Chapter 6: Cold November
Two weeks later
3:30am
The shrill sound of the alarm clock interrupted Jack's thoughts. He wasn't asleep; he hadn't been asleep in over an hour. It was almost a relief when the alarm clock went off; at least now he had an excuse to get out of bed.
It was unusually cold for the first week of November in LA. He shivered as he got out of bed but he wasn't sure if that shiver was from the cold outside or the cold he felt within him. It was Friday and he should be looking forward to the weekend, but he had to survive today before he could consider the weekend. That may be easier said than done.
Jack had gotten back from rehab six weeks earlier amazed at how good an experience it had been. He had only gone because he had no real choice. Now he was happy that he had done it. On the drive to San Luis Obispo he made up his mind that he was not going to open up to anyone but after a week of fighting it, he let go. He talked about Teri and Kim and Nina and Kate. He talked about all of his friends and colleagues that had died along the way while he had defied the odds. He talked about the people he had killed and the people, like George Mason, who had saved his life. And he talked about the guilt. He felt so guilty about so many things.
Life, Jack decided, was going to change when he got back to LA. The first thing he was going to do when he got home was to call Kate. He loved her and he wanted her back if she would have him. He knew that was probably a long shot after how he had treated her. He cringed when he thought about the last time he saw her, their last night together.
He had only gone to her house to tell her he was leaving. He had rehearsed the speech a hundred times in his head. He would accept all of the blame; tell her she was perfect, because she was. Then she walked out of the bathroom in that robe. It wasn't even tied; she was just holding it closed. Her hair was still damp and hung neatly trimmed just below her jaw line. Oh, God, she was beautiful. She was so beautiful. Her skin was so soft and she smelled so good. He lost control. He remembered throwing her to the bed like some kind of animal, like some kind of vicious rapist. He knew that wasn't really true. He hadn't raped her. She returned his kisses and picked up his rhythm and later she had climbed on top of him, but he knew he had hurt her when she got up later. She stepped out of bed so gingerly. He wanted to go pick her up and put her back in bed and tell her he loved her. But instead, he told her he was leaving. Next to burying his wife, leaving Kate was the hardest thing he had ever done.
Now he was going to call her on the pretense of picking up his jacket. When he got to her house he would confess everything to her and ask her to take him back. He prayed that she would.
He walked back into his condo, dropped his suitcase and reached for the phone. He dialed Kate's office. It was 2:30, he knew she would still be at work.
"Warner Enterprises. How may I direct your call?"
"Kate Warner, please."
"I'm sorry, Ms. Warner isn't at this office any longer, sir. I can transfer you to Mr. Wilson's office, he replaced Ms. Warner, or I can transfer you to our Seattle office and they can put you in touch with Ms. Warner. Which would you prefer."
"I'm sorry" Jack stammered. "Did you say Kate doesn't work in Los Angeles any more? When did that happen? Is it temporary? When will she be back?"
"She left a couple of weeks ago, sir. She is managing that office. Would you like me to transfer you to Seattle, sir?"
"Ah, ah... no, ah no, thank you."
"I can transfer you to Mr. Wilson's office."
"Ah, no, thank you. I'm an old friend of Kate's." Jack didn't know why he felt a need to offer some excuse. "I was in town and thought I could catch up with her. I didn't realize she was gone. Thank you."
He hung up the phone and dropped to the nearest chair. He felt as if he had been hit with a brick. She not only didn't want him back, but she had gone all the way to Seattle to avoid him. Seattle, he thought. Kate was a company vice president. Bob was expected to name her chief operating officer within the next few years. Kate running the Seattle office was laughable. It would have been like him running a two man sheriff's station in the Outback.
Jack sat with his head in his hands for a long time. He had to regroup, rethink things. He immediately wanted to shoot up again. Only heroin could kill the pain he was feeling right now. He went to the closet to retrieve his stash. "Son of a bitch!" he spat as he remembered that he had told Kim where it was so she would get rid of it. He stood leaning against the closet door for a long time. He needed heroin. He grabbed his keys and a jacket and trotted to his car.
