Saving Alan Chapter 14
The FBI had officially taken over the case. Jeff felt better about this transition anyhow, as he had a number of close acquaintances within the FBI.
The true break in the case, however, came from John. It was Wednesday afternoon, Alan had been missing for nearly 24 hours and the rest of the Tracy family was running entirely off of coffee and adrenaline, barely managing to hold themselves together. Jeff was busy gathering money to make the ransom drop, in the event they couldn't find Alan sooner. Scott and Virgil were doing everything in their power to try and unscramble the encryptions from the video message that had been sent earlier. Gordon was working with Lady P to try and analyze the content of the video itself, hoping that there would be some clue as to a location. Meanwhile, John continued to chip away at Smith's personal history. He had managed to run background on all of Smith's known family members. A most interesting hit came from a second cousin of Smith's who had died some twelve years before. It seemed that a dead man had managed to make a purchase of some land in Vermont. When they prodded further they found that the account that had been used had received cash deposits that coincided with the mysterious cash withdrawals Smith had made from his own account. Smith had been smart, but not nearly smart enough.
They gathered a number of maps of the area, and with their invaluable technology they were even able to dig up the blueprints to the cabin. With the help of the FBI, they planned their rescue. The cabin was located in the middle of a forest, which would provide them with plenty of cover, it was a single floor design with very few rooms. The FBI insisted that since the Tracy family were civilians they ought to stay back and let the agents do the dirty work. This wasn't going to happen, all of the Tracys knew, but they weren't about to waste precious time by arguing that fact. Instead they falsely agreed to wait along the safety perimeter while the agents sought out their baby brother.
The plane ride was quick and spent largely strategizing. Jeff struggled to keep his focus, only thinking about holding his son once again. When it seemed as though they had strategized as much as they could and planned the very best for all eventualities, the Tracy family did something that they hadn't done in years; they gathered together and prayed. They held each other as they petitioned God to keep their youngest safe. Normally the light hearted prankster of the group, it was Gordon who broke down first. That's what really caused the rest of the family to ultimately dissolve into tears themselves. They had been so desperate to find Alan that they had spent all their energies throwing themselves into research. But there on the jet, all they had left was to hope and pray. It was wrong to see Gordon's face lined in exhaustion and pain. He was the one who kept them all sane in the worst of situations. Every time they were on a disastrous rescue, whenever the world was imploding around them, it was Gordon who cracked a little joke to jolt them back to reality. It was Gordon who made them smile despite themselves. He kept them positive and thinking optimistically. Now he was weeping bitterly, outright begging God to protect his brother, and they all lost it.
Soon enough, though, it was time to collect themselves. As the jet landed they separated into groups and sped off in the cars that were waiting for them. The ride to the woods was a short one and they found themselves surrounding the small cabin in no time at all.
Smith had thought things were going well, all things considered. His first ransom video had gone off without a hitch. The boy had been unconscious for the most part, which was for the best, as his very presence irritated Smith beyond control. Unfortunately, now he was awake, struggling against his restraints, being all around annoying, and Smith was doing his best to keep his temper in check and injure the brat as little as possible. He had one more video to send, where he would give out instructions on where and how to make the drop off. The boy had to stay alive at least that long so that he could provide proof of life. After that he would make him suffer. Until then Smith was going to have to restrain himself. The brat had very nearly suffocated after the last video when Smith had failed to remove the gag from his mouth in a timely manner. It wouldn't do for the brat to screw up his plans by dying too soon.
A sound outside the cabin door startled him from his reverie. There were plenty of animals in the woods, of course, but this sounded suspicious. Smith grabbed his gun off of the table next to him and crept up to the window. He slowly pulled back the blackout curtain, just enough to get a good view of the surrounding area. At first glance it seemed clear, but just as Smith caught a glimmer of movement out of the corner of his eye, the door to the cabin burst open.
In a split second the cabin was surrounded. Smith barely had time to think as three different guns pointed at his head. Of all the things he had accounted for, he simply hadn't expected they would ever be able to track him down at the actual cabin. This was all going to end before he got his due money, before he finally had his revenge on Tracy, it wasn't fair. He wasn't going to go to prison, and he wasn't going to die without putting Tracy in his place. He raised his gun to shoot the Tracy spawn, but didn't get a solid aim before three shots were fired back at him. As bullets flew through the air Smith hit the ground lifelessly and Alan Tracy slumped in his seat.
The Tracy family had given the FBI the opportunity to enter the cabin first. They were keeping themselves as restrained as they could. But at the sound of gunfire they all sprang into action. It was Scott who reached the cabin door first, just as agents were surrounding a limp figure in a chair. Scott pushed through the chaos and came to his baby brother's side. His face was a mess, that he had expected from seeing him on video earlier, but what he had not expected was the blood soaking his shirt, a fresh bullet hole near his clavicle. He took off his own shirt to try to stem the bleeding. He was vaguely aware of his father rushing in just behind him. An agent found the keys to the restraints that held Alan in place, and Jeff held Alan's head against his chest as he spouted words of comfort over and over. Scott wasn't sure if the words were meant to reassure Alan or himself. But Scott simply held the shirt to Alan's wound for dear life.
In all the chaos, one moment of clarity broke through as Alan looked up at Jeff and Scott and mumbled, "I didn't think you'd come." With that he shut his eyes and fell unconscious.