Ch3

Mia's face was bright red and her chest was heaving when she slowly jogged back to the Jeep parked on a road near the beach. Her brother's lip curled in disgust.

"For a girl so skinny, your fitness level is appalling."

"I'm skinny from a lack of food because my dear darling brother has me working all day so he can sit on his arse and do nothing!"

"Ooh, temper, temper. "

Mia glared at Piers as she sat down heavily on the back seat of the car.

Keg looked at her from the front seat. "So?"

"So, hook, line and sinker."

Piers smiled. "Did you get a photo for our client?"

Mia shook her head. "He doesn't like his photo taken; he has a phobia or something."

Keg nodded. "Reasonable explanation, son of a billionaire, former Olympic swimmer, brother of hot shot pilots, racing car drivers – I can see why he might get a tad edgy about photos."

"Thank you for the analysis, Keg," Mia rolled her eyes at her cousin. "The guy, who is quite cute and extremely fit by the way, told me his name was Cooper Ward."

"Cooper Ward? I don't know Keg," Piers bit his lip. "He might not be the target after all."

"For a guy who doesn't like his photo taken, wouldn't it be reasonable he doesn't use his own name?" Keg replied.

"Reasonable yes, but we have to be sure. There are rules remember and if we are wrong..." Piers raised an eyebrow.

Mia drew in her breath. "We need to get a better photo than the fuzzy one they sent us; surely there are photos from the boy wonder winning a medal at the Olympics, that was what? Four years ago? And more info, this is a big operation for us, as you said Piers, we have to be sure. I mean, we practically jumped on the first young red headed guy we saw surfing, it might not be him."

Piers straightened in his seat. "Don't worry; I'll get the photo and more information. Let's get back to the resort, we need to prepare for tonight."

Relaxing back on his leather office chair, the patriarch of the Tracy family and the founder International Rescue, Jeff Tracy took a sip of his coffee before pressing a button on his desk 

which connected him to his son, John, based on Thunderbird 5. Orbiting the Earth, Thunderbird 5 or T5, was International Rescue's "eyes and ears in space" monitoring the world for any potential dangerous situations. Jeff also used T5 to monitor the whereabouts of his sons, and in his mid morning break, Jeff wanted to see how his second youngest faired on his holiday.

A flat panel monitor on the wall opposite Jeff's desk flickered and came to life. John, a good looking blonde man of 25, appeared; in his hand he held a watering can.

Jeff smiled. "How's the pot plant, John?"

"What? Oh, this?" John held up the can before setting it down. "I planted some lettuce seedlings, and they were looking a little dry. What's up?"

"Gordon. I wanted to see how he was going."

"Dad, he's been away for what? Less than 24 hours, you have to let up sometimes," John replied while typing on the console's keyboard in front of him.

"When you're a father John, I may just listen to your advice."

John snorted. "Me a dad? Have to meet a girl first, and there's not too many available up here."

"The downside of the job, I'm afraid, John. Is there any movement concerning our surfer?"

"No, no movement. He's just where he'd said he'd be. I'm sending you the visuals now."

A satellite picture of Gordon's holiday isle appeared on the monitor. A bright red dot indicated the position of his son. The dot was positioned on a beach.

The tension Jeff had been feeling since Gordon had left for his holiday lessened a degree. Even though Gordon had nearly died in his accident two years ago, Jeff had always felt confident in his son's ability to be cautious and take care of himself, yet lately...Jeff just couldn't shake the niggle of unease he felt about Gordon's latest trip.

John's face reappeared on the screen. "Hey Dad, I'll keep checking on Gordon for you and keep you posted."

Jeff nodded. "Thanks John, that's good of you. Next holiday you take, promise me you'll meet some nice girls."

John grinned. "Thanks Dad, I'll definitely meet girls; can't promise they'll be nice though."

Jeff Tracy was smiling as the monitor switched to black.