"David!" She cried. "Thank God you are okay, I herd an explosion so I hid out here."
Palmer's attention was on Jack, but Sherry grabbed him arm and pulled him up to face him.
"What happened?" She asked.
"We were attacked. We got out. Jack passed out."
A black limo pulled up to the house, which was now visibly ablaze from outside.
"There here for us. But we can't leave Jack here."
"Listen David. Let's get out of here. The fire brigade and police will be here soon, just go. We will take Kim with us to keep her safe."
Palmer nodded. "Kim, come on we've got to go, now."
Kim looked up to him as though he was crazy. "I'm not going anywhere, are you mad?"
"Listen, we have got to go now."
The men from the car approached them. Sherry nodded to them and the two picked Kim up and carried her of to the car. She was fighting against them but they were too strong, and Jack couldn't here her screaming for him. They got into the limo and drove away, leaving Jack asleep on the lawn.
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Chappelle ran down the stairs from Jacks office, which he had now moved in to.
"Tony," he called. "Hey Tony."
"Yeah?" He asked.
"Listen, I need you and Baker over to Sherry Palmer's house, it is not too far away from here."
"Why?" He asked, uninterested.
"Because I just got a report that neighbours herd explosions and gunfire, and it's currently burning to the ground."
Tony looked at the floor and sighed. "Fine."
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Kim sat in the back of the limo between the two men who had carried her off. She was now crying because she was scared about her Dad.
"Where are we going? Why couldn't we wait for Dad, I mean what's happening, something has happened, hasn't it?"
Palmer looked at her. "I am sorry we have left Jack, I really am. But I'm in over my head. Way over my head." He turned to Sherry. "When I contact Jack I am going to explain everything to him Sherry, everything. That it was me that ordered his release. I will even tell him about the documents. He deserves it Sherry, I have pulled him in this knee deep, and Iv told him a pack of lies to keep my involvement out."
Sherry began to laugh. "David, you know what he said about the man that ordered his release. He said he would kill them David. He will kill you. Whether you are the president or not. If he finds out what you have done, if you are stupid enough to tell him, you will pay and we both know it. We stick to the story and stay low for a while." She stopped. "Unless."
"Unless what?"
"Well, there is one way we could get him to co-operate, and not kill us."
He realised she was thinking about Kim. He would not kill him if he had Kim. "Are you serious."
"We both know it is our only option David."
He closed his eyes, he knew she was right. "That will be our safety net. Our very last course of action. Do we understand?"
She nodded. Kim looked out of the window, scared. She had understood what they meant. She was being held hostage by the President of the United States of America.
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Tony and Baker pulled up to the house and the situation was very chaotic. Tony turned to Baker,
"This had obviously got to be connected with Palmer and what we herd. We may even see Jack around here some place."
They got out and saw firemen frantically trying to put out the growing flames. There were police sirens wailing and an ambulance with its lights on parked on the kerb.
"You talk to the police about the situation, I'm gonna look for witnesses."
Baker looked to Tony confused. "Where are the witnesses going to be?"
"There's an ambulance. There may have been people inside the house, I'm going to go check it out."
Tony set off waking over to the ambulance. He ducked low to avoid the hanging branches that hung from an old willow tree. He approached the ambulance and saw the doors were open and someone was lying on a gurney in the back. He could see there was a doctor leaning over the figure and the person as wearing an oxygen mask. He got a little closer and saw it was Jack. His heart began to beat faster, first with worry for Jack and secondly the fact that everything was connected, the fire and Jack, and so obviously the President. Tony promised himself he would get to the bottom of this.
"He climbed into the ambulance and showed the doctor his badge and asked about Jack's condition. The doctor explained they found him on the lawn. He needed oxygen mainly, he was probably inside the house while it was on fire. He then gave detail about Jack's other injuries, mainly the deep wound on his head that had been stitched up, although the doctor didn't know this, for the second time today. He leant over Jack and saw he was asleep.
"Can you wake him up?"
"Yes. He was like this when we found him, he should come round anytime now."
"And he will be okay?"
"He should be if he goes to the hospital now."
Tony looked down, knowing that would not happen, "And if he didn't?"
"Just make sure he is careful, especially with his head, there is clear bruising and that cut is serious."
"Okay."
Jack woke up while the two men were talking. He could see one was Tony and the other was a doctor. He couldn't really remembered how he had got here, the last thing he could remember was coming out of the house, and Kim. At the thought of Kim he jumped up. This startled both Tony and the doctor. He pulled off the mask and threw it aside as he climbed off the gurney.
"What are you doing Jack?"
"Iv gotta find Kim, she was here."
"Jack you were the only person on site when they got here."
Jack looked confused. He and Tony jumped out of the back of the ambulance and checked the area just incase, but found nothing. After discussing what happened with the president, Sherry and TEARBACK, Tony turned to Jack,
"Chappelle has put out a warrant on you."
"For hitting him?" Jack said, as though it was nothing.
Tony began to laugh, "Yes Jack, for hitting him. And, he is determined to find a connection between you and TEARBACK." Tony stopped as he saw the anger flash in his eyes at the thought of him working against CTU. "Don't worry Jack, okay, nobody has found anything, much to his disappointment." He was still laughing.
"So now what."
"Well, me and Baker have got work to do here. I should arrest you and bring you in, but as far as I am concerned I didn't see you. But listen Jack, go home, rest. Let Kim contact you. She probably went home, I doubt there's anything to worry about. When you hear from here or if anything happens, contact me. Okay?"
"Okay. Thanks Tony."
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Palmer's limo pulled up, and everyone got out, including Kim, who wanted them to think she didn't know what was happening. They went inside a house, and Palmer asked her if she wanted anything to eat. She noticed the two men were in the same room she was. Making sure she didn't run away.
Sherry sat next to David, now in a different room from Kim and the guards. She was a very manipulative person, and she certainly had him where she wanted. He was going to do whatever she told him.
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