Chapter 8
Jack approached the door, and mumbled into the mike, "Ok, I'm about twenty feet from the door, going in."
"Copy that Jack, we got you. Be careful."
Four Middle Eastern looking men opened the door and aimed their automatic weapons at his head, motioning him inside. One of them pointed at Jack and said, "Put your hands on your head, walk slowly through the door, and stand facing the wall over there." Jack recognized the voice from their recent conversations. It was the leader.
He did as he was told and watched as they ran a scanner over his body, searching for bugs and transmitters. Jack nearly grinned when he noticed what model scanner they were using; it was about three years out-of-date. There was no way these amateurs would find his camera or the transmitter.
They began to frisk him when one of the underlings laughed as he found the knife Jack had planted, "Look what I found, he's got a knife." The man opened it, revealing the blade and put the blade up to Jack's neck, "We said no weapons."
The leader took the knife from him and turned Jack around, "Enough! Finish frisking him and bind his hands." He placed the knife in his pocket.
He looked at Jack and said, "Welcome, we meet face to face at last, Mr. Bauer. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Hassan." Jack looked the man up and down, having expected someone much smaller. He was larger than Jack by a half a foot and probably outweighed him by almost 100 pounds.
He heard Agent Goodrich's voice in his ear, "Jack, we are forwarding the name to CTU now for analysis, we'll get back to you."
"Ok," he said for the agent's benefit. "Hassan, where is my son?" Ryan was his first priority and his safety was more important than his own.
The men roughly grabbed his hands from his head and put them out in front of Jack. They took out a roll of thick rope and began to wrap it around his wrists. Jack flexed his wrists and pushed them as far apart as possible without attracting attention. When they finished, the ropes had some slack in them, not much, but enough to work with. They had forgotten to search the rest of his body. Jack was relieved that none of his guns had been found and was further convinced that these men were not professional terrorists.
Hassan looked at Jack, and pulled him away from the door, "Soon."
Ryan sat with his knees to his chest and his head down on them, thinking. He knew he needed to get out of there and warn the officers outside, but he was scared. If the guard saw him, he would be caught, and he then he would really be in trouble. He never really meant to get into trouble; he only wanted his dad to be proud of him.
Ryan put his hands in his pocket and put his hand around a small hard object. He took it out and looked at the medium-sized Spiderman figure. Ryan suddenly got an idea. He peeked his head out to check the guard at the door, who was facing the opposite direction fiddling with his gun, clearly bored with his assignment.
Ryan crawled out of his hiding place and hurled the small figurine past the guard. It crashed into a large metal trashcan, attracting his attention over the noise of the generator. Ryan took a chance and ran full speed as the guard went to investigate. He ducked and slid under the door and quickly hugged the wall on the outside as his heart beat wildly in his chest.
"Special Agent Bauer has escaped. He will make his way back to CTU headquarters to debrief." He didn't know exactly what that meant, but had heard his dad say it many times before. He glanced over at the door, the boots appeared under it once again.
"Sir, I have movement again outside the rear door. I will need to move closer to get a better look."
Special Agent in Charge Brett Goodrich responded, "Copy, let me know what you find. Use extreme caution."
The sniper lowered himself from the tree, keeping his eye on the shadow immediately to the left of the rear roll-up door. The shadow was still for the moment. Something about that shadow nagged at the corner of Special Agent Sniper Division Kevin Simon's mind, but he had yet to place it. As Simon edged forward, the shadow crawled along the shrub line, heading right towards him. He froze as a twig broke under his combat boot.
The shadow got up to run, Special Agent Simon's instincts reacted and he yelled, "Freeze or I will fire!" Thankfully, they were far enough away from the plant now not to attract the terrorists' interest.
As Jack was being led away, he glanced back at the door. The "bomb" on the door was simply a black plastic case surrounded by some wires, even he could tell it was a fake with his limited knowledge on the subject. Who were these guys?
They moved down the hall toward the offices at the front of the building, and Jack was growing impatient, "I have complied with all of your demands. I want to see my son, now!"
Hassan merely shook his head, "Your son is safe Jack."
"WHERE IS MY SON?" Jack fought against the restraints and the guards holding his arms.
The voice in his ear said, "Jack, don't antagonize him, try to calm down."
Ryan froze with fear, his hands up in the air, "Don't shoot, I'm just a kid, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I just wanted to see."
