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Chapter 1: Jack Harper

Alexander Mahone walked briskly into his office, nearly running into Agent Lang, and slammed his door shut. He leaned on his desk, shaking and sweating profusely. He grabbed a pen from his jacket pocket and unscrewed the top of it. Two tiny pills clattered onto his desk. He grabbed them, threw back his head, and swallowed them quickly. He sank slowly into his chair and closed his eyes, waiting for the pills to take effect.

"Interesting," came a voice from corner near the door.

Mahone jumped, clearly unaware of the lady's presence until now. He gave her a quick head to toe glance. She was young, mid-to-late twenties, and had a lean figure. Her thick, straight auburn hair fell just past her shoulders and her hazel eyes glittered with amusement.

"Who are you?" demanded Mahone, "And why are you in my office? Do you know the kind of clearance you need to have before you can just…"

"I'm Special Agent Jack Harper," interrupted the woman, "The Bureau felt it was necessary to send someone to help head up the Fox River Eight investigation, especially since the trail has apparently run cold."

"I work alone, but thanks," snapped Mahone, clearly unhappy about having to work with a partner and being caught taking his pills.

"That is not your call to make," replied Jack as she approached his desk, "I'm not thrilled about the idea either. I'm used to working alone as well, but when the Director of the FBI tells you to do something, you do it."

"That's all very well, but…"

Just then, Mahone's cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pants pocket and looked at the caller ID.

"Could you excuse me for a second?" he asked in more of a commanding tone than a polite, questioning one. He nodded to the door and gave Jack a sharp look that clearly meant "leave…now."

Jack nodded curtly and walked confidently out of his office. Once the door was shut, Mahone flipped open his cell phone.

"Yeah?"

"So you have a partner now?" said a sickeningly familiar voice.

"Don't worry Mr. Kim, it won't be a problem."

"Won't be a problem?" repeated Kim incredulously, "I think this could cause us significant damage if it is not taken care of properly."

"What do you want me to do about it?" retorted Mahone, "Her orders came from the top. They must be suspicious if they're sending in someone to work with me. For all we know she could just be here to make sure I'm doing my job the way I'm supposed to."

"Whenever we've run into a problem in the past, what do we do about it?" asked Kim in a patronizing tone.

"We kill it."

"Precisely," replied Kim happily, "However, she could be of some use to us. Give her this number and tell her to call it tonight at ten o'clock. I'll inform her of the situation and what she is to do. If she agrees to the terms, then you two will work together from here on out."

"And if she doesn't?"

"She dies."

Jack Harper sat on the ottoman at the end of her bed in her apartment. She was looking down at the piece of folded up paper Mahone had slipped to her before she left. He told her to do what it said and everything would be okay. She had not opened it yet. She was still unnerved by Mahone's insistent and almost desperate tone when he gave it to her. The look in his eyes scared her too. He looked like he was afraid of something.

Sighing, she glanced up at the clock on her wall. It was almost ten o'clock. Taking a deep breath, Jack stilled herself and unfolded the paper.

10:00 p.m. Call this number: 453-976-6842

Please agree to what they tell you

Jack flashed back to the scared, almost hunted look on Mahone's face. Her hands shook slightly as she grabbed her cordless phone off her dresser. She closed her eyes, took a breath, and then quickly dialed the number.

Early the next morning, Jack pulled up to the FBI Field Office. She glanced around the parking lot before getting out of her car. The only other car there was Alexander Mahone's. She took a shaky breath and leaned back on the headrest. She had not stopped trembling since she had made the phone call last night. Without another thought, she grabbed her handbag and walked into the building, making a bee-line for Mahone's office.

Alex was at his desk, rummaging through files and muttering to himself. He looked up as Jack walked into the room. He saw the look on her face and immediately laid down the files. He took off his reading glasses and sat them on the desk as he stood up to approach her.

"Did you…did you agree?" he asked, nervously, his brilliant blue eyes scanning her face for an answer.

Jack nodded in reply, her hazel eyes watery and glazed with fear and confusion.

"Bill Kim told me everything. I agreed to the terms," she paused for a moment, and then shook her head as if to clear her thoughts, "He said you took care of Abruzzi yesterday afternoon."

"Yeah," replied Mahone looking away, "Seven more to go." He walked back over to his desk and sat down in his chair with a sigh.

"Agent Mahone…"

"Call me Alex."

"Alex…they're keeping a close eye on my parents. Kim said that if I don't do this, then they'll kill them."

Jack closed her eyes for a moment and fought for control as she felt her throat tighten with emotion. Alex leaned back in his chair and ran his hand over his face.

"I know," he mumbled, "He told me that was what he was going to do. They're watching my ex-wife and my five-year-old son. They'll kill them if I don't do what they want."

Jack paused for a moment to let it all sink in. "So, we're really going to have to do this aren't we? We're really going to…"

"Kill them? Yes, all eight of them."

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