Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 7

Jack arrived at the address he had been given, and was almost immediately suspicious. It looks completely deserted. But right now, it's all I've got. He made his way around the plant, scoping it out for any possible surprises. Finding nothing, he moved to a side door and tried to open it, his suspicions growing when it opened easily. A deserted plant wouldn't just be left open. Something is going on here.

He slowly made his way through the dimly lit plant, the remnants of machinery standing silent, the thick layer of dust on the floor helping to mask the sound of his footsteps. The familiar feeling of disappointment that once again he had gotten a bad lead returned. He eventually reached a control room in the center of the building and checked it out. Finding nothing, he turned to leave, but stopped when he saw what looked like a handgun of some sort. He inspected the weapon, his heart skipping a beat when he recognized it. It was the same weapon he had given Chloe 3 years before when she was being hunted by hitmen. Next to the weapon was a rusted keycard.

Dammit, not again. Where are you, Chloe? Jack got up to leave the room, but he was stopped by a faint yell. What the hell was that? Drawing his weapon, he ran through the plant toward the source of the noise and came upon a lit-up room. It was completely empty, save for a man restrained in a chair, who was being forcefully interrogated by a petite blond woman. Jack stayed out of sight, deciding to listen in.

"Where's Chloe O'Brian?!" The woman barked at her captive, pointing her weapon viciously at him.Who is this woman? Why does she want Chloe?

"I don't know" he gasped in pain.

"I don't believe you" she snapped, and brought the butt of her weapon down hard on his knee. He howled in pain. She bent down and grabbed him close. "Where is my sister?"

Jack was stunned. Sister? Chloe had never mentioned having a sister. She had never talked about her family before, often changing the subject whenever she was asked.

She let go of him and brought her weapon up to his forehead. "You have until the count of 5 to tell me what you did with Chloe O'Brian, or I will kill you."

No. I can't let him die, not if he knows where Chloe is. Jack rushed into the room. "Back away from him, NOW!" He yelled, startling both of them.

The woman wheeled around and pointed her weapon at him. "Who the hell are you? If you've come to rescue your buddy here, think again."

"He's not my friend" Jack said. "But he has information that I need." Sensing that she wasn't going to stand down, he raised his arms and slowly lowered his weapon. "My name is Jack Bauer. I came here looking for a friend."

She stared at him for a minute, then holstered her own weapon. "My name is Tyler Anderson. This bastard kidnapped my sister Chloe, and I am going to do whatever I have to to find her. I was in the middle of finding out where he took her when you interrupted."

"I told you, I don't know where she is" her prisoner said.

"And I told you I don't believe you" Tyler snapped at him, and moved to strike him again, but was stopped by Jack.

"Tyler, wait. Let me handle this" Jack said. He turned to the man and pointed his weapon at the man's knee. "What she's done to you is nothing compared to what I'll do, unless you tell me now where Chloe O'Brian is." The man said nothing and merely stared at him. "Fine" Jack said and prepared to shoot him.

"No, wait!" He yelled. "I'll tell you what I know. The money I got for this job isn't worth being a cripple."

"We're listening" Tyler said.

"I don't know where O'Brian is right now. I was only paid to kidnap her and bring her to a drop point. Once I did, they took her somewhere else. The drop point is the old rail crossing at Largo Junction."

"Who hired you?" Jack asked.

"He gave me a name- David Burke. I don't know if it's his real name or an alias, and I didn't ask."

"Keep an eye on him" Jack said to Tyler. "I'm going to check out that name." He moved a safe distance away, keeping an eye on Tyler in case she tried something stupid. He pulled out his phone and called Morris. "Morris, it's Jack."

"Jack?" Morris sounded urgent. "Did you find anything?"

"Maybe. Right now I need you to do a search on the name David Burke."

"Did you say David Burke?" Morris asked curiously.

Jack was suspicious. "Do you know him?"

"I might." Morris went silent and Jack heard the clicking of keys. "Here we go. David Burke. Born in Birmingham. Worked for MI-5 and MI-6 years ago as an interrogator. Was discharged after an interrogation went wrong and resulted in the death of an innocent man. Worked as a mercenary for a few years, but disappeared 16 months ago." The same time Chloe disappeared, Jack thought.

"Good job, Morris. We have to assume that he's the one that has Chloe." When Morris failed to respond, Jack got concerned. "Is there something you're not telling me, Morris?"

"I knew him, Jack. We worked at MI-6 together. Even back then, he was known for being particularly brutal in his interrogations. He enjoyed hurting people. Now that he's gone to the dark side..."

Jack's blood ran cold. This monster has Chloe. Who knows what he's done to her? "We have something here, Morris. We will find Chloe." He hung up the phone and leaned against the wall. Chloe, please don't give up. I will find you.

"Did you find anything?" Tyler asked Jack as he walked over to her.

"It sounds like the name he gave us is legit. Did he tell you anything?"

"Nothing else that could be useful. Just a lot of macho crap."

"I don't think he's going to tell us anything else." Jack said wearily.

"You're probably right" Tyler said and turned to leave. She suddenly turned around and fired 3 shots into the captive mercenary. "That was for my sister, you scumbag." She holstered her weapon and looked at Jack. "Come on, let's go" she snapped and stormed out of the room.

Jack quickly shook off the shock and ran after Tyler, catching up with her as she was leaving the plant. "What the hell was that?" He snapped at her.

Tyler just glared at him. "I told you, Jack. I would do whatever I had to to find my sister. I meant what I said. If that means killing every single scumbag that's holding her, I will. If you don't have the stomach for it, then go home and stay out of my way. I've been searching for her for 16 months on my own, and I don't need any help from soft-hearted cowards."

"Listen to me, Tyler" Jack barked. "I want to find Chloe just as much as you do, but we won't be able to find anything if you just go around shooting every lead we come across." When she didn't respond, he continued. "Help me find your sister. If we combine our efforts, we'll be able to find her faster."

"...Fine" Tyler finally said.

"Thanks. Right now, we need to focus on finding this guy Burke. He's our only lead to Chloe." I swear to you, Chloe. I will find you, no matter what I have to do.