Updatiing early - busy week ahead. Hope you like it. Bee
Chapter Twenty
Grandma was startled when the door to Jeff's study slid open and Virgil came out. She'd been half-asleep, jet-lagged after the flight from Europe, but she was fully alert as she studied her grandson.
"Well?" she asked, unable to tell anything from his expression aside from the fact that he looked about as tired as she felt.
Virgil shrugged. "He talked, I listened. Then I talked... I don't know, Grandma. I know he's sorry, I just don't know if we can ever put it behind us."
"What are you going to do?"
"I guess I'm staying – for now at least."
She nodded, moving towards the door as Virgil stepped away from it.
"Grandma? What are you doing?"
Ruth Tracy paused, her hand reaching out to the door's controls.
"I'm going to give my son a piece of my mind. If he really thinks he can speak to you like that-"
Virgil sighed deeply. "Don't. Please. I don't want you two fighting as well."
Grandma frowned. "I have to say something, Virgil."
"I know. But we've worked things out – kind of, anyway. Can't we just leave it at that? I'm tired of all this. If you upset him again who knows what he'll do."
She thought for a minute. Her grandson had a point. If he and his father had called a truce, however shaky Virgil seemed to think it might be, then maybe she'd better go along with it – for now at least.
"You're sure you don't want me to tell him off for you?"
Virgil managed the first genuine smile she'd seen since she'd returned. "Oh I want you to... but it's probably best if you don't. Let's see how we do for the next few days."
She nodded. "Very well. Now then, you go and get some sleep. You look tired out. I'll see you at dinner."
"You can talk," Virgil told her. "Why don't you go and have a lie down yourself?"
"I will. After I've spoken to my son."
"Grandma..."
"I'll watch my words. But we do need to talk." With that she pushed the button which opened the door. Virgil watched her walk in. For a moment he caught the expression of guilt and apprehension on his father's face before his grandmother blocked his view. As the door slid closed he decided to take Grandma's advice and get some sleep. He couldn't remember a time he'd felt more exhausted.
Jeff felt about as worn-out as his son. He was slumped in his chair trying to work out whether his conversation with Virgil had been successful or not when his study door opened again. He wasn't surprised to see his mother there, but he wished she'd chosen her moment with a little more care. He just wasn't up to facing her right now.
"Mother..."
"Jefferson."
He cringed inwardly at the sharpness of her tone. He knew there was nothing for it but to sit there and take whatever was coming. It didn't matter that he was well into his fifties, the founder of International Rescue and a billionaire, whenever he heard that particular tone of voice he was just a Kansas farm-boy once again.
Ruth Tracy just looked at her son. She knew she was making him feel uncomfortable and she couldn't help but be pleased. She might have promised Virgil she'd hold back, but her son was still going to be left in no doubt as to her feelings about all this. She remained on her feet, making it perfectly clear that she could barely stand to be in the same room as him right now. Finally she said,
"I promised Virgil I wouldn't lecture you."
Jeff started in surprise. If Virgil had saved him then maybe things weren't beyond salvation with his son after all.
"But that doesn't mean you get let off the hook," Grandma went on. "I couldn't believe what I was hearing when Virgil told me what had happened. How could you, Jeff?"
He opened his mouth to try to explain but she carried on.
"Don't! I know what you're going to say: you've been ill, you were under stress, you felt guilty..."
Jeff said nothing, though he wanted to protest that at least he hadn't used his illness as an excuse this time.
"But that's no excuse for what you said. To Virgil, too. After everything you did when he was a boy. You must have known how this would affect him."
Jeff suddenly couldn't look at her. He'd just remembered the one other time he'd felt this terrified of his mother – in the hospital after Virgil's appendix operation.
"I know," he said softly. "I don't know what came over me. There's no excuse, Mother. What I said was unforgiveable."
His misery and regret were clear and Grandma found herself agreeing with Virgil. There was no point prolonging all of this. But there was something else she needed to discuss.
"I'm worried about him," she said, finally sitting down. "I haven't seen him this troubled since he was kidnapped."
"I know. Maybe now he's back home he'll start to snap out of it. I'm going to make it up to him, you know."
"You just be careful. If you say anything else to hurt that boy – or any of them for that matter..."
"I won't. I promise. I came too close to losing him to risk it happening again."
His mother looked over at him. She'd never seen him look so broken and exhausted, at least not since Lucy died. She guessed he didn't need her to tell him how disappointed she was - he'd obviously been punishing himself enough this past week. She couldn't bear to see her son like this and her remaining anger suddenly dissipated.
"I've always been proud of you, Jeff," she said gently.
"Always?" he asked, meeting her eyes for the first time in a good few minutes, relieved at her change of tone but feeling all the more ashamed of himself as he considered her comment.
"Well, not right now," Grandma admitted. "And not when you rejected Virgil when he was little. Although that time I understood how much you were grieving for Lucy. What would she think of all this, Jeff?"
He smiled weakly. "I told Virgil she'd hate me for it. I guess everyone hates me right now. I can't blame them."
"I don't hate you, Jeff. And the boys don't either. But it's going to take a while for them to trust you again."
