After what seemed like forever, Claudia had found three new outfits
for Jack to wear. She noticed how good he looked in black and used that to
pick them out for him. He argued some with her like a little boy with his
mother, when she was trying to make him wear the ugly shirt that his
grandma had bought him for Christmas. She noticed in his nature this
kindness and yet it was almost like a practiced kindness, in the fact that
he could switch at any moment. She was not sure if she was reading him
right or not. She found it funny that he sat through her making him try on
all the different outfits and than her making him try on different shoes
and so on. He was like a Ken doll and did not complain. He just sighed
each time deeply. After she finished with his new wardrobe and buying
Hector and Ramon stuff, she moved on to herself. She had been looking at
dresses and other clothes for an hour.
Jack was sure she tried on everything in the store. They left the store and went to another where she instantly gathered the dresses she wanted to try on and had him sit. When she came out of the dressing room, she noticed he had fallen asleep. She wanted to wake him up and show him the dress, like a little girl shows her father. She wanted to know what he thought about it, not that his opinion mattered, but she wanted it. She did not wake him up and decided to buy everything she tried on. After she was finished checking out, she walked over to the chair in which he sat. His head was resting against the wall, and he looked peaceful. She gently shook him awake, "Wake up, sleeping beauty."
Jack jolted awake when he felt someone touch him. He opened his eyes and noticed Claudia. He smiled at her and said, "Sorry."
"Don't worry. Hector will get you, though. I just bought the entire store."
Jack eyes flashed with a slight worried look, not sure if she was joking or not. He would not put it past her the way she tried on everything she could.
"I'm kidding. Let's go. I need to take these things back to the hotel and get ready for dinner tonight." She said waiting for him to stand up. He got out of the chair and collected the boxes that contained her purchases and carried them out to the SUV. He noticed he was sweating more than usual and his mind was already craving for the drug. It had not been time yet for him to do it again, but his body demanded it. He cursed in his head. He had some in the glove compartment, but he could not take it while she was around. He would not do it in front of her. He swallowed hard and calculated how long he could go without it and decided he could try until he dropped her off to be with Hector, or if he got a time when he could do it while she was away. He hoped Hector would have someone drive them to dinner.
They reached the Hilton. Jack parked outside and the valet man took the car from there. Jack along with a bell boy carried all of the packages that Claudia had bought up to her room. Claudia tipped the bell boy and had Jack carry the packages from the living room area into her bedroom. "Thank you. I had fun today. Usually, Hector's flunkies are major assholes, but you weren't."
"It was my pleasure." Jack answered with a thin smile on his face. "I am going to run to the bathroom quickly. Will you be okay?"
"Yeah. You can just use the one here."
"I need to buy a pack of gum too." Jack added cursing himself for not using that excuse originally.
"Ok. Don't be gone too long." Claudia said jokingly, "I don't think I could get dressed without your professional opinion."
Jack smile grew bigger and he quipped back, "I think you can handle yourself, and what do I know. I thought the first six outfits were fine."
"You have no taste Jack, at least not good ones." Claudia turned around and walked back into the bedroom. Jack heard the bathroom door close and he left the room with the key card in hand. Halfway down the stairs his cell phone rang, "Hello." He answered after he searched his pockets for the phone.
"Jack, can you talk?" Chase's voice came over the phone.
"Yeah. Sorry I didn't call sooner. Nothing big has happened. I've met with Hector Salazar and Carlos. I've been like an errand boy for Hector since he got into town a few days ago."
"Ok. I'll report that to Tony. Kim wants to talk to you." Tony said as he saw Kim walking up to Jack's office. She had been asking about her father for the past few days and was beginning to get worried that he had not reported in.
"Dad."
"Hey Kim. How are you?" Jack asked missing his daughter already.
"I'm fine. Why didn't you call in sooner? I've been worried sick." Kim said, and after she said it she was worried that her father might think that he never should have pulled the strings to get her the job because she would know what he was up to all those times he was gone for weeks and months at a time, and it might cause her to worry as she had stated she was.
"Sorry. I've been running around a lot. Everything's fine. Has Chase heard from Kit?"
"Not since yesterday. By the way he sounded, it looked like he's in the same position as you." Kim bit her lip. She wondered if she should ask the next question. It might anger him, but she wondered why he had. "Dad, I spoke with Kate the other night." She paused and she thought she could see him turning red in anger.
"Kim, it's none of your business. I got to go honey." Jack said hanging the phone up. He was not angry at Kim for speaking to Kate. He knew they talked sometimes, and he knew that Kim would call Kate to let her know he was okay while he was away. That was how she must have found out. He pushed all the thoughts out of his mind as his body began to shake. He needed a fix now. He made it out to where the valet had said he parked the SUV and Jack opened the passenger door quickly getting in. He opened the glove compartment box, looking around to make sure no one was in the parking garage. Jack pulled out the small vial and syringe he had put in there the other day. Rolling up his sleeve, he grabbed out the tourniquet, resting the syringe and vial on his leg. He tied the tourniquet around his arm. He took the syringe off his leg and the vial he stuck the point of the syringe into the rubber cap on the vial withdrawing the drug, then moving it to his arm and putting it in the vein that stuck out. He pushed the plunger down without a second thought and closed his eyes as the rush ran through him. When he opened them again, he was no longer shaking and felt like he could run the continent.
When he got back to the room, he heard the shower running so he sat on the couch letting the euphoria to take over. He laid his head against the back of the couch closing his eyes letting his mind run wherever it wanted to go. He opened his eyes when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Claudia. "Sorry." He apologized again for falling asleep.
"What do you think?" She asked stepping away from him. Like a princess she twirled around to show him.
"Beautiful. Hector will go mad." Jack answered trying to keep his words from slurring or any sign of him being under the influence from showing.
"Lets go. We don't want to be late. Are you feeling okay?" She asked noticing something different about him.
"I'm just tired." Jack answered looking at her in amazement still. She was drop-dead gorgeous. When he looked up earlier, it took all of his will for his jaw not to drop. To offer further explanation he said, "It was a long hard night last night."
"That's when you mean the people who weren't too fond of Carlos?"
"Yeah. Shall we?" He said waiting for her to walk towards the door.
They waited at the front as the valet went to get the car. It was a new one and Jack was happy because he would not have known Jack and run out there not too long ago. When the car returned, the valet ran around to open and close Claudia's door for her. She gave him a five dollar bill as a tip.
Jack took off towards the bar. He found it funny that Claudia was going to walk into the bar looking as she did. She would stick out immediately.
Jack pulled into the back alleyway. He noticed on the ground when they got out a blood spot he assumed was from him. He sighed and walked into the back of the bar knocking on the office door and waiting for someone to tell him to come in.
Instead Pedro's voice came over asking, "Who's there?"
"It's Jack. I have Claudia with me. It's six now."
"Hold on." Pedro answered back.
Jack stood staring at the door wondering what they were doing. Did they find out about him and were planning how and how long his death would be? Were these the final moments of his life, and he was staring at the door? The door finally opened and Hector came out with blood on his shirt. Jack looked at him to see if it came from him or someone else. Jack could not decide in the end, so he asked, "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Where is Claudia?" Hector asked.
"She went out to the bar to get a drink."
"Good. Let's go join her." Hector said putting his arm on Jack's back.
Jack fought to keep himself from cringing. Something was going on and Hector was making it a point not to tell him. When they got to the bar, Casey was pouring Claudia a drink. Casey called over, "The usual for both of you?"
Hector said, "Yeah."
Jack answered, "Just coffee for me."
Claudia turned around and noticed Hector's eyes light up when he saw her. His eyes lit up the same way Jacks had when he first saw her in the dress. "Is that new?" Hector asked walking over and hugging her then kissing her.
"Yeah. I bought it today. I got you and Ramon some new clothes too."
"What would we do without you?" Hector said sitting next to her to drink his drink. Jack took his coffee and scooted down a few chairs to give them privacy. He rested his head in his hands, as it had started to ache slightly.
Casey walked down and asked, "You okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine. How are you?"
"I'm good. Thank you seriously for last night. I don't know what I would have done if you had not come and stopped them." She said to the man that she had seen as her knight in shining armor.
Hector came down and interrupted the two, "Let's go. You are driving us to the restaurant."
"Bye." Jack said getting off the bar stool.
Casey handed him a styrofoam coffee cup full of coffee. "I figured you'd be leaving before you finished yours." She said smiling at him. She could see in his eyes he was exhausted.
"Thanks." Jack followed Hector out of the back of the bar to the SUV. Hector opened the back seat door for Claudia and then got into the other side himself.
Jack asked, "Where are we going?"
"Frothe. Do you know where that is?"
"Yes sir." Jack said turning in the direction of the over priced restaurant. He had been there with Kate before. Her father liked to have his business parties there, and Jack always seemed to be forced to go to them with her. When he reached the restaurant, he parked in front of it letting Hector and Claudia out.
Hector ordered, "Park down the street. I'll call you when we are finished."
Jack waited until they got inside and then he drove down the street and found a parking space. He locked the doors, not that it was a bad part of town, but he knew he was most likely going to fall asleep. He kept the car running so that the air might cool the inside off. He turned the radio to a new station with Eric Clapton singing about Layla. Jack rested his head on the head rest and found his eyes started to droop. He did not fight them. He was tired, sore, and all he wanted to do was be at home in his nice soft bed asleep.
