FAMILY TIES
      By Spense
 

Chapter Sixteen

Race hung up the phone and closed his eyes momentarily in relief.  He
sighed deeply.

"Dad?  What is it?"  The voice of his daughter broke his reverie
tentatively.

Race turned to her with a smile.  She looked worried.  No surprise
there.  They all were.

"That was Benton.  Jonny's awake, and talking."

Jessie sighed audibly in relief, and a huge smile lit her face.  Race
grinned back.  "When's he coming home?"  She asked interestedly.

Race laughed.  "Well, it will be awhile yet.  He's still far from
well, and in a lot of pain when he breathes.  Right now, he's feeling
pretty rotten.  They'll want to keep him until they are sure that
he'll be fine, but he appears to be on the mend."

Jessie gave him a quick hug, then stated as she darted away, "I
gotta' go tell Hadji!"

Race laughed, then dropped wearily onto the couch.  This was the best
news he'd heard in a long, long time.  And Benton had sounded good.
Race had been as worried about him as he'd been about Jonny.  Benton
had been so guilty about how angry he had gotten with Jonny that
night.  Race reflected on that scene.  It had certainly been
memorable.

Benton had been controlling himself as they had gone out onto the
patio for dinner that night.  Race had done his best to act normally,
and Hadji and Jessie nervously followed his lead, and tried to be as
inconspicuous as possible.  Race had done his best to occupy Rae, as
she was getting fussy with the palpable tension in the air.

Will appeared a moment or two after the rest had fixed their plates
and were beginning to eat.  Well, pick at their food was a more apt
description.  Poor Mrs. Evans.  It had looked like an excellent
dinner.  Will had fixed a plate, and surprisingly, headed for the
door.

"Where are you going?"  Benton asked, a conspicuous edge still
apparent in his voice.

"I'm taking Jonny his dinner," was Will's calm reply.  Jessie and
Hadji just looked at her in amazement.  Benton so seldomly lost his
temper that it was a momentous occasion when he did, and generally
the family lay low when it happened.  And with Jonny behaving so
badly, anything was likely to set him off.  Will, however, looked
completely uncowed.

"No!"  Benton snapped.  "Jonny is being punished.  You are not to
interfere."

"Benton, no matter what the punishment is, starving him is not going
to accomplish anything except destroy his health!"  Will pointed out.

Race reflected that Jessie and Hadji looked as though they were
watching a tennis match, looking first at one, then the other.  None
of them would have tangled with Benton in this mood.

Dr. Quest nodded thoughtfully.  "Yes, you're right."  Like
quicksilver his mood changed back again.  "But you owe Jonny no
kindness at all.  He has treated you abominably lately.  I'll have
Jessie or Hadji take him up a tray later.  Let him think about his
behavior for awhile," he finished decisively.

Will looked at him for a second as though she wanted to argue
further, but picked up Race's quick shake of his head and commented
instead, "All right.  Please excuse me.  I'm not hungry, I'm going to
go for a walk on the beach."  Will just wanted out of this
atmosphere, and another walk seemed like a very good idea.

Benton looked mutinous, but Race murmured quietly to him, "Let her
go."  Benton looked at him quickly, then took a deep breath,
obviously calming himself deliberately.

The atmosphere was definitely more relaxed when Will reappeared
nearly an hour and a half later.  The group was laughing at Rae's
antics.  She was definitely going to be a ham.

Benton got up and went to her immediately.  "Will, I'm so sorry for
what happened," he began desperately.

Will put a finger to his lips, and whispered, "Shhh.  Don't say it.
This is between Jonny and I.  You need to stay out of it."

Benton shook his head.  "No.  I didn't raise Jonny to act in such a
manner, ever.  He needs to apologize, and sooner rather than later,"
he finished resolutely.

"Benton, no!"  Will answered just as firmly.  "I won't be the cause
of you becoming estranged with your son!"

Benton drew in his voice to reply, his temper obviously beginning to
boil.  Hadji and Jessie just looked at each other wordlessly and
retreated out of the battle range.

Race made a `T' with his hands and announced, "Time!" before the
situation could escalate into the immovable object meets the
irresistible force.

The two combatants paused and looked at him.  "Both of you calm down,
and Will, get something to eat."

Will shrugged and commented as she moved towards the table, "I may as
well.  I can't talk to Jonny until he gets back anyway."

"Back?" Race asked in disbelief, exchanging a look with Benton.  As
far as they knew, Jonny was up in his room.

"Uh-humm," Will commented, helping herself to a salad.  "He's up on
the bluff, quite a ways south of here.  You know the one he likes."

"No.  There is no way you could have seen him," Benton stated
firmly.  "He's up in his room."