"I don't think I can face them," Jeff admitted. "If I hadn't needed to try to get a message to Virgil I think I'd have flown back to New York and left them to it. Maybe I should do that anyway. Give them a chance to sort everything out."
"Don't be ridiculous!" Grandma snapped at him. "You've never run away from anything. The family needs to pull together now, not tear itself apart even more. We'll start with dinner tonight."
Jeff started to shake his head but his mother was having none of it. "All of us, Jeff. Tin-Tin too - if I can get her out of her room. The sooner she starts to realise that life can go on as normal here, the sooner Bethany can go home."
She watched carefully for a reaction to this, but Jeff just rubbed his eyes and agreed.
"As soon as Tin-Tin's agreeable I'll get Beth away. Honestly mother, I'd never choose her over Virgil."
Grandma couldn't help wondering. But her son certainly seemed adamant. Rising to her feet she decided to see how the next few days went.
"Seven o'clock," she reminded him. "And if there's one word out of line..."
"There won't be," he assured her, escorting her to the door, relieved beyond measure that she'd let him off so lightly.
Before giving into her desperate need to sleep off the flight, Grandma went to find her other grandsons. As she'd expected, they were still sitting in the lounge.
"Where's Virg?" Scott asked as she came in. "Is he still in with Dad?"
"I imagine he's in his room," Grandma said. "He looked exhausted when he came out."
"How did it go?" John asked from the monitor. Grandma smiled across at him. "Hello, darling, I didn't see you there."
"Beth's in with Tin-Tin so we thought it was safe," Alan told her. "So what happened?"
"I don't know the details. I'm sure Virgil will tell you all you need to know. But it seems that he and your father have agreed to try to move on."
"That's good," Scott said.
"I want everyone at dinner tonight," she told them. "Your father will be there too and I expect you all to be civil. If this family's going to repair the damage we have to start now."
"I guess so," Gordon said. "But if Dad says anything he shouldn't..."
"He won't," Grandma assured him. "He really has been devastated by all this, Gordon. There's a big part of me that wants to make him pay for what he said, but we're not going to get anywhere if we keep bringing it up. If Jeff and Virgil are willing to put it behind them, then the rest of us have to do the same."
"Fair enough," Gordon agreed. He had to admit he was relieved that the feud seemed to be over – he didn't cope well with this kind of stress.
John broke the connection as Alan left the lounge, announcing his intention to try to talk to Tin-Tin once more. Grandma was left alone with Scott, who got to his feet muttering something about Thunderbird One.
"Wait a minute," she said. "I'm still worried about Virgil. He's not himself."
"I know," Scott said. "I hate seeing him so down."
"Keep an eye on him," Grandma said. "I know what he's like. He'll be sat at the piano for hours or shutting himself away to paint and he'll end up even more depressed. Keep him occupied, Scott. You boys have a better chance of doing that than I do. Take him out for a walk or get him into the gym. Just don't let him brood over what's happened."
Scott nodded, remembering how long it had taken Virgil to get over the trauma of his kidnapping. He doubted any counsellor would be able to help this time – Virgil would never be able to discuss the disastrous rescue or anything to do with International Rescue.
"I will." He suddenly leaned across and kissed his grandmother's cheek. "Thanks, Grandma. I've missed you."
She smiled, appreciating the gesture. Scott was usually as undemonstrative as Jeff and she treasured these rare displays of affection. She watched as he left the room, hoping that her family could finally begin to mend itself.
Despite Grandma's best efforts dinner was an awkward meal. Everyone dutifully gathered round the table, though Tin-Tin ate little and excused herself just as soon as she possibly could, whilst Brains was so nervous that he didn't even bother trying to talk. As for Jeff and his sons, everyone was just a little too polite and formal on the rare occasions they actually spoke. Only Beth seemed cheerful, though she soon quietened once she realised that no one else was in the mood for a chat.
Afterwards Alan went out to the kitchen to help Kyrano, hoping the man would be willing to pass a message on to Tin-Tin, since she had pointedly ignored him throughout the meal. Virgil announced his intention of spending some time at the piano, only for Scott and Gordon to exchange a brief look before demanding that he accompany them down to the beach. Despite his protests they dragged him away, much to Grandma's relief. She turned to her son with a few words of encouragement, but he too quickly made his escape. She sat back in exhaustion, knowing that there was a long, hard road ahead for everyone.
"Why have you brought me down here?" Virgil asked. "I've got an idea for a new tune I wanted to work on."
"How does it go?" Gordon asked. When Virgil hummed a few bars he shook his head.
"Too depressing, Virg. You can come up with something more cheerful than that."
Virgil shot him an incredulous look. "You think so?"
"Come on, Virg. Things will get better now. You're back with us and Dad's going to be bending over backwards to be nice to you. Plus Grandma will be cooking all your favourites for the next week."
"I've got something which might cheer you up," Scott said and proceeded to tell them of Penny's discoveries about Beth's employer. He called John up to join in the discussion.
"So what's Penny going to do now?" Virgil asked.