He awoke when his phone rang. Wiping his mouth he answered, "Hello."
"Hi, Jack."
"Kate. What do you want?" Jack said with more annoyance in his voice than he intended. He was angry because someone had woken him from his slumber.
"I'm sorry to call you. I know you said we were over. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You looked kind of bad last night."
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Jack said. "I got to go Kate. I'm in the middle of something here." Jack hung the phone up and took a drink of his cold coffee. He looked at the clock he had been in the car for an hour now. He opened the door to the car and got out to stretch. He thought to himself that he needed to run tonight. It would help work out the pains in his body and in his mind. He got back into the car and tried to find a station with upbeat music to keep him awake. He finally stopped when he heard Steven Tyler's voice coming over the radio singing "Amazing." Jack's phone rang and he looked at the caller ID to see who was calling.
"Hello."
"We are going to be ready to leave in a few so go ahead and pull up outside the door."
"Yes sir." Jack answered hanging his phone up. He turned the SUV around and pulled up on the right side of the street to pick up Hector and Claudia. They came out ten minutes later hand in hand smiling. Jack felt jealous for a moment of Hector. He wondered why Claudia was with him. She seemed like such a nice woman and she was with him. She deserved much better.
After they got in, Hector ordered, "Go back to the bar. Claudia wants to get a few more drinks there, and we have some business to attend to now."
"Yes sir." Jack said putting his foot on the gas pedal feeling the car roar to life as they started down the street. He heard the muffled sounds of Hector kissing Claudia. He looked in the rear-view mirror and met her eyes through it. He felt a slight electric feeling running through him. He turned his eyes back to the road and ignored the noise in the back.
When he got back to the bar, Hector slid over to his side of the car, and opened the door to get out. Jack got out and leaned against the car not sure what Hector wanted him to do. Claudia walked around and put her hand in Hector's. "Let's go in and grab a drink." Hector said to Jack as he started walking towards the back entrance of the bar.
When they got in, Jack noticed that the back room door was closed again and the jukebox was playing louder than usual. He went to the bar and Casey came over and asked, "What can I get you, Jack?"
"Bacardi O3, please." He answered. He did not want to get really drunk again because he was trying to recover from a hangover from the past few days of getting way too drunk. Casey opened the bottle and handed it to him. "Never would peg you for the fruity taste of Bacardi."
"Tastes like an orange juice with a kick. What is there not to like about it?" Claudia asked sitting next to Jack. Hector had left them to go to the back room. "May I have one also?"
Casey looked at Jack with a look that said, "Better be careful, don't want to get in that type of trouble." Casey grabbed another bottle and handed it to Claudia. "Thank you."
Hector came out and placed a hand on Jack shoulder saying, "Why don't you come join us in the back?"
Jack felt a rush of fear and adrenaline running through him. What was going on that they now wanted him to join? Was this going to be the last moments of his life? Without hesitation, Jack got up and followed Hector in the back. When he walked into the room, he noticed a man lying on the floor and blood around him. Pedro sat on the desk looking at him, "Hey Jack."
"Hey." Jack said conveying no emotion as if there was not a half- dead man on the floor or if there was it was something that had been so normal that it was nothing. He turned around and asked Hector, "What's going on?"
"This is one of the guys from last night. We've been having fun with him and Pedro brought it to my attention that you might like to join in on it." Hector answered looking in Jack's eyes trying to find some sort of emotion that conveyed Jack was not who he said he was.
"Sure." Jack said pulling out his gun.
"No, not that way." Hector brushed passed Jack stepping over the half dead man. He grabbed a knife of the desk and handed it to Jack, "Use this. Cut his fingers off first."
Jack took the knife in his hand and asked Pedro, "Can you help me get him in the chair?"
Pedro walked over and he and Jacked picked the half-dead man off the floor, blood dripping from the man's mouth. All of his teeth were gone either knocked out or plucked out with the pliers that sat on the wooden desk. When they got him in the chair, Pedro walked to the back and yanked the man's head back by his hair and shoved a nasty rag into the man's mouth causing him to gag. Pedro then took the roll of duct tape off the desk and taped the man's mouth closed in hopes of blocking out some of the screams.
Jack kneeled next to the chair, knife in hand. He grabbed the mans thumb. He pulled the thumb back until he heard it snap and Hector looked down at him acknowledging that Jack had thought of something on his own that Hector approved of. Jack heard the man's muffled scream.
Next, Jack grabbed the broken thumb and started to cut into it slowly with the knife. When he hit the bone, Jack took a second and then he cut through a part of the bone that was not broken by applying more pressure. As he was going through the bone, he thought he could hear the knife sawing into it. When the thumb was off, Jack set it in the man's lap for him to look at. "Does anyone have a lighter?" He asked in a calm cold voice.
"Here." Carlos said handing Jack his Zippo lighter. Jack lit it and held it to the open wound the man's hand where his thumb use to be. Than he continued in order to do the same thing to each and every finger on both hands until there were no more left for him. Blood covered his shirt and some was on his face. He stood up from the man and looked at Hector with his eyes calm, and his mind racing. He knew what he was doing was wrong. The man had been there the other night, but he did not deserve this. Jack knew it, but he tried to block it out of his mind because if he had to do this to the man to get Hector's trust, then he would. Jack looked around the room to finally see who was all in there and he noticed Ximen was missing. "Where is Ximen?"
"He went to go pick someone up for me." Hector said smiling at the man who had passed out in the chair.
Pedro got off the couch and asked, "You guys need a drink? I sure in the hell do."
"Yeah. Bring everyone a drink." Hector said not taking his eyes off Jack. He was expecting something to show in his eyes, but nothing did. It was almost as if this was a boring movie and he was fighting not fall asleep. "How was Claudia today?"
"I guess she had fun shopping. Had me take her to like six different stores. I think she enjoyed having me be her little dress up-doll." Jack answered not sure if the last part would get him in trouble. He searched Hector's eyes the same way Hector was searching his.
"Really? Let me guess. If you were going to be her chauffer, she wanted you to dress better?"
"Yeah." Jack said with a smile on his face.
"She told me. That's good, though because you do need to dress better, and she'd be the one to help you in that department. You dress like my father would have." Hector said joking with Jack now.
There was a knock on the door and then it opened. Claudia walked into the room and noticed the bloody knife Jack's hand was still holding, and the blood on his clothes. She looked at the man in the chair and held back a gasp. She had seen stuff like this before, but for some reason, she did not expect it out of Jack. He seemed like such a nice down-to-earth guy, not the type of guy that should be working for Hector. Hector noticed her and said, "Claudia you were not supposed to come in here. I didn't want you to see this."
"I wanted to go back to the hotel." She said looking at Jack still with the blood over him.
"Okay. I'll have Jack drive you back there." Hector looked at Jack, "You better go change and wash your face first, though." Hector said laughing.
Jack looked at himself and laughed also. "Yeah. Give me ten minutes and I'll be back." Jack set the knife down on the desk and walked out of the room. He avoided looking into Claudia's eyes, he noticed her pain at seeing him like this and wondered why. She could not have liked him, she was with Hector. She barely knew him, therefore she could not have guessed this was out of character for him.
When Jack got out of the bar, he heard footsteps behind him and looked back it was Claudia following him. "Why don't you wait in the bar? I'm just across the street I'll be back over to get you." He answered still avoiding her eyes.
"What was that in there?" She said with anger in her voice. She was not sure why she was angry. She had no reason to be it was not like he was hurting her or anyone she loved. She did not even know the man in there.
"One of the guys that doesn't like Carlos." Jack said referring back to their earlier conversation of what had happened to him. He reached his hotel door and opening it. Claudia barged in right behind him. "What do you want?" Jack asked losing patience. He already felt bad for doing what he had, but she was here to rub it in more.
"I'll wait for you." Claudia said sitting in one of the empty chairs in the room. She was studying the room and wondered how in the hell anyone could live in a place like this. Then it occurred to her that before she met Hector a few months ago, it was not that far off from where she had lived. She noticed how the bed was unmade, but the clothes were neatly folded on the chair by the bed.
Jack grabbed a clean blue shirt off the pile of clothes in the chair and walked into the bathroom. He did not close the door behind him. He took his old shirt off and washed his face and chest getting the blood off it. When he looked back up in the mirror to make sure he had all of the blood off, he noticed Claudia looking at him. He turned around to close the door and noticed her eyes automatically go to the scars on his chest and abdomen. He pulled his shirt on and walked out. Her eyes quickly diverted from him.
She wondered how he got those scars. They did not look like normal every day scars. They had more to them. Why was she pissed at him and hurt at the same time?
"Ready to go?" Jack asked as if nothing had happened earlier.
She noticed how he had changed into this happy-nothing-had-ever- happened mode quite often. "Yeah." She answered.
When he got her back to the Hilton, he walked her up to her room and than took off again. He knew she was pissed at him for something. He knew what it was, but he was not sure why she was pissed. He got back to the bar and knocked on the door. He heard a woman crying on the other side. He said, "It's me."
