Chapter 21
...3 days later...
Ariel was alone once again, with no one else around other than Scott in the living room not 10 feet away. Although she was alone and had no one to talk to, she certainly didn't want to talk to her power driven Uncle and with Virgil having gone with Gordon back to the island and Jeff accompanying Eric to the UK, they were out of the question. She looked around the room, before getting out of her bed for the first time in days. Her warm soft feet flinched as they met the cool marble flooring, but soon grew use to the solid ground and eventually took Ariel's entire weight. She saw a mirror just off in the corner of her room, and decided that after nearly a week; she needed to see how she looked. No make-up, bed head hair.
But still she smiled.
She saw a little more weight in her face, no more protruding cheek bones. She had a rosy glow in her skin and when she smiled she could see the health returning. For so long she had suffered with weight loss and health problems, but now; she felt like herself again. She spotted a dressing gown hanging up on the wall and allowed it to drape over her fuller form as her energy for walking got stronger. She went through the door and into the living room, where she met no one. Scott had disappeared off somewhere, so decided to sit on the sofa and watch TV. When the TV switched on, she saw a news reporter standing outside a hospital,
"Well Sarah, it's still not clear as to why the Tracy Family are still here in California, however we have concluded that the gold medallist Gordon Tracy is fighting fit having left the hospital a couple of days ago, unscratched. Although it would appear that a mysterious younger brunette left the hospital not to soon after Gordon had, so whether they are contacts is still unknown"
Ariel illuminated a smile when a fuzzy image of Eric filled the screen but soon forgot it when the TV returned to the live footage of the female reporter,
"An inside source, although the reason of the situation is still foggy, has reported that Gordon's daughter, Daisy-Mae was extremely ill during her time at University. One of friends talked to one of our correspondents earlier today"
Ariel was so sucked into the screen that she didn't notice Scott enter the room. She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw her closest friend, Sammie appear on the TV; looking so made up with heavy mascara and foundation she looked like a doll. It was unnatural to see Sammie look so fake, as she was the natural beauty of the group with her olive skin and black hair; she had always reminded Ariel of Tin-Tin,
"During our last few terms at Uni, Day-Mae just kept getting worse. You could see she had lost a lot of weight, and her attitude to work had slipped and her general approach to anything came across with slight aggression. She wasn't the same and we all knew something was wrong, but when we asked; she ignored us. We tried to help, and she landed herself in hospital, so she had it coming"
"WHAT?! Sammie you little bitch-"
"We'll have none of that Ariel"
Ariel practically jumped off the sofa in surprise but then settled back down when she realized who it was. She allowed Scott to join her on the sofa as she used him as a human pillow to watch the rest of the newscast,
"We're just worried about her so the sooner she we see her the better"
"Thank you Sammie. That was Sammie Belagant from New York reporting for us there"
The TV continued to talk of Ariel's suspicious hospital visit as Scott turned to Ariel,
"Day-Ma?"
"Yeah, that's who they know me as. I think only Eric and the principle know my real name in New York"
Ariel paused before continuing with a quieter voice, "I just want to live a life, with no masks or lies. To the world I'm Daisy-Mae, but to me; I'm Ariel Tracy. And the world practically knows that now anyway"
"Yes, but half of the world hasn't put two and two together yet"
"They will soon though, can't I just tell them now my real name?"
Scott pondered on the thought, and although he was fairly angry at the news reporter for identifying the relationships between all of them in a far-too-clear manner, he saw no reason as to why Ariel had to hide anymore,
"You can talk to Granddad about it; I'm not going to try fighting because I see no reason why you should be Daisy-Mae. Your old enough now that you don't need to be hidden or protected, I'm sure your big enough to look after yourself" Scott reluctantly said,
"Thanks Scott"
Ariel snuggled into Scott further but was disappointed when he moved. He did however move to reach over the back of the sofa to retrieve a bag, from what looked like a candy store,
"Here, I got you your favourite sweets and chocolate"
"Twizzle twirls and Hershey's?!"