"Well she's still looking into this Davies guy, but I think she wants to talk to Aunt Caroline too."
"Why does Penny have to do it?" Virgil asked.
Scott looked at him in surprise. "Well, Penny always does the investigating... and she's the one who's convinced that there's something to find out."
"Virgil's right though," John said, thoughtfully. "I mean, if a long-lost niece can get in touch with her family, what's to stop a nephew doing the same thing? We'd probably get more out of our aunt than Penny would anyway."
Scott considered this. "You may have a point. I guess we could ask some questions a bit more easily than Penny could."
"I've got her number," John told them. "It's as good a time as any to call."
"So who's going to do it?" Scott asked.
"Well you can't, Virg," Gordon told him.
"Why? You think she'll take one look at me and want to adopt me?" There was no note of humour in his voice, however.
"Well, there is that. But you don't exactly look your best right now. You don't want to scare her into putting the phone down."
Virgil had to admit his brother had a point. It would have been interesting to see the reaction from his aunt, though, and he wondered if it would have been the same as his father's when he'd first seen Beth.
"Scott, you'll be too bossy." Gordon ignored his brother's protests. "John, you should do it," he decided. "You're the tactful one."
John looked down at himself, resplendent in his IR uniform. "You'd better give me a minute to get changed then. I just hope a call doesn't come in."
"Good point. Okay, I'll do it!" Gordon offered. "Come to think of it, I'm probably the best choice anyway."
He was right. A winning smile and an easy-going manner would be just the thing for this job.
"So what do I say?" he asked. "Do I tell her we've met Beth?"
"You better had. We don't know what Beth's told her."
"Yeah, but according to Dad she hasn't spoken to her mom in years."
"Even so, if she does turn out to be okay we'll be in trouble if we get caught out."
"Okay. Can you patch me through on my watch, John?"
"No problem."
It took a while for the vid-phone to be answered. When it was, they saw a middle-aged woman with greying blonde hair tied untidily back behind her head. She didn't look like their mother or Beth, but there was something about the set of her eyes as she smiled uncertainly at the unknown young man on the other end of the line to make them certain that this was their aunt.
"Hi, Aunt Caroline," Gordon smiled. "I'm Gordon. Gordon Tracy, Lucy's son."
Caroline's smile broadened. "Gordon? After all these years! How are you? This is a surprise. I often wonder about you and your brothers."
"I'm sorry we lost touch with you after Mom died."
A sad look passed over Caroline's face as she remembered her sister. "That's not your fault. You were little more than a baby. I know your father found things difficult. I did try to keep in touch but he seemed so lost after Lucy died and he obviously didn't want to be reminded of us."
"Well, it looks like the family is finally getting back together. We've met Beth."
He thought his aunt looked a little shocked at the mention of her daughter's name. "Beth? You've seen her?"
"Yes. She's staying with us at the moment. Dad brought her over for Christmas."
"How is she?" Caroline leaned into the vid-screen. "I haven't seen her for nearly two years. We had a fight..." She trailed off leaving Gordon to fight to hide his frustration. He'd have loved to have asked what the fight was about, but it probably wasn't a good idea. He didn't want his aunt slamming the phone down on him.
"I didn't realise," he said instead. "She didn't say."
An expression he couldn't quite fathom flickered across his aunt's face.
"No, well she wouldn't," was her only response.
"She's fine now," Gordon said slowly. "She seems happy enough. She's working at some charity in London."
"Really?" His aunt sounded surprised – and relieved.
"Well yes."
"Oh, well, that's good... It's a bit of a change from-" She broke off with a guilty smile. "I suppose she's really turned her life around, then. I've been so worried about her. She got into so much trouble when she was younger. I used to think she'd never settle down."
"What kind of trouble?" Gordon wondered if he was pushing his luck, but his aunt seemed so delighted to get news of her daughter that she couldn't stop herself talking about her.
"Oh, just stupid teenage stuff – boys, drink, you know the sort of thing. But when she was fifteen she got herself arrested for attacking some girl she thought had stolen her boyfriend. She was a real handful in those days. Then she ran off to London. I thought she'd get herself into real trouble, but if she's holding down a job now she must have sorted herself out. I just wish she'd told me about it... Gordon, I'm so glad you called. Do you think you could ask Beth to get in touch? If she wants to be reunited with her family then maybe she might want to see me again."
Gordon felt terrible. The woman looked at him with such hope and longing in her eyes that he almost wanted to confess the truth. He certainly wasn't going to tell his cousin about this conversation but he couldn't tell his aunt that. With a few empty promises to talk to Beth and to keep in touch, he ended the call.
"So," said John. "Not as pure as she makes out."
"No," Gordon agreed. "So what do we tell Dad?"
"Nothing yet," Scott said thoughtfully. "We're stuck with her until Tin-Tin says otherwise so let's not rock the boat. What do you think, Virg?"
His brother nodded. "You're right. I don't want another fight with Dad. He'll be mad if he thinks we're investigating her and we haven't really found anything out yet. Let's see if Penny can come up with something else."
The others agreed.
