Disclaimer: The Thunderbirds belong to other people. And the line from the 3 Doors Down song "Landing in London" that is quoted belongs to the band and is off their CD "Seventeen Days"
I'll use your light to guide the way.
-3 Doors Down "Landing in London"
Chapter Five: Searching
Virgil Grissom Tracy had no idea what he was doing or where he was going. He was staying at a cheap motel in a town he'd never heard of. He was trying to formulate a plan, but had nothing to go on.
The only thing he knew… he wanted The Hood.
He tried to remember every detail about his time being held by The Hood, trying to remember if there were any clues as to his plans. But the only plan he was sure of was the one he was involved in. The Hood wanted to destroy Jeff Tracy and Virgil was his pawn. His other memories were scattered and they made no sense. But instead of frustrating Virgil, it only served to stoke his fire.
Virgil had yet to be able to eat a meal, only picking at whatever food was placed in front of him at the diners he'd gone to. He was haunted by his memories, by the loneliness, and by the overwhelming guilt he felt.
Although he didn't know it, he decided to stay in one town on the same day that John was released. He decided to stay because he had work to do. He needed to find The Hood and stop him before he caused any more harm. He wanted to protect his family from the evil madman. Instead of checking into a cheap motel, Virgil used a credit card to check into a higher end hotel with in-room internet access. His next move was to buy a laptop computer for the sole purpose of searching for The Hood. He also went about buying some new clothes and other supplies since he had very little of either with him.
He slept fitfully his first night in the new hotel. He tossed and turned amid the broken images in his head. Broken images that meant nothing separately, though he knew that together, they would make a more complete picture. He was glad to rise the next morning, though his body was almost begging for more sleep. He woke himself up with some coffee and a hot shower. He stepped out of the shower, towel dried his hair, and wrapped the towel around his waist. He paused when he passed the mirror, and immediately saw himself shooting John in the reflection. Once the image passed, he was disgusted with what he saw looking back at him. He needed a change. So he went to a nearby drugstore, bought a box of men's haircolor and busied himself with that a little while. And the following morning, he bleached his brown hair.
Later that night, he turned the TV on for some background noise while he began working. He'd seen the announcement on the television that International Rescue was temporarily shut down due to an internal crisis. And he knew it was a crisis that he'd caused. So he went back to work, doing whatever he could think of to track The Hood's footsteps. Virgil may not have been as good with a computer as John or Alan, but he was no slouch. And he was a man obsessed.
Meanwhile, on Tracy Island, Alan and Jeff looked into The Hood's escape while John, Gordon and Scott worked on finding Virgil. But no one was getting anywhere. They paused for lunch, gathering on the patio. Alan was the first to report and his was short since he hadn't come up with anything new. John went next, also with nothing new to report.
"He's got to have a credit card or bank account that we don't know about," John sighed.
"Can you check with the major issuers?" Jeff asked.
"I've already started. The problem is that there are so many issuers, and they all have separate databases. Going through them all is going to take a lot of time," John answered.
"Well, keep at it," Jeff replied, placing a supportive hand on John's shoulder.
"So we've got nothing?" Scott concluded after a minute of contemplative silence.
"Exactly," John replied.
After lunch, everyone went back to work. John went back to the major credit card issuers while Jeff kept a keen eye on Virgil's bank accounts. Alan went back to working on The Hood's escape and the two men who had taken Virgil. It was a while later when Alan put some pieces of information together to make a more complete picture.
"Well, The Hood had only one visitor in prison, his lawyer. The lawyer is related by marriage to one of the men from the mine that took Virgil. And the other man that was also missing was found by Czech police yesterday," Alan reported.
"What did this man have to say?" Jeff asked.
"Nothing. He's dead," Alan answered gravely. "They found him inside of a cabin about thirty miles away from the mine. Nearby was a van…they found Virgil's IR uniform inside...there was blood on the back up high. Also in the cabin were chains…shackles. They also found a hypodermic needle. The Czech officials are running tests on everything, they'll let me know what they find."
Jeff groaned. One lead…one person who could give them an idea as to what happened to Virgil was dead.
"Have they found anything useful to us?" Jeff asked.
"No," Alan answered with a shake of his head. "They didn't find evidence of any future plans."
But they weren't giving up. Everyone continued their work. And like his family, Virgil was also working diligently.