A huge thanks for the reviews for the last chapter and a massive apology for the late replies to them. It's been a ridiculously busy week - I wasn't sure if I'd manage to get a chapter up tonight, but I've just made it!

Chapter Fourteen

Penny met up with Parker and Connie early the next morning. Richard Bridges was awake but frustratingly uncooperative, still refusing to give away anything about the other man involved in the blackmail plot. Connie expressed the hope that he might confess once the new police officers arrived, but Penny wasn't so sure. If the man could withstand the pressure Parker had been putting on him, he'd be unlikely to crack under a less intimidating interrogation.

No one would have guessed that the smartly dressed men who turned up to see Connie that morning were policemen. They listened to her account of the problems Bailey's had been experiencing then turned their attention to Penny, who told them about the blackmail ring. Naturally, she didn't mention Bill Brand, still hoping his involvement could be kept secret. Whilst the threat to International Rescue seemed to have receded – she was sure that if the blackmailers had found out about that Bill would have heard about it by now - she wasn't prepared to take any chances.

The men were somewhat surprised when Penny informed them that she had one of the culprits under guard in Connie's apartment, but they were happy to take Bridges into custody, one of them preparing to escort him back to the capital whilst the others headed into town to take on the chief of police. Alan had been in touch with Dion Lombardi, telling him that his 'friend' had uncovered evidence against the corrupt policeman and the racing driver had agreed to testify against him. The men were confident they could break him down and hoped he'd be persuaded to give up the mystery blackmailer. Penny wished she could sit in on the interview, but she still had work to do at Bailey's. Whilst the new investigators had thanked her for her efforts, they'd suggested that she leave the task of catching Hall and his accomplice to the professionals. They were irritated but not surprised when she refused to make any promises.

John arrived at Bailey's a short time later, grateful to have escaped from Tracy Island. Even though he'd only been home a couple of days, Alan's moping and self-reproach had become more than a little wearing and the tension between his brother and Tin-Tin had left John on edge. Plus, he wanted to spend some time with the rest of his brothers. Being stuck out in space whilst everyone else was confined to the island was one thing, but knowing that Scott and Virgil were freely enjoying the delights of a place like Bailey's was something else and he'd been just a little envious. He was glad to have the chance to spend a bit of time there himself.

Connie was delighted to see him.

"John, I'm so grateful for your help. Penny tells me that if anyone can trace these blackmail demands it's you."

"Well, I hope I can find something useful. It might take a while though. I'll need access to all the hotel computers."

"You do whatever you need to. Richard Bridges' office is free now of course, but I understand from Penny that you want to check out Jason Kerr, too."

John nodded. "He's a definite possibility. Is he around? I don't really want him seeing what I'm up to."

"Penny came up with a plan to get him out of the way for a while. He's going into town in an hour or so to talk to the police about the poisoning. He thinks it's just a friendly chat with the local police of course, so he's in for a bit of a shock. I'll keep him out of the way until it's time for him to go.

"I thought you could work on the office computers first, and then when he's left the hotel you can go to his room." She sighed. "I'll be so glad when this is over. Even if it turns out half my staff are involved I just want to be free of it while there's still a chance of saving Bailey's."

"I'll do my best," John promised, following her along the corridor to Bridges' office, agreeing with Connie that it would be best to do that one first, just to give her time to get Kerr safely away from his own office. It didn't take John long to gain access to the manager's files. But there was nothing incriminating amongst them. He wasn't really surprised – Bridges had told Penny that he wasn't one of the instigators so it was unlikely he'd have had any contact with the victims or had any part in handling the money.

John went back to Connie to let her know he was ready to move on to Kerr's office. Accepting her offer of coffee he set to work again. When Connie's secretary brought him his drink his search was well underway, but once again he found nothing. Again, he wasn't too disappointed - it was highly unlikely that Kerr would have risked using his office computer for his criminal activities. He just hoped he'd find what he needed in the security chief's room.

None of the Tracys had had the chance to meet up with John that morning. Scott was on duty at the pool whilst Virgil was working on some songs with Amy and Miguel. Gordon had spent some time guarding Bridges to give Parker a break, though he'd managed to find time for a workout in the pool as well. Jeff was predictably busy with Tracy Industries' business in his room and was unlikely to surface for a while. They'd planned to get together later when they hoped they'd have some more leads to follow. When Scott finished his duties at the pool he headed up to the hotel. Having spoken to Penny earlier he knew that his brother would be checking out Kerr's room after lunch and he'd agreed to go along with him, just in case Kerr came back or someone spotted a stranger wandering around and wondered what John was up to.

As usual, he met up with Virgil for lunch. It felt strange to have so many of his family around but not to be able to acknowledge them. Still, at least he didn't have to deny his relationship to Virgil, even if they were working under assumed names.

"Do you think John's found anything yet?" he asked his brother.

