A.N: I have dug deeply into my imagination to create the details of a genetic heart defect. No similarity to any true existing disease or disorder is intended or should be inferred. Any likeness to any existing disorder is coincidental.
Manor House Care facility sat on the edge of a neo modern village in the middle of County Wicklow. It sat surrounded by its own grounds lush with apple trees, blackberry and gooseberry bushes, wild strawberries and the most incredible array of wildflowers Kayo had ever seen anywhere. It was stunningly beautiful.
The entire grounds had the air of being allowed to grow wild and do its own thing. What told Kayo that this was in fact a carefully cultivated look was the complete absence of weeds. Her own father had been an expert gardener and he had shared a lot of his expertise with her before his death. Gardening was not really something that had ever interested Kayo herself, but she remembered enough of her father's teachings to know that this garden was tended by skillful hands.
The main path from the gate to the door was paved in stone, wide and straight, making access easy and smooth. When she rounded the bend and saw the house, she paused briefly to take it in.
It was a large, squared off, four-story house in red brick. The windows were large, adorned with curtains and draperies, giving the place the impression of a luxurious private home rather than an official care facility. The main door opened as she approached, and a young man smiled at her. She judged him to be about Scott's age, with a thick thatch of straight, dark brown hair and brown eyes that looked searchingly at her.
"Good afternoon Miss…?"
"Tracy."
"Miss Tracy…?" the young man was clearly searching for more information. Kayo stopped in front of him.
"I am Tanusha Kyrano Tracy. I have an appointment with the manager."
The man half smiled and shook his head.
"You can't do Miss, because the manager is not here today. Can I ask you the purpose of your visit?"
"You can ask me, but I can only discuss it with the duty manager."
"Very well Miss Tracy Tanusha, I will see if he's free right now."
He turned away, and Kayo rolled her eyes and followed him.
The interior of the building was impressive. Professional in décor, light, airy and minimalist in nature.
The young man led her along a hallway and up a flight of stairs whereupon he knocked on a door. A deep bass voice answered from inside.
"Enter."
The young man put his head in and Kayo heard him speak in a low voice. There was an answering rumble, and the door was opened wide.
"Mister Walter James, deputy manager here at Manor House. Miss Tracy Tanusha."
Kayo stepped inside, and the door was closed behind her.
The individual inside the room was not sitting behind a desk, but stood against the window, with a large encyclopedia in his hands. He was about six feet six in Kayo's estimation; not fat by any means, but stocky and well built. His red hair was slightly longer than convention, but neatly trimmed and combed, his mustache and beard, also well-trimmed, was so large and bushy that his eyes and mouth seemed dwarfed. He was wearing a white polo shirt and grey flannel trousers. He held out his hand to her.
"Good to meet you Miss Tracy Tanusha. Wally James. How can I be of service?"
She let him shake her by the hand.
"Thank you for seeing me, Mister James. My name is actually Tanusha Kyrano Tracy."
There was a spark of recognition there.
"Miss Tracy huh? My sister works for Tracy Industries in London. No connection by chance? Just curious."
Kayo controlled her impatience and smiled tightly.
"Yes. Jeff Tracy is my father, but my business here is totally unconnected to my father's company. I am trying to trace a child who was born in 2039 in Cork; and was brought here supposedly the following year after the death of her parents in a car crash. Would you be able to help me to find the details from that time?"
Mister James nodded.
"Of course. We keep copies of the records that are sent to the storage vault in Cork."
Kayo nodded.
"Yes, I have examined the stored information there, which says that the child, or rather, children I am searching for were born in Cork in November 2039. Twin girls. The one was healthy save for slight jaundice; whilst the other is described as having been born with a serious heart defect. Can you tell me if both girls were brought here, or just one of them? If the sicker twin died quickly as he doctors seemed positive would happen, then only the stronger twin would have made it here."
He crossed the room to his reams of bookshelves and ran his finger along the tomes lined up along the top shelf. Presently he pulled one down and took it to the table.
"Alright, this is admissions in 2040…let me see…April did you say?"
