They got to the illegal sale as it was winding down.

EOS had beaten them there, sending worms into every electronic device there so that once the GDF arrived they could track down every individual present at the sale. She'd managed to get into every device except three.

Some of the animals had already gone, taken by the buyers immediately on payment, but the majority were still there, and the four brothers went through every aisle of cages looking for that one eagle with the blue eyes.

But they didn't find any.

They didn't find Scott.

Colonel Casey was tight-lipped as she strode down from her Flyer, Rigby beside her. Her frown didn't hide the worry for her Grandsons. As their Godmother and Lucy's best friend, she had known their secret all their lives. Seeing them all present but Scott, and at an illegal exotic animal sale to boot, was not good.

Wayne didn't know the family secret, however, and he viewed the whole situation with deep suspicion. It wasn't like International Rescue didn't discover all manner of illegal goings on when they were on rescues, but there was no sign of any rescue in the vicinity and he doubted they would use a Thunderbird to arrive at a sale as it was closing.

His nose twitched. Something was going on here. But before he could turn and ask the colonel about it she had strode forwards to meet John and Kayo. Seeing the woman he'd once dismissed as an amateur here gave him even more pause, but he had a smile on this time when she glanced over at him. She smiled back, but it didn't reach her eyes.

Glancing over the family present his frown deepened. The oldest wasn't present. That wasn't completely unusual, they often had different missions running simultaneously, but having the rest all here and not him was unusual enough to raise even more questions.

He watched as his colonel and International Rescue talked and he did his job, directing the men to round up those present and get in contact with some wildlife experts about what to do with all the animals. With a last look at the group still talking he set off to examine the area himself on his way to meet the man in charge of the smuggling and poaching ring.

There was a goddamn tiger in the largest cage. It watched him walk past with golden eyes and Wayne stopped, crouching down in front of the magnificent creature. It gave a low growl and he nodded at it. He would be unhappy too if he'd suddenly found himself caged. Wayne stood and carried on to the auctioneer and the other staff that were being held all together.

The men with Rigby got busy, cataloguing everyone present as he watched and waited. And as the colonel entered the room with Kayo and Virgil they handed him a clipboard with a list of everything known.

Casey stood tall and waited until everyone stopped talking and turned expectant eyes on her.

'Gentlemen, with International Rescue's help we have managed to smash an underground exotic animal ring. I want every man here interviewed before being shipped out. We are looking for one sale in particular. A rare Bald Eagle, and I want everyone to be vigilant of any mentions of one. Rigby, I want you to work with Kayo on this one. Finding the person who bought that eagle is our top priority.'

And she swept from the room, leaving Wayne feeling very awkward beside Kayo. He didn't know if it was a comfort that she looked just as uncomfortable as he felt.

They took over what looked like the Auctioneer's main room. There was a bank of computers across one wall, and John, Alan and Gordon were already there. Wayne wasn't surprised at all. As he and Kayo sat and went through the paperwork on the desk they were joined by Virgil. The Thunderbird Two pilot brought with him several thermoses of coffee and boxes of cookies that he'd rustled up from somewhere, and he joined them.

Their first break came when one of the men carrying out the interviews came rushing into the room dragging a skinny man along. The man was shaking like a leaf and looked like he hadn't had a decent meal in days, if not longer. The officer gently helped him to sit and Gordon, taking one look at him, had poured and passed him a coffee and the man had latched onto it as if he hadn't seen one in forever.

The brothers all exchanged worried looks but Wayne only had eyes for the man. He was more than nervous. Even drinking his coffee he was hypervigilant, eyes darting around and an air of barely controlled panic about him. Rigby waited until the coffee had been drunk before he began to talk to him, gently.

'Good afternoon. My name is Captain Wayne Rigby. May I ask you what your name is?'

'M-My name is Nathan. Nathan Cooper.'

'Well, Mr Cooper, I'm sure that you are aware why we are here.'

'Yes sir. You're here because of the illegal animal sales that man has been running.'

Wayne blinked. He hadn't expected such an honest or forthright answer.

He frowned and looked at the man more closely. He was in ill-fitting jeans and a ragged long-sleeved t-shirt. Cooper was playing with the hem of the sleeve and once more looking around the room. Sighing, Wayne moved out from the desk and shifted his chair to be seated directly in front Cooper. He slowly and gently reached forward, pulling a sleeve up to see bruising around one wrist that screamed restraint. The arm was snatched back and the sleeve pulled down.

Nathan Cooper looked no more than 20 years old. Rigby wondered how long he'd been with the Auctioneer – they still didn't have a name for the man – he obviously wasn't here through choice.

'Why don't you tell us how you came to be here, Nathan?'

And the story poured out. How the guy had been working for a zoo that had closed down. How one day he'd been invited to a job interview for a private zoo. How he'd never been allowed to leave once he'd realised the 'private zoo' was in fact a front for illegal animal sales.

By the time he came to talking about the now Gordon and Virgil had stopped what they were doing to listen.

Cooper may not have been able to escape but he made damn sure that the animals were cared for to the best of his ability. It wasn't much, but it was all he could do.

They poured him another coffee and waited patiently as he drank it with shaking hands. Cooper gave them a weak smile and set the cup down.

'So, I guess what you really want to know about is the Duchess.'

'The Duchess?'

'Yeah, the woman who bought the eagle.'