Chapter 4

Agent Virginia Long drew a nervous breath as she took the tray of coffee and cups from the young assistant chef. Years of training with weapons and tactics and it was all coming down to her ability to act stupid. No one was quite sure of what was going on, but Pierce was clear on two points: Martha Logan was in danger and Jack Bauer was being used as a pawn.

Reaching into her jacket pocket, Ginger, as everyone called her, drew out the small box that Pierce had given her. She opened it revealing several small glass vials. As instructed, she opened three of the vials and poured the contents into each of three cups. She filled those cups with coffee and set the empty fourth cup aside.

Satisfied that she was ready, Ginger picked up the tray and headed down the hall to the sitting room. She entered the room where Jack sat with the two as yet unidentified men.

"Hi!" Ginger said cheerfully as she breezed through the room.

Jack recognized her immediately as one of the agents he had seen when he was at the Presidential Retreat earlier in the day.

"Sorry for the wait," she said with almost a high school girl giggle. "You know Mrs. Logan. She won't come and talk to you guys unless she has her make up on and her hair done." Ginger giggled again and set down the tray. "Agent Pierce though you guys might like to have some coffee."

"Thanks," Jack said closely watching her every move.

"Doesn't it figure," she went on airily in her best valley-girl imitation. "I'm the only female agent so when Pierce needs someone to serve coffee he picks me. When I took this job I thought it would be exciting and I end up a high paid waitress."

Ginger handed a cup to one of the men and continued to chat. "So you guys are from CTU? I bet you see way more action than Secret Service does. Maybe I should apply at CTU. This following the President and First Lady around is becoming a drag." She turned and handed a cup to the second man and then started toward Jack.

"Hey! I know you!" she said excitedly. "You're Jack Bauer. I heard all about what you did this morning and how you got that creep Walt Cummings to confess to all the stuff that he did. I never liked him. He was so sneaky. You're a real legend around here. Ever since I started I've heard about Jack Bauer and how you saved President Palmer's life before he was elected. I can't believe I'm standing in the same room with you," Ginger gushed. "Where're my manners?" she stuck out her hand. "I'm Virginia Long, but my friends call me Ginger. Oh, there I go again babbling on like a fool. Let me get your coffee."

Ginger turned to get the cup and bumped the bottom against the edge of the tray spilling the contents on the carpet. "Oh my God! I am such a klutz! I can't believe I just did that."

Jack reached for napkins to help her clean it up.

"Oh, no! You don't have to do that. Let me get you another cup of coffee and then I'll clean it up. Oh, God! You must think I'm such an idiot! I'll be right back." Ginger hurried from the room.

"The Secret Service must be hard up if they hired her!" the younger of Wayne Palmer's two associates commented.

The older man nodded in agreement while they both sat back and drank their coffee. "She's sweet on you, Jack. Maybe you should ask her out. She might be fun to have around for a night or two."

Ginger was back in a minute with a fresh cup of coffee which she handed carefully to Jack apologizing repeatedly. She glanced at the other two men and then excused herself from the room. She was satisfied that both were already starting to look drowsy. The drug would only take a few more minutes to work. Looking back from the doorway, Ginger made eye contact with Jack and the two exchanged a knowing smile.

Aaron Pierce was just finishing his conversation with Bill Buchanan when Ginger returned to the office. "How did it go?" he asked her.

"Like a charm. They're both looking pretty sleepy at the moment. It shouldn't be much longer before they're both out cold."

"Good. Keep an eye on the situation. As soon as they're asleep, cuff them to the chairs and call me. I want Jack to tell me what's going on."

"Did Buchanan have any idea?" Ginger queried.

"None. Bauer told him about an hour and a half ago that he had something he had to take care of and that as soon as he was finished he would go back to CTU. Buchanan said he had no reason to believe that Bauer was under any duress at the time, but he'll have the conversation reviewed by his tactical people and see if there were any codes that he missed. If Jack had been under duress, he would have found a way to let Buchanan know. He gave me a duress code as soon as he could work it into the conversation. He would have done the same to Bill. We're both convinced that something happened after the last time Bill and Jack spoke. Only Jack can tell us the whole story."

"Does Buchanan know who the men are that came in with Jack?"

"No, as far as he knows, Jack was alone when they last spoke. I have our guys and CTU checking the surveillance video of them to see if we can get a match on their identities. We don't have anything yet."

Agent Long looked at her watch. "That should be enough time for the sedative to work. Let me go and check on Jack and his 'friends' and maybe we can get some answers from Jack."

