Six Degrees of Seperation Isn't Far Enough
by Criminally Charmed
Disclaimer - Do know much about...deep space particle theory (Is that even a real thing or just something Larry said on Numb3rs?). History, however, I rocked at. Seriously, won awards and everything. Of course, there was less history then. And it was non-politically corrected history. My daughter's teachers are gonna be frustrated by me. I'm, gasp, a conservative.
Oh - and I don't own Thunderbirds. It's a short chapter but...stuff is happening.
Chapter Four
Kate sat in what had to be the most comfortable chair she had ever sat in and could almost forget that she was in an airplane. As the sleek jet zoomed westward, taking her to Tracy Island, Kate tried to focus on the cases she was reviewing rather than setting her mind to drift. In the three weeks since she had met Scott Tracy, he had managed to get to Boston one more time after the weekend of his brother's birthday. Sighing, Kate wryly guessed there would be little, um, "personal" time for them once they got to the Island.
"That was a deep sigh," Scott said in a light tone as he handed her a cup of tea.
Taking the hot beverage with a smile of thanks, Kate almost dropped it as she gasped, "Scott – who's flying the plane?"
Scott shrugged and sat down next to her. "That would be Alan." When Kate looked to protest, he explained, "Kid has had his pilot's license for two years now, Kate. He'll be fine. I was only sitting next to him as a precaution. Logan is a pretty busy airport and he had never flown out of such a congested flight path before."
Kate huffed. "Don't ever call my family a bunch of over achievers again. None of us have pilot's licenses. And definitely not at fourteen."
"Nope," Scott laughed. "But you had college students at that age."
Shrugging, Kate said nothing as she sipped her tea. Scott was right on the money for that one.
Picking up her hand, Scott traced over it lightly. "So – you said you had some vacation next month. It wouldn't happen to be around the 18th, would it?"
Frowning, Kate nodded. "As a matter of fact, it is that week. Why?"
"Any plans?"
"Well," Kate mused, "since I wasn't even sure until two days ago I would get it, no. I'll probably just head to LA and visit."
"Not DC to see your folks?" Scott asked.
Chuckling, Kate shook her head. "No, as you saw today, my parents have no problem with zipping up I-95 and checking in on me. Besides, a week in DC sounds good in theory, but I don't play politics well. Dad only does because Mom taught him to. According to Uncle Charlie, he never used to be one to mince his words."
Scott joined Kate in her amusement before asking, "Well, what would you think of going to Kansas?"
Frowning again, Kate looked puzzled. "What the heck is in Kansas?"
Scott grinned. "Not much, usually. But on July 18th, one of my oldest friends in getting married and I will need a date, if only to get out of the matchmaking eyes of the bride's mother."
Kate nodded. "OK, sounds good by me. Are you in the wedding party?"
Now Scott laughed out loud. "OK, technically, I will be the male attendant, and the groom's sister the female attendant. But Amelia is standing up for her brother, Billy, and I will be standing up for Jean. How confusing is that?"
Chuckling, Kate nodded again. "Very. So who is Jean – and old girlfriend?"
Scott smiled. "No, but she did give me my first kiss from a non-family member. And then proceeded to threaten to belt me if I ever told anyone she had done so. Jeannie was feeling a bit, well, feisty."
"Any particular reason?" Kate laughed, trying to picture a young Scott getting kissed and threatened all in one stroke.
Sobering, Scott nodded. "Someone had just tried to abduct Alan. He was about 18 months old. I managed to hold them off until Mom came back outside. But when they went to get medical help, they tried to use Jeannie as a hostage. She objected," he said wryly. "Jeannie was always good with a baseball bat."
Kate sat up, nearly knocking over her tea. "Wait – Jean Bates, Kansas State? The first female player to ever pitch at the College World Series and who holds the records for most home runs in a series?"
Blinking, Scott nodded which made Kate grin. "Oh, man – of course I am going! My dad would never forgive me! He got annoyed when Bates turned down the offer from the Dodgers to join the Marines. Said they finally would have been a winning team again."
Scott chuckled. "Yes, well, if Jeannie had played professionally, it would have been for Kansas City. She's really close to her mother, even if she denies it. Miss Millie is awesome. You'll love her."
"Miss Millie?" Kate asked. "It sounds like something from an old western."
"So does Miss Millie," Scott says wryly. "But when you have some of her pie…It will be worth it."
Laughing again, Kate shook her head. "I see I will have to work on my cooking. The always say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. But I think you take that to the max."
Scott just kissed her. But – she was right.
JP Horne drove through the early morning, relieved when they joined the relative anonymity of Interstate 80 traffic, heading East. Jackson Mitchell had politely introduced himself, dismissing the other occupant with "That's Flint. You keep away from him and I will make sure he keeps away from you. Don't ask questions. Just do as you are told."
But JP was no idiot. His heart was breaking at the realization of how devastated his sister, Brittany, would be if she ever discovered he was an accessory after the fact in a jail break. And the only jail close enough to the pick-up location had been Joliet, a federal penitentiary, so these two men were guilty of something pretty serious.