"I'll let Penny know what Aunt Caroline told us," Scott said. "John, your search didn't come up with any criminal record, did it?"
"No, but if she was a minor it probably will have been wiped. Although I'm sure I could trace it. I'll get onto it."
"You do that."
He pulled Virgil to his feet. "Come on, how about you go and compose something happy ready for the day she leaves. It won't be long now."
The mail plane brought a surprise for Beth the next morning. Jeff had been running over some IR matters with Scott but he stopped to call his niece into the lounge. When Beth arrived, faithfully shadowed by Tin-Tin, he presented her with a parcel.
"For me?" Beth asked, turning it over and looking at the return address. The parcel seemed to have come from a friend and fellow escort in London, but, knowing that Claire was Byron's favourite girl and remembering how he'd already used her to break the news of the fire at her flat, Beth's guess was that the parcel actually contained a new supply of the drug.
"Well aren't you going to open it?" her uncle asked.
"Oh, I'll do it later," she smiled.
"No, go on," Tin-Tin said. "I'm curious."
"Okay," Beth said, trusting Byron not to make the contents too obvious. Sure enough, inside was a box covered in Christmas wrapping paper along with a note.
Looks like you've decided to stay in the sun. I don't blame you. Here's your Christmas present, hope you like it. Love, Claire.
Beth ripped open the parcel to find a selection of cosmetics, amongst which was a small bottle which apparently contained perfume. Beth knew differently, though.
"Well, isn't that kind of her," Jeff said. "Maybe when we get back to London we can take her out to dinner. I'd like to get to know your friends."
"That would be nice," Beth agreed, thinking that now she had a good supply of the drug she wouldn't be seeing London for quite some time. She turned to Tin-Tin with a smile.
"How about a cup of coffee? Uncle Jeff? Scott?"
Jeff and Scott declined, indicating the half-full cups which Kyrano had brought them just as the mail plane had arrived. Tin-Tin agreed however and the two girls headed off to the kitchen.
"I'll get rid of that," Scott said, picking up the discarded wrapping paper and the outer cover of the parcel. John could look into this friend of Beth's, he thought. Maybe she could offer some information to help Penny shed some light on their cousin. Now that things were settling down at home he'd become a little more enthusiastic about Penny's investigation, especially after hearing what his aunt had to say. Anything which could hasten her departure had to be a good thing.
Later that afternoon, Scott, Gordon and Virgil were making their way into the house from the pool when John called in.
"Where are you guys?"
"In the lounge," Virgil told him. "Why?"
"Are you alone?"
"Yes, why?"
"I've got something to show you. You're sure no one else is around?"
"Beth's in with-"
"I don't just mean Beth. Grandma? Kyrano? Are they in the kitchen?"
Scott frowned, wondering what was going on. "No one's here, John. Grandma's cleaning Alan's room – that should take her at least an hour and Kyrano's out in the garden. There's only us here."
"What about Alan?"
"He's down with Dad and Brains talking about Thunderbird Three. Why?"
John wondered whether to suggest they called their youngest brother then decided it might be best to leave it.
"Go to the computer. I've got something to show you."
Curiously, the three brothers gathered round. Whatever they might have been expecting to see, it certainly wasn't the image of a barely-clothed woman apparently advertising an escort agency.
"Okay, Johnny..." Scott said warily. "Maybe you're spending a bit too much time alone on Five. Why exactly are we looking at this?"
"I don't mind," Gordon said enthusiastically.
"Guys, meet Claire," John said.
There was a bemused silence for a moment before Virgil asked, "Who's Claire?"
"Beth's friend. The one who sent her the present."
"Oh. Right. Well, if Beth stays maybe she could invite her over..." Gordon hadn't taken his eyes off the screen.
"That's not all," John announced, remotely directing the computer to another page on the site. The montage of photographs here was somewhat more explicit. Scott knew he should be checking to make sure no one else was around, but found he couldn't drag his eyes away.
John waited for a moment to see if any of his brothers had spotted what he'd seen. When the minutes ticked by and none of them said anything, still staring wide-eyed at the screen, he gave up.
"I guess you didn't see it?"
"I'm seeing plenty," Virgil said vaguely.
There was a storm of protest as John closed the link. Then he put up an enlarged version of one of the photos in the montage.
"Now do you see?"
Scott swore as Virgil suddenly kicked his chair away from the desk and jumped to his feet. Gordon however continued to gaze dreamily at the image. "What?" he said, oblivious to whatever it was which had got his brothers so worked up.
"The girl on the left," Scott told him.
"Mm. Very nice," Gordon agreed.
"Gordon," John said sharply. "Look at her."
"I am looking."
"Her face, Gords."
"Her face? What? Oh... Oh! Guys, that's... that's..."
"Beth," John said triumphantly.
For a moment there was silence as they tried to digest the fact that their cousin worked for an escort agency. Then the silence was broken as Virgil started to laugh manically.
"Virg?" Gordon asked. "You okay?"
"After all this... Dad thinks she's so perfect... and all the time..."
Scott and John exchanged concerned glances.
"Virg, stop it, it's not funny."
