Near Club; Dublin, Ireland
Jack Harkness arrived in Dublin. A car burned. A confused police officer was trying to keep bystanders away from the fire. More than a dozen people were standing nearby taking photographs of the area with mobiles. He removed his credentials and headed for the officer.
"Captain Jack Harkness, Torchwood."
"Kevan Carson." The forty-something office looked confused. "Why is Torchwood here?"
"This was more than an abduction attempt. The situation is complicated. I need you to get these people out of here."
"I'm not following you, Captain."
Jeannette Dove stepped out of a doorway passed part way down the block. She looked a lot calmer than the drug house situation. She held her hands out in front of her. A young man looked out of the doorway behind her.
Jack switched weapons.
"What are you doing?" the officer looked behind him.
The Cardiff police thankfully had more sense. "My job." He removed a small device from his pocket he got from John's desk and disrupted the mobiles. The bystander's reactions told him it work. A single shot and Jeannette went down.
"Why did you shoot the kid?" the officer demanded as Jack walked around him and passed the burning car.
The man with her hurried to her side. He held a hand above her bare arm for a moment, as if testing something, before pulling her onto his lap.
"You must be Trefor's father."
"Yeah." Jack crouched near Jeannette's feet. "What happened?"
"Jeannette insisted on walking after her friend canceled. We were headed that way," Liam motioned. "A van drove up. Then the car." Liam shook his head. "Jeannette said she bought the drugs because they were too strong and she didn't want someone getting hurt."
"Start with the beginning."
General Trefor Williams watched Nessa drive away with Liam and Jeannette. Being on-scene with Jack was problematic. They hadn't successfully worked together in the past. It would be impossible for people not to notice the physical similarity. Which meant more complications.
"I've got this," the general said quietly.
"Where are Malcolm and Molly?"
"At Four. After we knew about the abduction attempt, I called Malcolm. He teleported them back."
"Good," Jack nodded. "Did you read the reports on the serial offender that attacked your mother?"
"Yeah. What's the connection?"
"We've been told a group based in London is targeting people with Rift abilities. DCI Lacene Harpham disappeared while investigating the group. She's reportedly part of the Sisters in Birmingham."
"Shit."
"Beaupre and Basanjo both have connections to Scotland Yard. Beaupre was connected to the Heritage Foundation. It has connections to a former organization in Nigeria and a current one in Tasmania."
"You think Beaupre had a black op network?"
"Yeah. We need to find out. Nova Scotia is focused on getting Rhys out of Tasmania. Cardiff is dealing with Pierro and the London group."
"I can research it after I handle this. I will need copies of your research." The general hesitated. "How's mum doing?"
"Not good."
Memories of confronting Jack as a teenager reminded him of something that was often overlooked. "How are you doing?"
"I'll live."
Hughes Flats; Cardiff, Wales
Ianto Jones sat at the kitchen table with a laptop and a mug of coffee. Kylia and Trefor were building a Lego castle on the coffee table. Jack went to Dublin and Gwen headed back to the hub for a couple hours to coordinate with law enforcement.
He was trying to figure out an approach to the fertility clinic and related cases. The Cardiff police didn't investigate. They didn't have police reports. There were other cases of genetic replacement at fertility clinics but no way to evaluate cases online. He could access police rape reports, statistics and articles, but they didn't have clear criteria. He probably couldn't handle reading them.
Anwen sat next to him. "What happened to Jeannette?" She asked quietly.
Ianto looked up from the laptop.
"Uncle Jack shot a teenage girl in Dublin with a tranq gun. Social media reports are crazy," Anwen said. "It sounds like she had it under control."
"It was an abduction attempt." He needed to keep it age appropriate. "She dosed herself on purpose."
"For self-defense."
"Yeah."
"How did she get the CN?"
"A dealer at the club."
Anwen looked skeptical. "A dealer at the club had CN strong enough? Is the general checking A&E for bodies? If there aren't bodies, the Sisters' set Jeannette up like they did Trefor."
"I don't know."
A cookie jar rattled on the counter behind him. "Anwen."
"Sorry." She looked guilty. "Do you have another computer with an Internet connection?"
"In the bedroom. Why?"
"I'm going to check for Dublin ODs before I call Uncle Jack."
"Anwen, leave it to the general."
Ianto wondered if he should have argued more. Telling Anwen she couldn't do something worked about as well as telling Gwen. He would need to find her another project. But he wasn't sure what. Trefor was probably the only one she would listen to, but that would require giving him an explanation of why he needed to distract his sister.
A thought occurred to Ianto. Trefor might be a solution to what he was working on in a different way. Tracking the children might be easier than the crimes committed against their mothers. Autism was tracked for various reasons by the school distract. Accommodations for autism, and perceived autism, would give a rough number of students. The children described by Rhawn Glas had an aptitude for advanced math and science. That would also be available through school records by how many children qualified for advanced classes, particularly younger students. He might even be able to find out how many students with autism qualified for advanced math and science. The question was where to find data to compare it to. Children with autism and math and science aptitude wasn't uncommon. A per capita comparison with London and Edinburgh might work. The problem then would be determining which children. Kailen could get details. Parent names could be run through the police database and Torchwood. As rape was under reported, it wouldn't be an easy task.
Anwen returned from the bedroom with a tablet and sat at the table with him. After a few minutes, she grabbed her mobile and hesitated. "If I call this in," Anwen said, "Mum will worry."
"What did you find?"
"It's what I didn't find," Anwen said quietly. "No ODs. No reports that sound like Rift abilities. Kailen would have to check to be sure, but there are no reports on social media. Someone intentionally gave Jeannette CN strong enough for her to defend herself." She closed her eyes. "They either set her up or they knew ahead of time and could have prevented it."