When Ginger opened the door to the sitting room, Jack had removed the older man's necktie and was tying his hands behind him. Both men were slumped over nearly falling out of their chairs. She flipped open her phone and called Pierce to tell them that their plan had worked.

"Pierce is on his way," Ginger told him. "Need help?" she asked him as she tossed a roll of duct tape in his direction.

Jack smiled at her. "Thanks. It's a lot easier that way. What'd you give them?"

"Midazolam. It's a rapid acting benzodiazepine, kind of like Valium only with a quicker onset. Anesthesiologists use it during surgery for short procedures. They usually inject it, but you can give it orally and it works fine. We gave them a pretty hefty dose so they'll be out for a while unless we give the antidote and wake them up."

Pierce walked in as they finished securing the two men who were now their prisoners.

"Aaron, thanks for bailing me out. I owe you one," he said shaking hands with Pierce once again.

"What's going on, Jack? Is the First Lady in danger?" Aaron asked anxiously.

"I don't have a lot of time to explain, but in a nut shell, I was sent here to kill Martha Logan."

"By whom?" Aaron asked incredulously.

"You're going to have a hard time believing this, Aaron, but I was sent by Wayne Palmer."

"Why would Wayne Palmer want Martha Logan dead?"

"Wayne Palmer was the mastermind behind everything that happened today: the nerve gas, his brother's assassination, the attack on Tony Almeida and Michelle Dessler. He was responsible for everything. Apparently he was concerned that President Palmer was starting to figure out what was going on. He knew that Martha Logan and his brother were good friends and he was afraid that his brother confided in Mrs. Logan. Wayne wanted to make sure that she couldn't blow the whistle on him," Jack explained.

"That explains Wayne Palmer's role. Why would you have gone along with him?"

"I was forced to. This morning when the car bomb blew up at the Almeida's house, Tony and Michelle's baby was kidnapped. Wayne Palmer is holding her hostage. He told me the only way to get her back was to kill the First Lady. Of course, I would never hurt Mrs. Logan. You know that, Aaron. I just had to buy some time."

Aaron nodded. "I understand, Jack. This is your operation. You tell me how you want to proceed. I've already talked to Bill Buchanan. He has a tac team on stand by in case you need them. He also said to call him and let him know what other resources you need. I can dispatch a Secret Service unit to arrest Wayne Palmer."

"No, not yet," Jack explained. "If Palmer thinks that I haven't completed my mission, there's no way he'll give Lily Almeida back to me. The truth is that he probably never had any intention of giving her back to me, but dammit, Aaron, I've got to try. This is our only hope of finding that baby before it's too late. He's holding her in an undisclosed location and from the video feed he let me watch, he has a bomb under her crib. It's set to go off in less than two hours. That's all the time we have to get her back."

Aaron again nodded now fully understanding the gravity of the situation. "Again, Jack, this is your operation. I'll do whatever I can to cooperate."

"Let's start by waking them up and finding out how much they know."

Jack and Aaron both turned as they heard the door behind them open. Pierce spoke, "What is it Byron?"

"Bill Buchanan from CTU just called. They got a match on these two guys," Agent Byron angled his head to indicate the two sleeping figures duct taped to the chairs. He passed two pages printed with grainy photographs to his boss. "The older one is Maurice Ward and his friend here is Edward Riker. Both have been on watch lists for LAPD for years. Not a lot is known about them. They've managed to stay largely below the radar. Apparently they've had some association with a drug lord named Angus Drake in the past. Drake is full time into drugs now, but in the past he was kind of a soldier of fortune. He hired himself out to anyone with a terrorist agenda and money. Drake's name came up earlier today when the bodies of those three people were found down near the docks. LAPD thinks Drake was hired by someone to provide local muscle for this operation."

Jack and Aaron looked at each other. "Wayne Palmer," Jack said. "Palmer must have brought Drake on board. That's how these guys got involved. We need to find Drake." Jack paused for a moment to think. "Call CTU and have them find out what they can about Drake's location. I want a tac team near that location but they need to be invisible. If Drake or Palmer even smells law enforcement, Lily Almeida is dead. While CTU's trying to find Drake, let's wake these guys up. Where's the antidote?"

Agent Long withdrew two vials and two syringes from a small case. "It's right here," she said as she popped opened the vials, inserted the needles into the rubber stoppers on the top and drew the contents of the vials into the syringes. "This should do it."