"Nope."  Will shook her head.  "I saw him, clearly.  Standing up on
the bluff talking to someone I didn't recognize."

Benton didn't say another word; he looked at her for a moment, the
anger simmering at the surface clearly beginning to boil once again,
then spun on his heel and headed into the house.  They could hear him
taking the stairs two at a time, then the sound of a door slamming.

"Race!"  Benton called as he came running down the stairs.  Will and
Race looked at each other, then headed for the door as Benton
barreled through it.  He looked furious.  "He's gone."

"IRIS, Jonny Quest's whereabouts," Will called to the computer.

"Jonathan Quest has left the grounds," the disembodied voice replied.

"How long ago," Benton snarled.

"One hour, six minutes ago."

Race put a calming hand on Benton's shoulder.  "Queue up the sequence
in the family room," he directed, as he steered a seething Benton in
that direction.

The image was clear enough, as the family gathered around and watched
Jonny climbing down the side of the house, head across the front
lawn, and down the main drive.  The cameras picked him up again as he
exited the main gate, and paused while a car drove up.  Jonny was in
it before it had even reached a stop, and then it sped off.

There was a stunned silence for a moment.  "Who did he meet?" Will
asked in concern, and Benton just watched the screen in silent anger,
his arms crossed over his chest.

"He's grounded for life," Benton muttered.

Hadji spoke up quietly.  "I have another question.  IRIS.  Show Jonny
just before he exits the gate.  Zoom in please."

IRIS obligingly zoomed close as Jonny exited the small pedestrian
gate set in the gatepost to the side of the driveway.  This time,
they all saw clearly as the object fell from his pocket as he bumped
the side of the gatepost.

"I'll go get it," Jessie volunteered instantly, glad to be out of the
tense atmosphere.  She darted out of the room, and they all heard a
motorcycle start up.  She was back momentarily, holding a small pager.

Race took the object.  "Humm.  It's a voice message pager," he
commented.  "Cutting edge, too.  And it's not one of ours!"

Benton's angry façade began to crack for the first time as he picked
the pager up.  "You're right.  It isn't one of ours.  I wonder where
he got it."

"And why," Will added.

Benton took the pager and headed for the computer in the corner of
the room.  Fishing in the drawer, he found a small cable that fit the
devices output, and plugged it into the computer.  "IRIS, display the
latest messages on the large screen TV," he instructed.

When the messages began to scroll onto the screen, the entire group
watched in stunned silence.  Race went cold.  How could this have
happened?  He was going to have Phil Corvin's head.  He and Will
looked at each other in understanding.  Benton looked like he was
going to be physically ill.

"I'll go get the weapons," Will said succinctly, and headed for the
workroom and the gun safe.

"Andrea Lainer," Benton whispered brokenly.  "Dear God, I thought she
had been taken care of."

"Yes," Race replied quietly, "me too," he added, looking at the
scientist in concern.  Benton looked like he was about to
collapse.  "Benton, go get the car.  We know where they are.  We'll
get there in time."

Benton just nodded, looking as though he was inhabiting his own
private hell, and headed for the garage.

"Dad," Jessie tentatively broke into his reverie as Benton exited the
room.  "Rachel's alive?" she asked in disbelief.

"No, she is not alive.  But this is essentially Rachel's evil twin,
and Jonny obviously thinks she's Rachel."

"But," Hadji began.  Race cut him off.  "Later.  I don't think we
have much time.  You two stay here with Rae and Mrs. Evans.  Stay out
of range of the windows.  DON'T let anyone in.  IRIS, full level five
security lock down."

"Implemented."  IRIS's response was immediate.

Race turned back to the two mutinous teenagers.  "And DON'T get any
bright ideas about following us," he added forcefully.

Hadji and Jessie took one look at Race and did as they were told.
They didn't know what was going on, but it wasn't good, and they
hadn't seen Race or Dr. Quest like this very often.

Race, Will and Benton had raced to the bluff in silence, each lost in
their own disturbing thoughts, putting pieces together from the last
few weeks.  Certain incidents had taken on a new light, and the
results were not pleasant.  They readied themselves for the grim
confrontation ahead.  It was not going to be easy or pleasant.  Jonny
was not going to be very willing to hear the truth, and Dr. Andrea
Veronica Rose Lanier had had him under her thumb for far too long.

Race shuddered to himself as he recalled that scene.  That woman had
a great deal to answer for.  Jonny had finally managed to put his
mother's death behind him, and had been doing well with Will.  Now,
the kid didn't know whether he was coming or going.  Who knew what
Andrea had fed Jonny about his family.  And Jonny would have believed
all of it, believing that she was his mother.  This was definitely
going to take awhile to sort out, but they were all survivors.  And
Will wasn't going to let go of either Jonny or Benton without a
fight.  None of them would.