But Virgil couldn't stop.
Outside the lounge Grandma paused as she heard the sound of laughter. Smiling when she realised it was Virgil, she debated leaving the brothers alone – they'd obviously taken her advice about bringing him out of his depression to heart and whatever they were doing was certainly effective - but then curiosity got the better of her. She just had to peek in and see just what was so funny.
The smile was wiped off her face when she saw the image on the computer screen.
"Boys!"
Jeff would have recognised the look on her face from the time when he was seventeen and she'd caught him in the barn with Cassie Flanagan. But her four grandsons had never experienced that particular expression of horror and fury before and they immediately froze, though Virgil still couldn't quite get himself under control, a few almost hysterical laughs making their way past the hand he'd clapped over his mouth.
"What on earth do you think you're doing?" she asked. "Scott, I know I told you to do something to take Virgil's mind off things, but I never expected you'd think of something like this."
"It's not what it looks like Grandma..."
"Really?"
"No, Grandma, look."
Grandma shot Gordon a disgusted look. "I've no wish to see anything like that! Now get rid of it before I call your father and tell him what you've been using his computer for."
"Grandma," John said calmly, "I really think you need to take a look at this girl."
Something in his voice got to her and, steeling herself, she turned back to the screen. Her hand went to her heart and she gasped.
"Here, sit down," Scott said, guiding her into a chair.
"It's Beth, Grandma," Virgil told her, somewhat unnecessarily.
"Yes," Gordon said excitedly. "John found her on an escort site. Our cousin's a... a..."
He paused, trying to think of a word which wouldn't offend his grandmother. She beat him to it.
"A whore!" she said coldly.
"Looks that way," Scott agreed.
"How did you find out?"
John explained how, once Scott had passed on the name and address of the girl who'd sent Beth the Christmas present, he'd checked her out, not really expecting to find anything useful. But he'd soon picked up a trail and it had been a fairly easy task to find her web page and follow that through to the escort agency.
"So I had a look at the pictures and I found Beth," he finished.
Grandma refrained from pointing out that he'd have to have been looking very closely to spot the shot of Beth.
"She's not one of the girls they've got available now," John told them. "But maybe she used to work for them. We can find out."
"What do we do now?" Virgil asked. "Do we tell Dad?"
"Not yet!" Grandma said sharply, much to her grandsons' surprise. "Be absolutely sure of this, boys, before you say anything to your father. If you've got this wrong he'll never forgive you."
Virgil wondered how anyone could be mistaken given the pose Beth was adopting, but he agreed with his grandmother that they had to be certain. He wasn't entirely sure how his father was going to take the news.
Grandma glanced back to the screen and shuddered. "Turn that thing off!" she ordered and Scott did so.
The sound of approaching footsteps made them all jump, but it was just Alan. He came to an abrupt halt at the sight of three of his brothers plus his grandmother huddled around his father's desk, along with John transmitting from Five.
"Just as well I'm not Beth," he remarked, then registered how flustered they were all looking. "What's going on?"
"Well, funny you should mention Beth," Gordon began before a nudge from Grandma stopped him.
"I think Scott might handle this a little more tactfully, Gordon," she told him, much to his indignation. However he stopped talking and turned to his oldest brother.
"We've found something out about her," Scott started.
"Oh? I didn't know you were looking," Alan said, glancing between his brothers. "Why were you checking her out?"
"Well originally we were worried that she might be here to find out about International Rescue. Although we gave up on that idea a while ago. But a few more things have come to light and it seems she's not the girl we thought she was." Scott told Alan what they'd found out. But it wasn't the news about Beth which bothered him.
"Why didn't you tell me you were suspicious of her?"
"We thought there should be someone who could be completely natural around her. And we didn't want to worry you until we were sure about it."
"But you all knew. You shut me out. Don't you trust me?"
"Alan-"
"Shut up, Scott! Stop treating me like a kid!" Alan finally snapped. He'd been having a hard enough time of it these past few days with Tin-Tin having lost all faith in him. To discover that his brothers had been hiding something from him for weeks just made him feel all the more hopeless and isolated.
"I'm sorry," Scott said, genuinely shocked at his brother's fury.
Alan ignored the apology, which was echoed by his other brothers. Instead he paced around the room, getting more and more agitated. Grandma stepped forward to catch his arm but he shook her off, ignoring his brothers' angry protests.
"Leave me alone! They even told you. Why not me?"
"Alan, we really thought there was nothing to worry about."
"But you're still checking her out."
"Well, that's Penny, really. I'm going to have to apologise to her, you know. She said there was something wrong but I didn't really believe her."
Alan suddenly stopped. "Does this have anything to do with what happened to Tin-Tin?"
"What? No, of course not." The thought hadn't even occurred to Scott.
"Are you sure?"
"Alan, Tin-Tin was just unlucky. She was on her own in an isolated place..." Virgil trailed off. He'd been going to point out that if Alan hadn't been busy in the bar with Beth then he'd have been there to meet his girlfriend on time and nothing would have happened. But he knew how that would make Alan feel. His brother guessed what he'd been about to say, though.