Mitchell stirred next to him as the cell phone KW had given the man in Illinois began to beep. Nodding as he read the message, Mitchell turned to JP.
"Alright, arrangements have been finalized. You'll head into New York City and I'll give you directions. But when we get there, you are the one who will be going in to the management office to sign the lease. It's pre-paid so don't worry about that." Looking out at the fast moving traffic, Mitchell slunk down a bit in the chair, all too conscious of his prison uniform.
"Get off at the next exit," Mitchell said quietly as he looked into the back seat. "There was a sign for a twenty-four hour Wal-Mart." He pulled out an envelope and wrote something on it before turning to Flint. "Flint, what sizes are you?"
Once Flint had answered and Mitchell had written in down, he stuffed the envelope into JP's pocket. "Our sizes and some cash. Just some basic clothes – jeans and t-shirts. Underwear and sneakers issued by the government will do for now. Park in a far corner, away from everyone else. We'll get changed in here."
JP nodded even as he eased onto the off-ramp. He just had to keep his cool and get out of this alive.
Jeff Tracy looked up through his office window and smiled. Tracy One had called in an approach a few minutes ago, and sure enough, there she was. In that small plane were his oldest and youngest sons, as well as a young woman who may soon enough be a Tracy daughter.
"Hey, Dad," John said from the door, shaking his damp blonde hair. "They're here."
Jeff frowned as he looked at his second son. "You've only been home from Five for an hour. Have you've been swimming already?"
"No," John denied. "I'm not Gordon. I just got out of the shower."
"Why would you need to shower again…" Jeff's voice trailed off as John went beet red. "Never mind. I can remember coming home to your mother well enough."
John grinned for a moment before frowning. "Ugh – Dad, please. As Alan would say, TMI – too much information."
"Well," Jeff said with a laugh as he led his son from the room, "as Virgil would say – I never want to know when my sons are busy,OK?"
Stepping out of the plane and taking Scott's hand, Kate smiled as she breathed in deeply.
"God, Scott," she sighed. "This looks like paradise. How can you ever bear to leave it?"
"With the knowledge that I'll be coming home," Scott said wisely. "Besides, what's paradise without someone to share it with?" Scott asked as his lips brushed against her.
"Ugh, gross. TMI, guys. Innocent child around," Alan said as he climbed down from the plane, opening the hatch to pull out the luggage.
"Innocent child?" Kate whispered to Scott. "I've yet to meet an innocent sixteen year old."
Scott grinned. "Yeah, but he and his girl both have those pretty rings. Not to mention, they are rarely alone. It's good for Dad's blood pressure."
"And yours?" Kate teased, laughing when Scott wryly shrugged and nodded.
"Alan!" Jeff Tracy called out as he ran towards the plane, his arms wide open, but soon filled with his youngest son. The rest of the brothers, as well as Emily and Sarah, soon joined them, all hugging or kissing the teenager as if they had not seen him in months, rather than just three weeks earlier.
"Ah," Scott sighed. "I so am not feeling the love here."
Gordon scoffed. "We saw you two days ago. You're old news."
The family chuckled before Jeff asked, "Did you get those contracts for me to look over?"
Scott picked up his brief case and nodded. "All right here, Dad. But John Bumper looked them over pretty carefully. He said they were "Jeff-proof", which Ann Marie said meant they should be signature ready."
Jeff looked annoyed. He hated it when his employees knew him so well. It was worse because they were probably right. His annoyance changed as Alan hugged him again, whispering "I missed you guys." Smiling at his baby, he brushed back the teen's golden blonde hair and marveled once again at how much Alan looked like Lucy.
"We're not the only ones you missed though, right?" Gordon teased his "favorite" younger brother.
Seeing Tin-Tin slowly coming down the path, Alan grinned. With a quick look at his father, Alan took the quick nod to be a sign of approval and ran off, sweeping the still fifteen year old girl off her feet before placing a chaste kiss on her lips. The pair began to walk up towards the villa, holding hands and quietly talking.
"Who knows," Gordon sighed. "Maybe Alan and Tin will be the next to marry."
"Not yet!"
Kate blinked and started to laugh when she realized that the same phrase had come from every other Tracy – both blood and marriage. Shaking her head, Kate grabbed her bag and began to follow the pair but not before commenting: "Alan and I have got to compare notes on over-protective families. "
Don Eppes nodded, glad that his wife, Robin, was firmly attached to his side. Over three decades of marriage the pair had worked out a system that if Don was becoming too annoyed with some puffed-up air bag of a politician, Don could zone while Robin would nudge him to get the appropriate answers.
Glancing around the crowded ballroom, Don smiled as he recalled the first time he had been invited to the White House – well, for himself. Don had accompanied his father and Amita when Charlie had been winning awards, especially for his Cognitive
Dissidence Theory, which had revolutionized everything from math to psychology. Even some criminal justice techniques were adapted using his kid brother's work.
As Don stifled a sigh when instead of winding down – as Don had hoped the man was – the man (a congressman or a senator?) seemed to get a second wind and launched into a new argument of ways the FBI should be trimming their budget. Finally, Don gave into his sigh and responded firmly.