Jack drove to one of the corners he had used for the last year. He recognized all of the kids on the street. Their lives had gone no where in the last year either, he thought. None of them was over 18; he wondered how many of them would live to see 21. Jack slowed down and put down his passenger side window. One of the kids put his head in. They spoke only a few words. The kid let Jack negotiate the price down without putting up much of a fight. Probably weak shit, Jack thought. That was okay, he hadn't had anything in a month. He had to be careful or he would overdose and someone would find him dead the next day.
Overdose. Death. The words played in Jack's mind. They bounced around: Death Overdose Overdose Death. It seemed so perfect, such an easy way out. Just shoot up a big bolus of smack and go to sleep. All the pain would be gone. He would be with Teri again; with Ryan, with Claudia, with George. Damn George Mason, he thought. If Mason hadn't snuck on the plane three years ago, he would be dead now. Why did he let Mason talk him out of it? The speech Mason made sounded so good at the time. All the talk about 'going back down there...that would take real courage'. It was all bullshit.
He practically ran into his condo and locked the door. He sat at the kitchen table to mix the drug when his phone rang. He ignored it at first, but the ringing was distracting him.
"Yeah"
"Hi Dad! Welcome home." Kim sounded so happy. "I called a few minutes ago, but you didn't answer. Did you get the message I left" Jack looked up to see the message light blinking.
"I hadn't seen it yet, Honey. I just walked in the door."
"I've missed you so much Dad. I'm making some dinner. Would you like to come over and eat with us?"
"I'm a little tired right now, Sweetheart." He lied. "Maybe we could do it tomorrow night." He instantly regretted saying that.
"Oh, okay" Kim said, all of the happiness dropping out of her voice. "Okay. If you're tired, just get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow, right? I'll call you tomorrow morning."
"Wait, Honey" Jack stopped her from hanging up. She broke his heart. She sounded the same way when she was a little girl and he missed her dance recital. She tried not to sound upset, but there was no hiding the sadness in her voice. "Do I have time for an hour nap before dinner?"
"Sure" she answered her voice brightening, "we probably won't eat before 7 o'clock."
"Sounds great, Baby. I'll see you then. If you need anything, call me, I'll pick it up on my way over."
He went back to the table and the task at hand. The heroin was mixed; he just had to draw it up. He picked up the syringe just as the phone rang again. Kim, he thought.
He reached for the phone without looking at the caller ID. "Hi Honey, what did you need?"
"Well hello, Jack. You've never called me 'Honey' before." said a low, sexy voice that Jack recognized immediately as belonging to Nicole Duncan.
"Hey, Nicole. I thought you were Kim. What's up?"
"I heard you were coming home today and I thought maybe we could go out for dinner and celebrate."
"I'd like that, but I'm having dinner with Kim and Chase tonight." He answered.
"I'm willing to take a rain check. How about tomorrow night?"
Jack knew Nicole well enough to know that she was not going to take 'no' for an answer. "Tomorrow night would be fine."
"Good, how about if I pick you up around 8 o'clock. I love that little Italian place that is a couple of blocks from your condo."
"I'll be ready. See you tomorrow." If any other woman had called and asked him to dinner, he would have thought she was coming on to him, but he knew Nicole's sexual preference; she certainly wasn't coming on to him.
He again hung up the phone and reached for the syringe. He drew the straw colored liquid into the syringe and looked for a tourniquet. For the third time, the phone rang. "Damn it!" he shouted. He composed himself quickly before answering.
"Hello."
"Jack, How you doing? Kim told me you would be home today. I thought I'd try and call you."
"Hi, Tony. Thanks for calling. I'm doing okay. How are you? How's Michelle?"
