CONSEQUENCES
BY SPENSE
Chapter Ten
For Alan, with no knowledge of the events taking place on Tracy Island, the days went on as usual. He put his considerable intelligence, not to mention inherited Tracy stubbornness into figuring out how to get out of the clinic. This included feeding some small snippets of real information to the Psychiatric.
Surprisingly, this had an interesting effect. Against all odds, he was finding out how informative a counseling session could be, and found himself delving far deeper into his relationship with his brothers than he'd ever intended. In return, he was getting some rather helpful advice and tools in dealing with said issues. Although he wouldn't ever admit it out loud to anybody, he was definitely seeing some benefits.
All that aside, Alan hadn't forgiven has family one iota. He knew where he stood in the Tracy hierarchy, and regardless of the help he was gleaning, it didn't change the basic tenant that he was, in fact, in the way and not wanted.
- - TB - -
On the other hand, back at the island, Jeff was also dealing with some of his own issues. He was finding that his presence in the hunt for the Hood was rather superfluous, and it wasn't something he was used to. Scott, Virgil and Gordon were deep in research and as intense as he himself could be when involved in a problem.
Jeff watched from the doorway of the research center, bemused, as Virgil and Scott conferred with John on Five. As they discussed the specifics of the tracking program John had written and implemented, Jeff realized that they were so far beyond him on the actual technical aspects of the computers that it was daunting. Gordon was talking with Penny, relaying some of the information John had gleaned, and from the look on her face, she was off on some tangent that her instinct was telling her was on target.
For the first time since he'd begun International Rescue, Jeff felt in the way. Oh, he was still Commander, and pulled all the strings. But he'd delegated well, and each of his sons and the other 'family' members involved were at the top of their individual, specific talents, and far beyond him. Smiling slightly to himself, he realized he'd done himself out of a job on the research front. But he was a 'doer', and as such, not content to just watch. Therefore, he'd better find some way to make himself useful.
And on second thought, there was still one area he could out-think the others. Business. And the Hood would need money to put his grandiose plans of domination into effect, and even though he could use his manipulation techniques, it would leave a trail if one knew how to look for it. And the best person to unearth that was himself. Thus, he needed to be in the heart of Tracy Enterprises to do his job.
Jeff cleared his throat softly, then grinned to himself at the immediate response. All conversations stopped, and all heads swiveled towards him. He may be outshone in some ways, but he still was the chief around here!
"I'm going to New York. Call me if you find anything." With that, Jeff turned on his heel, grinning outright at the puzzled expressions in his wake.
- - TB - -
A unique soft chime from his computer alerted Jeff that somebody from Tracy Island wanted him. He quickly reached across his expansive desk and activate the window.
"Dad!" Scott was excited. "We've got something!"
"Great," Jeff was immediately alert. "Hang on one second." With that, he got up and shut the door to his office. Moving back across the large room, he absently took in the New York skyline in the background, but was far more interested in the computer.
"What have you got?"
Scott launched into the details he'd received from Penny. She had made another of her intuitive leaps of logic and following that, had tracked the Hood to of all places, Acapulco.
Jeff shook his head. That man just completely defied logic. He let Scott run with the information, not interrupting, and followed carefully. When Penny had come up with the basic location, the team on Tracy Island had honed in, and picked up traces all over the area. From odd herb sales to strange police reports.
As Scott wound down, Jeff added bits and pieces that he'd accumulated as well. Scott took it all in, finally saying that he'd get with John and they'd dump it all into the computer and see what they came up with. Jeff nodded and signed off.
The remainder of the day was long for Jeff Tracy. He felt like it went on forever as he went through the motions of handling his business. People came and went from his office, dealing with the minutia of running a major corporation, treating each meeting as though it were the most important thing on earth. For his part, Jeff found he felt like he was operating in two separate worlds at the same time. It was . . . odd, to say the least.
Finally, his computer chimed once more. Jeff shooed everybody out of his office, waited impatiently for the door to shut, then lunged for it. This time it was John.
"We've got him! Scott, Virg and Gordon are on their way in TB 1 right now."