The antidote reversed the effects of the sedative. Ward and Riker woke up quickly, groggy at first but soon realizing what had happened.

"This is fairly simple, gentlemen," Jack said in a mocking tone. "You two cooperate with me or I get to kill you. If you think I'll feel bad about that or that I'll wake up tomorrow with any regret, you'd be wrong. I'd give anything to pull the trigger right now but it's more important that I find the baby your boss kidnapped. She doesn't mean anything to you and right now, the best thing you can do for yourself is to tell me everything you know. Pierce and I can make sure that the federal prosecutor knows that you cooperated. We'll recommend that they go easy on you. Now tell me where the baby is."

"You're wasting your time, Jack," Maurice Ward said evenly, almost taunting him.

"I'm going to ask you again," Jack said a little more insistently enunciating each syllable clearly and slowly. "Tell me where the baby is!"

"And I'm going to tell you one more time: you're wasting your time. I don't know where the baby is."

Jack's rage spilled over. He drew his weapon is one sharp, rapid move and pressed it to the man's head forcing his neck back as far as it would go. "Tell me where the baby is!" Jack screamed in a voice the filled the entire room.

Agent Long flinched involuntarily and felt Pierce's reassuring hand on her shoulder. She knew Jack was a professional but he was scaring her and she wondered what he was capable of.

"We don't know where the baby is," Riker cried in a quivering voice. "Palmer kept that part of the operation separate."

"You're lying!" Jack screamed as he turned suddenly and pressed the gun to the Ed Riker's temple. "Tell me the truth or I'll pull the trigger!"

"It's the truth! I swear it. Please don't kill me," Riker begged. He clearly wasn't as seasoned as Ward and was breaking down quickly. "If I knew I'd tell you. We told Mr. Palmer that kidnapping the baby was a bad idea. He said that he needed her for insurance. He said she was good bait, that if any part of the plan went wrong he could use her. When he got suspicious this morning that Martha Logan might know that he was involved, he decided to use the baby to get you to kill the First Lady. He said that he knew you'd do it if you thought you could get your friend's baby back. Please take the gun away. I don't know anything else."

Jack and Aaron looked at each other satisfied that Riker would have talked by now if he knew anything. Jack holstered his weapon and stepped back.

"It really doesn't matter where the baby is, Jack," Ward said in a tone that still oozed with defiance. He nodded toward a clock. "You have less than an hour and a half to find her and even if you did, the door to her room is wired so that if anyone tries to open it, the bomb will go off. That wire can only be defused by remote control. And by the way, if you use the wrong frequency remote…Yes, you guessed it. The bomb goes off and it's bye-bye baby. Give it up, Jack. That baby's good as dead. The only chance you had of getting that baby back alive was giving Wayne Palmer what he wanted: Martha Logan's head on a platter."

Jack put his hands on Ward's shoulders and leaned in close so their faces were inches apart. "Well, then you know what your going to do?" Jack hissed angrily. "You're going to convince Wayne Palmer that Martha Logan is dead. You're going to make him believe that I killed her and that you helped."

"Why would I bother doing that, Jack?" Ward sneered.

Jack reached under his jacket and drew his gun. He pressed the grey steel barrel just below Ward's breast bone. "Because I've got the gun, that's why. If you let on to Wayne Palmer in any way that Martha Logan is upstairs sleeping, I'll shoot. You might be thinking that dying isn't such a bad thing right now and you're probably right but nobody wants to die the way I'll make you die. I'm not envisioning a clean execution style gunshot to the back of the head, my friend. No, you'll die while everyone in this room listens to you begging for me to kill you. You'll die in more agony than you ever thought possible." Jack stared straight into Ward's eyes for added effect. Wards stared back, unblinking and Jack knew that he had finally gotten to him. "So, do you plan to cooperate or should I ask Agents Byron and Long to leave so they don't have to witness. I'd hate to scar them so early in their careers."

Ward was silent but swallowed hard.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Jack said. He reached into Ward's pocket and pulled out a phone. He began coaching Ward on the story he was to tell Palmer. "Got it?"

"Yeah," Ward answered succinctly.

"You better," Jack retorted or else I'm going to order dinner from the kitchen so I have something to do while I watch you die." Jack turned to Agent Byron. "Get CTU on the line. I want them to hear this conversation and be ready to take action."

Within minutes CTU was tapped into Ward's phone and was listening from downtown Los Angeles. It took some doing since Palmer had given Ward a scramble phone, but Chloe was able to get around it. "We're a go here, Jack. Proceed when ready," Bill told him.