"We're fine. Jack, I can't thank you enough for talking to Hammond. The plea deal I ended up with is incredible. I feel like I hit the lottery. I went from thinking I would be executed to being virtually free in a matter of a couple of weeks. It's fantastic. Now all I have to do is finish the training manual and I am free and I have you to thank for it."
"What are you going to do then?" Jack asked.
"I'm looking for a job. I've had a couple of computer security companies contact me. There is one in Seattle that develops security software that I'm really interested in. I got permission to leave LA for a couple of days to interview with them."
Seattle, Jack thought, probably no connection. "That's great, Tony. Let me know how it works out. By the way, has Michelle talked to Kate recently?"
"Actually, she hasn't. We tried to call her a couple of weeks ago. You know, Bob Warner footed most of the bill for my attorney, Michelle called Kate to thank her, but Kate didn't answer. Michelle left a message, but Kate didn't respond. I called Bob a couple of days later and he didn't mention Kate. I don't know what's up with her. Were you trying to get in touch with her?"
"No" Jack lied. "I just wondered how she was doing."
"Michelle and I were hoping the three of us could get together for dinner after we get back from Seattle. We were thinking next Wednesday. How does that sound?"
"Sounds great. It'll be good to see you. Call me when you get back."
Jack walked back to the kitchen table. The allure of the heroin was gone. His daughter had called, his friends had called. They loved him and cared about him. It was time to move on, go back to work, live his life. He would have to live it without Kate, but he could accept that. He picked up the syringe full of heroin and squirted it down the sink. Like he told Kim, he was tired and he was going to take a nap. Then he was going to spend the evening with his daughter.
Jack went back to work the next Monday and, as always, became deeply immersed in it. Two hours after arriving at CTU, he was briefed on a large terrorist cell that had been identified in LA. Hammond had a group working on the initial stages of a plan to bring it down. Jack spent countless hours with the team developing the early concepts into a workable plan. There were 27 men in the cell housed at four different locations around the city. Six weeks later, Jack stood in his bedroom looking out into the cold darkness knowing that this was the day he would bring down a significant piece of a worldwide terrorist organization.
4:30am
It was still dark when Jack stood in the conference room for the final briefing of the team leaders. The locations were already being watched by the forward team and snipers were now in place on neighboring rooftops. The four teams would assemble at 5:00. They had to take down the four locations simultaneously or the members would have a chance to tip each other off. If that happened Jack's teams could be ambushed. It had to be coordinated perfectly.
Jack was riding with and leading the Alpha team. They were taking down the largest location. The forward team confirmed that ten men were in the three apartments that made up the second floor of a run down building not far from the port. As they usually did, the suspects met late at night and returned to their lair around 2am. This morning was no exception, so they could be expected to sleep through 9:30 or 10 as they usually did. Again, Jack shivered against the cold. Even with a flack jacket under his lined CTU jacket he was cold.
I need Tony running tactical, Jack thought. Nobody could run tactical like Tony, especially when Michelle backed him up. Adam would run tactical today with Kim and Chloe backing him up. Everything they knew they learned from Tony, but Jack knew Tony could do it better.
Jack sighed, Tony was in Seattle now. No longer a government agent, he now worked in private industry and from what Jack could tell, he was enjoying it. Jack missed Tony for a lot of reasons. Tony was one of his only real friends. Tony understood him. He respected Jack's silence, never tried to break down Jack's wall. He had talked to Tony earlier in the week. He and Michelle were doing well and were happy in Seattle. Jack had never mentioned to them that Kate was in Seattle. He wasn't sure if they knew or not but he obviously wasn't supposed to know so he chose to stay quiet on the subject. Still Jack thought Tony had been a little quieter than usual in their recent conversation. Tony normally wore his heart on his sleeve but in this conversation he seemed to be holding back, hiding something. Of course, Jack was the king of hiding emotions and keeping secrets, so if Tony wanted to keep something to himself, Jack needed to respect that. He did have to wonder if it had anything to do with Kate.
"Baker, what's your ETA?" Jack called over the radio.
