Alec continued to ask Rose why Jamie would suddenly go off on his own.
"Rose, I have to ask this and trust me, I don't want to," he warned her, already regretting it. "Did he know we were talking in the conservatory that night and outside your room that morning?"
"Pete already asked me that," Rose told him sadly. "Jamie saw ya leaving the conservatory but honestly, he can't have known about outside my room. Besides, what difference would it have made? Pete saw ya coming from that direction but I didn't see any of the staff around, mum was keeping 'em all busy."
"Which was probably why she sent me to get him and Tony," Alec mused. "Rose, is it possible Jamie came back down from the attic room, saw me and rushed back up?"
"How could he have done?" Rose replied. "I really can't understand it. I'm worried he'll do something stupid Alec."
"I understand Rose. I'll be with you some time on Saturday then but I don't know what I can do that your agents can't," Alec promised.
"Get access to the police database?" Rose tried to joke.
"Well, if your agents can help me with that fake psychic, I suppose I owe you?" Alec replied. "Rose, I know you're worried but let me know if he turns up before I get to you eh?"
"Yeah, I will and thanks Alec. I hope Torchwood can help ya," Rose told him.
All she could do now was wait for Alec to arrive, she'd done all she could trying to contact Jamie on her own.
For some reason, Jamie had got in his car on Tuesday and driven up towards Scotland and found a hotel just over the border. Then the following day, deciding to miss the big cities, had driven up towards Fort William and located a hotel just on the edge of the loch.
"Welcome to Fort William, Doctor Smith," the receptionist had told him as he checked in. "How long will you be staying with us?"
"Ah, not sure just yet," Jamie had grinned at her. "That depends but certainly a couple of nights."
He still wasn't answering any calls where he knew who it was, including Jackie, Pete and Jake. He wondered if Rose would even get Mickey the idiot to try to call him but his biggest worry was she would contact Alec Hardy. Who was he trying to fool? Of course she would contact the detective, the man was what all this was about.
He'd always been jealous when any man had dared to look at Rose but it was something else about Alec Hardy. This time it had been the way Rose had looked at the detective, not the other way around. He had lived with the knowledge he himself looked liked someone Rose had once known and knowing that man was totally out of the picture but Alec Hardy was very much around and now back in the news.
They weren't going to be able to avoid him this time and Rose would have forever been checking the news and knowing her, she'd get Pete to send some agents to help find the killer. She may even decide to go down there herself and there would be nothing he could do to stop her so he may as well save himself some bother.
He thought he had always known it would come to this one day, maybe even the impossible happening and her friend would find a way to get back to her. Maybe Rose saw Alec Hardy as a more suitable replacement than himself. He thought he would spend a few days waiting to see if the killer had been caught then if not, decide what was the best thing to do.
While Rose was worth fighting for, he'd already let her know how he felt, now it was up to her.
When Pete had got home after Rose had called Alec, she told him what she'd done.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Pete asked her.
"I don't know what else to do Dad," Rose admitted. "He said he'd come up here at the weekend so can Torchwood do more to help him catch the killer?"
"Rose, I've put agents on it," Pete told her. "He'll have the help he asked for but it's up to him how much help he gets. He has to ask for it."
"Well I hope he asks then," Rose smiled, going to hug him. "Thanks. I hope agents can find Jamie before Alec has to come up here."
"I expect Alec will see it as getting away from the case he's on for a few days," Pete hoped.
Rose wondered what he meant by that. Pete though knew what was in Rose's mind. The wanting to get Alec Hardy involved was a bit of a giveaway and he thought she was making a big mistake getting the detective involved. Jamie may hide away even more if he discovered who she had looking for him.
He had to admit it was partly his fault hiring Jamie in the first place but how was he to know how things were going to turn out and that Rose would come back? They seemed to have coped with Jamie looking like The Doctor but Alec Hardy was a different matter.
Alec sat back and wondered what had made Jamie finally flip and leave Rose. Surely it can't have just been the fact the man was so jealous that a newspaper headline had made him pack up and disappear? Had it been so bad that Jamie was willing to lose everything he'd had with Rose?
Yes, he himself had been jealous of the man and shouldn't have even been thinking about Rose but it had happened and he'd not been able to stop himself. Those meetings though had been totally innocent and unplanned. Yes, he'd been seen leaving the conservatory but Jamie can't have known about earlier in the day and even if he had, the situation had been totally innocent.
He was interrupted by Ellie Miller tapping on the door and letting herself in.
"What do you want Miller?" he asked, rubbing his hands over his face.
"I'm still not happy about having Tom lead the re-enactment," she admitted.
"It's the best way of jogging people's memories," Alec insisted. "Has Beth Latimer heard anything else from that psychic?"
"No, thankfully. Why, what did you threaten him with?" Ellie grinned.
"You've heard of Torchwood?" Alec raised his eyebrows.
"You never contacted them?" she laughed. "Seriously?"
"We don't have time for him Miller," Alec reminded her. "We can't have Beth getting false hope."
