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Scott recovered the quickest. "Virgil take Alan and go and check on Gords for me." Alan was crushed into Virgil's shoulder so he didn't see Scott flick his head towards John who was still crumpled on his knees, frozen looking at the sky. Virgil understood, he picked Alan up and trudged back to the house. Scott was worried about Gordon as well; he didn't need another family member disappearing whilst on his watch. He turned his attention to John. John was the classic quiet type who bottled his emotions. The last couple of weeks he had gone from a confident charmer who lit up a room to a recluse. Most people who knew John classed him as your classic popular kid but Scott knew he was the type that masked his true introvert qualities and came across as an extrovert which was his defense mechanism. He had barely left his room only coming out because Scott refused to keep bringing his food to him. He had tried to tell him he was there for him, that he could talk to him but for someone who adored telecommunications there wasn't much communicating now. Instead he had immersed himself in his latest dissertation, writing about his passion - a cathartic exercise. He had been conditioning himself to cope and now his dad had gone to who knows where! His whole life had disintegrated into chaos and turmoil. The last shred of control he had was slipping. Scott crouched down and place a hand on his shoulder. John just carried on staring past him, those blue eyes and good-natured smile wiped out of existence. "John" nothing. "John look at me." He didn't want to, if he did any composure he had would flee and he would be exposed. "John its ok to feel upset, it's a lot to process but we'll find him, we'll get through this; together." Scott was the embodiment of strength, his calm gentle demeanour providing a comfort that should have been coming from their father. John finally made eye contact
"He left us… how could he leave us Scott?" John looked at his hands, they were shaking.
"Dad has experienced a major trauma. The way trauma can affect people is unique, Dad hasn't found his coping mechanism yet. He's not thinking straight. We just need to give him time ok?" John sighed and stood up (That was a good sign). "What are we going to do?" John started to walk in the direction of the house, he felt a sudden strong urge not to let any of his brothers out of his sight. "Don't worry, leave the how and what ifs to me. We'll get by until we can find him. He probably just needed to get away to clear his head. He'll be back soon." Scott was lying he didn't know what to think. His thoughts were interrupted with shouting from the house. What now? Scott thought as he pushed through the back door into the kitchen.
Alan was sat at the table looking at Virgil in concern, Virgil was trying to reason with Gordon who was pacing up and down the length of the farmhouse kitchen. There was a smashed plate and glass on the floor being crushed into dust with every step Gordon took. "DON'T YOU DARE try and defend his actions!" he pointed a finger accusingly at Virgil. "He's abandoned us! How can he leave us here alone? He's not the only one fucking grieving is he!" Gordon kicked the debris some more.
"That's enough!" Scott didn't shout just used that firm authoritative tone of his that he had perfected from a young age when breaking his brothers up. With four of them he's had plenty of practice and knew getting angry himself only escalated the situation. It had only become more perfected in the time he had served. "Gordon sit down please, let's discuss what we're going to do." Scott had been rapidly pulling a plan together. He ran a hand through his hair thankful that his brother obliged and had thrown himself into a chair. Virgil's shoulders visibly relaxed - he detested confrontation. He took a seat at the table. Scott grabbed a pitcher of lemonade from the fridge and set a pack of biscuits on the table with some glasses.
"Right. For whatever reason dad has gone and our first priority is to find him. So, we need to file a missing person report we also need to see if we can get a trace on that plane but it means I need to go to the office to access that data." He looked across to Virgil. "Virgil will manage things here in my absence. I'll report in every couple of hours to give you an update. Virgil nodded; he would support his brother in any way he could.
"We need to keep this on the downlow. If the media find out he is missing then the business is likely to suffer, stocks and shares will crash, not to mention we'll get hounded. Instead I will circulate the story that our father is unwell and hopes to return to work soon once he has recovered."
"Gordon, I want you and Alan to search through all online media/news to see if get any hits on sightings of dad. John, I want you to use your skills to monitor air traffic communications, see if you can get a hit on dad's comms or any info from airports he may have stopped at. We know that plane holds enough fuel for a five hour flight. He's got to stop at some point. See if you can get a map together or a five hour radius from here and use that to determine what comms to listen for."
Gordon sat stony faced, Alan had already fired up the laptop and John nodded to accept his role.
"Good. I need to pack and get ready." Scott rose.
"What about Grandma?" asked Alan. "Doesn't she deserve to know?"
Scott paused. "She does but her husband just died and now her only son has disappeared? I think it might be too much at her age. Let's keep this between us for now, she knows dad's not up for talking yet, hopefully she will continue to give him space. She did yesterday."
This caused additional conflict. "She deserves to know what an ass her son is." muttered Gordon glaring.
"Gordon!" barked Scott.
"It's unfair Scott, she has a right to know that dad is so unwell. He needs help when we find him. Grandma could convince him." Virgil tried to reason.
"I agree with Scott there's been enough heartache these last couple of weeks. Let's give dad 48 hours and if he's not home then we tell her." John declared.
"Ok that sounds reasonable but I'll tell her ok?" Scott looked around the table. They all nodded. Scott left the room to gather some things he would need for his trip. Virgil glanced at his brothers before following into the hall. "You won't be long, will you? You know I can't keep them in line like you can." Virgil looked concerned.
Scott took him by both shoulders. "I have faith in you. You are the most perceptive of all of us to our moods and feelings, you'll be able to support them far better than I can. I promise I won't be long. Just long enough to try and track this plane ok? I've got to go now though." Virgil nodded.
"Right. I'll go and try and muster some lunch for them and get them started on the tasks you've given them." Virgil responded with more confidence than he felt.
"Great. Oh, and Virgil keep an eye on Gordon. Its unlike him to be so volatile I'm worried about him." Scott looked pained; Virgil nodded. Scott had gathered his bag, laptop, keys and phone. He ran up the stairs two at a time and grabbed his parade dress uniform. He didn't have a business suit, it would have to do. He flew down the steps and back into the kitchen stealing a ham sandwich off Virgil as he passed through. "Right, be good and listen to Virgil please. I won't be long just long enough to try and get a trace on dad ok. A night away at most." Gordon had retreated to the lounge, not even bothering to see his brother off. Alan waved and John nodded.
Scott struggled to walk out of the door; now he felt like he was abandoning his brothers but he knew his course of action was the right one. Annoyingly dad had taken the only aircraft they possessed at present. The others were located at a local airfield just outside of San Francisco where their main office was located. Jeff had been commuting via his private plane the flight only taking two and a half hours. Scott was going to have to drive to the local airport to pick up a hire plane or grab a commercial flight which would take nearer thee hours to reach the Tracy industries offices. He unlocked his sliver mustang and chucked his bag on the passenger seat before spinning out of the dusty farm driveway.