Chapter 8
Jack visited Marshall and was fitted with a transmitter that Jack could activate at will. Marshall was particularly proud of it. "We insert the positive terminal in your thumb, and the negative terminal in the tip of your 4th finger. Touch them together, and you close the circuit and begin transmission. The longer you keep them together, the better the location fix. Pull your fingers apart again, and you stop transmitting. I actually thought of this idea when I was playing-,"
"How long does the circuit need to be connected for you to pinpoint my location?" Jack interrupted.
"One minute will narrow down the country; five minutes will give us the city; 10 minutes will give us the precise coordinates," said Marshall proudly. "Say, Director Bristow, what are you planning to-,"
"Thank you, Marshall."
**
"Are you sure you want to go through with this Jack?"
"I think it's our best shot, sir."
"Anyone else in the loop?
"No. We still don't know who the second mole is."
"You've anticipated all contingencies?"
"I believe so. We'll find out soon."
"Good luck, Jack."
"Thank you, sir."
**
With everything in place, there was nothing to do but wait. It wasn't until several days later that, walking back from Jimmy's at night, Jack heard footsteps behind him. He continued walking at a leisurely pace, forcing himself to relax as he heard the footsteps accelerate and a car swerve around the corner. Amateurs, he thought to himself with disdain. Several pairs of arms grabbed him from behind, his nose and mouth were covered with a cloth, and he remembered nothing more.
Consciousness slowly returned as he was rhythmically slapped across his face. "Wake up!" a male voice grunted. As the mists slowly cleared from Jack's eyes, he made out the outlines of a small windowless room, with one lone bulb in the ceiling. Possibly a storage closet of some kind. He was seated, his hands tied behind him, with 3 people standing in front of him. Two men…and Irina. "He's all yours," said the same voice.
Irina nodded curtly. "Tell Sloane he's awake. Close the door and wait for me in the hall, but let me know when Sloane's on his way."
Jack watched, silent, as the men exited. "Where am I?" Surreptitiously he touched his thumb and 4th finger together.
"Agent Vaughn," said Marshall with excitement. "I've got it!"
"Mexico City, you fool," responded Irina angrily. "Why did you force Sloane's hand like this? Surely you knew he'd come after you for the encryption key? Do you have any idea how angry he was when he found out you'd hidden Sydney away? What were you thinking?"
Jack shrugged, trying to look unconcerned while cursing inwardly. He needed to change the subject, divert Irina from her train of thought before she carried it to its natural conclusion. Looking around at his surroundings, he mocked, "What? No bed? Won't the floor be a little uncomfortable for us, sweetheart?" and braced himself. He was developing quite a knack with the Bristow women.
Irina sucked in her breath in anger and took an involuntary step towards him, then stopped, eyes narrowing. He was baiting her. Why? With a flash of insight, she strode over to the door and opened it. "Juan!" she shouted, "Come back in here."
Juan appeared in the doorway.
"How difficult was it for you to capture this man?"
"No problem, senora" replied Juan smugly. "He never heard us, and we were too strong for him."
Irina studied Jack. Not a scratch on him. Hair barely mussed. "Right," she said sarcastically. "Bring me the sensor," she snapped.
"We checked him out already. He wasn't transmitting."
"He wasn't awake."
"Come onnn," said Marshal. "Come to Mama." Vaughn looked at him strangely. "Mexico!" he said. "He's in Mexico. Wait a minute-," he looked in perplexity at the screen. "He stopped transmitting."
While Irina waited, she turned back to Jack, who was looking grim. "Idiot. You've got to trust me. Stop trying to force the timing. I'll give you Sloane – just not yet."
One of the men trotted in with the handheld wand and slowly ran it over Jack. Nothing happened. Irina jerked her head for him to leave.
"Got him again!" said Marshal, in a voice a little more than a squeak.
"I'm guessing your plan is to activate a transmitter, or to have a passive one activate, and try to take us by force." Jack looked bored, but Irina wasn't fooled. "Jack, you *must* listen to me," she said urgently. "You know I want to get Sloane as badly as you. I could have shot him any time over the past 2 months. But I didn't."
"Why not?" Jack challenged. "Did he offer you a better deal?"
Irina gritted her teeth. "Jack, I don't have time to explain it to you now. You have to trust me."
"I have to trust YOU?" Jack spat out. "How many more times do I have to trust YOU? This is not about ME trusting YOU, dammit. It's about YOU trusting ME. Just once in your life."
"That's ridiculous, Jack," hissed Irina.
"Oh, is it?" he asked, eyes flashing. "I was married to you for 8 years. I was the father of your daughter. I loved you," he said bitterly. "And you still didn't trust me enough to tell me you were in trouble."
"It was a little more than just 'in trouble', Jack," Irina shot back. "I was a KGB agent who had used you for years, stolen secrets from your country, and murdered your colleagues. I'm at a loss to know how I would have started that conversation."
"How about, 'Jack, I've made a mistake'?"
"Mistake? Is *that* what you'd call it?" she said incredulously, breathing hard. She laughed harshly. "Congratulations, Jack. Probably the understatement of the century." She caught herself, realizing what she had just admitted.
Irina looked at Jack, and saw both the anger and the pain in his eyes as they bored into hers, demanding the truth. Their truth. She steadied herself, knowing that he deserved more. "Jack, knowing I had betrayed you would have brought you nothing but pain," she said quietly. "I…loved you too much to do that to you. I hoped that my 'death' would let you and Sydney move on."
"Lovely. So instead of just 'betrayal' I got 'death', 'betrayal', and 'wondering for 20 years if you had ever loved me'."
"It wasn't supposed to be that way," she said angrily, stung by his refusal to back down.
"IT WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN IF YOU HAD TRUSTED ME ENOUGH TO TELL ME," Jack shouted. "If you had trusted me enough to make my own choices." He looked up at Irina. "I would have come for you at Muzaffarabad, if I had known," he finished softly.
Irina looked away. Muzaffarabad. She suppressed a shudder. She had buried her family there. Jack and Sydney. Laura. "I'm sorry, Jack," she said wearily. "My life up until that point hadn't left me inclined to trust someone that much." She took a deep breath. "I shouldn't have made the decision for both of us. I was…wrong."
Irina glanced back at Jack, tied to the chair. "Go ahead and activate the transmitter, Jack," she said with a sigh. "I'll head out with Sloane. Try not to do something this stupid again and give him what he wants. He'll kill you next time. Or worse." She turned and headed toward the door.