"A kid?" This is what had been nagging at him, the small size of the shadow. Agent Simon instantly recalled the order to be on the look out for Jack Bauer's eight-year-old son. The agent dashed over to the boy and told him to turn around. Definitely a Spiderman t-shirt, jean shorts, and black jacket.
"What's your name son?" He lowered his gun so as not to scare the poor kid anymore.
"Uh, Ryan Bauer, please don't hurt me. My dad is—"
The agent smiled, "I know who your dad is, you can lower your hands. We've all been looking for you, but you're safe now. Are you hurt in any way?"
Ryan shook his head and put his hands down. He knew he was in trouble if they were all looking for him.
"Ok, come with me." He put his hand on Ryan's back and led him toward the command post.
"Sir, this is Agent Simon. You're not going to believe what I found. I have a positive ID on Ryan Bauer."
Agent Simon hurried over to the command post leading Ryan, who was looking around in wonder, "There are some people who will want to talk to you, are you alright to talk?"
Ryan just nodded his head. If they were looking for him, that meant that his parents knew he was gone, which would mean they were probably worried. He hadn't meant to cause this much trouble; he only wanted to see CTU.
Agent Simon touched Agent Goodrich on the shoulder, "Sir?" Brett Goodrich spun around and looked down at Ryan. The boy looked terrified, which was understandable considering he had been kidnapped and then escaped. Goodrich wanted to make sure it was really Ryan before he told Jack.
"Ryan Bauer?"
Ryan just nodded his head again, as words seemed to escape him at the moment. "You're ok now son, we won't let anyone harm you again." He thanked Agent Simon then turned to his Lieutenant, "Get the medics over here to check him out and get him a blanket."
He crouched down next to Ryan and said, "Agent Bowman is going to take care of you while I talk to your dad." He put his hand on Ryan's shoulder, "You're very brave, Ryan." He walked away to give the news to Jack.
Agent Goodrich spoke into his radio, "Jack, can you hear me? Cough if you copy."
A small cough came through the speaker.
"We found Ryan. He's safe and unharmed. He must have escaped. Do you copy?"
Another cough.
To Be Continued....
Jack approached the door, and mumbled into the mike, "Ok, I'm about twenty feet from the door, going in."
"Copy that Jack, we got you. Be careful."
Four Middle Eastern looking men opened the door and aimed their automatic weapons at his head, motioning him inside. One of them pointed at Jack and said, "Put your hands on your head, walk slowly through the door, and stand facing the wall over there." Jack recognized the voice from their recent conversations. It was the leader.
He did as he was told and watched as they ran a scanner over his body, searching for bugs and transmitters. Jack nearly grinned when he noticed what model scanner they were using; it was about three years out-of-date. There was no way these amateurs would find his camera or the transmitter.
They began to frisk him when one of the underlings laughed as he found the knife Jack had planted, "Look what I found, he's got a knife." The man opened it, revealing the blade and put the blade up to Jack's neck, "We said no weapons."
The leader took the knife from him and turned Jack around, "Enough! Finish frisking him and bind his hands." He placed the knife in his pocket.
He looked at Jack and said, "Welcome, we meet face to face at last, Mr. Bauer. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Hassan." Jack looked the man up and down, having expected someone much smaller. He was larger than Jack by a half a foot and probably outweighed him by almost 100 pounds.
He heard Agent Goodrich's voice in his ear, "Jack, we are forwarding the name to CTU now for analysis, we'll get back to you."
"Ok," he said for the agent's benefit. "Hassan, where is my son?" Ryan was his first priority and his safety was more important than his own.
The men roughly grabbed his hands from his head and put them out in front of Jack. They took out a roll of thick rope and began to wrap it around his wrists. Jack flexed his wrists and pushed them as far apart as possible without attracting attention. When they finished, the ropes had some slack in them, not much, but enough to work with. They had forgotten to search the rest of his body. Jack was relieved that none of his guns had been found and was further convinced that these men were not professional terrorists.
Hassan looked at Jack, and pulled him away from the door, "Soon."
Ryan sat with his knees to his chest and his head down on them, thinking. He knew he needed to get out of there and warn the officers outside, but he was scared. If the guard saw him, he would be caught, and he then he would really be in trouble. He never really meant to get into trouble; he only wanted his dad to be proud of him.