"Ofcourse"
"Scott, I love you"
"No, you only love me because I bought you candy"
"NO! I love you because I have to"
The two shared a laugh as they ate the sugary goodness together and watched the TV till night fell. Scott switched the news back on, when he thought Ariel had fallen asleep and watched as the cameras had picked up a factory fire blazing in Florida. He looked down to his niece as he carefully monourvered her so her head rested on a cushion instead of his arm. Ariel didn't stir once as Scott left the living room and entered her hospital room, where he called Jeff in a whispered voice,
"Scott to Base, Scott to Base"
"Base receiving you Scott, how's Ariel?"
"She's doing great Dad; she should be out of here in a day or so. The meds have worked great and foods she's been eating has made her gain an extra 5th of her original body weight"
"That's good to hear, she be home soon then?"
"If you consider New York her home, than yes"
"I see. She still hasn't changed her mind about that then? Gordon explained to me. By the way, Eric is clear. Penelope read through procedures 14 to 153 with him; I don't think he'll plan on opening his mouth anytime soon"
"Poor kid, what a heavy work load. Speaking of, have they gone out to Florida?"
"Never miss a beat do you Scott? They set off about 17 minutes ago; Brains sent down the call"
"OK, who's been sent out? Half or full?"
"I've only sent out half the team, Tin-Tin hasn't been well since last night"
"Oh? What's wrong with her?"
"We don't know, she's just had a bug I guess. Alan's in 1, sorry Scott it was either him or John"
"As much as I trust John, I know he hasn't had much flight time in 1 as Alan has. So I'm assuming Virgil, John and Gordon in 2 then?"
"Well Gordon is only a sub at the moment"
Scott laughed to himself whenever Jeff mentioned Gordon being a sub. Although the job was still nerve racking, it involved more technically awareness of everything and was usually left to John to deal with; it was simply ironic that Gordon was the sub this time, given he usually drove Thunderbird 4,
"Ok Dad, well give me shout if you need me, otherwise I'll be here with Ariel"
"Will do Scott; don't get to anxious about everything. I know how you like to be on tac for everything that's happening, but try and relax this time. They know what they are doing, even if they are lacking a field commander"
"I'm suppose to be on leave, so worrying is part of the deal"
Jeff smiled knowingly towards his eldest, when a incoming call caught his attention, "I have Virgil on the over line Scott, I'll talk to you later, look after Ariel"
"I will father, Scott over and out"
Scott ended the call and headed back into the living room expecting to find Ariel in the same place, but his heart skipped a beat when he saw she missing from the room; he knew something was wrong. He launched around the room, looking in the small kitchenette, the unlocked bathroom. He didn't find her, he hit the button that would alert the nurse's and called the security guards. As he paced up and down impatiently, he watched the news channel when he saw the repeat of Sammie's report toward the end,
"We're just worried about her so the sooner we see her the better"
"Thank you Sammie. That was Sammie Belagant from New York reporting for us there"
Scott repeated the name over and over in his head,
Sammie Belagant, Sammie Belagant
Scott's eyes grew large when he recognized the last name. Just as he picked up a glass and threw it at the closest wall, 3 security guards came in with the leader stepping further forward,
"Sir, code k2?"
"Rodger, she's gone. Someone's taken her"
"Sir, no one has been passed the door. Harry and Trent have been stood there for the past 4 hours"
"You passed us early Sir when you came in here" Trent followed,
Scott didn't know what to say. He was completely lost and knew the security guards where always vigilant,
"Are you sure she didn't get past you?" Double checking,
"She would have been straight back in here otherwise Sir"
Scott walked over to the table where he found his phone; he looked at it with hope. Having seen no message from Ariel, he threw it at the same wall he had the glass. The security guards looked to one another and started relaying information down their radios. Scott wondered around the room, looking for anything to supply him with a clue as to where she'd gone. A brush of air stroked Scott's face and that's when he rocketed toward the balcony. It was only a small patio, but the door had been kept closed ever since they had been in the hospital; it was now fully open. Scott flung back the curtains and looked at how high up they,
"Shit! Where is she?! We're about 3 stories up! Rodger, get the police!"
