Soft Jazz drifted through the otherwise quiet club, a gentle hue of cigarette smoke despite the recent ban - some clients were just not asked to comply. Taio Zucco was not one of those people. He was the man who went by his own rules and in this club - his club, rules were subject to importance.
He sat at one of the round tables in the centre of the large room, papers spread in front of the man besides him as he sifted through and made quick notes and revisions. Taio wasn't overly interested in the work at hand, it had been a quiet week and his mind had begun playing back to Jefferson Tracy.
Taio had always considered himself fair to friends, acquaintances and colleagues, and probably family if he ever directed his mind that way. He felt that he understood the world and how it worked, and if it did not work - how it should. He could see the path in which his life would take and he made sure that the world around him bent to meet those requirements. This had never been an issue before now.
For argument's sake he had looked into the project he had proposed to work with along side Tracy Industries, he'd looked into different ways of making it work and whether there were other ways which would mean their procedure forward. Not because he considered Jeff Tracy a lost cause, no, but because he wanted to prove to Jeff that it was the only choice he had and if it was not made, serious business would be lost and the largest project of his life would be over before it had even begun.
Unfortunately he had found not just one, but two other companies willing to work with Zucco to develop his plans into a much needed reality. Surprisingly, this had not been welcomed news. He did not like to be proved wrong and he disliked people having more control over situations than himself. Since his wife had died he had made certain to rectify that aspect in his life.
His other projects were running as they should be, development and research into new ventures proceeded without issue. He could easily turn his mind to some of the other proposed ventures his team had come up with, they had been waiting for him to make decisions ever since he'd found the two companies he could work with and finally get the ball rolling. But he found himself unable to back down, unable to let Jeff walk away. Especially when Zucco had gone to the effort of messing with his old friend's youngest son - there was too much to gain, even if it was all psychological. He wanted Jeff Tracy to feel something other than the smug arrogance he'd worn upon making the first and second refusal.
Jeff was so damn happy about everything, so proud of his sons, so settled in his life and now seemingly in the loss of his wife, Lucille. At first Jeff and Taio had been like kindred spirits, sharing in their grief and loss, burying themselves into their businesses and leaning upon one another for support. But things had changed and Taio felt betrayed, he had lost a brother in arms.
After Jeff had stopped working along side him in business things had slowly taken a downhill turn, no one wanted to work with his company anymore, trust was being lost by his dealings and the reputation with the people he surrounded himself with. He could see this yet he couldn't stop the fall, these people did what he asked without question and didn't doubt his judgement as many others had done. They took the money and did as asked, something once again Jeff would not do.
He still felt the grief of the loss of his wife so strongly, it wasn't something he could walk away from as easily as Jeff. It almost seemed a duty to remind Jeff of that, and what better a way than to take one of his precious sons away from him. Not just any of Jeff Tracy's sons, the youngest. The strongest and closest reminder to the lost wife and the surest way to evoke an emotional response from such an unbreakable man.
Payback was petty and cruel, yet Taio could not think of a better way of making Jeff feel the pain he felt every single day. At first this had been a game, a way of scaring Jeff and showing him the power he had over the city. Getting a man inside Tracy Enterprises had been easy, he had men everywhere and pretty much anyone could be bought for the right amount, or for the right leverage for that matter.
He smiled to himself, allowing his plans to fall into place and watching the world around follow suit. Everything in this world was a matter of leverage and to Taio Zucco, nothing was unattainable.
He glanced across the table to the man before him, one of many accountants trying to keep up with his dealings and making clean any of his the less flavoursome dealings the tax office, to name but one, wouldn't have approved of. Like most accountants Zucco had met the man was middle aged, greying slightly with a slightly flushed face. He kept correcting his glasses that perpetually slid down his nose, helped along their way by the beaded sweat on the man's brow. Fear was a somewhat pleasing effect to have on a person, it screamed respect and in many men - admiration.
Sipping his martini, Taio Zucco smiled to himself, an internal game of chess slowly moving forward the castle in his mind. If it was a siege Jeff Tracy wanted, by all means let him have it. The trick with the game was to always stay one step ahead of the opposition.
John and Gordon had arrived back on Tracy Island and had immediately turned International Rescue off standby. Though it wasn't as though a call would come through immediately or even regularly, sometimes months would pass without their help being required. The Thunderbirds helped deal with disasters and as much as people liked to romanticize over their occurrence, they were few and far between. But having the island on standby seemed a prime opportunity for a disaster to occur, having systems up and running took the constant fear of being unavailable away.
But they were still three men down and although Alan was too young to man any of the birds or perform duties on missions, he was learning the command and control centre controls through Jeff.
It hadn't been discussed before but John was increasingly concerned over how they would control everything if indeed a call did come, a three man crew was limited and could be near impossible in some cases. They needed a man on command and control - this would be Brains, that would mean they'd be down to two men on only one Thunderbird. A pilot, and a rescuer/medic/fire fighter/whatever else could be required in whatever eventuality arose. It was a terrifying thought. Even with autopilot two men would be difficult and may not even be of sufficient help in a rescue.