"Are you saying it's my fault?"
"No! Come on, Alan. It was just one of those horrible random things that happen sometimes."
"I can't believe you guys. You let me babysit her without telling me she could be up to something?" Alan glared at his brothers. "I wouldn't have dreamed of having a drink if I'd thought she might be trouble. I'd never have been late meeting Tin-Tin."
"Alan!" Gordon was surprised when his brother ignored him, turning on Virgil.
"I suppose you did it on purpose?"
"What?"
"Saved Tin-Tin."
"What? You're not making sense, Alan."
"Oh, it makes perfect sense. You had to play the hero, didn't you, just so Dad would love you again."
Virgil stared at him, too shocked to answer.
"Alan," Scott butted in, "Come on, do you really think Virg would want Tin-Tin to get hurt?"
"I didn't think my brothers would treat me like this either. You should have told me, Virgil, I should have been the one to save her."
He stormed out leaving his brothers shell-shocked.
"Well," Gordon finally said. "That went well..."
"Yeah," Virgil said. "I finally make it up with Dad and now Alan hates me."
"He doesn't hate you," Grandma said. "He's just upset."
"Where do you think he's going?" John asked. "You don't think he's going to talk to Tin-Tin do you?"
The others looked at each other in alarm.
"If he goes in there and blurts out everything who knows what will happen," Gordon said. "As much as I'd like Beth gone I don't want Tin-Tin to get upset."
"Come on," Grandma said. As all three of her grandsons went to follow her she turned around.
"Virgil, Gordon, you two had better stay here. I don't think Alan wants to see you right now, Virgil, and Tin-Tin isn't going to want everyone barging in. Scott, you come with me."
"Good luck," Gordon said before throwing himself down on the couch. "Come on, Virg. Alan will calm down. He didn't mean it."
Virgil sat down heavily. He didn't think he could cope with much more.
"Hey you two," John said suddenly. "I hate to say it but you'd better be ready for a callout. There's a power plant in Los Angeles which has caught fire. They're asking us to stand by just in case the locals can't handle it."
"Great," Gordon said. "Like we haven't got enough of an emergency going on here at home. Come on, Virg. Let's go and check the 'birds are ready."
Now that she had a plentiful supply of Byron's drug, Beth decided to go for broke. She'd given Tin-Tin an extra-strong dose, planning to work the conversation round to those heroic men at International Rescue, then see what happened. Tin-Tin had just finished her coffee when the door flew open with no warning and Alan stormed in.
"Get out, Alan!" Tin-Tin said. "I'm talking to Beth."
"Yeah, well," Alan said directing a look of such contempt at his cousin that she was totally taken aback. "You wouldn't want to talk to her if you knew what she was really like."
Beth froze. What did he know? Had Lady Penelope managed to penetrate the false history Byron had established for her?
"Ask her about what she does for a living," Alan told Tin-Tin. "Ask her why her picture's on the website for an escort agency in London."
"What?" Beth couldn't believe it. She'd insisted that any pictures of her be removed when she'd left the agency. How had one been missed?
Tin-Tin stared at Alan. "You're lying."
"No I'm not. Look at her. You can see by her face I'm telling the truth."
Stunned, Tin-Tin turned to look at Beth who was frantically trying to think of a way out of this. "Beth?"
"It's not what you think. Really. You must believe me, Tin-Tin. Please, let me explain." Hoping desperately that the drug had had a chance to take effect, Beth stared pleadingly at the other girl. "Please, send Alan away and I'll tell you all about it."
For a moment she thought Tin-Tin was going to refuse. Then she turned to Alan, telling him to get out.
"But-"
"Get out, Alan!" Tin-Tin pushed him back through the door, operating the locking mechanism once it had slid shut.
"Thank you," Beth said, not having to fake the tremor in her voice. She thought fast. What excuse could she find to keep Tin-Tin on her side? Then it came to her. "Sit down, Tin-Tin."
Tin-Tin remained where she was, a look of total confusion on her face. "Is it really true?"
"Yes, but I haven't worked there for a long time. You see... when I was fifteen... my stepfather..." Beth appeared to choke back a sob before looking back up at Tin-Tin. "What nearly happened to you... well, I know what it's like. It happened to me. I mean it really happened."
Tin-Tin came slowly over to her. "Your stepfather?"
Beth let the tears flow, thankful once again that she could cry so easily. "It went on for a year. My mum didn't believe me. When I was sixteen I ran away, but I didn't have any money and all I could do was... Anyway, I ended up working as an escort. I hated it, every single minute. I hated myself." She knew she was getting through to Tin-Tin when the girl put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"I managed to get a bit of money together and as soon as I could, I got out of that life. I found a job, a flat. It was a struggle to get by but at least I could respect myself again. You have to believe me, Tin-Tin. I'm so ashamed. How could I admit what I used to be?"
"I understand," Tin-Tin told her. She jumped at the sound of a knock at the door followed by Grandma's voice calling her. Ignoring her, she turned back to Beth.
