A/N: Sorry for the wait guys. Work's been hell with Christmas so... I've decided to give ya'll a little Christmas treat. I know Chapter 4 isn't the best, but I haven't had much time to work on it. Chapter 5 will hopefully be a little better. Anyhoo... On to the slaughter house!


That night at five-thirty exactly there was a knock on the door. Oriana quickly cleaned up her mess and was met by Virgil on the other side of the door. After brief introductions, Virgil escorted her to the dining room. There, more introductions were made as everyone sat down to yet another of Grandma Tracy's wonderful feasts. Everyone dug in almost immediately as if they hadn't eaten in days. Though everyone had polite and interesting conversations, none of them really felt at ease. It was like eating with a sibling who knew you did something wrong and was just waiting for a chance to spill the beans. Alan especially. He kept glancing over at Oriana to see if she would do or say anything even remotely suspicious. It wasn't until Virgil started up a conversation about music that Alan suddenly remembered what had puzzled him so much before.

'Of course! Why didn't I think of it earlier?' Alan thought, mentally slapping himself in the forehead. 'If she's hiding from the government, then why is she in such a public occupation like singing. She said herself she was having trouble hiding from the press. Also, she seemed to totally blow off my question on the flute. She's hiding something. I'm sure of it.' Alan munched on a biscuit as he stared at the woman who was politely laughing at one of Gordon's lame old jokes. 'I've got to talk to someone about this. Maybe Scott will have some advice. I'll talk to him and see what he thinks, then talk to dad alone. I just hope we get her out of here soon.'

Dinner continued and ended as merry as it had begun. Alan stayed behind to help Scott clear the dishes while everyone went to the lounge to relax.

"Scott, can I ask you a question?" Alan asked as they headed to the kitchen with an armload of dishes.

"Sure. What's up?"

"What do you think of that Oriana?"

Scott stopped and raised an eyebrow, looking at his little brother. "Not planning on ditching Tin-Tin for her, are you?"

Alan stopped a second then shook his head as he realized what Scott had said. "No! I'd never do that to Tin-Tin! What I meant was what do YOU think of her?"

Scott chuckled then shrugged, heading for the kitchen again.
"She's a puzzle. Washing up from out of nowhere, carrying all those IDs, and that flute... Other than that she seems normal enough to me. Why?"

"I think she's hiding something. She told me that she's a singer and a talented musician, but that she's also hiding form the government."

Scott thought on this for a minute as he started loading the dishwasher. "That's odd. Why would she be in such a public profession when she's trying to hide?"

"Exactly. She's got to be up to something."

"Did you ever think that maybe she was lying to you?"

"Well... I guess not. At least not until now."

"It could have been a sort of test, too. You know, trying to find out how long it takes for something to get around."

"Or she could have been telling a half-truth and made the rest up to throw me off!" Alan slapped himself on the forehead.

Scott looked at his brother and shook his head. "I think you've spent too much time cooped up."

"Maybe. I just can't wait until she leaves, though. I've been on edge ever since you brought her home."

Scott ruffled Alan's hair. "And I can't wait for your grey hairs to come in with all your worrying. Remember, we're International Rescue. There's no one that can hurt us, and nothing we can't handle if we stick together. "

Alan nodded and they finished loading the dishwasher and started it before heading to the lounge to join the others. When they got there, Alan suddenly found himself being hugged by Tin-Tin who had been hiding behind the wall after arriving just moments before. Scott left the two and joined Gordon on the couch to watch the news. A few minutes later Alan and Tin-Tin went to join the group. Tin-Tin was just about to ask how everything went when the newscaster started talking about the rescue earlier that day. Jeff turned the volume up so that everyone could hear.

"...Flight 169 was found and delivered by International Rescue earlier today. Local authorities have been conducting an investigation into the possible reasons of the flight's crash. According to one coroner's report, the bodies in the plane have been in the ocean for at least a week, even though it is reported that International Rescue had just received the call today. It is also reported that all but three passengers have been accounted for but that no names will be released at this time. We will continue to update you as we receive information. In other news..."

Jeff turned the TV off and faced the others.

"That's impossible! A radio signal couldn't be delayed like that..."

"Unless they were in the Bermuda Triangle!" Gordon interrupted Virgil who glared at him.

The others nodded and started to get into their own little conversations about the story. Jeff was about to say something when he noticed that Oriana wasn't talking to anyone. Instead, she was playing with her dog tags nervously. Jeff walked over to Tin-Tin and whispered something to her. Tin-Tin nodded and went over to Oriana.

"Hello Miss Oriana. I couldn't help but notice you looked a little tired. Would you like me to show you to the guest bedroom?"

Oriana nodded and got up to follow Tin-Tin. Alan watched nervously as the two women left the room. He knew Tin-Tin could handle herself if something went wrong, but he was still very uneasy about Oriana. He got so lost in thought that it too several shakes from Gordon to snap him out of it.

"Well it seems I'm not the only one who's uncomfortable about all of this," Jeff said as he watched Alan. "First this woman washes up on the island, then we get a call for help that comes from a plane that's been down for almost a week."

"Well we're going to be busy this holiday season..." Gordon half joked, but no one seemed to notice.

"No. As soon as Oriana is off the island we can stop worrying and go back to semi-normal, but while she's here I want everyone to keep an eye on her for anything suspicious. This has become a high alert situation," Jeff said.

"Well why don't we just fly her to the mainland tomorrow?" Alan asked, crossing his arms.

"What about the flute? We can't let her leave with it," Scott stated.

"True," Jeff sighed.

"But we don't know where it was going or who it was going to. If we could find those out we might be able to stop something so destructive in its tracks," Virgil said.

"We're a rescue organization, not the FBI. We can't go getting involved in things that don't concern us."

"But this does concern us, father! Earlier today we got a call for help from people who were already DEAD! What if one of the three people who are missing from the plane just happens to be this woman? What if she's the cause of the plane crash? We can't let a killer go loose!" Alan exclaimed, somewhat irritated.

Jeff went back to his desk and sat quietly in thought, then reached for the phone. A couple of minutes later a gruff voice asked who was calling.

"This is International Rescue. We were wondering if you could tell us the names of the three people who were missing from Flight 169. We think the three in question maybe be involved in some illegal activity and have to make sure it's the people we are in pursuit of."

"Uh... Sure thing! Just a second!" Sounds of ruffled papers and muffled voices could be heard for several minutes. "Here they are. Let's see, the three that were missing, according to the passenger roster are Roger White, Stacia Floring, and Michael Moore."

"International Rescue thank you for your help," Jeff said then hung up, looking at his sons.

"This mystery seems to getting more puzzling," Scott said as the others nodded in agreement.

"Tomorrow we shall have a little talk with Miss Gant. For now, I think we could all use some rest. Perhaps in the morning we will be able to shed some light on this thing," Jeff said. Everyone just nodded and left for their rooms.