"Seven minutes" was the reply from Agent Baker who was leading the Beta team which was taking the second largest cell. Baker had been with Jack on several important missions and had been his right hand man in planning this one. He knew that if today went as planned he would not only receive a commendation, but he would likely be promoted to Director of Field Operations, the position Jack held just over two months ago.
"I copy. Hammerman, Campbell, what are your ETAs?"
Hammerman was leading the Charlie team while Campbell led the Delta team. Both confirmed that they were seven minutes from their destination.
5:45am
Jack confirmed that the teams were in place and ready. Across Los Angeles four assault teams wearing helmets and body armor, carrying shields and automatic weapons fired tear gas canisters in the windows, blew open entrances to four buildings and stormed them. The noise at the sites was deafening: explosions and shouts and gun fire, breaking glass and stomping boots; sirens and helicopters added to the fray. Agents moved in every direction and the terrorist operatives scattered like cockroaches.
The assault seemed like hours to those involved, but took under twenty minutes for the entire operation. Jack started getting situation reports from Adam. The Delta team had taken the smallest location. They reported that all three of their suspects were alive and in custody. One had minor injuries and all of the agents were fine. Baker's team reported in next. They had seven hostiles in custody and two dead. Those two tried to get out via a fire escape. They fired several rounds at agents and were both killed by snipers. One agent was down, a gunshot wound to the leg. He was being transported to the nearest hospital and should be fine. Hammerman reported that all five of his suspects were accounted for. Two had non-life threatening injuries, two were cuffed and already in the process of being transported to CTU and the last was dead. One of his agents injured his knee tackling a suspect. Jack's Alpha team had been successful as well. They killed three of the ten operatives and had the other seven in custody, one of which had serious injuries. One of his agents had a graze wound on his arm, but otherwise the operation went off without a hitch.
Jack drove back to CTU satisfied with the outcome. His group traveled the longest distance and was last to arrive at CTU. The Beta team had already moved all of their prisoners into holding areas. The Charlie and Delta teams were just starting the process. Agent Baker walked out of CTU toward Jack's car. The two stood in the cool dawn discussion the operation. As they talked, Jack absently removed his flack jacket. After all of the action and the adrenaline rush, he finally felt warm and was sweating under the weight of the vest.
7:28am
Jack and Baker watched as the parade of prisoners was moved into CTU. "That was the easy part," Jack said as he smiled, "now we have to spend the next 15-20 hours interrogating the bastards." Baker laughed and they walked toward CTU.
They had only taken a few steps when they heard Hammerman shout "GUN!" Jack and Baker both drew their weapons as they turned. They heard the gunfire and dropped to a crouch. One of the injured prisoners who had been shackled to a stretcher by his ankles only had lunged forward and grabbed Campbell around the knees as the agent walked past. Campbell went down and the injured man reached for his holster. He was able to unsnap it and get the gun before anyone could stop him.
Jack didn't have a clear shot. Baker did and was able to get off two shots, but not before the gunman had fired several rounds. After Baker's second shot the prisoner fell in a heap, half on the stretcher and half on the pavement. Campbell kicked the gun from his reach and Hammerman jumped on him to make sure he didn't move as they checked for a pulse.
"He's dead." Hammerman shouted. Campbell reached over to take a pulse and confirmed it.
Baker heaved a sigh of relief and was about to stand when a sound caught his attention. It was kind of a weak cough just to his left. He turned, "Oh my God" he gasped. "We have an officer down!" Baker shouted emphatically into his radio. "We have an officer down in the west parking lot. We need medics now." He shouted putting an emphasis on 'now'.
"Jack. Jack, can you hear me? Jack can you hear me?"
Two weeks later
3:30am
The shrill sound of the alarm clock interrupted Jack's thoughts. He wasn't asleep; he hadn't been asleep in over an hour. It was almost a relief when the alarm clock went off; at least now he had an excuse to get out of bed.
