Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Chapter 21
Chloe rubbed her hands nervously in anticipation, waiting for Morris to show up. I just can't believe Morris is involved in this. Maybe he's not. Maybe this job was done before Colby kidnapped my children. I don't know. The only one who can tell me that is Morris. I just hope he doesn't hate me for this. She glanced over at Jack, who was leaning against the wall, his eyes on her. Chloe shuddered slightly under his gaze. He's not happy about this, that's for sure. I might have put his mind at ease for now, but we're definitely going to have to talk about things later.
"Chloe, are you all right?"
"No, not really" she answered quietly. "I just can't believe that Morris would ever get involved in something like this. I know he did some questionable things in the past, but nothing like this. I always thought there were some lines even he wouldn't cross. Maybe I was wrong, though."
Jack came over to her and put his arm around her shoulder. "Look, Chloe, I know you're confused right now. The only thing that matters is that we get to the bottom of this, and get on with our lives." He lifted her chin gently. "I love you. That's never going to change. If you trust nothing else, trust my love for you, and our children."
Chloe merely smiled. "Thanks, Jack." She was about to kiss him when the doorbell rang. Perfect.
Jack shook his head, then walked over to the door and opened it. Morris was standing outside. "Morris."
"Hello, Jack" Morris replied, reaching for Jack's hand. Jack hesitated a moment, then grasped it briefly. Morris looked past him, his face lighting up when he saw Chloe sitting there. "Hello, Chloe. It's so good to see you."
"It's... good to see you too, Morris."
"So what's going on? Your call said it was urgent."
"Come here." Chloe waved him over, gesturing for him to sit down next to her. Morris stopped when he saw her splinted leg. "What happened to you? You're injured."
"It's a long story. I'll explain later. We need to ask you some questions."
Morris sat down and stared at her in confusion. "What kind of questions? Why couldn't you have just asked me over the phone? It's not exactly a quick drive over here, darling."
Chloe set Colby's laptop in front of Morris and brought up some files. "Do you recognize these files?"
Morris quickly began scanning through them. "Yes, I do. These are programs I wrote for a job. Why?"
"When did you do this job?"
He started typing. "This program is about 4 months old... hang about." He grabbed the laptop, looking it over. "I remember this job now. The person I did it for came to me and offered me 100 large if I could write some data storage files. I thought it was a bit odd at the time- that much money for a simple job, one that just about any programmer could do- but I wasn't about to turn down that amount of money. I took the job. Easiest 100 large I ever made, to be honest."
Chloe glanced at him questioningly. "Did you check him out before you took the job?"
Morris looked offended. "Of course I did. I'm a coward, Chloe, I'm not a bloody idiot. Nothing came up that would have made me turn down the job." He shot a look at Jack, then turned back to Chloe. "What is really going on here?"
"The man who hired you, did he give you a name?"
"He said his name was Louis Ellertson. And like I said, he checked out."
Chloe brought up a shot of Colby. "Is this the man you dealt with?"
Morris nodded. "Yes." He sat back and crossed his arms. "Look, I'm not answering any more questions until you tell me what's going on. Why are you treating me like a criminal?"
Jack sighed. "You really want to know what's going on? Fine. The man you dealt with, his real name is Colby Kessler. 6 weeks ago, he kidnapped our children. In order to get them back, Chloe agreed to hand herself over to him. She ended up in prison. Turns out Kessler was working with another man, Peter Michaels."
"Peter Michaels? Isn't he the man you sent to prison for that mess over that hard drive?"
Chloe nodded. "Hal Turner found me there and told Jack where I was. Jack helped get me out. We also found out that someone in CTU was helping Kessler and Michaels. We're trying to find out who. This laptop might have what we're looking for on it, but we haven't been able to get in yet. The only reason I knew you wrote these programs was because you marked them. Which means you can get in." She grabbed Morris' hand. "Morris, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it sound like we were accusing you of anything."
Morris snatched his hand away. "It sounds to me like you are." He stood up. "I'd never work with anyone that wants to hurt you, Chloe, and I'm insulted that you think I would." He shot a nasty glare at Jack before walking out the door. Jack followed Morris out, catching up with him next to Morris' car. "Morris, wait."
"No, Jack. I'm not going to stand there and be treated like I've done something wrong."
Jack put his hand on Morris' shoulder. "Nobody's accusing you of anything, Morris."
"You told me that I helped someone who kidnapped your children."
"And if you knew what Kessler was planning, would you still have taken that job?"
Morris glared at Jack furiously. "No. I would have turned him in, first chance I got."
Jack simply looked at him. "That's exactly what Chloe said. She didn't believe that you would ever want to hurt her."
"Then why didn't you tell me the truth? Why didn't you just ask me for help?"
