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Chapter Seventeen – Just Like Old Times
Jack watched Sydney through the glass door of his
office. She was working on her computer,
writing a mission report on her and Dixon's latest assignment. It was a two-day op in Belize to extract
another SD-6 agent working undercover as a drug lord's lieutenant. The mission was successful -- they returned
with the agent and intell on the drug operation. There had been a bloody gunfight as they were escaping. By all accounts, Sydney performed well – as
well as she ever had.
Jack had originally been worried that Sydney wouldn't be
able to handle the missions physically or emotionally. But this was her seventh mission in the two
months that she had been back. Every
mission was successful and Sydney remained emotionally stable.
He was incredibly proud of her and incredibly scared for
her.
Jack gathered a few folders together and put them in his
briefcase. He felt an intense desire to
get away. He stopped by Sloane's office
and then checked with Sydney to see if she was available for supper.
They had been spending more time together. First out of necessity – Jack provided Sydney
protection and information. As the
weeks progressed though, Sydney needed him less and less for those things. But they enjoyed each other's company and
continued to do things together.
Ironically, Jack found it easier to repair his relationship with his
daughter when she didn't remember him.
Sydney declined his dinner invitation but scheduled lunch
with him the next day.
Jack exited the building and walked towards his car in
SD-6's secured parking deck. As Jack
put his key into the driver's door, a man stepped from behind a cement pillar
and pointed a pistol at him. It was
Khasinau. Jack instinctively dropped to
the ground, dropped his briefcase, and pulled out his own gun. Oddly enough, Khasinau didn't shoot.
Before Jack could even aim his pistol, Sark was on
him. He kicked the pistol from Jack's
hand and pointed his gun at Jack's face.
"Mr. Bristow, is there any chance that you will come with
us of your own volition?" Sark asked.
Jack stared at Sark for a moment. Then without warning he spun around and
knocked Sark down with a leg sweep.
Khasinau had come around the car and was nearing Jack. Jack stood up and punched Khasinau in the
solar plexus. As Khasinau doubled over,
Jack snatched the gun away from him.
Suddenly a white van screeched to a halt behind Jack's
car. Three men jumped out and ran
towards Jack. Jack aimed Khasinau's gun
at them and pulled the trigger quickly.
One man was killed instantly, and one was wounded. The third man leaped over Jack's car and
tackled Jack pinning him against the adjacent vehicle. The man quickly grabbed Jack's head and
slammed it forcefully against the vehicle.
Jack went unconscious and slumped to the ground.
The man drug Jack to the van, while Sark helped the
injured man, and Khasinau pulled the dead man with him into the van. The van quickly made it's way out of the
parking deck.
*****
Sydney had turned Jack down because she was meeting Vaughn
for supper. Well, they had planned to
meet at a coffee bar so that she could give him copies of the intell from the
Belize mission.
On her drive to the coffee bar, Sydney thought about that
night in Vaughn's office. She had been
tormented by that incident since that night in Vaughn's office. She didn't know what she regretted more,
that she started kissing Vaughn or that Weiss interrupted them.
Now there was a constant tension between them.
The first time they met after the incident, Vaughn had suggested that he
resign as her handler.
"I can't do this anymore, Syd." His hazel eyes were filled with sadness and underscored with dark
circles. "I can't even think straight
when it comes to you. And right now
you're my one and only case, so I'm never thinking straight!" Vaughn was obviously frustrated.
"Vaughn, I'm sorry, I never should have…"
"It felt right, Syd," he whispered passionately. "It felt so damn right."
"Vaughn, it did," Sydney confirmed. "But, it's just not the right time for us."
"Look at our lives, Syd!
Now is the only time we've got!"
They stared at each other.
Sydney's resolve was fading with each beat of her heart. "I'm going to resign as your handler."
"What good would that do us?" Sydney asked.
"For starters, you'd be safer with a more objective
handler," Vaughn said.
"Not true!" Sydney said.
Vaughn chose to ignore the comment. "And then we'd be free to be together."
"No, Vaughn. Bad
idea," Sydney said. "First of all, I
prefer that you're not objective. If
you have vested interest, then you'll be more careful. Secondly, I don't think that I could
continue this assignment without you.
And finally, we still couldn't be together. It's too dangerous… and you know it. If we started spending time together, SD-6 would find out you're
CIA…"
"I'd quit my job…" Vaughn said quickly.
"Wait a second," Sydney stopped him. "You're going to give up on your career just
so we can be together? We don't even
know if we'd get along." Vaughn cocked
his head and gave her an impatient look.
She didn't believe it either – she knew that they would be good
together. But she didn't want Vaughn
giving up his career for her. She knew
about the complications that come from a person quitting a job for the sake of
a lover. Sydney softened her voice,
"But the most important reason why we can't be together right now is because
every man that I love ends up dying."
Neither one of them had spoken about that night or their
feelings for each other since then.
Vaughn was already at the coffee bar when Sydney got
there. She headed for the table next to
him, and as she passed him, she skillfully dropped a computer disk into his
lap. She sat with her back to him; she
opened a book she had carried in with her, and he pretended to read the Wall
Street Journal. They discretely
discussed the mission.
Sydney was preparing to leave when her cell phone
rang. When she ended the call, she
said, "That was Sloane. He's asked me
to come back to the office. Says it's
urgent."
"That can't be good," Vaughn said.
"Probably not."
*****
Sydney sat in Sloane's office, watching the parking deck
surveillance tapes. Sloane, Sydney, and
the head of office security, Fogle, were the only ones in the office. They were unable to make out the faces of
any of the men.
"Sydney, I'm sorry," Sloane said. "But I'm sure he's okay." Sydney looked at him skeptically, her
emotions getting the best of her. "If
they wanted him dead, they would have killed him already."
"That may be," Sydney shot back, "But in our business, the
only reason for something like that," Sydney pointed at the screen, "Is to get
intell. And you and I both know what
happens next."
Sloane sighed.
"He's a top agent. He'll either
handle the situation himself, or he'll buy us time so that we can find
him. We've already got teams looking
for him." Sloane tried to sound
reassuring, but it was obvious that the men were professionals.
"How did they get in and out of the parking deck?" Sydney
asked. "I thought we had security."
"They killed the two security guards, and we're still
looking into how they bypassed the card reader and voice print."
Fogle spoke for the first time since Sydney had arrived,
"Sydney, do you know of anybody who would have a reason to abduct your father?"
Sydney turned her head towards him and gave him an icy
glare. "You mean besides the fact that
he's a top officer of an intelligence agency?" she asked sarcastically. "No, I do not."
*****
On her way home, Sydney drove out to one of her favorite
beaches. As she walked along the
water's edge, she talked to Vaughn on her cell phone.
"Vaughn, right now I need you to be a friend… maybe even a
partner, but not my handler – not an company man. Can you do that?"
"Of course," Vaughn said without hesitation.
She shared the details with him. He promised not to do anything. She promised to call him when she learned more.