It was unusually cold for the first week of November in LA. He shivered as he got out of bed but he wasn't sure if that shiver was from the cold outside or the cold he felt within him. It was Friday and he should be looking forward to the weekend, but he had to survive today before he could consider the weekend. That may be easier said than done.
Jack had gotten back from rehab six weeks earlier amazed at how good an experience it had been. He had only gone because he had no real choice. Now he was happy that he had done it. On the drive to San Luis Obispo he made up his mind that he was not going to open up to anyone but after a week of fighting it, he let go. He talked about Teri and Kim and Nina and Kate. He talked about all of his friends and colleagues that had died along the way while he had defied the odds. He talked about the people he had killed and the people, like George Mason, who had saved his life. And he talked about the guilt. He felt so guilty about so many things.
Life, Jack decided, was going to change when he got back to LA. The first thing he was going to do when he got home was to call Kate. He loved her and he wanted her back if she would have him. He knew that was probably a long shot after how he had treated her. He cringed when he thought about the last time he saw her, their last night together.
He had only gone to her house to tell her he was leaving. He had rehearsed the speech a hundred times in his head. He would accept all of the blame; tell her she was perfect, because she was. Then she walked out of the bathroom in that robe. It wasn't even tied; she was just holding it closed. Her hair was still damp and hung neatly trimmed just below her jaw line. Oh, God, she was beautiful. She was so beautiful. Her skin was so soft and she smelled so good. He lost control. He remembered throwing her to the bed like some kind of animal, like some kind of vicious rapist. He knew that wasn't really true. He hadn't raped her. She returned his kisses and picked up his rhythm and later she had climbed on top of him, but he knew he had hurt her when she got up later. She stepped out of bed so gingerly. He wanted to go pick her up and put her back in bed and tell her he loved her. But instead, he told her he was leaving. Next to burying his wife, leaving Kate was the hardest thing he had ever done.
Now he was going to call her on the pretense of picking up his jacket. When he got to her house he would confess everything to her and ask her to take him back. He prayed that she would.
He walked back into his condo, dropped his suitcase and reached for the phone. He dialed Kate's office. It was 2:30, he knew she would still be at work.
"Warner Enterprises. How may I direct your call?"
"Kate Warner, please."
"I'm sorry, Ms. Warner isn't at this office any longer, sir. I can transfer you to Mr. Wilson's office, he replaced Ms. Warner, or I can transfer you to our Seattle office and they can put you in touch with Ms. Warner. Which would you prefer."
"I'm sorry" Jack stammered. "Did you say Kate doesn't work in Los Angeles any more? When did that happen? Is it temporary? When will she be back?"
"She left a couple of weeks ago, sir. She is managing that office. Would you like me to transfer you to Seattle, sir?"
"Ah, ah... no, ah no, thank you."
"I can transfer you to Mr. Wilson's office."
"Ah, no, thank you. I'm an old friend of Kate's." Jack didn't know why he felt a need to offer some excuse. "I was in town and thought I could catch up with her. I didn't realize she was gone. Thank you."
He hung up the phone and dropped to the nearest chair. He felt as if he had been hit with a brick. She not only didn't want him back, but she had gone all the way to Seattle to avoid him. Seattle, he thought. Kate was a company vice president. Bob was expected to name her chief operating officer within the next few years. Kate running the Seattle office was laughable. It would have been like him running a two man sheriff's station in the Outback.
Jack sat with his head in his hands for a long time. He had to regroup, rethink things. He immediately wanted to shoot up again. Only heroin could kill the pain he was feeling right now. He went to the closet to retrieve his stash. "Son of a bitch!" he spat as he remembered that he had told Kim where it was so she would get rid of it. He stood leaning against the closet door for a long time. He needed heroin. He grabbed his keys and a jacket and trotted to his car.