Brains had already informed the American military that they may be required to fill in for them for US based emergencies and if possible any lands or waters they could gain permission to enter. Easier said than done of course, but a helpline none the less.
Lady Penelope had contacts in the United Kingdom that were ready is needed, thankfully they'd received few calls from the UK as the islands weren't on any fault lines which meant no volcanoes or earthquakes - a higher ranking call out purpose. There were no hurricanes, no twisters, and any floods were more often than not managed by their own emergency services.
Two parts of the world covered, only the rest to cope with. It wasn't the sigh of relief they'd hoped for but it was a start if needs be. They could only hope that the next call that came in would be after the situation with Taio Zucco was dealt with, or it would be an easy call out as Gordon jested - a cat up a tree would be manageable, so long as the tree wasn't sinking through lava or being washed down a river towards impending doom.
Maybe they could deal with dropping water over forest fires in some remote region - low occupancy rates, no wind, a recent rainfall resulting in slow fire movement. One could dream.
Whatever angle they looked at it, they needed the situation with Zucco to resolve itself yesterday and for International Rescue to be up and running at full capacity if needed. Lives were being put at risk because one man wanted to make a point.
Virgil had been worrying about Alan, as usual the kid didn't let up if anything actually was bothering him but he still felt that he may have missed something in his check ups. He wanted that second opinion as much as he wanted to go back to the island and have the whole fiasco behind them.
If Alan was cleared he could be sent home and everyone would feel better . Having the kid on the mainland was proving difficult, especially with Scott and his constant checks and itinerary. If they needed food, Scott would plan the whole process of getting it, even if it was takeout. If they needed to make a phone call, Scott would check the numbers. If Jeff wanted to meet someone, Scott would be questioning the reasoning and requirements. It was not helping Virgil argue his case of heading back to the hospital.
"He can go when we've sorted Zucco out."
"He can go now and then we can send him back to the island. I want to check those ribs and make sure his ankle is setting, and of course there's the bump on his head… the concussion might be worse than my checks have shown."
Scott growled, lounging back on the couch and rolling his eyes towards the ceiling. "He's held up pretty well since we came over, I'm sure a few days won't do any harm."
They'd spent the last day sat around in the apartment growing increasingly bored and stressed with one another, Jeff had been with Tess most of the day going over likelihoods of what her father would do and how they thought the matter could be resolved, and Alan had been flicking through TV channels with the attention span of a small child. Nerves were definitely wearing thin.
Scott had rather liked his idea of going in guns glazing, he'd even fancied the idea of getting the cops involved but was still trying to find a way to prove that the whole incident with Alan had been caused by Zucco in the first place. The man was sneaky and far too good at covering his tracks.
"What's the deal? You're usually the first one to get a second opinion, I can't believe you're risking the sprout's health over this!" As annoying as Gordon could be he was often needed to defuse such situations, arguments with Scott never really got anywhere past glaring matches, yet Virgil wouldn't back down.
Once more Scott growled, eyes shooting daggers at his younger brunette brother. "If I didn't care about his health then why the hell would I be trying to stop Zucco getting his greasy hands on the kid? Seriously Virg, you need to think this through. A day trip to the hospital isn't going to help!"
"If he's cleared it will, he'll be back on the island in a couple of hours!"
"Can you two just shut up?" Alan had given up with the TV and had left it on a radio station playing out classic rock, he'd been sat on the arm of one of the couches but let himself slowly fall back to where Scott was sat opposite Virgil. He glared up at Scott, folding his arms and sticking out his bottom lip stubbornly. "Why don't you just get dad to decide? You know he will in the end anyway."
To Scott's annoyance Jeff had gone in favour of Virgil, backed up by Tess they'd decided that getting Alan off the mainland was the most important thing at that moment. It was a risk but in the long run it would surely be worth it. They'd take one of the blacked out cars from the parking lot beneath Tracy Towers and drive directly to the hospital where their own security would be waiting to take Alan through. There would be no point where Alan would be alone. Simple.
"I still don't see why Tess is coming." Scott grumbled, following the small group into the elevator that would go straight down to the underground car park. "This may be one massive set up."
"Give it a rest son." Jeff rolled his eyes, far too use to Scott's stubborn ways. "We're all here for the same reason."
"Plus this way I don't have to listen to you moan for the next few days." Alan muttered, smirking at Virgil who was already feeling relieved about the whole thing. "You know, I actually wanted to stay but I've definitely changed my mind." He smiled. "You could have kept Gordon or John here but no, you had to pick the little book of stress."
"This little book of stress has one cause." Scott frowned. Eyes narrowing at his youngest brother who was looking far too smug with himself. "Alan Tracy. The big book of trouble."
Tess smiled at the family banter, although she wouldn't voice it she was also concerned with what was going to happen with Taio, the possible scenarios she'd run through with Jeff were possible but seemed increasingly unlikely. Unless they could catch him out and prove his guilt, they had nothing to get the cops involved and nothing to hold him with.
Even if Alan was out of the country it didn't guarantee results, unless Taio was put behind bars then every time Alan came back he would be at risk. And if Alan remained grounded on the island indefinitely, it didn't mean any of the other Tracy boys wouldn't be targeted.