"I guess someone would have told us if he had," Virgil commented. "Seen Dad or Gordon this morning?"

"Gordon was showing off down at the pool earlier," Scott sighed. "He's got quite a fan club now."

"Took the attention away from you, did he?" Virgil laughed. "Never mind, if John finds a link to Kerr he could be gone by tomorrow. You can impress the girls again then."

"I did think about going back home with them," Scott admitted. "Are you going to stay on even if we catch the guy?"

Virgil looked surprised he was even asking. "Sure. The band doesn't get a permanent replacement for Rob until next week. I can't let them down. Anyway, Dad said two weeks R&R, remember? And after what happened the other day I'm surprised he hasn't made it three."

Scott smiled. "True. You know, I think I will stay on. After all, up till now we've been working. I'm still waiting to start my vacation." As his watch started beeping he got up. "That's my cue to go and look after John. See you later."

He met up with John in Connie's office where he'd been given lunch.

"Good to see you," he smiled. "Ready?"

"Whenever you are," John said. "We should have a good couple of hours. Connie's told him to report to her as soon as he gets back – she'll let us know when it's time to get out."

"Come on, then," Scott said, leading the way to Kerr's room in the staff quarters. John let them in with the key Connie had given him.

Kerr's room was untidy, but all John cared about was the fact that his laptop sat on top of his bedside table. He immediately set about his work. Scott, having made a thorough search of the room with no success, finally sat down on Kerr's bed and watched his brother quietly.

"Anything?" he eventually asked.

"Nothing yet," John told him without even looking up.

After about twenty minutes of inactivity. Scott started to feel quite sleepy, lulled into a state of relaxation by the tapping of the computer keys. He couldn't help yawning, still a little tired after being poisoned. He was suddenly jerked back to reality by the sound of John slamming the lid of the laptop down in frustration.

"Nothing! If Kerr is involved he didn't use his own computer."

Scott frowned. "You're sure?"

The cutting look John gave him was answer enough and Scott knew that if there had been anything to find John would have done so.

"Never mind. Guess we're just going to have to find Hall. Maybe we'll have to send Virg out to lure him into a trap."

John shot him a surprised look. "You'd do that?"

It was Scott's turn to glare. "Of course not. At least, not until there's no other option. Come on, let's get going. We'd better check out the other British guys."

He moved to the door and listened for a moment before opening it cautiously, just in case anyone should be passing. It was unlikely – at that time of day most of the people quartered in that particular block would be safely at work and the corridor should have been empty. It was a complete shock therefore to find the bulky figure of Jason Kerr standing there. A look somewhere between fear and fury crossed his face as he drew out a gun. Before Scott could react, Kerr shoved him back inside the room. Stumbling backwards, nearly knocking John over, it took him a moment to regain his balance. But by then Kerr had crossed the room and grabbed hold of John, pressing the gun to his head.

Despite his discomfort John laughed.

"We'd just given up on you. Talk about bad timing."

Kerr shook his head. "You're not supposed to be here. Why the hell didn't she get you out of the way?" Noticing the brothers' confused looks he sighed. "Never mind. Bad timing is right. I know there's nothing to find on the laptop. But right about now the police from the capital will be talking to my pet police chief and I'm guessing once Guy realises he's been caught out he's going to give me up just to make it easier on himself."

"You were the link with the local police, then?" Scott asked, playing for time and frantically trying to work out what to do. He couldn't risk attacking the man, not when he had a gun against his brother's head.

"Yeah. Just as well Louise called to let me know what was happening."

John looked at Scott in confusion. "Louise?"

"Connie's secretary," his brother told him. His heart sank – and not just because of the trouble they were in. Louise Bradley was the wife of the chief lifeguard. If she was involved with Kerr, Dave would be devastated. Still, there wasn't time to worry about that now.

Kerr went on,

"It wasn't hard for her to guess what was going on when Connie asked her to find a pass key to the staff quarters just after she found you in my office. She kept her ear to the door when Connie and your friend were talking to the police too."

He smiled across at Scott. "Just as well Connie's tied up with your brother and couldn't take the call from the police to say I hadn't arrived, isn't it? I think Louise might have just forgotten to pass the message on." He glared at them. "It's a pity she didn't do what I asked and make sure you were out of the way before I came back here. You and the other one have ruined everything. I was onto a good thing here before you turned up."

"So now what?" John asked.

Kerr laughed. "I think it's time I quit my job. You two had better come with me – I'll let you go when we get to the port. Here, you can drive." With his free hand he reached into his pocket, pulling out a set of car keys which he handed to John.

"You want me to drive?" John asked, glancing over at Scott who was looking equally horrified. John was notorious for his appalling driving and Kerr might well find himself regretting his choice of driver. Scott didn't like being driven by his brother at the best of times and the prospect of being in a car with him when he was under this kind of pressure was pretty terrifying.

