Chapter Fourteen

Gordon was having a good day. Amber had been scheduled for further surgery on her legs that afternoon and Hubert had taken him back to Amber's apartment to pick up a few personal items. It was a welcome break from the intensity of the ICU environment. Hubert seemed relaxed in his company and Gordon, though uneasy with his secret, found the man interesting. At the flat, Gordon had a little time to look around.

He found one interesting morsel. Amber had received three cards from someone who signed as Martin. And they weren't posted. They'd been dropped in her box, one for each day. The only disappointment was that Hubert didn't know anything about it but Gordon was pleased he may have found a link to the Co-operative shop.

He was coming back to the hospital foyer when his watch vibrated the emergency code. Hubert was beside him so he couldn't respond straight away. Just as he was trying to think of an excuse to get away, he saw Scott and Virgil come out a side entrance.

Gordon was stunned at first but there was no mistaking his brothers in their co-ordinating nightwear.

"Scott? Virgil?"

Gordon watched as the man with them signalled for a taxi. That didn't seem right. Scott wasn't fit enough to be out, wasn't allowed out. What the hell was going on?

He forgot who was with him as he started to walk towards his brothers.

"Scott! Virgil!" he bellowed.

They looked up briefly as if they'd heard their names before they ducked into the back of the vehicle. Gordon was about to run after them then he saw Mr Kreuzer's angry face coming at him. It was like moving in a slow motion dream.

He turned back to his companion and he was aware the man shouted at him.

"…a Tracy!"

A Tracy! A Tracy! He thought he heard but that was all. Mr Kreuzer king-hit him with a single blow to the centre of his face and the next he knew he was headed for the pavement.

Scott and Virgil sat in the back of the taxi. Martin was in the front, giving directions to the driver, encouraging the man to drive quickly.

Virgil had his arms crossed and didn't look happy. "This is ridiculous. We have to talk."

"I'm listening."

"Not here. In private. This is—"

"Ridiculous. I know. I heard the first time."

"It's unnecessary," Virgil whispered.

"I don't see a problem. You're with me. No guns, no physical threat. My instinct's good on this. He'll negotiate, I know he will. We'll talk, we'll agree on something. Simple. Hey, Virg." He nudged his brother with his elbow. "You take Grandma's advice about eating your vegies seriously? You know, so you're healthy on the inside?"

Virgil stared at him.

"You been eating your vegies, plenty of fibre, plenty of the good stuff, you know, so you're regular? Good transit time, et cetera et cetera?"

Virgil's face coloured a fraction. "Are you asking me if I've been?"

Scott raised his eyebrows waiting for an answer.

"Well…I…damn it Scott, now I feel guilty about a perfectly normal bodily function."

"I take that as a 'yes'?"

"Well…"

"Spare me the details, bro. I have a reason for asking. Any possibility of you having retained something?"

Comprehension dawned. No edible transmitter. "Oh, yeah. No, I guess not. I needed to take another one today. You?"

"I've barely kept water down."

"We're on our own," Virgil whispered, having reached the same conclusion Scott had.

The car went two blocks then pulled into a cobbled lane.

"This is where we get out, fellas," Martin told them.

Martin paid the driver and the car was gone with a squeal on the stones. He led them down the lane and into an alley before stopping at a manhole cover and leaning over it to pull it up.

"Down there, that's where we need to go."

Virgil hung back. "No way are we going down there. No way."

John and Penelope stood to one side as Deirdre was interrogated by police and security guards in the administrator's office. They were getting nowhere. She refused to admit anything and heaped the blame on Scott.

"I don't know where they've gone," she said evenly. She stared at the floor as she spoke, her voice barely showing emotion even though they went over the same ground repeatedly. "I don't know anything about what happened. This was Mr Tracy's idea. I had no idea what he was going to do."

"You weren't allowed to leave the floor," the guard said.

"As I've already told you a hundred times. When Mr Tracy walked past the lift, he made me open it for him then he pushed me into it. I couldn't stop him. He said he wanted to go downstairs for fresh air. I thought I'd better go to see if he was all right. He saw someone he knew. They were talking. That's all I know until the guard came. Then they ran away."

"The person Scott met happens to be your cousin," John said. "I suspected some connection when I heard the same inflection you give to certain words. I find that a mighty interesting coincidence."

Deirdre turned her head towards him without looking at his face. "I was to meet Martin for afternoon tea. He was waiting for me. I had no idea he knew Mr Tracy."

John stepped to her chair. "That is the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard. Your cousin has been spreading slander about our family and our organisation. Scott doesn't know anyone in this city. You arranged for a meet between the two of them so he can blackmail us. Didn't you? Didn't you?"

"It's not like that."

"Uh, Mr Tracy." The guard indicated his screen. "Security footage's up. Interesting viewing."