Ryan put his hands in his pocket and put his hand around a small hard object. He took it out and looked at the medium-sized Spiderman figure. Ryan suddenly got an idea. He peeked his head out to check the guard at the door, who was facing the opposite direction fiddling with his gun, clearly bored with his assignment.
Ryan crawled out of his hiding place and hurled the small figurine past the guard. It crashed into a large metal trashcan, attracting his attention over the noise of the generator. Ryan took a chance and ran full speed as the guard went to investigate. He ducked and slid under the door and quickly hugged the wall on the outside as his heart beat wildly in his chest.
"Special Agent Bauer has escaped. He will make his way back to CTU headquarters to debrief." He didn't know exactly what that meant, but had heard his dad say it many times before. He glanced over at the door, the boots appeared under it once again.
"Sir, I have movement again outside the rear door. I will need to move closer to get a better look."
Special Agent in Charge Brett Goodrich responded, "Copy, let me know what you find. Use extreme caution."
The sniper lowered himself from the tree, keeping his eye on the shadow immediately to the left of the rear roll-up door. The shadow was still for the moment. Something about that shadow nagged at the corner of Special Agent Sniper Division Kevin Simon's mind, but he had yet to place it. As Simon edged forward, the shadow crawled along the shrub line, heading right towards him. He froze as a twig broke under his combat boot.
The shadow got up to run, Special Agent Simon's instincts reacted and he yelled, "Freeze or I will fire!" Thankfully, they were far enough away from the plant now not to attract the terrorists' interest.
As Jack was being led away, he glanced back at the door. The "bomb" on the door was simply a black plastic case surrounded by some wires, even he could tell it was a fake with his limited knowledge on the subject. Who were these guys?
They moved down the hall toward the offices at the front of the building, and Jack was growing impatient, "I have complied with all of your demands. I want to see my son, now!"
Hassan merely shook his head, "Your son is safe Jack."
"WHERE IS MY SON?" Jack fought against the restraints and the guards holding his arms.
The voice in his ear said, "Jack, don't antagonize him, try to calm down."
Ryan froze with fear, his hands up in the air, "Don't shoot, I'm just a kid, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I just wanted to see."
"A kid?" This is what had been nagging at him, the small size of the shadow. Agent Simon instantly recalled the order to be on the look out for Jack Bauer's eight-year-old son. The agent dashed over to the boy and told him to turn around. Definitely a Spiderman t-shirt, jean shorts, and black jacket.
"What's your name son?" He lowered his gun so as not to scare the poor kid anymore.
"Uh, Ryan Bauer, please don't hurt me. My dad is—"
The agent smiled, "I know who your dad is, you can lower your hands. We've all been looking for you, but you're safe now. Are you hurt in any way?"
Ryan shook his head and put his hands down. He knew he was in trouble if they were all looking for him.
"Ok, come with me." He put his hand on Ryan's back and led him toward the command post.
"Sir, this is Agent Simon. You're not going to believe what I found. I have a positive ID on Ryan Bauer."
Agent Simon hurried over to the command post leading Ryan, who was looking around in wonder, "There are some people who will want to talk to you, are you alright to talk?"
Ryan just nodded his head. If they were looking for him, that meant that his parents knew he was gone, which would mean they were probably worried. He hadn't meant to cause this much trouble; he only wanted to see CTU.
Agent Simon touched Agent Goodrich on the shoulder, "Sir?" Brett Goodrich spun around and looked down at Ryan. The boy looked terrified, which was understandable considering he had been kidnapped and then escaped. Goodrich wanted to make sure it was really Ryan before he told Jack.
"Ryan Bauer?"
Ryan just nodded his head again, as words seemed to escape him at the moment. "You're ok now son, we won't let anyone harm you again." He thanked Agent Simon then turned to his Lieutenant, "Get the medics over here to check him out and get him a blanket."
He crouched down next to Ryan and said, "Agent Bowman is going to take care of you while I talk to your dad." He put his hand on Ryan's shoulder, "You're very brave, Ryan." He walked away to give the news to Jack.
Agent Goodrich spoke into his radio, "Jack, can you hear me? Cough if you copy."
A small cough came through the speaker.
"We found Ryan. He's safe and unharmed. He must have escaped. Do you copy?"
Another cough.
To Be Continued....