything else away from me..." the camera wobbled as Bronev pushed the cameraman out of the way so he could hold Emmy in an embrace. "I never even got a photo of him. I can't be a mother to him because he's God-knows-where with a psychopath and I can't find him!"

"We need more information. We need to know exactly who this person is and what she wants. We need to know if anyone knows her," Inspector Chelmey continued as Bronev lead a hysterical Emmy away from the cameras. "If anyone has seen anything on the night of his disappearance or knows this woman please get in touch with Scotland Yard."

"All present at the appeal were shocked at the absence of Professor Hershel Layton and his adopted daughter Flora, whose whereabouts are currently unknown..."

Aleks sighed heavily and looked down at Alfendi. He was gazing at the television. Staring directly at the picture of Emmy.

Aleks stroked his little head and sat down on the floor with him again.

"You'll see her and your daddy again soon, Al," he murmured. "But for now, Grampa is going to take care of you. Your mummy's daddy, Grampa Aleks. Would you like that?"

And for a split second, Aleks swore he could see a smile on Alfendi's face.