Ximen opened the door and Jack walked through taking in the room. The man who he had cut the fingers off of looked worse with burn marks all over his chest and face. Jack noticed a woman sitting on the floor next to him crying. "Who's that?" Jack asked looking at Hector.
"No one important. His girlfriend." Hector answered.
Jack then noticed the little girl sitting on the couch next to Pedro. She was crying also staring at the man on the chair. Jack looked away conveying nothing even though his mind was screaming for him to get the two out of the room now. The little girl looked nothing like Kim, but at the same time that is all he could think about was what if that was him and she was Kim. "What's going on?" Jack inquired.
"I wanted them to see what happens when you mess with the Salazars, so they can go on to tell the others. Plus this little shit tried to rape Casey out there." Hector answered.
Jack went and sat on the couch next to Pedro, not sure what to do, but he knew what he couldn't do and that was to get them out. It would blow his cover or make him look like he could not handle this stuff.
Pedro handed Jack a beer out of a cooler he had acquired earlier to keep the alcohol in for the night ahead of them. "Thanks." Jack answered popping the metal cap off and taking a big gulp.
The woman got up and started to yell at Hector, "Why are you doing this, you sick motherfucker?"
Hector balled his fist up and punched the woman in the face. Jack felt a slight twinge in his muscles and he fought to keep himself from running over and stopping Hector from beat the crap out of the woman. Hector repeatedly kicked the woman who was laying on the ground crying. The little girl went to get off the couch and go after Hector, but Jack grabbed her pushing her back down. He did not, and knew he could not watch Hector if he went after the little girl.
Hector looked over noticing the movement from that side of the room. He watched Jack snatch the girl back on the couch. He was not sure if this was Jack trying to stop her from getting hurt or him stopping her from going after Hector who was busy with her mother. Hector turned his rage towards the little girl, "What were you doing? Going to come after me like your tramp mother did?"
Hector walked over to the couch and yanked the girl up by her neck. He was squeezing her neck, choking her. Jack sat on the couch conveying no emotion even though all he wanted to do was get off the couch and fight Hector for hurting the woman and little girl. The little girl's face was beet-red. Hector released his grip and she fell to the floor crying and gasping for breath at the same time. "Jack, get up." Hector ordered.
Jack stood up thinking that Hector might turn his anger on him for stopping the little girl for charging him. Hector looked at him and said, "Cut the man's ears off and give them to the bitch on the floor."
Jack did as he was told. Only he knew he did not need a knife to get the ears off it only took a few pounds of weight for an ear to come off. He grabbed one of the man's ears and yanked it off the man's head and then did the same with the other. He set them on the floor next to the woman who was crying. When he turned around, she jumped off the floor and jumped onto his back hitting him and biting at him. He flung her forward off his back, it was an automatic reflex. She flew into the man who sat in the chair whimpering in pain. She knocked the chair over and landed on the floor. Jack felt warm blood running down his head. She must have broken open the stitches in his head. He put his hand to the back of his head and held it there feeling the warm blood seep onto his fingers. "Fucking bitch." He said almost to himself.
Hector looked at him and said, "Kill him."
Jack felt like a puppet at the moment. Everything Hector commanded him to do, he did without question. Jack pulled out his gun and pointed it at the man.
"Hold on there cowboy." Pedro said getting off the couch. "We don't want everyone in the world to hear it." Pedro threw Jack a pillow.
"Thanks." Jack said chastising himself for not thinking of it. He put the pillow in front of the gun and fired two quick shots into the man's chest.
Hector placed his foot on the woman who's mouth was bleeding from the hit from Hector. He held her to the floor with his foot and said, "Your choice. Either you or your daughter is going to die now."
She looked at him, "You are a fucking pig. You are going to rot in hell."
"Maybe, but you'll be there first." Hector looked at Jack and ordered, "Kill the girl."
Jack looked at him not sure if he could. He knew if he started to think he wouldn't, so he raised his gun and fired. He hit the little girl in the head. Her mom screamed out at him trying to force Hector's foot off her chest. Hector looked at Jack smiling. He pulled his Desert Eagle handgun out and fired it into the woman's chest. He watched as she slowly drowned in her own blood that was filling her lungs. He looked back over at Jack and said, "You are a cold son of a bitch."
Jack smiled at him even though he felt like an asshole and almost wanted to turn his gun on himself. Jack walked back over to the couch his eyes avoiding the little girl that he killed he grabbed his beer off the table next to hit and finished it off with one huge gulp. Pedro threw him another beer.
"Pedro, you and Jack take them and put them in the house we got them out of. I want those other bastards to find them." Hector ordered the two men.
Jack grabbed the woman off the floor and started to drag her to the back towards the van when Hector called out, "Jack, I need to talk to you alone. Ximen, help Pedro load the bodies in the van."
The bar was closed and it was quite inside now. Jack felt his adrenaline run through him again. Why would Hector want to talk to him alone? He walked into the back room. Carlos walked out and closed the door behind him. Jack stood in the room not sure what he should do.
"Sit." Hector said pointing to a chair in front of the desk. It was a new clean one the man had not been in.
Jack sat down his eyes looking at Hector conveying nothing he was feeling. His mind was screaming for him to run now and save himself before he did anything else. In the end, would it all be worth it? Jack knew the answer and did not listen to it. He blocked the voices out of his head and waited for Hector to start.
"I'm heading back to Mexico tomorrow." Hector began. "All of the business up here has been taken care of. I want you to come back with me. I didn't like you at first before. You were too cocky and had no fear, but after the past few days, even after I fucked with you constantly and you had that little run-in, you kept coming back like a loyal person. I need someone like that down in Mexico. So pack your bags and pick Claudia, Pedro, and me up tomorrow afternoon around three in the afternoon. If everything works out, you will have a position with the Salazars, that is if Ramon gives his blessing."
"Yes sir." Jack answered. "Is there anything else you would like?"
"Tell Ximen to work with Pedro with them. You look like shit, and Claudia told me you had been falling asleep on her earlier and that I was working you too hard. You passed the test, so go home and get some rest." Hector ordered.
"Yes sir." Jack knew sleep would not come tonight. He left the room and conveyed Hector's message to Ximen and Pedro. He said good-bye to the two and left to go to his hotel room. When he got inside, he collapsed on the bed. His head in his hands he tried to block the picture of the little girl out of his head. He knew what would help so he walked over to the drawer pulling out his drug kit. After he finished inserting the drug into his body, he laid on the bed unable to sleep. His mind in a fog he picked up his phone and called the only person he could think of.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------
Kit was not sure where to drive to. His house was not safe, he thought. If CTU found out that he had been a part of the incident and now has Nina and will not turn her over, they will be after them. He was not sure what he was going to do. He loved Nina. He always had loved her from the moment he met her, and finally it was his chance to be with her, but there were the problems of her being a wanted felon and him being a law enforcement agent. He pulled out his cell phone and called CTU to find out what was going on.
"Edmunds."
"Chase, it's Kit."
"Kit, where in the hell are you? They know it was your group out at the laboratory." Chase said into the phone in a hushed voice.
"Chase, I just called to let you know I have to go dark. There is some major heat on me and I can't have contact with CTU or association with them period or possibly most of L.A. They have the virus and I'm trying to get it from them." Kit lied. He did not want Chase or CTU after him until he figured out what he wanted to do.
"Are you sure, Kit?" Chase asked over the phone.
"Yes. I'm sorry Chase."
"Why?"
"Sorry. I need to go. Good-bye."
"Be safe Kit. Bye." Chase said as he set the phone down on the receiver.
Nina was awake and asked, "What was that all about?"
"I didn't want them on us while we are trying to get away. I need to stop somewhere and tend to your wound."
"Kit, what are you doing?"
"Protecting you." Kit said looking at her with a worried expression on his face. He thought for a moment that he saw a tear in Nina's eye, but he knew it was only his illusion that she would be touched by the sacrifice he just made.
"Go to a hotel." Nina said clenching her teeth as a wave of pain came over her.
"I know." Kit said feeling agitated. He had expected a "thank you" from her, instead she told him something he already knew almost as if he were too stupid to figure it out himself.
Kit found a hotel exiting the highway and entering a parking lot. He went inside the office and waited ten minutes until the manager finally noticed someone was there.
"Sorry, young man. I'm not used to getting people in here that much." The older manager truthfully stated.
"I need a double room." Kit said patiently.
"All we have are singles now." The man answered.
"Okay, one of those then." Kit said a feeling little agitated.
"That'll be forty." The man answered.
Kit handed him two twenties and went to walk out when the man asked, "Are you hurt?"
"No why?" Kit asked confused why the man would ask him that question.
"You have blood on your clothes." The man said noticing the blood on Kit's blue shirt which spreaded to his red tie.
"I had a nose bleed earlier. I haven't had time to change." Kit hoped the man would accept his explanation and drop it.
"That's too much blood. I doubt it's yours though. Is it your friend's in the car?" The old man said looking out to the car.
Kit froze. He was afraid that the man would call the cops now. Not sure how to proceed, he thought about just leaving the hotel and finding another.
"The only reason I ask is because I used to be a doctor. I retired a few years ago and my wife and I started the hotel. She passed away last year."
"I'm sorry."