"With all due respect, the bad guys often have better technology and other resources than my agents. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies are trying desperately to fight against criminals and terrorists. It's the safety of you and your constituents that would be put at risk. My agents have already learned to do more with less, utilizing their resources better than most government agencies. If you think the life of one FBI agent is worth more than whatever politically correct agency you think deserves the money more than my people, I assure you, I will fight you every step of the way."
The man turned an interesting shade of puce, as much for Don's put down as the realization that many of the surrounding guests were nodding in approval at the FBI director's words. Before he could say anything, a White House employee stepped forward.
"Director Eppes? There is a phone call for you. Mid-West Assistant Director Sinclair."
Don nodded and followed the worker to a small room. As the White House employee discreetly backed out and shut the door, Don picked up the phone and pressed the blinking light.
"David," Don said cheerfully. "Please say I have a reason to give the President to slip out of here."
"You may at that, Don," David Sinclair, once Don's second-in-command in LA and now in charge of the Mid-West division of the FBI, said.
"Two prisoners escaped from Joliet. As best as we can tell, they were able to sneak out in a delivery truck in the middle of the night. We aren't sure how they avoided bed-check or got there, but the delivery truck weighed as much coming in as going out. And that truck wasn't doing any kind of pick-up, so it should have been over three hundred pounds less when leaving. The driver and the truck are still missing."
"OK," Don said firmly, his earlier cheer gone. "How big a threat are we looking at with these guys? Joliet doesn't house any terrorists, does it?"
"No," David said. "One guy is a serial rapist-murderer and the other was convicted of computer crimes and espionage."
"Computer crimes and…Wait," Don sharply answered. "Is Jackson Mitchell one of the escapees?"
David sighed on the other end, not surprised that Don so quickly connected the man who had shot Don's daughter by a vague description. "Yes, it is. And this is where it gets worse. The other one was Devon Flint."
"Flint?" Don asked in surprise. "Why isn't he is California?"
"I'm e-mailing you the file, but it seems Kate suggested checking into crimes that occurred where he used to live. Since she was with the Chicago Bureau at the time, she gave his DNA profile to the cold case division. They found three matches from when Flint was a student."
Recalling Kate's firm opinion that the escalation had seemed extreme, Don nodded, even as he forced down his fears. Two men, both who had tried to harm his little girl, were out of the prison that should have kept her safe from them. And until they were recaptured, Kate would continue to be at risk.
"Thanks for the head's up, David," Don said. "I'm calling Lissa in New York. Kate is about to work from her laptop a lot more."
"Are you sending her back to LA? Will she live with her brothers or Charlie? Or is she going to a safe house?"
"Can you see Kate agreeing to a safe house?" Don sighed. "Besides, I have an idea of where would be even safer." Thinking for a moment, he frowned. "Actually, David – can you call Lissa and tell her that one of her East Coast agents will be doing remote work? I have to get a phone number."
Hanging up the phone, Don called another number. "Lynch? I need you to work your geek magic. Yeah, I need a cell phone number. Jeff Tracy's. Yes – that Jeff Tracy. And I need it five minutes ago, so…" Don's eyes went wide as he pulled out his smart phone and entered a number to memory.
"Lynch, you are as good at those computers as your parents were. Yes,"Don chuckled, "I'll make sure that gets into your performance review."
Sucking in a deep breath, Don hesitated before resolutely dialing a number. How do you ask a billionaire if he would mind baby-sitting your daughter?
A/N - Ah, everyone is having fun, hanging out, partying...
Alan - Waiting for the other shoe to drop.
CC - Alan! How you doing? Your having fun, flying right?
Alan - Yeah, and when does my whumpage begin?
Scott - Better question - when does it end?
CC - Um, by the end of the story?
Alan - Yes, but you finish one and write another!
CC - Pshaw. I'm easy on you. You live, have no permanant disabilities - so far - and the end is - so far - always a happy one!
Scott (glares) - So what's with the "so far"s?
CC (smiling angelically) - Writer's privledge.
Scott - Lady, you are...
CC - Thinking of triplets for you and Kate? Yes, yes I am.
Scott (pales) - Um, I - I gotta go. (runs off)
Alan - You wouldn't really give them triplets, would you?
CC - Probably not. Kate is enough of a bitch carrying one kid.
Alan - You shouldn't say that.
CC - Why not? I was. Let's face it, the guy gets the fun, the woman get morning sickness, weight gain, swollen ankles, and hours of trying to push something the size of a watermelon out of an exit the size of a lemon.
Alan (pales) - Oh, wow. You think I can talk Tin-Tin into a life time of abstaining?
CC - Nah. And you will love being a Daddy. Once you are MUCH older than my daughter. So you're safe for now.
Alan (little more color returns) - Oh, that sounds good.
CC - Cookies? Just baked sugar cookies and cherry lime-aid.
Alan - Sounds even better.
CC - OK folks, review and inspire me to get to $!(^%(^) Alan sooner.
Alan (chokes on the cookie) - You're gonna do what to me?
CC - Have another cookie, sweetie. You'll need your stregnth. Ta-Ta all!