He rifled through the book and stabbed a page.
"April! First…second…third…still nothing…"
He continued to search through each day of the month and paused, his finger resting on one particular entry.
"Here, April eighth, an ambulance arrived here with twin girls fresh from hospital. Amelia and Sonia Warren, five months old, orphaned just the day before. They had been checked out in hospital and given the okay. Yes, there is a note that Sonia Warren was smaller and less developed than her twin. She had been identified as suffering a rare heart defect that at the time was being successfully treated with drugs whilst she waited for a suitable donor for a transplant."
He looked up.
"The notification here says that no one wanted to adopt twins when one of them was given a limited life span of only about three years or so. Surprisingly though, it was the sick twin, Sonia whom was adopted first by a Scottish couple. A month later her twin was also adopted."
"Can you tell me the names of the people who adopted them?"
He shook his head.
"Not without written permission or a court order. Sorry Miss Tracy. Personal files are just that. Personal."
Kayo nodded. At least one of her questions had been answered.
"I understand. I can return with the necessary permissions if need be. Is there anyone still working here who might remember the twins? Not for confidential information you understand, just their impressions of the babies?"
Mister James shook his head.
"Not anymore. Audrey Hockney is the one you want, but she retired three years ago. She is now living in comparative luxury with her daughter and son-in-law in the South of England. The New Forest."
"I see. Thanks, perhaps I will look her up. Finally, can you tell me if you ever receive any further news or updates on any of the children who have passed through here, once they have been adopted?"
He answered with a crooked smile.
"We try and keep in touch. We encourage the new parents of the young children, and the older children who usually end up in foster homes to keep in touch with us. We are interested in their welfare, and we are here to help them with any problem or issue they may be facing."
"Would you be permitted to tell me whether you ever received any updates from young Sonia's adoptive parents? Can you at least confirm that the child…or young lady I suppose she would be now is doing alright?"
Mister James regarded her for a long moment, his brow furrowed.
"Miss Tracy, I am not permitted to tell you, but there may be other ways for you to find that information. May I ask why you want to know?"
Kayo considered for a moment, then have a half-grin.
"My adoptive father, as you know, is Jeff Tracy…the multi-billionaire? He is always concerned whenever any of us bring home a boyfriend or girlfriend in case they are gold-diggers, you know. My brother has gone gooey over this girl he met and I'm under orders to check out her story, being as it is a slightly more unusual one. Also, I believe if she turns out to be okay, a family friend wants to make her a personal assistant or something."
"Isn't it more usual for someone like Jeff Tracy to use professional detectives when he wants to check someone out?"
"That depends on what information you are after, Mister James. Well, I won't take up any more of your valuable time. Thank you for agreeing to see me. I appreciate your help."
Kayo made her way out of the house and back down the long drive to the main gate. Once out of sight from the house and the road, she pressed her comm.
"Kayo to John Tracy, Come in."
"John here. What is it, Kayo?"
"Are you in your control room?"
"Sure am. What do you need?"
"The address of someone called Audrey Hockney. Apparently once worked at the Manor Care Home in County Wicklow in Ireland, and now is apparently retired and living with family somewhere in the New Forest, in Hampshire, England."
"Right away Kayo. Stand by…"
Kayo pressed a button on her wrist-controller and about fifty yards away, the Shadow shimmered into existence. She climbed aboard and reset the camouflage program once more.
"John Tracy to Kayo."
"Kayo here."
"I found the address Kayo, but you're not going to get much information out of her I'm afraid."
"Is she dead?"
John nodded.
"I'm sorry, Kayo. She passed away three weeks ago. Stroke."
Kayo sighed.
"Alright, thanks anyway John. Looks like I'm at a dead end here for the time being."
"Well, there is one thing you could do for us, Kayo. Go check on Virgil."
Kayo's eyebrows raised high.
"Virgil? Isn't he on Tracy Island?"
John shook his head.
"He's just taken Tracy One…the one you didn't ditch into the sea a few weeks ago…and taken off, leaving behind a note of farewell and a smashed console."