"I can help your friend. I won't call the cops. I don't know what you did, but you seem like decent people."
"Thank you, sir." Kit said baffled by the old man. No one had ever done anything like that for him.
"Just get her in the room and I'll be over with my medical bag." The old man said walking into the back.
Kit carried Nina into the room. He told her what the old man had offered to do, and she too was confused and not sure if she should trust him. Kit laid her on the bed and the old man knocked on the open door and walked it.
He examined the bullet in Nina's shoulder and said, "You're lucky, young lady. It didn't hit much. Missed the bone there. Just a flesh wound."
"It hurts like a son of a bitch." Nina said clenching her teeth.
"Tell me about it. Armor-piercing is a lot worse than that." Kit muttered while crossing his arms across his chest reflecting on his first and last mission in Kosovo.
"It won't be much longer." The old man took out a needle and a vial.
Kit stopped him, "What's that?"
"Pain-killer. I'm sure she would want it when I sew this thing up and clean it out."
"Oh, sorry." Kit said feeling bad that he thought anything different.
The old man inserted the needle into Nina's arm and pressed the plunger down. He sat with Kit for ten minutes talking about baseball, something Kit knew some about, but was never a major fan. The old man stopped in a middle of a story when he noticed Nina's eyes drop. "She's ready." He went to work cleaning out the wound and then sewing it up. When he finished, he dressed it and said goodbye to Kit, and he would check in on her tomorrow.
"Thank you, sir."
"My pleasure." The old man left the room and went back to the office.
Kit sat in the chair and felt the weight of the day coming down on him. He closed his eyes and was out a few minutes later. He woke up when he heard a knock on the door and than the door opening. It was the hotel manger.
"Don't mind me. I just wanted to check on her. If you want, I'm cooking breakfast in the office area. I could bring you two some."
"Thank you. How much do I owe you for all of this?"
"It came with the total cost of the hotel." The old man said checking Nina's vital and then the wound. When he pulled the dressing back, her eyes opened and she looked up at the old man. She jumped away from him screeching in pain as she moved her shoulder.
Kit jumped up, "Nina, it's okay. This guy helped us."
"Young lady, it's fine. I was just checking to make sure everything was fine with that wound."
Nina looked around the room trying to get her bearings. She began to remember what happened the night before. She sat back down on the bed her heart racing still. "Thank you." She mumbled to the old man.
"I'll bring you two breakfast." The old man left the room.
Kit looked at Nina expecting her to chastise him for bringing in someone else to help. "Thank you Kit." She said looking at him. She noticed how his eyes lit up when she said it. "Where to now?"
"I don't know. We have the virus and intend on sending it to CTU. I'm sorry. I know you can make money off of it, but I can't let you." Kit looked down at his feet he thought he felt Nina's eyes burn through his head with anger.
"That's fine." Nina said not sure why she thought it was. She could make a lot of money off the virus and yet she would let him do the right thing. What was wrong with her?
The old man returned with two plates in his hands. He gave them each one and said, "I'll leave you two alone."
When he left the room the two devoured their food. It felt like they had not eaten in a long time. When they finished Kit said, "We better get moving."
"Where are we going?" Nina asked wondering.
"I don't know. Maybe Mexico or Canada? Somewhere outside of the United States. You choose." Kit nearly closed his eyes out of frustration when he said Mexico. Nice going Kit, are you asking for a death wish? Jack might be there.
"Canada. I'm tired of Mexico." Nina said. "At least you can drink the water in Canada."
"Ok. Let me run this by CTU." Kit said pulling out the virus.
"I'll be here when you get back. I'm getting into a shower. Could you bring me some clothes?"
"I'll pick some up on my way back." Kit said kissing Nina goodbye he walked out of the room not sure what he was going to do. He drove to CTU. He sat outside of the building looking at it trying to decide what he should do. He walked up to the gate saying hi to the guard that knew him so he did not bother to ask to see Kit's identification. Kit continued into the building. He found Chase in Jack's office. Walking in, he asked Chase, "How is Jack's operation going?"
Chase jumped startled. "What, I thought you were going dark."
"I am. I wanted to drop this off first."
"It was you guys. One of the team members said they thought they hit Nina Myers." Chase said raising his eyebrows looking at Kit.
"Chase, you know me and I would do nothing to hurt CTU, but I need you to keep this a secret. If they ask say, I called you and you met me. You tried to get me to come back, but I couldn't. I don't have Nina with me, and I barely got that without getting noticed."
"What's the truth, Kit?" Chase asked in a serious tone and had a "if you're lying to me, I'll kick your ass" look on his face.
"Chase you're kind of new at this. I know you have had some experience in D.C., but this is different. These types of operations are different. You have to make decisions in split seconds and live a different life every day all the time. "
"You have her, don't you?"
Kit did not answer him. He looked down at his feet, feeling a slight shame for helping her. He knew what she had done to Jack, CTU and him for that matter, but he could not hold it against her.
"You know, once Jack finds out, he will hunt you down. Both of you." Chase said knowing the full situation.
"I know. I'm sorry Chase. I have to. Please just do this for me. Chase, I'm the only person that can work with Nina without hesitation. Jack wouldn't be willing to work with Nina and wouldn't last five seconds trying to fake it. I'm the only person she trusts right now." Kit pleaded. His eyes showing the need for Chase, who was like a brother to him to do this one thing for him.
Chase asked, "What do you plan to do?"
Kit replied, "Infiltrate the organization and gain their trust as my last mission for CTU. If I find anything important, I'll call CTU and leave the clues in Mandarin. Just have an agent from the Asian department translate the stuff for you guys. Chase, my calls might be limited so don't be expecting me to call on a daily basis. Once we get a full chance of shutting this organization down, I'll try to pull out of the area with Nina. Can you do this favor?"
"I will. I hope it doesn't come to bite me in the ass. Be safe, Kit."
Kit placed his hand on Chase's shoulder and gave Chase his badge. "I will. Thank you Chase. You will make a field agent. Keep Jack in line. He needs someone to watch over him sometimes, and watch out for Kim too. She's new at this and doesn't know that much. She is like a sister to me, too. Thank's again. I better get out of here. Good-bye." Kit left the building without notice and luckily avoiding Adam, Chloe, Tony, and Michelle. He returned to his car and drove to a store to buy clothes for himself and Nina. Kit drove to his house to replace the blood-stained shirt and tie. He took his black leather jacket, a black muscle t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans and stuffed it inside a backpack.
When he returned to the hotel, Nina was sitting on the bed in a towel. "Finally. I was getting worried." She said when he walked into the room. "How did everything go?"
"I gave the virus to Chase. He's going to keep it a secret."
"And you believe him?" Nina said thinking Kit was a stupid naive fool.
"Yes. He's like a brother. He would not lie to me about that." Kit said being pissed off that she did not trust him. "I'm tired of you second- guessing me. You have to trust me Nina."
"I know I do, but you'll have to excuse me I'm not a trusting person, Kit. You know that I'm trying." Nina said in her defense surprised Kit would even bring up her lack of trust.
"Here." He handed her the bag of clothes. "I'm getting into a shower then we are leaving for Canada."
"Thank you Kit. Where is Jack? Did he not see you?" Nina asked worried that Jack might come after them if he found out.
"Don't worry about Jack. He was busy and didn't see me." Kit said. Sometimes he felt like Nina still loved Jack. He was sure she did, and he hoped that she would forget him. He hoped that she really loved him and was not using him, but knew it was Nina's decision. Kit doesn't know if he'll be fine being treated like a little brother.
"I'm not asking because I still care about him, Kit. I'm worried that you don't know what he is capable of, and if he tracks us down you will need to be able to understand that." Nina said noticing the hurt look on Kit's face.
"He won't track us down."
"He will, Kit. If he's busy now he won't, but once he finds out he will track us down and kill us. He will never forgive me for what I did." Nina said looking down, her time to feel shameful.
"Then we will worry about that when the time comes. Nina, if Jack intends on killing you, he'll have to kill me first." Kit answered while checking his Beretta to see if it was loaded. Kit entered the shower and called, "What about your employers? Won't they be after us too, for the virus?"
"Yeah. We'll have to take them out. Any ideas? I don't want to sell them out to CTU because that will get more people after us for ratting people out."
"We could do it the old-fashion way. Go in and take them out before they take us out."
"Possibly. I don't know if we can take them out. We can try. Or we could just wait to cross that bridge." Nina called from the bed repeating what Kit had said. She knew what they had to do in both incidents and Kit was right, only the old fashion way would work to help them make it in the world now.
"How about we start with your employers and by then we can focus on Jack and find something to do with him?"
"Kit are you willing to fight Jack? Really willing to go head-to- head with him until the end because that is the only way to stop him? Think about that Kit, before you make any decision."
Kit came out of the bathroom in a towel. Nina admired his body. He looked good and had a nice muscle tone. "Do you love me?" He asked sitting on the bed next to her.
She was stunned by his question, "I don't know. I think I do. I've never really loved anyone before. I have done things for you that I never should have. Like let you give the virus back." As he dressed in a black t-shirt, blue jeans, and leather jacket.