"I suppose everyone knows," Beth sobbed. "I've dreaded this happening. I know I've lied to you, I'm so sorry. When I got in touch with Uncle Jeff I felt that I'd turned my life around completely. I thought maybe I could find my family and be myself again. I should have known I'd never escape the past. I suppose they'll want to send me away now. I don't blame them either. I hate myself, I don't blame you for hating me too."
"I don't hate you," Tin-Tin told her. "It wasn't your fault."
"Really?" Beth asked hopefully. Was she really going to be able to pull this off?
"Really." There was another, louder knock at the door and Tin-Tin guessed that would be one of the Tracys. "You stay here. I'll sort them out."
"But I'll never be able to face them. Maybe it's better if I go..."
"Don't say that! I need you here. No wonder you were so kind and understanding. I'm just sorry I made such a fuss – what happened to you was far worse."
Beth began sobbing again, hiding her face in her hands as she smiled. Tin-Tin hugged her before getting up and going to the door.
Scott and Grandma had arrived outside Tin-Tin's room to find Alan glaring at the door.
"Did you tell her?" Scott asked, hoping his brother had had second thoughts before revealing his discovery to Tin-Tin.
"Yes. But she threw me out. How can she stand to be in there with that...that... her?"
No one had an answer for that. First Grandma then Scott tried to get Tin-Tin to open up. They'd almost given up hope and Scott was about to call Brains to get the code to override the door when it suddenly opened and Tin-Tin stood before them, a look of pure fury on her face.
"Tin-Tin?" Grandma asked.
"In the studio. Now. All of you."
"Dad and Brains too?" Scott asked, uncertain where this was going.
"Do they know?"
"Not yet."
Tin-Tin glared at him. If she had her way they were never going to know. "Then leave them be. Come on. Call Virgil and Gordon."
Scott did as he was asked, meekly following the girl down the corridor.
Five minutes later everyone was gathered in the studio. Tin-Tin refused a seat, glaring at the assorted Tracys in front of her.
"I've talked to Beth. It's a pity you didn't ask her about it before charging in making accusations."
This brought a storm of protests.
"Tin-Tin, we saw-"
"I don't want to know what you saw, Gordon!"
"Sweetheart, I know it's a shock but-"
"I'm thinking perfectly clearly, Mrs Tracy."
"We've got proof, honey," Scott said gently. "Whatever she's told you is a lie."
Tin-Tin looked at him coldly. "So you think she denied it?"
"Well, yes..."
"Well you're wrong. She admitted it."
"She did?" Scott couldn't hide his surprise.
"Yes. And you know what? I don't care!"
"What?"
"Do you know what her life was like when she was growing up, Scott? Do you?"
"Well, I know she had a hard time of it..."
"You don't know the half of it. She had no choice."
Grandma laughed. "Really, dear-"
"Really! If you knew what she'd been through you wouldn't be so quick to condemn her."
"And what-"
"I can't tell you. I won't betray any confidences. You'll just have to trust me on this. Yes, she's done wrong, and she's more ashamed than you could imagine. But she's put it behind her. She's turning her life around and you have no right to condemn her because of what she's done in the past."
"She lied to us."
"Of course she lied to you, Alan. What was she supposed to do?"
"But she was an escort."
"I don't care what she was. She's my friend. I like her. More than I like any of you right now. So what if she did something bad in the past? That doesn't mean she can't change."
"But-"
"Anyway, who can blame her for lying? You're all so perfect, aren't you? Of course you wouldn't have wanted anything to do with her if you knew about her past. She's been so good to me these past few days. I need her here. I want her to stay!" Tin-Tin glared around the room at them all, challenging them to defy her.
"I'm not sure Jeff will feel the same way," Grandma told her. She couldn't help wondering though. If Tin-Tin still wanted Beth to stay after all this, she couldn't help thinking that her son, as appalled as he might be to learn the truth about his beloved niece, might also be persuaded to forgive her.
"Well I'm sure that when you tell him he'll understand. He feels bad enough about abandoning her when she was a child as it is. And if he hadn't then she might not have ended up like this. More than likely he'll blame himself. He'll certainly forgive her for lying, just like I do."
No one tried to counter that argument. They all had a sneaking suspicion that Tin-Tin might be right.
"How did you find out anyway?"
"We've been checking up on her for a while," Virgil told her. "We thought she might be here to find out about International Rescue."
Tin-Tin laughed. "She must really be something special then. Secret agent, escort... Maybe she can take over from Penny if she's that good a spy. Don't be so ridiculous! She's never even mentioned IR. Has she?"
"No, but..."
"Exactly. I can see why you might want to get back at her, Virgil, but the rest of you should know better. She's your cousin, surely that counts for something?"
"Alan wasn't in on it," Scott pointed out, hoping he could at least save his brother's relationship. This really wasn't going the way he'd hoped.
Tin-Tin looked around at them steadily, ignoring Alan's eager expression.
"I want Beth to stay. I don't want her humiliated. Whatever she's done in the past I don't care. I'm sure your father won't care either. But neither of us will ever forgive any of you for not trusting our judgement if you don't drop this right now."