Jack dialed Palmer's number and held the phone to Ward's ear with one hand and the gun to his midsection with the other.

"Mr. Palmer," Ward said in a clear voice. "It's done. I need the escape plans."

"Not so fast," Palmer told him. "Tell me how you pulled it off."

"Bauer convinced the Secret Service that Mrs. Logan had information that CTU needed. He told them that it would be best if they brought her down to CTU to be interviewed. We were in one car and she was in a limo behind us with two agents. Jack pulled off the road and put up the hood like we were having engine trouble. When the two agents got out to help us, we killed them. Mrs. Logan was easy to finish off. We drove the limo with the bodies in it to a wooded area near the reservoir. No one is going to miss them for an hour or so. When they do, it'll take a little while to find them even using satellite tracking. I figure Riker and I have about two hours to get out of the country. Now tell me what airfield the plane is waiting at."

Jack pulled the phone from Ward's ear. "Enough. You two can negotiate an escape later. I want the location where I can get Lily Almeida. I kept up my end of the bargain, Wayne. Now you're going to keep up your end or I'm going straight to CTU and telling them everything I know. Every state and federal agency will be looking for you within the next half hour."

Palmer laughed. "You're funny, Jack. You claim that you just murdered the First Lady and two Secret Service agents and you're going to walk into CTU. You might as well sign your own death warrant."

Now it was Jack's turn to laugh. "Do you think that scares me? Dying by lethal injection is easy, Wayne. I've been living the life of a dead man for the last 18 months. Right now dying looks like the easy way out. I can handle that. Can you?"

"Calm down, Jack. You'll get the location and my men will get their escape plans. Meet me in a half hour at the old Warwick Paper Company warehouse. Use the south entrance and pull around to the loading dock. I'll be waiting for you. If anybody other than the three of you show up, the baby's going to die. Do you understand?"

"I understand," Jack said in a tone that suggested defeat. "We'll be there."

Jack closed the phone and then turned toward the speaker phone on a nearby table. "Did CTU get all of that, Bill?"

"Got it, Jack. Curtis has a tac team on the way to the meeting location. According to city records the building is abandoned. We have to assume that Palmer plans to ambush you when you get there. Do you have a vest?"

"I can get one from Secret Service. I'll also get comm equipment from them. I'll have them give Chloe the frequency so we can stay in constant communication. What's the ETA on the tac team?"

"About ten minutes. I've also got a car stationed near Palmer's condo. He'll keep an eye on Palmer and make sure he goes to the warehouse. I'll let you know what the tac team finds as soon as they arrive."

"I copy. Chloe, send the directions to the warehouse to my PDA. I want the most direct route with the least amount of traffic."

"I'll have it to you in a minute or so, Jack," Chloe told him. "Then I'll talk to the communications director from Secret Service and we'll have your comm set up."

"Thanks, Chloe. Once I have directions and comm I'll be ready to go."

"Jack," a familiar voice broke in.

Jack stepped over to the table and picked up the phone's handset to talk privately.

"Hey," he said softly. He stepped toward the far corner of the room. "Are you hanging in there?" he asked Audrey.

"Yeah," she said back. "I just wanted to remind you to be careful. Okay?"

"I'm always careful, Sweetheart," he assured her.

"I've seen you take some pretty big risks," Audrey tried to laugh in order to cover a quiet sob.

"The only risks I take are necessary ones. I promise you, Audrey, any risk I take at this point is only to save Lily's life. That's my focus right now," he told her gently.

"I know," Audrey answered unable to keep from crying. "It feels like you're walking into a trap.

"I am walking into a trap, Audrey. We both know that. CTU'll be watching my back. They'll take every possible precaution."

"I know that, Jack, but I'm scared. I just want to make sure that you come back to me."

"And I need to make sure that when I come back to you I have Lily with me. I love you, Audrey, and I want to come back to you but I owe it to Tony to do everything in my power to rescue his daughter. He did everything he could to save my family when they were in danger. I have to do the same for him. I need you to understand that."

"I do, Jack. Just promise me you'll be careful."

"I will, honey. I'll see you soon." Jack took a deep breath and hung up the phone.

"Agent Bauer," Ginger said bringing him out of his reverie. "I have a flak jacket for you and Byron's getting your communication equipment. Pierce is having two agents take Riker and Ward to the car. Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," Jack said in his take charge voice. "Let CTU know that we're a go."