Chloe was lying low behind the external stairwell of the building. She knew they were looking for her; after all she had disappeared less than thirty minutes before. They had to think she was still nearby.
She shifted her position a little as she felt the tension in her legs and lower back. Her body ached from the time she spent shackled in the same position for hours on end, not to mention the beatings that had almost been a daily occurrence. She supposed she should be grateful that they hadn't killed her; although she was sure they would if they found her. She was relying on the two men thinking she had gone further and hoped they would leave to look for her. She had been planning her escape for the past two weeks, once she'd identified a logical pattern to their movements it had been easy to calculate the best time to make a run for it.
There were normally more men watching her but every few weeks she would be left with just two of them and today she'd hit the jackpot with the two remaining; they were the brainless ones, she thought with a smile. She had known that today would come eventually but it had been a long wait. A ten month wait to be exact. There had been many times when she had thought she'd never escape and others where she believed she'd be rescued. But after the first few weeks she realised she was on her own. Not that being alone worried her too much; she'd been used to it.
Eventually she'd realised she needed to learn to play them if she ever wanted to get away. At first they'd wanted her for her connections and her knowledge. They were a bunch of idiots really but they traded in information and had seen her as a valuable resource. Their plan had been to sell what she gave them to the highest bidder. She knew that she'd been lucky they weren't working for anyone specifically. This way she'd been able to stall them by convincing them that a more lucrative pastime was for her to break into various financial databases. She transferred funds into untraceable accounts around the world and over the months had transferred millions of dollars. She'd known that her time was nearly up though; only yesterday she'd heard one of them saying that they should disband over the next few weeks, go their separate ways and begin to reap the benefits of their captive's computer skills. She'd known once that happened she'd be dead.
She heard footsteps and laboured breathing as they ran around looking for her. Eventually she heard both pairs of feet running to their car then driving away. Relief washed over her as she realised this was her opportunity.
Chloe emerged from her hiding place and went back into the building to retrieve the cell phone she knew was kept there. She was quick, feeling nervous they would return and catch her. She pulled a sweater from the back of a chair and put it on, it smelt of damp and cigarette smoke; she screwed her face up at the smell but realised it would keep her warm if she needed to trek through the woods.
She knew she had no cell signal where she was so realised she would have to walk before she'd be able to call for help. It was pitch dark but she had already worked out the direction she needed to travel. She just hoped that it wouldn't be too long before someone could come and get her; she wasn't keen on walking around such an isolated area alone during the night.
She'd been walking for almost three hours when she noticed a faint signal on the cell, relief washed over her when she realised it wouldn't be long now. She was walking through a clearing in the trees when she saw that the signal was getting stronger. A feint smile tugged at her lips as she dialled the only number she could think of; CTU Los Angeles.
She waited impatiently as she realised there was a delay in the connection, scowling to herself, then hearing the frustrating sound of an automated recording her face indicated her confusion.
Chloe's heart sank as the voice informed her that the number was disconnected. How could the offices of a government building be unobtainable? It didn't make any sense. Chloe tried to figure out what had happened. They'd been working on a major political conspiracy right before she'd been taken. If CTU had been shut down it wouldn't have been the first time that a government building had been taken out of action to cover up political wrongdoing.
Chloe sat for a while, closing her eyes against the despair and frustration she felt. She didn't easily trust people and now she didn't know who she should call. Most people escaping a hostage situation would call the police but Chloe knew from experience that government agents rarely contacted other law enforcement agencies. Always at the back of your mind was the thought that other agencies could house the people working against you.
Chloe recalled the cell numbers of everyone she trusted, which actually wasn't difficult. She tried Chase, Morris and Curtis but all the numbers were disconnected. The last person she wanted to call was Jack. Not that she didn't trust him, in actual fact she trusted him more than anyone. She didn't want to call him because the last time she'd called him for help he had ended the day on a ship to China, suffering months of torture and hell. Chloe was still reeling with guilt from that day and she didn't want to be responsible for getting him involved in this. The last time she had seen him he had been pretty broken, both physically and mentally. No, she thought; she couldn't call him, he deserved some peace.
Decision made, Chloe continued walking, deciding that she probably would be better off doing this on her own.