"Let me do it," Scott pleaded, but Kerr just laughed.

"You can pack my things." He kept a tight hold of John whilst directing Scott with the packing, watching his every move. Neither brother dared to risk trying to send out a signal on his watch.

Finally Kerr was ready to go. Both Scott and John made one last effort to get him to change his mind over his choice of driver, but Kerr remained adamant, convinced they were trying to put something over on him.

"Get moving," he said, ushering them out of the side door and into his car which he'd parked ready for a quick getaway. Pushing John into the driver's seat he turned the gun on Scott, holding the back door open so he could get in first. With Kerr's attention diverted for a moment as he settled himself next to Scott, pressing the gun against his side, John was finally able to activate his watch, sending out an emergency signal. He just hoped one of the others was near enough to get there in time.

Scott held his breath as John turned the key in the ignition. Kerr had obviously used some of his blackmail money to buy the classic car and he wondered whether his brother would be able to handle it. Not only was it ridiculously powerful, but it wasn't an automatic and John was utterly hopeless in anything which required him to actually change gears. First things first though - Scott just hoped his brother didn't stall the car. Kerr was likely to see such an event as a deliberate attempt to prevent his escape and he didn't want to think of the likely consequences. But fortunately for the brothers, John managed to get the engine going and, with an agonising crunch of gears, set off down the road.

"Get a move on!" Kerr demanded, jabbing his gun into Scott's ribs to show his frustration.

"I'm doing my best," John muttered, putting his foot down and flinching as everyone was flung forward. As he turned towards the gates of the hotel he was relieved to see his father come running out of the entrance. He only had time to mouth, "Sorry, gun," as he drove erratically away.

Within a couple of minutes Jeff was joined by Virgil, Gordon, Penny and Parker, who had all been alerted by John's signal.

"What's going on?" Gordon asked and Jeff quickly explained what he'd just witnessed.

"John was driving?" Gordon asked and Jeff nodded grimly, much to Penny's mystification.

"Which way did they go?" Virgil asked as Parker headed off to get the car he'd hired.

"They turned left," Jeff told him.

"That's the way to the port," Penny said. "He's got a boat down there."

Parker brought the car around and Virgil and Gordon jumped in. With a squeal of tyres the car was gone even before Jeff could warn his boys to be careful.

"I 'ope they ain't got too far ahead of us," Parker muttered.

To his surprise Gordon laughed.

"If anyone else was driving they would have. But this is John we're talking about."

As Parker swung the car out of the hotel gate and onto the road he looked at the two brothers in bewilderment.

"John's a terrible driver," Virgil explained.

"He never gets any practice," Gordon continued. "He's either on Five or on Tracy Island. When he does go to the mainland he gets a taxi so he can carry on reading whatever book he's got on the go. Kerr's going to regret giving him the keys to his car. He'll probably stop and make Scott change places."

"If he doesn't decide to shoot them and drive himself," Virgil said suddenly, changing the mood in the car considerably.

"Can't you go any faster, Parker?" Gordon asked.

"This ain't the Rolls," the man replied. In fairness, he was taking the bends at a reckless speed.

Everyone jumped as their watches beeped, but it was just a frantic Jeff checking in.

"Any sign of them?"

"Not yet, Dad," Virgil told him. "We'll let you know as soon as there's any news."

Cutting off the call he sat back, staring anxiously at the winding road ahead, wondering just why they hadn't yet caught up with Kerr and his brothers. He wouldn't have expected John to have covered so much distance, especially driving an unfamiliar car under these kinds of circumstances.

Just then Parker let out a cry. "There they are!"

Sure enough they could see Kerr's car ahead. It was veering unsteadily across both lanes of the road and going far too fast. Parker put his foot down. "So what do we do when we catch 'em?" he asked.

Gordon and Virgil exchanged glances. They'd only been concerned about catching up with the car. Now that they had they were no better off. Kerr had a gun and he had their brothers.

"Ease off, Parker," Virgil said suddenly. "If he sees us and panics he might shoot."

Parker reluctantly did as Virgil asked. "Mister John is going a bit fast," he commented, watching as the car ahead only just negotiated a particularly sharp bend.

"More than a bit," Gordon muttered, wondering just what was going on in the car.

Jason Kerr wasn't happy. He'd soon realised that his hostage was a terrible driver. He'd gone from thinking he was in control, thanks to the advantage his gun gave him, to just wishing it was all over and that he could get out. He knew from the expression on Scott's face and from the way his muscles were tensing that this wasn't just an act designed to force him to surrender.

"Stop!" he demanded, waving the gun frantically as they headed towards another sharp bend and what looked like certain death from the long drop at the edge.