This couldn't possibly end well.
The elevator chimed softly as it came to a halt and the doors opened, the large concreted car park stood darkened before them, lit simply by long rows or lights, dull and mellow in a cold contrast to the rest of the building. Lines of employee cars mostly a mixture of black and dark greys. As with most multi-storey car parks the concrete road looped round and up a ramp at the far end for the entrance and exit.
"Can I at least drive?" Scott practically whined, stepping out of the elevator and heading up the small road that led to their own cars further up. He waved his hands in the air as he spoke. "You've got to give me some level of control here!"
Jeff rolled his eyes for the second time in as many minutes, tossing the keys over as he jogged to catch up with his son. "You three wait there whilst we bring it round, won't be a minute."
Alan, Tess and Virgil stopped in front of the elevator, Tess was looking around for her car, wanting to see that it was still intact and was in fact at Tracy Towers and not left abandoned at the side of a road. Scott had parked it for her which she wasn't feeling all that comfortable about.
"He hasn't done anything to it, has he?" Despite her attempt to keep the small quaver from her voice she failed and turned wide eyed to Virgil and Alan.
Alan laughed, the sound echoing in the darkness. "If he had he'd have let you know, plus dad would have killed him."
"Don't worry." Virgil squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "It's probably around the back, these cars up here belong to employees working today. Plus Scotty loves cars, he wouldn't admit it but I bet he enjoyed driving your Camaro, even if it was just to park. He only really gets to drive when he's on the mainland." He smiled at the look of relief that spread across Tess's face.
"I'm going to hold you both to that."
An engine sounded and as one they looked round to see a dark 4x4 coming slowly towards them. Not Jeff's usually choice but if Scott was driving, maybe he'd got his own way with the choice. Stepping out into the path of the car they waited for it to stop yet were taken by surprise as the engine revved and it sped up. Scott was obviously trying to make a point.
Alan had scooted back with Tess but Virgil stood his ground, holding his hands up and raising his voice so he could be heard above the engine, he smirked towards Tess and Alan before looking back towards the car. "Give it a rest, Scotty! No ones impressed!"
Alan laughed but stopped where there was a shout from behind, Virgil turned and quickly went white faced as he spotted the person in question waving madly as he ran back down from where they'd gone to pick up the car - Scott. Too far away to be able to do anything, but loud enough to make clear that the car driving towards Virgil wasn't Jeff nor Scott.
The car was moving fast and was nearly on top of him, he turned back wide eyed, hands raised in an almost slow motion as he found himself unable to move, heart seemingly to slow to a painful thump that resounded throughout his body with each beat. Time seemed to slow, or rather his brain seemed to take things in at an accelerated rate. Details jumped out. The blanked out registration, the engine sound a growl of anger, Alan shouting his name, Tess glaring at him wide eyed and panicked as an understanding crossed her suddenly pale face. Scott screaming words he couldn't take in, his dad was nowhere. Where was his dad?
He closed his eyes a moment before the impact, muscles tensing as he imagined the car ploughing into him. He expected to be hit straight on but instead he was struck side on, body arching through the air and impacting onto the hard cement floor with a thud, the air knocked from his lungs as a cold numbness swept over his body.
Slowly he opened his eyes to see the dusty ground before him, and blinked.
It took a moment to comprehend what had happened and what was happening there and then, there was the sound of a car door opening and a muffled cry from Alan followed by Scott who was suddenly closer but still shouting, swearing and running. Footsteps fell harshly, the car door slammed shut and the engine revved once more.
They were going to finish him off, he was sure of it. He forced his head up to watch his death coming fast towards him but blinked as the car instead drove straight past and towards the exit, straight through the barrier which bent and shook off it's hinges in one fluid motion. Scott in it's wake sprinting after the vehicle, shouting and waving to the security guards by the exit. Screaming for them to do something. Follow?
Virgil took a deep breath and forced himself to move, he expected to see red, the numbness hiding whatever injuries he had. But instead he saw a body on the ground before him, his own body strangely responsive. Shaken with shock but very much alive and working, his side felt bruised and he gasped to fill his lungs with air, the world around slowed.
A coldness washed over, like plunging into water it was sudden and left him gasping for breath as a painful awareness struck home. Firstly, Alan was gone. He swung his head around to find him but what had happened was now plainly clear; the car must have been waiting for them. The details were beyond him but he didn't have time to think, he hadn't been hit by the car at all, he'd been hit by Tess who had shoved him from it's path.
He should have been used to situations like this, he was a Thunderbird for God's sake! His heart shouldn't have been in his throat pounding out the sound of his shattering nerves. His eyes should have been able to easily turn to the body of the lifeless girl before him, the blood slowly pooling around her skull and the unnatural position she had been thrown into.
It took him far too long to respond to the situation, his father almost flying down the concrete road to meet him before going to her side, not knowing what to do or whether to touch her. Scott was shouting into his phone, the security men from the gate were running to join them.
The seconds which had seemed to pass in such detail through is mind were suddenly gone and nothing could be done to replace them. Alan was gone.