"I can accept that. If I have to, I will do anything to protect you Nina. I have loved you since the first time we met. I wanted you for so long. Even after you broke my heart when you turned, I still loved you. You are everything to me. Your personality, I love everything about you." Kit was scared of saying what he was saying. He was not sure how she would react. He was not sure if he knew what he meant.
"I can live with that Kit." She said looking into his eyes. Seeing a piece of herself in them.
"Then I can go head-to-head with Jack if I have to. I will do anything for you."
Jack was sure she tried on everything in the store. They left the store and went to another where she instantly gathered the dresses she wanted to try on and had him sit. When she came out of the dressing room, she noticed he had fallen asleep. She wanted to wake him up and show him the dress, like a little girl shows her father. She wanted to know what he thought about it, not that his opinion mattered, but she wanted it. She did not wake him up and decided to buy everything she tried on. After she was finished checking out, she walked over to the chair in which he sat. His head was resting against the wall, and he looked peaceful. She gently shook him awake, "Wake up, sleeping beauty."
Jack jolted awake when he felt someone touch him. He opened his eyes and noticed Claudia. He smiled at her and said, "Sorry."
"Don't worry. Hector will get you, though. I just bought the entire store."
Jack eyes flashed with a slight worried look, not sure if she was joking or not. He would not put it past her the way she tried on everything she could.
"I'm kidding. Let's go. I need to take these things back to the hotel and get ready for dinner tonight." She said waiting for him to stand up. He got out of the chair and collected the boxes that contained her purchases and carried them out to the SUV. He noticed he was sweating more than usual and his mind was already craving for the drug. It had not been time yet for him to do it again, but his body demanded it. He cursed in his head. He had some in the glove compartment, but he could not take it while she was around. He would not do it in front of her. He swallowed hard and calculated how long he could go without it and decided he could try until he dropped her off to be with Hector, or if he got a time when he could do it while she was away. He hoped Hector would have someone drive them to dinner.
They reached the Hilton. Jack parked outside and the valet man took the car from there. Jack along with a bell boy carried all of the packages that Claudia had bought up to her room. Claudia tipped the bell boy and had Jack carry the packages from the living room area into her bedroom. "Thank you. I had fun today. Usually, Hector's flunkies are major assholes, but you weren't."
"It was my pleasure." Jack answered with a thin smile on his face. "I am going to run to the bathroom quickly. Will you be okay?"
"Yeah. You can just use the one here."
"I need to buy a pack of gum too." Jack added cursing himself for not using that excuse originally.
"Ok. Don't be gone too long." Claudia said jokingly, "I don't think I could get dressed without your professional opinion."
Jack smile grew bigger and he quipped back, "I think you can handle yourself, and what do I know. I thought the first six outfits were fine."
"You have no taste Jack, at least not good ones." Claudia turned around and walked back into the bedroom. Jack heard the bathroom door close and he left the room with the key card in hand. Halfway down the stairs his cell phone rang, "Hello." He answered after he searched his pockets for the phone.
"Jack, can you talk?" Chase's voice came over the phone.
"Yeah. Sorry I didn't call sooner. Nothing big has happened. I've met with Hector Salazar and Carlos. I've been like an errand boy for Hector since he got into town a few days ago."
"Ok. I'll report that to Tony. Kim wants to talk to you." Tony said as he saw Kim walking up to Jack's office. She had been asking about her father for the past few days and was beginning to get worried that he had not reported in.
"Dad."
"Hey Kim. How are you?" Jack asked missing his daughter already.
"I'm fine. Why didn't you call in sooner? I've been worried sick." Kim said, and after she said it she was worried that her father might think that he never should have pulled the strings to get her the job because she would know what he was up to all those times he was gone for weeks and months at a time, and it might cause her to worry as she had stated she was.
"Sorry. I've been running around a lot. Everything's fine. Has Chase heard from Kit?"
"Not since yesterday. By the way he sounded, it looked like he's in the same position as you." Kim bit her lip. She wondered if she should ask the next question. It might anger him, but she wondered why he had. "Dad, I spoke with Kate the other night." She paused and she thought she could see him turning red in anger.
"Kim, it's none of your business. I got to go honey." Jack said hanging the phone up. He was not angry at Kim for speaking to Kate. He knew they talked sometimes, and he knew that Kim would call Kate to let her know he was okay while he was away. That was how she must have found out. He pushed all the thoughts out of his mind as his body began to shake. He needed a fix now. He made it out to where the valet had said he parked the SUV and Jack opened the passenger door quickly getting in. He opened the glove compartment box, looking around to make sure no one was in the parking garage. Jack pulled out the small vial and syringe he had put in there the other day. Rolling up his sleeve, he grabbed out the tourniquet, resting the syringe and vial on his leg. He tied the tourniquet around his arm. He took the syringe off his leg and the vial he stuck the point of the syringe into the rubber cap on the vial withdrawing the drug, then moving it to his arm and putting it in the vein that stuck out. He pushed the plunger down without a second thought and closed his eyes as the rush ran through him. When he opened them again, he was no longer shaking and felt like he could run the continent.
When he got back to the room, he heard the shower running so he sat on the couch letting the euphoria to take over. He laid his head against the back of the couch closing his eyes letting his mind run wherever it wanted to go. He opened his eyes when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Claudia. "Sorry." He apologized again for falling asleep.
"What do you think?" She asked stepping away from him. Like a princess she twirled around to show him.
"Beautiful. Hector will go mad." Jack answered trying to keep his words from slurring or any sign of him being under the influence from showing.
"Lets go. We don't want to be late. Are you feeling okay?" She asked noticing something different about him.
"I'm just tired." Jack answered looking at her in amazement still. She was drop-dead gorgeous. When he looked up earlier, it took all of his will for his jaw not to drop. To offer further explanation he said, "It was a long hard night last night."
"That's when you mean the people who weren't too fond of Carlos?"
"Yeah. Shall we?" He said waiting for her to walk towards the door.
They waited at the front as the valet went to get the car. It was a new one and Jack was happy because he would not have known Jack and run out there not too long ago. When the car returned, the valet ran around to open and close Claudia's door for her. She gave him a five dollar bill as a tip.
Jack took off towards the bar. He found it funny that Claudia was going to walk into the bar looking as she did. She would stick out immediately.
Jack pulled into the back alleyway. He noticed on the ground when they got out a blood spot he assumed was from him. He sighed and walked into the back of the bar knocking on the office door and waiting for someone to tell him to come in.
Instead Pedro's voice came over asking, "Who's there?"
"It's Jack. I have Claudia with me. It's six now."
"Hold on." Pedro answered back.
Jack stood staring at the door wondering what they were doing. Did they find out about him and were planning how and how long his death would be? Were these the final moments of his life, and he was staring at the door? The door finally opened and Hector came out with blood on his shirt. Jack looked at him to see if it came from him or someone else. Jack could not decide in the end, so he asked, "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Where is Claudia?" Hector asked.
"She went out to the bar to get a drink."
"Good. Let's go join her." Hector said putting his arm on Jack's back.
Jack fought to keep himself from cringing. Something was going on and Hector was making it a point not to tell him. When they got to the bar, Casey was pouring Claudia a drink. Casey called over, "The usual for both of you?"
Hector said, "Yeah."
Jack answered, "Just coffee for me."
Claudia turned around and noticed Hector's eyes light up when he saw her. His eyes lit up the same way Jacks had when he first saw her in the dress. "Is that new?" Hector asked walking over and hugging her then kissing her.
"Yeah. I bought it today. I got you and Ramon some new clothes too."
"What would we do without you?" Hector said sitting next to her to drink his drink. Jack took his coffee and scooted down a few chairs to give them privacy. He rested his head in his hands, as it had started to ache slightly.
Casey walked down and asked, "You okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine. How are you?"
"I'm good. Thank you seriously for last night. I don't know what I would have done if you had not come and stopped them." She said to the man that she had seen as her knight in shining armor.
Hector came down and interrupted the two, "Let's go. You are driving us to the restaurant."
"Bye." Jack said getting off the bar stool.
Casey handed him a styrofoam coffee cup full of coffee. "I figured you'd be leaving before you finished yours." She said smiling at him. She could see in his eyes he was exhausted.
"Thanks." Jack followed Hector out of the back of the bar to the SUV. Hector opened the back seat door for Claudia and then got into the other side himself.
Jack asked, "Where are we going?"
"Frothe. Do you know where that is?"
"Yes sir." Jack said turning in the direction of the over priced restaurant. He had been there with Kate before. Her father liked to have his business parties there, and Jack always seemed to be forced to go to them with her. When he reached the restaurant, he parked in front of it letting Hector and Claudia out.
Hector ordered, "Park down the street. I'll call you when we are finished."
Jack waited until they got inside and then he drove down the street and found a parking space. He locked the doors, not that it was a bad part of town, but he knew he was most likely going to fall asleep. He kept the car running so that the air might cool the inside off. He turned the radio to a new station with Eric Clapton singing about Layla. Jack rested his head on the head rest and found his eyes started to droop. He did not fight them. He was tired, sore, and all he wanted to do was be at home in his nice soft bed asleep.
He awoke when his phone rang. Wiping his mouth he answered, "Hello."
"Hi, Jack."
"Kate. What do you want?" Jack said with more annoyance in his voice than he intended. He was angry because someone had woken him from his slumber.
