Chapter 5

Part 1

After washing his face, Jack looked in the mirror and wondered who the old man was that was staring back at him. "You look like s***," he said to himself. He then straightened out his clothes, the best he could, and headed to his meeting.

Up in the Op Center, they knew he was in the building. They knew he was in the morgue. They knew that he would soon be in the Op Center for his debriefing. They knew he would be on time.

What they didn't know was how to react when he got there. Do they surround him and offer him sympathy? Do they offer to help him investigate, the crime committed against his daughter? Or, do they just ignore him?

When he finally arrived in the office, his body language told them that he did not want to be approached. Everyone, but Marshall Flinkman, ignored him.

Marshall was in his lab with Carrie Bowman. Carrie had been consoling Marshall for the last few hours. Marshall rushed out of his office, when he saw Jack walk by. "Mr. Bristow," he called out.

Jack turned when he heard his name called. Although Marshall usually annoyed the hell out of him, Jack felt sympathy for him as he saw Marshall's red and puffy eyes. "It's ok Marshall. Thank you," he said as he squeezed his shoulder.

"If you need anything, just call me." Marshall told him as reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He handed it to Jack and told him, "Here's my cell number, my house number, my office number, Carrie's cell phone, her house number, my private email and the one here at the office."

This small gesture left Jack speechless. "You can call me anytime," Marshall continued. "And I already have pieces of evidence that I'm analyzing. I'll be sure you get a copy of all my reports. And, if you have any questions, well there's my cell phone, my home phone, Carrie's phone...."

"Thank you, Marshall," he said cutting him off. "I know how to get a hold of you," Jack said as he placed the paper in his pocket and headed to his meeting.

It was a minute before one when Jack entered the conference room where the debriefing team was waiting for him. They spent three hours talking to him about what had happened with Sloane.

When they seemed to have exhausted all of their questions, Jack asked them, "Are you done?"

"Yes," they told him.

Once they confirmed that the debrief was over, it was Jack's turn to take over the meeting. He stood up and told them, "Now, I have some expectations for all of you. I expect to be informed of everything you find out regarding the status of my daughter. If that body turns out to be her, then I will be involved in every mission associated with finding out who killed her. If it is not her, then you will provide me with all the resources and manpower that I will need, in order to find her."

He paused to be sure that they understood what he had said. "Is that clear?" he asked.

Kendall answered for the group. He told him, "Jack, you know we will do whatever it takes to find out what happened to Sydney. She was one of the finest...."

Jack cut him off. "As long as we understand each other. I'll be in my office, going over the preliminary reports." He then turned and left the room.

Marcus Dixon was waiting in Jack's office. He provided him with a set of preliminary reports. The reports included a transcript of the 911 tape, a report from the LA Police and Fire Departments and the FBI. Dixon had spent the day gathering all these reports and had not yet had time to write his own. He told Jack that he would go and work on his own report and give it to him as soon as it was available.

While Dixon was talking, Jack had already started looking through the reports.

Before leaving, Dixon told him, "Listen, Jack. I know what you're going though. I know what you did for me when Diane was killed. If..."

Dixon stopped when he saw Jack close his eyes and raised his hand in a gesture that meant he wanted him to stop. "Alright, Jack. I'm here if you need anything."

As Dixon turned to leave the office, he heard a very faint and exhausted, "I know."

tbc