"How did you manage to get Torchwood involved?" Ellie wanted to know.
"If I said I know Rose Tyler herself?" Alec told her.
"Don't be stupid – Sir," Ellie didn't believe him at first. "No way."
"Why does that seem unlikely?" Alec wanted to know. "In fact, my daughter is in regular contact with her. Daisy was her chief bridesmaid last year, her mother and I both attended."
"Wow, she must have been excited then?" Ellie asked him. "So you called Rose Tyler?"
"Not at first but it helped knowing her," Alec didn't want to admit too much about how he knew Rose.
"Sir, are we going to be working again this weekend?" Ellie changed the subject and hoping the answer was no.
"Not unless something else comes up," Alec replied.
"Good, I'd like to spend it with my family, after last weekend," Ellie was relieved.
So on Saturday morning, Alec set off early and arrived at the Tyler mansion just after midday, being greeted by Rose as he was let in.
"Hi, thanks for coming," Rose greeted him. "I hope ya didn't change any plans?"
"Ah, no but my DS was pleased we weren't working this weekend," Alec replied.
"Well, come and join us for lunch in the kitchen, Tony will be happy to see ya. He's been a bit down since we had to tell him Jamie's gonna be away for a while. We didn't know what else to tell him."
Alec wasn't that surprised but he failed to see what difference his own presence would make. He followed Rose, one of the staff taking the bag he'd been holding from him. Tony started to get up but Pete held the boy in place.
"It's not Jamie," Pete reminded him. "You remember Alec, from Rose's wedding, don't you?"
"Yes Dad," the poor boy seemed confused.
"Hello again Tony," Alec greeted him. "I know you must miss Jamie but I'm sure he'll be back when he can."
"Dad said he didn't know, didn't you Dad?" Tony looked at Pete.
"We're doing everything we can to get him home," Pete promised.
"Isn't Alec a policeman?" Tony asked Pete.
"Yes, I am Tony," Alec replied as he sat at the table next to Jackie, to be on the safe side. "Nice to see you again Jackie, Pete," he added.
"We were a bit surprised that ya were coming this weekend," Jackie told him.
Alec was glad she'd not come right out and said Rose had called him to help find Jamie.
"Alec, will you play football with me later?" Tony asked him. "Rose can be in goal, can't you Rose?"
Alec suspected Rose would do anything to cheer the boy up.
"Sure, if Rose wants to be in goal?" Alec agreed with a smile.
"Only if you two go easy on me," Rose laughed. "See who scores the most goals between ya but don't expect to get many in the net."
"We will see about that, won't we Tony?" Alec laughed back.
Alec suspected also that Rose would rather be talking about her problem but it seemed her younger brother came first. Alec was showed to the room he'd stayed in before and then went down to find Rose and Tony, Tony dragging him outside and behind the house to where a goalpost was set up along with an elaborate climbing frame complete with swings and a slide.
"Some playground you have Tony," Alec told him, having left his jacket inside and Rose had changed into a sports top.
Tony of course had the full kit of his favourite football team on. Pete came out to join them as Tony was kicking the football to Alec when Rose said Pete would be out soon. After about half an hour, Pete declared Tony the winner and Alec lifted the boy onto his shoulders, Tony lifting his arms as Rose and Pete cheered him.
While Pete went to see to Tony, Rose and Alec went into a small sitting room overlooking the garden.
"So, any news yet?" Alec wanted to know as Rose poured cold lemonade into two tall glasses.
"Nothing at all. No-one can find him Alec. I'm sorry I dragged ya up here now. There's just no trace of him, we have no idea where to look," Rose told him sadly.
"I shouldn't really use police resources to find someone who has not been reported missing," Alec replied. "I will do so as a personal favour to you. Was Jamie off before he disappeared?"
"Only when he saw the news headlines," Rose tried to joke. "Sorry. Ya think I'm blaming you for all this, don't ya?"
"No, I'm not," Alec put his glass on the small table and leaned over, taking her hand. "Rose, it's Jamie's problem, not yours. He should have trusted you and that eventually, the boy's killer will be caught and I will fade back into the background again."
"He could have talked to me about it," Rose told him. "He never gave me chance, we came back from that weekend away and he went straight back to work, then he was really late home."
"Now you are blaming yourself," Alec replied, leaning back. "Rose, did he give you any indication he would not be returning home that night?"
"No, nothing. So why didn't he come home then?" Rose began to sob, Alec reaching for a tissue on the table and passing it to her.
"Have you talked to your mother about it?" he then asked, thinking maybe she should have done and not called him instead.
What did he know about such matters where they had both been seemingly happy but maybe things hadn't been as they seemed after all.
"I thought Jamie was only jealous when I was around?" Alec then tried to joke. "Did all this start when I was in the news?"
"Yeah, at least I thought so," Rose tried to dry her eyes. "Maybe it never went away but he never said anything."
"He must have been bottling it up then?" Alec mused. "Is there anything else you want to tell me?"