John just laughed. He'd quickly realised that the only chance he had was to abandon all caution and just put his foot down. Kerr wasn't stupid enough to shoot him when he was in control of a speeding car on a dangerous road. He used the words 'in control' loosely, of course. He was well aware that he'd been extremely lucky so far, but every time he approached a bend he wondered if he'd be able to hold the car on the road. He wished his brothers would hurry up and get there. When he saw a car gaining on them he knew it was them and he wondered what he should do next.

"Stop the car!" Kerr yelled once more, as John deliberately swerved to the other side of the road, then had to snatch at the wheel to stop himself smashing into a barrier.

"I'll shoot him!" Kerr waved the gun in Scott's face. Scott didn't say anything. Between the gun in his face and the terrifying view of the road, he'd actually closed his eyes. He just hoped John knew what he was doing.

"Now that's just making me more nervous," John said, laughing manically as he wrenched the wheel to the left. The car skidded around a bend, its tyres screeching. Looking in his mirror he saw the car behind him was no longer gaining ground, simply keeping pace with him. He guessed Parker was driving. It was frustrating that help was so close, yet so impossible to access whilst he remained in the moving vehicle.

"I mean it! I'll shoot him! I'll shoot you too!" Kerr yelled, a note of hysteria creeping into his voice. John had a certain sympathy. That last manoeuvre had been a little too close to the edge for comfort. Yet he felt a sense of exhilaration. Just let his brothers try teasing him for his bad driving now, he thought. He doubted they could have done any better.

"You know what?" John asked. "You're not putting up a very good argument here. I mean, what are you planning on doing with us when we get to the port?"

Kerr stared at him. "I'm going to let you go."

"Both of us?" John asked and smiled when Kerr hesitated. "I've been here before. Trust me, we know all about double-crossing hostage-takers, right Scott?"

Scott mumbled something incoherent. He wished John would just shut up and concentrate on driving.

"Okay, so you take one of us with you. Then you push him out of the boat as soon as you're well away from port, right?" John said. He ignored Kerr's frantic denials. "So, my choice is... slow down and let you kill me later or speed up..." he inched his foot further down on the accelerator as he did so, "... and kill all of us. Either way it's the same for me, but at least this way I get the satisfaction of taking you with me."

"I'll let you go," Kerr said, knowing he was beaten. "I give up, okay? Just slow down. This next bend's the worst one on the road. Slow down! "

His genuine panic worried John. But he didn't have much choice at this stage. He kept his foot pressed down.

"Give the gun to Scott!"

Kerr hesitated even as Scott, eyes still closed, held out his hand.

"Just do it!" John could see that he was running out of road. Unless he slowed down in a few seconds he'd have no chance.

"Okay, okay!" Kerr did as he asked. John slammed on the brakes, realising he'd left it too late to make the turn. Closing his eyes, yelling an apology to his brother, he waited for the end. Behind him Kerr was screaming. Tyres were squealing. Only Scott was silent. He didn't want his last words to be an expletive-filled tirade against his brother. He kept his thoughts to himself, knowing that John would guess exactly what he was thinking. The car slewed sideways and John wrestled with the wheel, unable to keep it straight, gripping it so tightly that his fingers were white. Time seemed to stand still. Then they were slowing down... and finally they came to a stop.

John opened his eyes, just a fraction, hardly able to believe they'd made it. Suddenly chaos broke out in the back seat as Scott, finally capable of action, threw himself onto Kerr and began to pound him. Then the door was yanked open and Gordon and Parker between them dragged the pair out, Gordon holding Scott back from the battered security chief.

Virgil, calm and smiling as usual, appeared at the passenger door.

"Hey Johnny."

"Hi Virg." John couldn't quite keep the quaver out of his voice. He reached for the door handle with hands that shook a little.

"I wouldn't go out that way," Virgil said, holding out a hand and helping John as he obediently shuffled across and out of the other door. As soon as he'd got out, leaning on his brother for support – his legs were annoyingly wobbly – he realised why Virgil had wanted him to get out the passenger side. The wheel on the driver's side was barely on the road. If he'd opened the door his side he'd have stepped out onto a hundred foot drop.

"Close," was all he could say.

Virgil nodded. "Too close. Come on, let's get out of here."

They looked over to the others. Scott had finally given up trying to get to Kerr, pushing Gordon away before striding across to John. At the sight of the expression on his eldest brother's face John dived behind Virgil for protection as Scott let rip with everything he'd been thinking in the car.

"Take 'im back to the 'otel," Parker told them, an amused smile playing about his face. He indicated Kerr's car. "I'll get a tow-truck to move this one." "

"Thanks, Parker," Gordon said, pulling open the back door of Parker's car with one hand whilst pushing Kerr inside with the other. He got in next to him whilst Scott went round and sat the other side.

Virgil looked at John. "Do you want to drive?"

"No!"

John couldn't help but feel hurt by the expressions of relief which greeted his reply!