"I'm sorry to call you. I know you said we were over. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You looked kind of bad last night."
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Jack said. "I got to go Kate. I'm in the middle of something here." Jack hung the phone up and took a drink of his cold coffee. He looked at the clock he had been in the car for an hour now. He opened the door to the car and got out to stretch. He thought to himself that he needed to run tonight. It would help work out the pains in his body and in his mind. He got back into the car and tried to find a station with upbeat music to keep him awake. He finally stopped when he heard Steven Tyler's voice coming over the radio singing "Amazing." Jack's phone rang and he looked at the caller ID to see who was calling.
"Hello."
"We are going to be ready to leave in a few so go ahead and pull up outside the door."
"Yes sir." Jack answered hanging his phone up. He turned the SUV around and pulled up on the right side of the street to pick up Hector and Claudia. They came out ten minutes later hand in hand smiling. Jack felt jealous for a moment of Hector. He wondered why Claudia was with him. She seemed like such a nice woman and she was with him. She deserved much better.
After they got in, Hector ordered, "Go back to the bar. Claudia wants to get a few more drinks there, and we have some business to attend to now."
"Yes sir." Jack said putting his foot on the gas pedal feeling the car roar to life as they started down the street. He heard the muffled sounds of Hector kissing Claudia. He looked in the rear-view mirror and met her eyes through it. He felt a slight electric feeling running through him. He turned his eyes back to the road and ignored the noise in the back.
When he got back to the bar, Hector slid over to his side of the car, and opened the door to get out. Jack got out and leaned against the car not sure what Hector wanted him to do. Claudia walked around and put her hand in Hector's. "Let's go in and grab a drink." Hector said to Jack as he started walking towards the back entrance of the bar.
When they got in, Jack noticed that the back room door was closed again and the jukebox was playing louder than usual. He went to the bar and Casey came over and asked, "What can I get you, Jack?"
"Bacardi O3, please." He answered. He did not want to get really drunk again because he was trying to recover from a hangover from the past few days of getting way too drunk. Casey opened the bottle and handed it to him. "Never would peg you for the fruity taste of Bacardi."
"Tastes like an orange juice with a kick. What is there not to like about it?" Claudia asked sitting next to Jack. Hector had left them to go to the back room. "May I have one also?"
Casey looked at Jack with a look that said, "Better be careful, don't want to get in that type of trouble." Casey grabbed another bottle and handed it to Claudia. "Thank you."
Hector came out and placed a hand on Jack shoulder saying, "Why don't you come join us in the back?"
Jack felt a rush of fear and adrenaline running through him. What was going on that they now wanted him to join? Was this going to be the last moments of his life? Without hesitation, Jack got up and followed Hector in the back. When he walked into the room, he noticed a man lying on the floor and blood around him. Pedro sat on the desk looking at him, "Hey Jack."
"Hey." Jack said conveying no emotion as if there was not a half- dead man on the floor or if there was it was something that had been so normal that it was nothing. He turned around and asked Hector, "What's going on?"
"This is one of the guys from last night. We've been having fun with him and Pedro brought it to my attention that you might like to join in on it." Hector answered looking in Jack's eyes trying to find some sort of emotion that conveyed Jack was not who he said he was.
"Sure." Jack said pulling out his gun.
"No, not that way." Hector brushed passed Jack stepping over the half dead man. He grabbed a knife of the desk and handed it to Jack, "Use this. Cut his fingers off first."
Jack took the knife in his hand and asked Pedro, "Can you help me get him in the chair?"
Pedro walked over and he and Jacked picked the half-dead man off the floor, blood dripping from the man's mouth. All of his teeth were gone either knocked out or plucked out with the pliers that sat on the wooden desk. When they got him in the chair, Pedro walked to the back and yanked the man's head back by his hair and shoved a nasty rag into the man's mouth causing him to gag. Pedro then took the roll of duct tape off the desk and taped the man's mouth closed in hopes of blocking out some of the screams.
Jack kneeled next to the chair, knife in hand. He grabbed the mans thumb. He pulled the thumb back until he heard it snap and Hector looked down at him acknowledging that Jack had thought of something on his own that Hector approved of. Jack heard the man's muffled scream.
Next, Jack grabbed the broken thumb and started to cut into it slowly with the knife. When he hit the bone, Jack took a second and then he cut through a part of the bone that was not broken by applying more pressure. As he was going through the bone, he thought he could hear the knife sawing into it. When the thumb was off, Jack set it in the man's lap for him to look at. "Does anyone have a lighter?" He asked in a calm cold voice.
"Here." Carlos said handing Jack his Zippo lighter. Jack lit it and held it to the open wound the man's hand where his thumb use to be. Than he continued in order to do the same thing to each and every finger on both hands until there were no more left for him. Blood covered his shirt and some was on his face. He stood up from the man and looked at Hector with his eyes calm, and his mind racing. He knew what he was doing was wrong. The man had been there the other night, but he did not deserve this. Jack knew it, but he tried to block it out of his mind because if he had to do this to the man to get Hector's trust, then he would. Jack looked around the room to finally see who was all in there and he noticed Ximen was missing. "Where is Ximen?"
"He went to go pick someone up for me." Hector said smiling at the man who had passed out in the chair.
Pedro got off the couch and asked, "You guys need a drink? I sure in the hell do."
"Yeah. Bring everyone a drink." Hector said not taking his eyes off Jack. He was expecting something to show in his eyes, but nothing did. It was almost as if this was a boring movie and he was fighting not fall asleep. "How was Claudia today?"
"I guess she had fun shopping. Had me take her to like six different stores. I think she enjoyed having me be her little dress up-doll." Jack answered not sure if the last part would get him in trouble. He searched Hector's eyes the same way Hector was searching his.
"Really? Let me guess. If you were going to be her chauffer, she wanted you to dress better?"
"Yeah." Jack said with a smile on his face.
"She told me. That's good, though because you do need to dress better, and she'd be the one to help you in that department. You dress like my father would have." Hector said joking with Jack now.
There was a knock on the door and then it opened. Claudia walked into the room and noticed the bloody knife Jack's hand was still holding, and the blood on his clothes. She looked at the man in the chair and held back a gasp. She had seen stuff like this before, but for some reason, she did not expect it out of Jack. He seemed like such a nice down-to-earth guy, not the type of guy that should be working for Hector. Hector noticed her and said, "Claudia you were not supposed to come in here. I didn't want you to see this."
"I wanted to go back to the hotel." She said looking at Jack still with the blood over him.
"Okay. I'll have Jack drive you back there." Hector looked at Jack, "You better go change and wash your face first, though." Hector said laughing.
Jack looked at himself and laughed also. "Yeah. Give me ten minutes and I'll be back." Jack set the knife down on the desk and walked out of the room. He avoided looking into Claudia's eyes, he noticed her pain at seeing him like this and wondered why. She could not have liked him, she was with Hector. She barely knew him, therefore she could not have guessed this was out of character for him.
When Jack got out of the bar, he heard footsteps behind him and looked back it was Claudia following him. "Why don't you wait in the bar? I'm just across the street I'll be back over to get you." He answered still avoiding her eyes.
"What was that in there?" She said with anger in her voice. She was not sure why she was angry. She had no reason to be it was not like he was hurting her or anyone she loved. She did not even know the man in there.
"One of the guys that doesn't like Carlos." Jack said referring back to their earlier conversation of what had happened to him. He reached his hotel door and opening it. Claudia barged in right behind him. "What do you want?" Jack asked losing patience. He already felt bad for doing what he had, but she was here to rub it in more.
"I'll wait for you." Claudia said sitting in one of the empty chairs in the room. She was studying the room and wondered how in the hell anyone could live in a place like this. Then it occurred to her that before she met Hector a few months ago, it was not that far off from where she had lived. She noticed how the bed was unmade, but the clothes were neatly folded on the chair by the bed.
Jack grabbed a clean blue shirt off the pile of clothes in the chair and walked into the bathroom. He did not close the door behind him. He took his old shirt off and washed his face and chest getting the blood off it. When he looked back up in the mirror to make sure he had all of the blood off, he noticed Claudia looking at him. He turned around to close the door and noticed her eyes automatically go to the scars on his chest and abdomen. He pulled his shirt on and walked out. Her eyes quickly diverted from him.
She wondered how he got those scars. They did not look like normal every day scars. They had more to them. Why was she pissed at him and hurt at the same time?
"Ready to go?" Jack asked as if nothing had happened earlier.
She noticed how he had changed into this happy-nothing-had-ever- happened mode quite often. "Yeah." She answered.
When he got her back to the Hilton, he walked her up to her room and than took off again. He knew she was pissed at him for something. He knew what it was, but he was not sure why she was pissed. He got back to the bar and knocked on the door. He heard a woman crying on the other side. He said, "It's me."
Ximen opened the door and Jack walked through taking in the room. The man who he had cut the fingers off of looked worse with burn marks all over his chest and face. Jack noticed a woman sitting on the floor next to him crying. "Who's that?" Jack asked looking at Hector.
"No one important. His girlfriend." Hector answered.