Rose shook her head, not wanting to say Jamie didn't want to talk about starting a family and their other problem – that of Jamie backing away all the time in bed and not being as spontaneous as he was when they'd first met. It hadn't been a question of starting a family back then though, had it, Rose thought. She was still on her monthly injections back then.
"Rose?" Alec then brought her back to reality.
"I don't want to talk about it Alec," she then replied. "You won't wanna hear it anyway."
"Try me," he smiled, reaching for another tissue and resisting drying her tears still on her cheeks.
"I can't Alec, sorry. It was only about starting a family, that's all," Rose admitted, thinking he wasn't about to quit asking her.
"Fine, you don't have to tell me then," he agreed. "I gather you were more keen than he was then?"
"Ya could say that?" Rose tried to smile.
"Rose, I'm sorry but that makes a difference to how his mood was before he went off. He may not want to be found now but he may just be thinking things over," Alec told her.
"Yeah, you're probably right then," Rose had to agree. "I'm sorry I dragged you all the way here."
"Don't apologise Rose, it's a pleasure to be here again and to see you," he told her. "That brother of yours has grown."
"Yeah but he misses Jamie, we're tryin' to make up for it," Rose told him. "Come on, let's go join them for tea in the kitchen, I never realised what time it was."
"Well, after playing football with Tony, that is hardly surprising," Alec laughed.
After having tea, cherry scones and cake, Tony persuaded Rose and Alec to play with his car track up in the attic, showing Alec how to work the control and Rose cheering when Tony won. Rose thought Alec had let Tony win but he confessed he'd never played before.
"Ya didn't do too badly," Rose patted him on the back as they let Tony go downstairs first. "I think you're about as good as Jamie was and he'd had plenty of practice."
Alec then couldn't understand that if Jamie was close to Tony, why not want kids of his own? Then he wondered if Rose realised that maybe Jamie thought he'd be letting her brother down if they did have any kids. Surely that wasn't the only reason? Still, he had no right judging if he didn't have all the facts, Rose didn't want to say any more.
Alec then said he should go freshen up before dinner later on so they parted company, though Rose seemed reluctant.
"Come on Rose, what's really bothering you?" Alec then asked outside his room. "Did playing with Tony remind you of something?"
"Yeah, a bit. They used to do something together every Saturday afternoon and me and mum would sometimes go shopping. Never mind, it's done with now," she told him.
"What do you mean by that?" Alec wanted to know.
"He's not coming back, is he?" Rose replied sadly.
"Why do you say that?" Alec asked, pulling her towards the door by the arm. "Rose?"
"I just know. Even when we were discussing having a family, he never went off," she replied. "He avoided the subject, yeah but he didn't say anything. I just assumed he wanted to wait."
"Maybe he did?" Alec wondered. "Rose, I will try and find him, I promise but if he doesn't want to be found, then you will just have to wait and see."
"Yeah, I know. Thanks Alec. I'll let ya get changed then."
He watched her walk off. What did she expect him to do? Jamie had obviously run away from his responsibilities as a husband. In his own case, it had been Tess who had walked off so he'd had no personal experiences to go by. He couldn't stop thinking about poor Rose though, what she must be going through but he was thinking more and more that she was right.
Maybe Jamie had no intentions of returning but they had to give him chance to contact her. He joined the family for dinner then Tony wanted him to tell him a bedtime story so afterwards, he went looking for Rose, going into the family room.
"Hello Alec," Pete greeted him. "Looking for Rose?"
"Well yes. Has she gone to her room?" Alec tried not to sound disappointed.
"She'll be in the conservatory, where she always is these days," Jackie told him. "Lord knows why she spends her time in there."
"You know why Jaks," Pete laughed.
"Oh," was all Alec could say.
"She likes looking up at the stars," Pete told him. "She won't mind if you go looking for her."
Alec went off and Jackie turned to Pete.
"What ya tell him that for Pete? He's supposed to be here to find Jamie."
"I know he is Jackie. We know why Jamie went off," Pete replied.
"Well yeah, 'cos Alec looks like him," Jackie laughed. "Ya don't think Jamie was right to be worried?"
"I don't know Jaks but at the wedding, Alec and Rose had been talking outside her room in the morning," he admitted. "You sent him to look for Jamie and Tony."
"Don't go blamin' me Pete," Jackie replied. "What else?"
"Rose admitted Jamie saw Alec leaving the conservatory that evening," Pete told her.
Alec had found Rose, just as on the night of the wedding.
"Rose. Tell me why else Jamie would have gone off, please? I want to help you."
"I can't Alec," she told him tearfully.
Alec took her hand and she stood up as he attempted to dry her eyes. Then, without saying anything, he held his arms out and Rose leaned her head on his shoulder.
"Rose, is it something Jamie hasn't done?" Alec then asked her as he held her.
Rose managed to nod.
"I don't know Alec, maybe?"
She looked up at him, he was so much like Jamie but where Jamie had been spontaneous at first, he had got less and less over the last year or so. She couldn't help looking into Alec's eyes and didn't resist when Alec leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the lips.