DECEPTIONS
By Spense
CHAPTER TWELVE
Tina Jorgensen lay in bed Christmas night, looking out at the winter wonderland. It was snowing once more, laying fresh powder over the already existing inches. She looked up at her husband as he came to join her, shedding his bathrobe and turning out the light.
Smiling. Trevor settled in beside her, and nestled his wife in the hollow of his shoulder, the way they'd started many a night for several years. Both watched the snow quietly in the dark, listening to the house settle as the late night grew deeper.
"Merry Christmas," Trevor said with a slight laugh, kissing her temple lightly.
"Well, if it wasn't exactly a merry day, it was eventful," she sighed. "Did you look in on Alan?"
"Yes, and he's really out," he replied.
"I'm not surprised. I don't think this is the first time he's been sick like that," she said thoughtfully, frowning. Alan had slept most of the remainder of the day, waking only when she had come to give him some dinner. He hadn't wanted to eat, but she was able to get some soup into him before he crashed again. So far, he'd kept it down.
"No," Trevor agreed. "Hence the exhaustion and the weight loss we've both noticed. Stress, no question."
They were both silent. Then into the contemplative moment Trevor said "I know what you're thinking."
Tina had to laugh. "Yes, you probably do."
"I'm going to the CPS office tomorrow and I'm going to have a chat with the judge. This is ridiculous."
"Good," Tina said firmly. "Are you sure you don't want me to go instead?"
"Actually, I'd love you to go, but you're the psychologist, and frankly, I think Alan's going to need you more tomorrow than I will. I can argue in front of a judge just as well as you can."
Tina smiled at that. "Probably better. I'd just get mad. I just don't get how Alan ended up here. That child is about as abused as our own are," she stated firmly. "You only had to look at him with Gordon to see that."
Trevor shrugged. "I agree, but playing the devil's advocate, take a look at the hearing transcripts. They're pretty damning."
"Of course they are," Tina said, irritated. "Sylvia's very good at her job. That's why she does what she does – to get kids out of dangerous situations. She could make a snake believe that it did wrong when it bit somebody about to step on it and kill it!"
Laughing, Trevor agreed. Then he sobered. "But Sylvia's not blind. So where's this information coming from? She's getting something in those investigations that have led her to the Tracy family."
"I know," Tina said thoughtfully. "I'll do some digging tomorrow."
"Great," was Trevor's comment. "And I'll make an appointment with the judge and Sylvia first thing in the morning. I want to get this kid home as soon as possible."
Tina agreed wholeheartedly. All she had to do was remember Alan curled up in her arms on the bathroom floor that morning, pleading with her to let him see his father in between bouts of sickness until he was so exhausted that he could hardly speak. It moved her to tears each time she thought about it. "Good," was all she said.
TB TB TB TB TB
Scott Tracy couldn't sleep. Not that that was anything new. Actually he never slept that much. But this was different. He couldn't sleep now because he was worried. And when he was worried, he needed to take action. So, at one in the morning, when most people were normally sound asleep, he was sifting through e-mails and computer records and all manner of electronic paper, after hacking once more into the state's child protective services welfare office. With International Rescue's equipment, he could hack into just about anything - no connection was secure when he wanted in.
So here he was, in his sitting room in the wee morning hours on Christmas night, shifting through reams of electronic documents, looking for a clue, just as he been doing for the last two nights. He knew his brothers had been doing the same. But so far, nobody had come up with anything. He was beginning to think that they were right, and he was pretty far off the mark. As worried as he was, he supposed that they could be right, and this was his way of coping. But he didn't think so.
Then doubts would creep in again as he thought about the stress of this past year. All he'd done was react, and that was just not in his programming. He wanted to be proactive. He wanted to plan, then direct the plan. That was why he was so good with Thunderbird One. He could scout, plan, then have everything in place when Thunderbird Two arrived.
Thinking of the 'Birds, he grinned. He hoped Alan liked the model and got a kick out of it. That had been fun.