"Tin-Tin, if she's lied about this then who's to say the other things she's told us are true?" Scott said gently. "We've learned there's something shady about the place where she works."
"You can't let it go, can you? Do you have any proof that she's up to something?"
"No..."
"And how long has Penny been looking into this?"
"About a week."
"Well there you are, then. If Penny hasn't been able to get anything on Beth in that amount of time, there's obviously nothing to find out." She frowned suddenly. "Have you told Penny?"
"Not yet."
"Then don't! Seriously, Scott. Tell her to back off and leave Beth alone."
"You know Penny won't give up until she's satisfied she's found out everything."
"It's not fair, Scott. Beth wanted this kept a secret. Who else are you going to tell?"
"I-"
"After all, we've all got our secrets, haven't we? It's not as if we've been honest with her since she got here, is it? How many lies have we told her?"
Virgil stared at her. He couldn't believe this was really Tin-Tin standing in front of him. What on earth did Beth do to people to make them so quick to defend her? He had a feeling there was something he was missing...
Then John cut in and Virgil forgot all about Beth.
"We've got a call, guys. That power plant's in trouble."
"Does Dad know?" Scott asked.
"He's on his way to the lounge. Tin-Tin?"
Everyone stopped and turned to look at her. "I'll get Beth down here."
"I'll come with you," Grandma offered.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Mrs Tracy. I don't think you'd really want to be around Beth right now and I need to tell her that everything's going to be alright."
Grandma looked doubtful but Alan pulled her away. He was desperate to make things up with Tin-Tin and he'd decided that if supporting her when the rest of his family were against her was the way to go, he'd do it. He was still annoyed with his brothers for leaving him out.
"She's right, Grandma. Leave them alone."
Tin-Tin flashed him a suspicious look, well aware of what was going on in his head, but Grandma had already decided that maybe it would be better if she kept her distance. She didn't trust herself to hold her tongue. Cursing the timing of the rescue, she followed her grandsons slowly to the lounge.
Tin-Tin found a nervous Beth waiting in her room.
"What did they say?" she asked, wondering if she was going to be instructed to pack her bags.
"Don't you worry. They're not going to say anything."
Beth looked at her in surprise. "Honestly?"
"Honestly. Come on, Beth. Let's go and have a chat."
"Can't we talk here?"
"Well the studio is soundproofed..." Tin-Tin was aware how feeble the excuse suddenly sounded. As if they hadn't had some frank discussions in this very room...
For her part, Beth had already guessed this was another rescue. Wondering if this was the only reason her cousins weren't packing her off home, she decided the time had come to take a risk. Tin-Tin was still heavily drugged and obviously on her side.
She rolled her eyes. "The studio again? Honestly, Tin-Tin, why do you keep dragging me off to that place? I swear, sometimes I think you're just getting me out of the way for some reason."
Tin-Tin stopped. She wasn't sure she'd convinced everyone to keep quiet about Beth. She was still worried that her confidant would be forced away from her. She knew Beth's stay on the island had only been extended temporarily. Beth would have to go back to her miserable life in London and maybe she'd never see her again. How on earth she could have distrusted Beth so much when she first arrived, Tin-Tin didn't know. She could quite understand how Jeff Tracy hadn't wanted to lose her. But they were both going to have to give her up. Unless...
"Where are you going?" Beth asked as Tin-Tin moved to the left-hand corridor. "The studio's that way."
Instead Tin-Tin led her out through a side door and onto the terrace which bordered the house. Beth wondered what was happening. Maybe it wasn't a rescue after all. But if Tin-Tin was about to do what she thought she was...
Tin –Tin came to a spot overlooking the pool. Her watch vibrated, asking her if she'd got Beth safely out of the way. For a moment she hesitated. She couldn't quite believe what she was about to do. But why not? Wasn't today the day for revealing secrets? Anyway, Beth was starting to suspect something was up. Once she told the others they'd get rid of her right away. Why should she have to give up the only person she really wanted to have around? If Beth knew about International Rescue then she'd be able to stay on the island for as long as she liked. And her cousins would have to accept that she wasn't any kind of threat. They'd just have to forget about her past and give her a real chance to move on. She'd be doing them all a favour, bringing them all back together. Her hand shook a little as she pressed the button on her watch which told Jeff Tracy that Beth was down in the studio, but there was no doubt in her mind that she was doing the right thing.
"What's going on?" Beth asked as a grating sound came from the pool. As she watched, the whole pool began to slide away. "Tin-Tin?"
Then there was the roar of an engine and suddenly the ground shook as a silver rocket emerged from the hole where the pool had been.
Beth had been practising a suitable expression of amazement for use when she discovered the Thunderbirds. But there was no need to fake anything – the look of awe on her face as she watched Thunderbird One shoot up into the sky was totally genuine.
"Was that...?"
"Yes. Look over there." Tin-Tin pointed over towards the sea. And so Beth saw the launch of Thunderbird Two. She clutched the balcony railing, unable to believe her luck. This was more than she'd ever hoped for. She'd expected to have to work hard to uncover the family secret little by little, but Tin-Tin had just handed it to her on a plate.