I groan as I turn over, covering my eyes with my arm. I'm not sure what woke me but now I'm awake there's no going back. Weak sunlight is filtering in through the curtains that have been drawn since the day we arrived and it takes all my strength to pull my body from the soft mattress. I run my hand through my hair as I walk out into the living room. The whole place is eerily quiet – it makes me feel uneasy. I look over my shoulder, conscious of the fact that this is perfect territory for the terrible two to strike, but nothing seems out of place. I yawn and head over to the desk that has become a dumping ground for daily newspapers, print outs, magazines – anything and everything. I reach out to pick up the remote for the TV but instead touch an empty desk. I look down and notice the remote is right next to my hand. Most people would just dismiss this as still being half asleep but after so many years of getting up at odd times of the night to look after siblings or answer rescue calls, I know it's not that. I also know the TV remote was definitely at the corner of the desk, not askew. Virgil has a mild form of OCD – lets just leave it at that. I think back to before I fell asleep. Next door's door closing. What if it wasn't next door? What if it was our door? My heart starts to thud. Someone was in here. Rooting around – but what were they looking for? If it wasn't for the fact that the TV remote wasn't in it's correct place I'd never have known – the place is a pig sty. I drop the remote and spin on my heels, racing back into the bedroom to change my clothes.

As I run out of the hotel, my thoughts drift back to our irritating new friend. What if he was the one in the hotel room? What did he find when he was there? I know dad's had some stuff sent over from Tracy Industries to look through but that wouldn't interest him would it? Brains has been working on repairing 5 and I know he contacts dad every other day to tell him about progress but that's normally done over the vid phone. Apart from a few emails and business proposals, we don't have many personal items in the hotel room. Most things are at the hospital in a desperate effort to brighten the place up. So what was he looking for? And has he come to the hospital?

I skid around the corner and grab onto the door frame of Abby's room, trying to slow my breathing and my heart rate down so I don't alarm anyone. I take a deep breath and force myself to walk slowly into the room. Abby's awake and is watching a comedy show with Gordon and Alan. John's on his laptop, probably talking with Brains and Virgil is looking over some stuff for Tracy Industries with dad. Everything's so ordinary. Abby tears her gaze away from the screen and grins at me.

"Scott!" I plaster a smile on my face, conscious of the fact that it looks fake.

"You alright munchkin?" I ask, ruffling her hair and jabbing Alan gently in the ribs to get him to move up.

"Yup. Are you alright Scott?" Damn, she's been spending too much time with John.

"I'm fine. Why?"

"You look weird. And you sound like you've just run a marathon. What happened?" Definitely spending too much time with John.

"Nothing for you to worry about Abby." I look around for a different subject. "No popcorn?" Alan shakes his head.

"She can't keep anything solid down. We did have a big bowl but I felt bad eating it when she couldn't. I don't think Gordo was impressed though." I smile and ruffle his hair. When did the kid become so considerate of other people's feelings?

"I told him I didn't mind but he insisted." Abby said, glaring at Alan. I get the feeling there was a long discussion about this earlier.

"Yeah which meant that I couldn't eat it either." Gordon grumbles from the other side of the bed.

"Yes you could – it's only because guard dog Alan said no that you didn't. Anyone would think you were scared of him." Abby teases.

"If you weren't already in the hospital bed..." Gordon says, jabbing her arm.

"Alright children." I say, rolling my eyes. I stand up and leave them to watch their programme and walk over to where the others are sitting.

"Dad, can I have a word?" I ask quietly, trying to not draw any unnecessary attention to myself. Dad looks up, confusion in his eyes.

"Sure Scott. Lets go get a coffee. Any one else want one?" John nods and Alan puts his hand in the air making dad shake his head.

"Nice try sport." He calls. Alan shrugs.

"Worth a shot."

I walk down to the canteen, explaining the problem to dad. His face tightens with every word and by the time we've reached the vending machine, our faces are mirror images of horror.

"That's supposed to be a secure hotel." Dad says quietly, his anger evident.

"I know. I'm sorry dad I should have realised."

"No Scott, don't apologise. You were exhausted – you had no way of knowing and I don't expect you to have known."

"So we're running with the theory it was our good reporter friend?"

"I think it's the only possible theory." He says nodding.

"Do we tell them?" I ask thinking of the smiles on my three youngest siblings faces.

"I think we have to Scott. You saw what happened last time we tried to keep something from them and how well that turned out. We'll tell them after they've watched their TV show. Let them have a break from all of this for a while." I knew that by 'them' we were talking about Abby and I knew that dad was counting on the fact that she would fall asleep afterwards so he won't have to tell her yet. Me and my dad think alike a lot of the time – it's one of the reasons we work so well together, both in and out of the field. I nod and we start walking back towards the hospital room. Dad's phone buzzes in his pocket and he shoots an apologetic look at a nurse who glares at him. Dan gave him permission to keep his phone on as long as it was on silent and it was only used in emergencies. Not all of the nurses knew that apparently.

"Hello? Penny, hi. How's it going?" I study him, watching to try and decipher what's going on.

"You have? That's great...oh. Okay, that's not so great. What are you going to do? If you think that's the only way Penny then I'll trust you. Let me know if there's anything I can do. Thanks Penny. Bye." He clutches his phone in his hand and takes a deep breath, closing his eyes.

"Dad? What's wrong?"

"The ex-trainee Amy Hilton? She's refusing to co-operate. Lady Penelope doesn't think her brother has something to do with this after all but until she starts talking, we're still in the dark. Penny wanted to know how far I wanted to push her."

"All the way?" Dad nods.

"All the way Scott."

So Scott's okay - for now... What did our reporter want now? What was he looking for? What will Abby say when she hears what happens at the hotel and what methods does Lady P have in mind to get Amy to talk? Stay tuned... xx