The thought of Alan sobered him immediately. He'd not been able to plan at all this year when it came to Alan. Actually, that hadn't been all that unusual – just by his nature Alan tended to be the antithesis of predictable. But this year everything seemed to be on a grander scale than usual. All Scott felt like he'd done was react this year.
From the Hood taking over the island and just having to watch and wait from Thunderbird Five, then to opening his mouth and inserting his foot with his words, causing Alan to run away. Oh, now that had been good, Scott thought sarcastically to himself. Then they had always been one step behind him on that one. A reluctant grin tugged at his mouth. His little brother had been pretty good at the cat and mouse game for awhile there too. But when they finally found him, Alan had been seriously ill. Getting him through that had been no picnic either.
They'd finally all recovered from that event when John and Alan had been kidnapped. Scott shuddered. That had been pretty bad. He'd nearly lost control and pummeled one of those idiots to a point where he'd never wake up. Virgil had trusted him, but Gordon hadn't. Gordon had probably been closer to the mark.
He supposed that believing he could find a concrete solution in an abstract problem was his way of coping. And maybe his brothers were correct. But he just couldn't shake the thought that there was something more here. So he continued to stare at the computer, maneuvering patiently through mounds of minutia, hoping to find a needle in a hay stack that might not exist.
And two hours later, he found it.
TB TB TB TB TB
Jeff Tracy looked at Schaeffer's image in the vidphone at seven in the morning on December 26th. Schaeffer grinned at him. "We're on. The hearing is set with the judge at three pm. That should give you time to get here and for me to get everything together. I've requested all the players be present."
Jeff smiled tightly. "I've got to get some things together, then I'll be on my way. I'll see you in your office at about one thirty. Sooner if I let Scott fly me over."
Schaeffer laughed outright for the first time in days. This was going to be good. He was usually ferocious in a courtroom fight, and he was itching for this one. "So let him!"
"No, not this time."
From the look on his friends face, he could see that Schaeffer understood exactly what he meant. This should work, and when it did, he wanted his youngest son to himself for a while. He needed to make sure he was all right, and to see exactly what kind of aftermath they would be dealing with. Jeff was a realist, and he knew that there would be aftereffects. He'd rather assess, then be able to prepare his other sons as well. Who knew exactly how bad this would be.
"I understand. Well, I'm going to build the strongest case you've ever seen. It won't be hard," Schaeffer grinned evilly. "I'm also going to prepare a press release the likes of which you've never read."
Jeff snorted in amusement. "Have fun. See you in your offices."
"F. A. B.," Schaeffer answered, laughing at the startled look on Jeff's face. "I got a tour, remember?"
Jeff looked sour. "How could I forget?" His sons didn't often get to show off the project that was closest to them, so they had made the most of their interested audience.
TB TB TB TB TB
Trevor entered the room and looked over at Tina as she sat at the breakfast table drinking coffee. The girls had finished and were long gone on their annual day after Christmas shopping trip. Michael and Jennifer had taken Alan out with them for a walk.
Alan was aimless and seriously depressed this morning. And attempt Tina had made to talk to him had been rebuffed. So she just let him be. It would be good for him to be outside, but she had forbid him going running. She didn't like how pale he still looked. Alan hadn't even seemed to care.
"Well?" She asked.
"You won't believe it. Apparently Jeff Tracy's attorney, Schaeffer Bradley, got the judge out of bed this morning with a direct call to his home. They have new information. Apparently it was powerful enough that not only did he not disbar the man for interrupting him at home, but he also scheduled a hearing with all the CPS workers present." Trevor looked bemused.
Tina was seriously startled. That was unheard of. Especially for the child welfare judge. "Money talks?" she asked tentatively.
Trevor grimaced at her. "You know better than that. If anything, money talking would make Judge Tanner go the other way. No, something's up. I asked if I could be present as I had a petition to make in this case as well. His secretary asked me if I was petitioning to have the charges against Jefferson Tracy dropped, and I said yes. She told me I may as well be present, they could kill two birds with one stone."
Tina looked at him in amazement. "What on earth . . ."
Trevor shrugged. "We'll know this afternoon. The hearing is at three. I'm going now. I want to see what I can come up with."
"Keep me posted."
"Of course."