Kayo's jaw dropped.
"Virgil!?"
"He's hurting a lot. What would you do in his place?"
"How mad is father about Virgil running off like that?"
John shook his head.
"He's not mad really. He's worried. Virgil is usually the rock, the one who grounds us all, but he is not himself. He was doing so well before the girl came along and turned his head."
"From what I hear, John, she did nothing to turn his head except exist. I'm told that she even turned him down when he expressed an interest in her. It doesn't sound like she has done anything wrong at this point."
"Did you find out anything about her?" John asked, switching tack. Kayo sighed.
"I confirmed that Amelia…Connie as she was definitely did have a twin sister. The thing is, the twin, Sonia was born with a very serious heart problem, and even with a heart transplant, was not expected to live much beyond the age of three. So, if this Bonnie is Connie's twin, what about the heart problem? She apparently was born with a genetic defect of the body that wears down the heart very quickly. She would need repeated heart transplants…approximately one every three years or so in order survive. Even then she would be weak, and dependent on drugs to keep her healthily active. Is it likely?"
John looked troubled.
"Kayo, I really don't like where this seems to be going. If it is unlikely that she is the missing twin, who else could she be? I would connect with Lady P and see what she has found. Then, could you please go to London, and watch out for Virgil for us? Just in case there is something sinister going on, I would rather you were there where the action is."
"FAB!"
Kayo disconnected, then called Lady Penelope. Although the aristocrat's voice rang cheerfully, the pleasant smile on the screen looked faintly troubled.
"Kayo, hello. Any success your end?"
"Limited, Lady Penelope."
Kayo recounted to Lady Penelope what she had discovered so far. Penelope nodded when she learned about the existence of the twin and the inherited heart defect.
"That fits in with what we discovered on Orkney." She replied. "We spoke to Bonnie's school headmaster. Bonnie Cain is a former pupil at that school who now works for an island care home somewhere. She is a very attractive dark-skinned girl, half-Nigerian. Her Nigerian father Dominic Cain and his brother Joel travelled to Orkney for work apparently, loved it so much and decided to stay and fell in love with a couple of local girls. Her father's brother Joel and his wife Darcy were unable to have children of their own and they tried to adopt a baby, but there were none for adoption in Britain at the time. They travelled to Ireland and adopted a little girl called Sonia Warren who was sick with some kind of heart problem. The poor child was waiting for a transplant but died before the operation could take place. The child was less than two years old when she passed away."
"So, if that girl at your garden party is not the real Bonnie Cain, who is she, Penny? Who is it that Virgil has stolen dad's jet and dashed to London to see?"
Penny blinked.
"Virgil's left Tracy Island? That girl seemed…seems completely sincere. I would have sworn that she was not up to anything underhand. But if she is not who she claims to be…"
"Then this…her appearance…perhaps even Connie's death might have been engineered as some sort of elaborate trap to lure Virgil away from Tracy Island."
Penny nodded.
"But why Virgil? Why him in particular? It makes no sense."
But Kayo's eyes looked bleak.
"Penny, who is the main operator of International Rescue? Without Virgil, we are only half as strong and half as efficient. Virgil's expertise is so important, what would International Rescue be without him? And with us being back on line in a few days…?"
Penny's expression hardened.
"Only one man I know of us so determined to weaken and destroy International Rescue. He tried destroying us directly and it didn't work. So, why not try by the back door, sneakily luring everyone into his lair? Kayo, we need to find Bonnie, and Virgil, fast!"
Kayo nodded.
"On it! See you in London!"
"We're on our way! Step on it, Parker!"
As the two women raced through the skies towards him, Virgil exited the Tracy hangar at London airport, and stepped into the waiting transport.
"The Palace Hotel." He said briefly, as dumped his bags beside him and slumped back against the seat."
"Right you are sir."
Virgil was rubbing his eyes, so he did not notice the light of recognition in the driver's eyes as he doffed his cap, and he missed the man's grin of glee as they sped away from the airport, into the busy city traffic.