Jack then noticed the little girl sitting on the couch next to Pedro. She was crying also staring at the man on the chair. Jack looked away conveying nothing even though his mind was screaming for him to get the two out of the room now. The little girl looked nothing like Kim, but at the same time that is all he could think about was what if that was him and she was Kim. "What's going on?" Jack inquired.
"I wanted them to see what happens when you mess with the Salazars, so they can go on to tell the others. Plus this little shit tried to rape Casey out there." Hector answered.
Jack went and sat on the couch next to Pedro, not sure what to do, but he knew what he couldn't do and that was to get them out. It would blow his cover or make him look like he could not handle this stuff.
Pedro handed Jack a beer out of a cooler he had acquired earlier to keep the alcohol in for the night ahead of them. "Thanks." Jack answered popping the metal cap off and taking a big gulp.
The woman got up and started to yell at Hector, "Why are you doing this, you sick motherfucker?"
Hector balled his fist up and punched the woman in the face. Jack felt a slight twinge in his muscles and he fought to keep himself from running over and stopping Hector from beat the crap out of the woman. Hector repeatedly kicked the woman who was laying on the ground crying. The little girl went to get off the couch and go after Hector, but Jack grabbed her pushing her back down. He did not, and knew he could not watch Hector if he went after the little girl.
Hector looked over noticing the movement from that side of the room. He watched Jack snatch the girl back on the couch. He was not sure if this was Jack trying to stop her from getting hurt or him stopping her from going after Hector who was busy with her mother. Hector turned his rage towards the little girl, "What were you doing? Going to come after me like your tramp mother did?"
Hector walked over to the couch and yanked the girl up by her neck. He was squeezing her neck, choking her. Jack sat on the couch conveying no emotion even though all he wanted to do was get off the couch and fight Hector for hurting the woman and little girl. The little girl's face was beet-red. Hector released his grip and she fell to the floor crying and gasping for breath at the same time. "Jack, get up." Hector ordered.
Jack stood up thinking that Hector might turn his anger on him for stopping the little girl for charging him. Hector looked at him and said, "Cut the man's ears off and give them to the bitch on the floor."
Jack did as he was told. Only he knew he did not need a knife to get the ears off it only took a few pounds of weight for an ear to come off. He grabbed one of the man's ears and yanked it off the man's head and then did the same with the other. He set them on the floor next to the woman who was crying. When he turned around, she jumped off the floor and jumped onto his back hitting him and biting at him. He flung her forward off his back, it was an automatic reflex. She flew into the man who sat in the chair whimpering in pain. She knocked the chair over and landed on the floor. Jack felt warm blood running down his head. She must have broken open the stitches in his head. He put his hand to the back of his head and held it there feeling the warm blood seep onto his fingers. "Fucking bitch." He said almost to himself.
Hector looked at him and said, "Kill him."
Jack felt like a puppet at the moment. Everything Hector commanded him to do, he did without question. Jack pulled out his gun and pointed it at the man.
"Hold on there cowboy." Pedro said getting off the couch. "We don't want everyone in the world to hear it." Pedro threw Jack a pillow.
"Thanks." Jack said chastising himself for not thinking of it. He put the pillow in front of the gun and fired two quick shots into the man's chest.
Hector placed his foot on the woman who's mouth was bleeding from the hit from Hector. He held her to the floor with his foot and said, "Your choice. Either you or your daughter is going to die now."
She looked at him, "You are a fucking pig. You are going to rot in hell."
"Maybe, but you'll be there first." Hector looked at Jack and ordered, "Kill the girl."
Jack looked at him not sure if he could. He knew if he started to think he wouldn't, so he raised his gun and fired. He hit the little girl in the head. Her mom screamed out at him trying to force Hector's foot off her chest. Hector looked at Jack smiling. He pulled his Desert Eagle handgun out and fired it into the woman's chest. He watched as she slowly drowned in her own blood that was filling her lungs. He looked back over at Jack and said, "You are a cold son of a bitch."
Jack smiled at him even though he felt like an asshole and almost wanted to turn his gun on himself. Jack walked back over to the couch his eyes avoiding the little girl that he killed he grabbed his beer off the table next to hit and finished it off with one huge gulp. Pedro threw him another beer.
"Pedro, you and Jack take them and put them in the house we got them out of. I want those other bastards to find them." Hector ordered the two men.
Jack grabbed the woman off the floor and started to drag her to the back towards the van when Hector called out, "Jack, I need to talk to you alone. Ximen, help Pedro load the bodies in the van."
The bar was closed and it was quite inside now. Jack felt his adrenaline run through him again. Why would Hector want to talk to him alone? He walked into the back room. Carlos walked out and closed the door behind him. Jack stood in the room not sure what he should do.
"Sit." Hector said pointing to a chair in front of the desk. It was a new clean one the man had not been in.
Jack sat down his eyes looking at Hector conveying nothing he was feeling. His mind was screaming for him to run now and save himself before he did anything else. In the end, would it all be worth it? Jack knew the answer and did not listen to it. He blocked the voices out of his head and waited for Hector to start.
"I'm heading back to Mexico tomorrow." Hector began. "All of the business up here has been taken care of. I want you to come back with me. I didn't like you at first before. You were too cocky and had no fear, but after the past few days, even after I fucked with you constantly and you had that little run-in, you kept coming back like a loyal person. I need someone like that down in Mexico. So pack your bags and pick Claudia, Pedro, and me up tomorrow afternoon around three in the afternoon. If everything works out, you will have a position with the Salazars, that is if Ramon gives his blessing."
"Yes sir." Jack answered. "Is there anything else you would like?"
"Tell Ximen to work with Pedro with them. You look like shit, and Claudia told me you had been falling asleep on her earlier and that I was working you too hard. You passed the test, so go home and get some rest." Hector ordered.
"Yes sir." Jack knew sleep would not come tonight. He left the room and conveyed Hector's message to Ximen and Pedro. He said good-bye to the two and left to go to his hotel room. When he got inside, he collapsed on the bed. His head in his hands he tried to block the picture of the little girl out of his head. He knew what would help so he walked over to the drawer pulling out his drug kit. After he finished inserting the drug into his body, he laid on the bed unable to sleep. His mind in a fog he picked up his phone and called the only person he could think of.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------
Kit was not sure where to drive to. His house was not safe, he thought. If CTU found out that he had been a part of the incident and now has Nina and will not turn her over, they will be after them. He was not sure what he was going to do. He loved Nina. He always had loved her from the moment he met her, and finally it was his chance to be with her, but there were the problems of her being a wanted felon and him being a law enforcement agent. He pulled out his cell phone and called CTU to find out what was going on.
"Edmunds."
"Chase, it's Kit."
"Kit, where in the hell are you? They know it was your group out at the laboratory." Chase said into the phone in a hushed voice.
"Chase, I just called to let you know I have to go dark. There is some major heat on me and I can't have contact with CTU or association with them period or possibly most of L.A. They have the virus and I'm trying to get it from them." Kit lied. He did not want Chase or CTU after him until he figured out what he wanted to do.
"Are you sure, Kit?" Chase asked over the phone.
"Yes. I'm sorry Chase."
"Why?"
"Sorry. I need to go. Good-bye."
"Be safe Kit. Bye." Chase said as he set the phone down on the receiver.
Nina was awake and asked, "What was that all about?"
"I didn't want them on us while we are trying to get away. I need to stop somewhere and tend to your wound."
"Kit, what are you doing?"
"Protecting you." Kit said looking at her with a worried expression on his face. He thought for a moment that he saw a tear in Nina's eye, but he knew it was only his illusion that she would be touched by the sacrifice he just made.
"Go to a hotel." Nina said clenching her teeth as a wave of pain came over her.
"I know." Kit said feeling agitated. He had expected a "thank you" from her, instead she told him something he already knew almost as if he were too stupid to figure it out himself.
Kit found a hotel exiting the highway and entering a parking lot. He went inside the office and waited ten minutes until the manager finally noticed someone was there.
"Sorry, young man. I'm not used to getting people in here that much." The older manager truthfully stated.
"I need a double room." Kit said patiently.
"All we have are singles now." The man answered.
"Okay, one of those then." Kit said a feeling little agitated.
"That'll be forty." The man answered.
Kit handed him two twenties and went to walk out when the man asked, "Are you hurt?"
"No why?" Kit asked confused why the man would ask him that question.
"You have blood on your clothes." The man said noticing the blood on Kit's blue shirt which spreaded to his red tie.
"I had a nose bleed earlier. I haven't had time to change." Kit hoped the man would accept his explanation and drop it.
"That's too much blood. I doubt it's yours though. Is it your friend's in the car?" The old man said looking out to the car.
Kit froze. He was afraid that the man would call the cops now. Not sure how to proceed, he thought about just leaving the hotel and finding another.
"The only reason I ask is because I used to be a doctor. I retired a few years ago and my wife and I started the hotel. She passed away last year."
"I'm sorry."
"I can help your friend. I won't call the cops. I don't know what you did, but you seem like decent people."
"Thank you, sir." Kit said baffled by the old man. No one had ever done anything like that for him.
"Just get her in the room and I'll be over with my medical bag." The old man said walking into the back.
Kit carried Nina into the room. He told her what the old man had offered to do, and she too was confused and not sure if she should trust him. Kit laid her on the bed and the old man knocked on the open door and walked it.