"Look, Morris- we're all under a lot of pressure here. We need you to get into that laptop. Chloe and Connor have been trying for 4 days now. Neither of them have gotten anywhere. But you know how to get in. Please, help us."
Morris glanced over at the house before turning back to Jack. "And why should I?"
I guess he should know the truth. "Tyler and I were arrested getting Chloe out of prison. We were released on condition we find the mole in CTU. If we can't find anything in the next 3 days, not only are Tyler and I going back, but Chloe is as well. I will do whatever I have to to keep her out of prison. Morris, if I have to force you to do this, I will. I will not let Chloe go through that again." Jack dropped his hand. "I don't want to lose my children, or my wife. I can't."
"...All right. I'll do it."
Jack merely nodded. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. I haven't gotten anything."
2424242424
"Okay, I'm in" Morris said the next day. He leaned back, cracking his neck. "I haven't had a challenge that difficult in years."
Chloe shot him a glare. "Did you have to make it that hard to get in?"
Morris shrugged. "I was getting paid 100 large, Chloe. That kind of cash demands only the best work."
"Morris, we spent 4 days on this thing, and got nowhere."
"How is that my fault?"
"I didn't say it was your fault, now did I? I just hope that this has what we're looking for on it, or..." She glanced over her shoulder, where Jack and Connor were playing with the triplets.
"I'm fairly certain they wouldn't have gone to all this trouble if it's just a dead end."
Chloe refused to look at Morris. "I hope you're right, Morris." She began pouring over the files Morris was sending her, searching desperately for the proof she was looking for. Come on, please. Please let me find something. Anything. I can't go back to prison. I can't lose Jack, or my children.
"Did you find anything yet?" Chloe jumped at Jack's voice. He was standing over her shoulder, David fast asleep in his arms.
Chloe scowled. "Don't sneak up on me, Jack." Her eyes suddenly widened as she began typing. "I think we might have found something." She pointed to her screen. "It's a series of communications between Kessler and Michaels. The first one is from 2 months ago. It's a confirmation of a wire transfer to Kessler for 10 million for 'services rendered'."
"So we have proof of them doing business together in the last few months."
She nodded. "Not what we're looking for, though. None of these communications mentions Erin at all." She frowned. "Hang on... there's something else. Some kind of audio file."
"Can you open it?"
"Yeah." Chloe punched in a few keys, then turned the volume on to hear it.
"Erin Driscoll?"
"Who the hell is this?"
"Someone who can give you what you want."
"And what is that?"
"Does the name Chloe O'Brian ring a bell?"
"...I'm listening."
"I know your history with O'Brian, and I know you want payback for what happened."
"I got my payback already. I fired her."
"So she lost a job for a few hours. Doesn't mean anything. No, what I'm proposing is much more than that."
"Tell me."
"Not yet. I want to know if you're in or out first. If you're in, then I can give you payback not only on O'Brian, but also on Jack Bauer as well."
"...I'm in."
"Good. I'll contact you soon with further details."
Jack sank down into the recliner. Oh my god. It's true. I was right. "She was involved. Erin was part of this."
Chloe clenched her hands in anger. How dare she do this to me. It wasn't enough firing me? She had to take my freedom, too? She slammed her hand on the table. "Damn you, Erin. Damn you!" Shaking her hand, she clicked on another audio file.
"Erin, it's Colby."
"You have a lot of nerve to be calling me, Colby, after how badly you just screwed up. CTU has Jack now. You'll never get to him in there."
"Oh, give me a break, Erin. I told Michaels not to underestimate Bauer, and he didn't listen to me. So if you're looking to blame someone, don't look at me."
"Don't talk to me like that. I did everything you needed me to do. Now this whole operation has been ruined, and CTU is going to find out about my role."
"Well, you have to make sure they don't find out. But I do have a bit of good news. Michaels is dead. He could have pointed the finger at us. But that's not going to happen now. I need you to do one more thing."
"No. I'm out, Colby. Find someone else to do your dirty work."
"You want to see O'Brian and Bauer dead? Then do what I'm asking you to do."
"What do you need me to do?"
"Bauer and Anderson are being taken to CTU. Find a way to get them cleared of the charges, and have them sent back to LA. They'll be perfect targets once they're back in LA. That's when I'll strike. With Bauer out of the way, O'Brian will be easy to get to. We'll both get what we want."
"I don't have any authority over San Francisco, Colby. You know that."
"That hasn't stopped you before, has it? Make it happen, Erin, or you know what will happen."
"Are you threatening me, Colby?"
"Maybe. We both know you have more to lose than I do. I'm sending you the override protocols you need. You call me the second you find out anything."
Chloe merely looked over at Jack, pushing her anger aside. "We've got what we're looking for, Jack. Proof, at last."
Jack nodded. "Save all of it. I'll contact Reilly. We'll present the evidence to him, and he'll take care of it." And once he does, it'll be all over. We'll be free, once and for all.