"On it Sir!"
Rodger and his guards ran into the corridor, just as a small, sweet Jamaican nurse entered,
"What d'er is all da fuss about?"
"Tia! Ariel's gone; someone's taken her and the balcony door is open"
"Mr-da Tracy, we insured dat-that door was locked both inside and da-out!"
"We'll I'm sorry to break the news, but it didn't work. I need to talk to chief of medicine and Dr Jackie"
"Of course Mr-da Tracy, 'day will be right whid-tu. Dis-is certainly terrible news!" Tia threw her hands in the air,
"Thank you Tia"
Scott allowed the young nurse to leave in search of the doctors, as he went about calling Base and Thunderbird 5,
"Brains, come in Brains!"
"Scott? I-eh wasn't expecting you to call anytime-"
"This is an emergency Brains! Ariel's been taken from the hospital"
"Eh-what do you mean?"
"She's been kidnapped, and I have a pretty good idea who's taken her"
Scott organized his head to try and make logical sense as to his assumption,
"Can you do a global search for Ariel's tracker?"
"Scott, I didn't think that eh, Ariel has been planted with eh one"
"Gordon did it about a year ago, you where away and he was starting to get paranoid when she'd come back for the summer and she had mentioned being followed home one night"
"Right, eh Scott, scanning now"
Scott looked at the clock and calculated time zones. He needed to inform Base, but couldn't allow Gordon to find out just yet, especially as he was out on a rescue. Brian's face was clearly visible in Scott's communicator and could see the confusion sweep over it,
"It would appear she is only a 1.6 of miles out of shore; she's on a boat, travelling southward "
"What are her life signals?"
"Not good, her heart rate is slow but breathing"
"There's no possible way she could have ran to the beach in the past 5 minutes! Those bastards work quick"
Brain's nodded sympathetically as he watched the radar a little longer,
"Scott, the boat; it's eh, travelling at around about eh 70 knots"
"That's 80 miles per hour! How are they travelling so quickly?!"
"I don't eh know. What's your next action?"
"We'll to track down that boat! I need to get her back! She's still hospitalized, if she doesn't get the meds and fluids when needed, she'll end up ill again"
Scott sighed in great frustration as Brains tapped away at a couple of keyboards up in five,
"You know you eh, said you know the kidnapper? Eh who do you suspect?"
Scott linked up his ideas,
"Ariel has a friend called Sammie Belagant; she's her best friend and earlier in the news today sold a story about Ariel to the press"
"Eh Scott, I apologize for seeming eh, blunt. But eh, what has her best friend got to do with it?"
"Her last name is Belagant, ring any bells?"
Brains sat for a moment, until the sudden shock of realization hit him,
"She isn't related to him is she?"
"With a last name like that? Oh I think there is some kind of-"
Scott stopped talking when he spotted a white piece of paper on the sofa. He moved swiftly, jumped over the sofa itself and picked up the paper, to find his name written at the top,
"Brains, there's a letter!"
"What does it eh say?"
"Scott, we've played this game before; you remember? Granted I lost, I'll admit that. But this time? I'll win and do you know why? Because I know Ariel will die without medicine, and you know the deal. Give me IR's plans; all of them. Over wise, I'll just let her rot. Your precious niece means nothing to me, but you or one of your brother's would mean so much more; your choice. I'm not stupid, so I know you'll find me. Come. Do a trade, a Tracy for a Tracy. I'll wait as long as it takes, but the question is, will Ariel be able to live for that long? I could after all, just shoot her. Easy really. The less hassle there is, the more likely she'll live, that I can promise, Trangh Belagant"
Scott paused and thought through what he'd just read with Brains looking at him with a pale and shocked expression. The field commander roared in rage and threw the nearest table upside down in the blink of an eye, allowing everything on top of it to fire into different directions,
"I'm going to kill you, if it's the last thing I do Hood!"