He examined the bullet in Nina's shoulder and said, "You're lucky, young lady. It didn't hit much. Missed the bone there. Just a flesh wound."
"It hurts like a son of a bitch." Nina said clenching her teeth.
"Tell me about it. Armor-piercing is a lot worse than that." Kit muttered while crossing his arms across his chest reflecting on his first and last mission in Kosovo.
"It won't be much longer." The old man took out a needle and a vial.
Kit stopped him, "What's that?"
"Pain-killer. I'm sure she would want it when I sew this thing up and clean it out."
"Oh, sorry." Kit said feeling bad that he thought anything different.
The old man inserted the needle into Nina's arm and pressed the plunger down. He sat with Kit for ten minutes talking about baseball, something Kit knew some about, but was never a major fan. The old man stopped in a middle of a story when he noticed Nina's eyes drop. "She's ready." He went to work cleaning out the wound and then sewing it up. When he finished, he dressed it and said goodbye to Kit, and he would check in on her tomorrow.
"Thank you, sir."
"My pleasure." The old man left the room and went back to the office.
Kit sat in the chair and felt the weight of the day coming down on him. He closed his eyes and was out a few minutes later. He woke up when he heard a knock on the door and than the door opening. It was the hotel manger.
"Don't mind me. I just wanted to check on her. If you want, I'm cooking breakfast in the office area. I could bring you two some."
"Thank you. How much do I owe you for all of this?"
"It came with the total cost of the hotel." The old man said checking Nina's vital and then the wound. When he pulled the dressing back, her eyes opened and she looked up at the old man. She jumped away from him screeching in pain as she moved her shoulder.
Kit jumped up, "Nina, it's okay. This guy helped us."
"Young lady, it's fine. I was just checking to make sure everything was fine with that wound."
Nina looked around the room trying to get her bearings. She began to remember what happened the night before. She sat back down on the bed her heart racing still. "Thank you." She mumbled to the old man.
"I'll bring you two breakfast." The old man left the room.
Kit looked at Nina expecting her to chastise him for bringing in someone else to help. "Thank you Kit." She said looking at him. She noticed how his eyes lit up when she said it. "Where to now?"
"I don't know. We have the virus and intend on sending it to CTU. I'm sorry. I know you can make money off of it, but I can't let you." Kit looked down at his feet he thought he felt Nina's eyes burn through his head with anger.
"That's fine." Nina said not sure why she thought it was. She could make a lot of money off the virus and yet she would let him do the right thing. What was wrong with her?
The old man returned with two plates in his hands. He gave them each one and said, "I'll leave you two alone."
When he left the room the two devoured their food. It felt like they had not eaten in a long time. When they finished Kit said, "We better get moving."
"Where are we going?" Nina asked wondering.
"I don't know. Maybe Mexico or Canada? Somewhere outside of the United States. You choose." Kit nearly closed his eyes out of frustration when he said Mexico. Nice going Kit, are you asking for a death wish? Jack might be there.
"Canada. I'm tired of Mexico." Nina said. "At least you can drink the water in Canada."
"Ok. Let me run this by CTU." Kit said pulling out the virus.
"I'll be here when you get back. I'm getting into a shower. Could you bring me some clothes?"
"I'll pick some up on my way back." Kit said kissing Nina goodbye he walked out of the room not sure what he was going to do. He drove to CTU. He sat outside of the building looking at it trying to decide what he should do. He walked up to the gate saying hi to the guard that knew him so he did not bother to ask to see Kit's identification. Kit continued into the building. He found Chase in Jack's office. Walking in, he asked Chase, "How is Jack's operation going?"
Chase jumped startled. "What, I thought you were going dark."
"I am. I wanted to drop this off first."
"It was you guys. One of the team members said they thought they hit Nina Myers." Chase said raising his eyebrows looking at Kit.
"Chase, you know me and I would do nothing to hurt CTU, but I need you to keep this a secret. If they ask say, I called you and you met me. You tried to get me to come back, but I couldn't. I don't have Nina with me, and I barely got that without getting noticed."
"What's the truth, Kit?" Chase asked in a serious tone and had a "if you're lying to me, I'll kick your ass" look on his face.
"Chase you're kind of new at this. I know you have had some experience in D.C., but this is different. These types of operations are different. You have to make decisions in split seconds and live a different life every day all the time. "
"You have her, don't you?"
Kit did not answer him. He looked down at his feet, feeling a slight shame for helping her. He knew what she had done to Jack, CTU and him for that matter, but he could not hold it against her.
"You know, once Jack finds out, he will hunt you down. Both of you." Chase said knowing the full situation.
"I know. I'm sorry Chase. I have to. Please just do this for me. Chase, I'm the only person that can work with Nina without hesitation. Jack wouldn't be willing to work with Nina and wouldn't last five seconds trying to fake it. I'm the only person she trusts right now." Kit pleaded. His eyes showing the need for Chase, who was like a brother to him to do this one thing for him.
Chase asked, "What do you plan to do?"
Kit replied, "Infiltrate the organization and gain their trust as my last mission for CTU. If I find anything important, I'll call CTU and leave the clues in Mandarin. Just have an agent from the Asian department translate the stuff for you guys. Chase, my calls might be limited so don't be expecting me to call on a daily basis. Once we get a full chance of shutting this organization down, I'll try to pull out of the area with Nina. Can you do this favor?"
"I will. I hope it doesn't come to bite me in the ass. Be safe, Kit."
Kit placed his hand on Chase's shoulder and gave Chase his badge. "I will. Thank you Chase. You will make a field agent. Keep Jack in line. He needs someone to watch over him sometimes, and watch out for Kim too. She's new at this and doesn't know that much. She is like a sister to me, too. Thank's again. I better get out of here. Good-bye." Kit left the building without notice and luckily avoiding Adam, Chloe, Tony, and Michelle. He returned to his car and drove to a store to buy clothes for himself and Nina. Kit drove to his house to replace the blood-stained shirt and tie. He took his black leather jacket, a black muscle t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans and stuffed it inside a backpack.
When he returned to the hotel, Nina was sitting on the bed in a towel. "Finally. I was getting worried." She said when he walked into the room. "How did everything go?"
"I gave the virus to Chase. He's going to keep it a secret."
"And you believe him?" Nina said thinking Kit was a stupid naive fool.
"Yes. He's like a brother. He would not lie to me about that." Kit said being pissed off that she did not trust him. "I'm tired of you second- guessing me. You have to trust me Nina."
"I know I do, but you'll have to excuse me I'm not a trusting person, Kit. You know that I'm trying." Nina said in her defense surprised Kit would even bring up her lack of trust.
"Here." He handed her the bag of clothes. "I'm getting into a shower then we are leaving for Canada."
"Thank you Kit. Where is Jack? Did he not see you?" Nina asked worried that Jack might come after them if he found out.
"Don't worry about Jack. He was busy and didn't see me." Kit said. Sometimes he felt like Nina still loved Jack. He was sure she did, and he hoped that she would forget him. He hoped that she really loved him and was not using him, but knew it was Nina's decision. Kit doesn't know if he'll be fine being treated like a little brother.
"I'm not asking because I still care about him, Kit. I'm worried that you don't know what he is capable of, and if he tracks us down you will need to be able to understand that." Nina said noticing the hurt look on Kit's face.
"He won't track us down."
"He will, Kit. If he's busy now he won't, but once he finds out he will track us down and kill us. He will never forgive me for what I did." Nina said looking down, her time to feel shameful.
"Then we will worry about that when the time comes. Nina, if Jack intends on killing you, he'll have to kill me first." Kit answered while checking his Beretta to see if it was loaded. Kit entered the shower and called, "What about your employers? Won't they be after us too, for the virus?"
"Yeah. We'll have to take them out. Any ideas? I don't want to sell them out to CTU because that will get more people after us for ratting people out."
"We could do it the old-fashion way. Go in and take them out before they take us out."
"Possibly. I don't know if we can take them out. We can try. Or we could just wait to cross that bridge." Nina called from the bed repeating what Kit had said. She knew what they had to do in both incidents and Kit was right, only the old fashion way would work to help them make it in the world now.
"How about we start with your employers and by then we can focus on Jack and find something to do with him?"
"Kit are you willing to fight Jack? Really willing to go head-to- head with him until the end because that is the only way to stop him? Think about that Kit, before you make any decision."
Kit came out of the bathroom in a towel. Nina admired his body. He looked good and had a nice muscle tone. "Do you love me?" He asked sitting on the bed next to her.
She was stunned by his question, "I don't know. I think I do. I've never really loved anyone before. I have done things for you that I never should have. Like let you give the virus back." As he dressed in a black t-shirt, blue jeans, and leather jacket.
"I can accept that. If I have to, I will do anything to protect you Nina. I have loved you since the first time we met. I wanted you for so long. Even after you broke my heart when you turned, I still loved you. You are everything to me. Your personality, I love everything about you." Kit was scared of saying what he was saying. He was not sure how she would react. He was not sure if he knew what he meant.
"I can live with that Kit." She said looking into his eyes. Seeing a piece of herself in them.
"Then I can go head-to-head with Jack if I have to. I will do anything for you."