They had partial footage of the lift area and dining room. It showed Scott being challenged by his brother and it did show Scott push Deirdre into the lift. The footage from the dining room showed Scott and Virgil well behind Martin as they made their escape.

"It really doesn't show any threat towards your brothers. The meeting is unusual but there doesn't appear to be any coercion for them to leave. They appear to go voluntarily."

"Scott ran off," Deirdre snapped at John. "Face it. It has nothing to do with me."

John was too livid to answer civilly so he turned to the guard. "Any idea how they left?"

The guard tapped a few keys. "The external cameras mainly face the door. Your brothers run out of range. They're following that guy but he's not forcing them."

The police officer took John aside. "We don't have evidence anything's happened to them. It does look like they've gone of their own free will. That means we'll be forced to issue a warrant for Scott Tracy's arrest. He was at the hospital under certain conditions and he's breached those conditions. I'm sorry. There's nothing we can hold Miss Stewart with. Mr Tracy is the only person of interest to us at the moment."

"Let her go, John," Penelope whispered in his ear and he nodded.

As much as he hated to admit it, it did look bad for Scott but John believed the nurse had arranged for them to meet. This was Martin Langley and this was International Rescue business. No coincidences there. His father had said a threat would come. Why did it have to happen when he was in charge?

"Okay," he agreed. "There's nothing more to be done here."

Deirdre was told she could go but as she left the administrator called her back. "Consider yourself stood down until a full enquiry is heard. You may be innocent. Unfortunately, the fact that you didn't raise the alarm when the patient left a secured area is a serious breach of your duty of care. You have a pager for those contingencies. Security will escort you to the front entrance and see you off. Until you hear from us, Ms Stewart. Good day."

Deirdre glared at John as she stormed from the room. Later, Penelope and John followed the nurse into the hall and Penelope drew to one side to contact Parker on her com-watch.

"Yes, milady," a drowsy voice responded.

"Enjoying that wonderful sunshine, I see. I have a job for you, Parker." She gave the nurse's description. "Follow her. See what she does and where she goes. And report back."

"Yes, milady. Will do. Parker out."

Penelope turned to John. "How's Jeff taken this latest development?"

John rubbed his face with his hand. "Why do I always have to give the good news? He did a spectacular imitation of a volcanic eruption. Especially when I suggested Scott may have gone without coercion and has taken Virgil with him. You know, I think Scott might wish the police catch up with him first. Dad is not happy. They're coming back from Tracy island as fast as Thunderbirds Two's engines can get them here."

Penelope looked thoughtful. "Did anyone actually tell poor Scott that the communicator has been switched? I don't believe he would run off like that without a strong reason."

"Well – I don't know. I didn't. Dad was keen not to stress him out thinking about any of this. He told us to be upbeat about things. Virgil's been with him. I don't know what he's told him."

"And now, judging by the papers on the table they were at, the dear boy knows what the world has been saying about him and about International Rescue." She shook her head sadly. "We need to find him, John, and find him quickly."

They went back into the administrator's office.

"Has Gordon reported in?" John asked her. "I haven't heard from him in ages."

She indicated the negative and a security officer overheard.

"Gordon? Tall, muscular guy with red hair?"

"That's him. Where have you seen him?"

"A & E. He was assaulted out front."

"What?"

"When we came out chasing your lot, we saw this fella hit the deck not far away. A foreign guy going ballistic around him, wanting him to take a swing back. Didn't realise he was another one of you guys. Struth, you blokes really know how to step in it."

"Ain't that the truth," John said before he bolted from the room.

Gordon had the worst kind of headache. It was one that started as a jackhammer in his left temple then radiated like shards of glass through his skull to make him feel nauseous and off-balance. He was stretched out in the day/recovery area after they'd put six stitches into his eyebrow and was holding a cold pack across his aching face with both hands. They'd given him a shot for the pain but he was misery personified. He heard the crack of leather and John's voice at about the same time.

"Heya kid. What's happening?"

Gordon could only groan. John lifted the pack up off his face, and Gordon saw him wince and grin.

"That is going to be one hell of a shiner, Squirt. Wait till Grandma sees that shirt. Second one you've ruined this week. Didn't WASP teach you to duck?"

"Hubert knows I'm a Tracy," Gordon said dejectedly, taking back the cold pack to put on his face.

"How did he find that out?"

"When Scott and Virgil ran out. What were they doing outside? I don't get—"

"You saw them?"

"Only for a second. I called out to them and that's when Hubert—"

"Did you see where they went?"

"Got into a cab."

"Didn't get the company? Licence plate? By any small chance, did you?"

Gordon raised the cold pack from his face. "A yellow one. I noticed that much. Con-? Com-? Combined, maybe? Something like that. Don't you know where they are? What about their transmitters?"

"Looks like Virgil has –ah- passed his. No signal."

"Shit," Gordon whispered.

"Exactly."