Jack drove to one of the corners he had used for the last year. He recognized all of the kids on the street. Their lives had gone no where in the last year either, he thought. None of them was over 18; he wondered how many of them would live to see 21. Jack slowed down and put down his passenger side window. One of the kids put his head in. They spoke only a few words. The kid let Jack negotiate the price down without putting up much of a fight. Probably weak shit, Jack thought. That was okay, he hadn't had anything in a month. He had to be careful or he would overdose and someone would find him dead the next day.
Overdose. Death. The words played in Jack's mind. They bounced around: Death Overdose Overdose Death. It seemed so perfect, such an easy way out. Just shoot up a big bolus of smack and go to sleep. All the pain would be gone. He would be with Teri again; with Ryan, with Claudia, with George. Damn George Mason, he thought. If Mason hadn't snuck on the plane three years ago, he would be dead now. Why did he let Mason talk him out of it? The speech Mason made sounded so good at the time. All the talk about 'going back down there...that would take real courage'. It was all bullshit.
He practically ran into his condo and locked the door. He sat at the kitchen table to mix the drug when his phone rang. He ignored it at first, but the ringing was distracting him.
"Yeah"
"Hi Dad! Welcome home." Kim sounded so happy. "I called a few minutes ago, but you didn't answer. Did you get the message I left" Jack looked up to see the message light blinking.
"I hadn't seen it yet, Honey. I just walked in the door."
"I've missed you so much Dad. I'm making some dinner. Would you like to come over and eat with us?"
"I'm a little tired right now, Sweetheart." He lied. "Maybe we could do it tomorrow night." He instantly regretted saying that.
"Oh, okay" Kim said, all of the happiness dropping out of her voice. "Okay. If you're tired, just get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow, right? I'll call you tomorrow morning."
"Wait, Honey" Jack stopped her from hanging up. She broke his heart. She sounded the same way when she was a little girl and he missed her dance recital. She tried not to sound upset, but there was no hiding the sadness in her voice. "Do I have time for an hour nap before dinner?"
"Sure" she answered her voice brightening, "we probably won't eat before 7 o'clock."
"Sounds great, Baby. I'll see you then. If you need anything, call me, I'll pick it up on my way over."
He went back to the table and the task at hand. The heroin was mixed; he just had to draw it up. He picked up the syringe just as the phone rang again. Kim, he thought.
He reached for the phone without looking at the caller ID. "Hi Honey, what did you need?"
"Well hello, Jack. You've never called me 'Honey' before." said a low, sexy voice that Jack recognized immediately as belonging to Nicole Duncan.
"Hey, Nicole. I thought you were Kim. What's up?"
"I heard you were coming home today and I thought maybe we could go out for dinner and celebrate."
"I'd like that, but I'm having dinner with Kim and Chase tonight." He answered.
"I'm willing to take a rain check. How about tomorrow night?"
Jack knew Nicole well enough to know that she was not going to take 'no' for an answer. "Tomorrow night would be fine."
"Good, how about if I pick you up around 8 o'clock. I love that little Italian place that is a couple of blocks from your condo."
"I'll be ready. See you tomorrow." If any other woman had called and asked him to dinner, he would have thought she was coming on to him, but he knew Nicole's sexual preference; she certainly wasn't coming on to him.
He again hung up the phone and reached for the syringe. He drew the straw colored liquid into the syringe and looked for a tourniquet. For the third time, the phone rang. "Damn it!" he shouted. He composed himself quickly before answering.
"Hello."
"Jack, How you doing? Kim told me you would be home today. I thought I'd try and call you."
"Hi, Tony. Thanks for calling. I'm doing okay. How are you? How's Michelle?"
"We're fine. Jack, I can't thank you enough for talking to Hammond. The plea deal I ended up with is incredible. I feel like I hit the lottery. I went from thinking I would be executed to being virtually free in a matter of a couple of weeks. It's fantastic. Now all I have to do is finish the training manual and I am free and I have you to thank for it."
"What are you going to do then?" Jack asked.
"I'm looking for a job. I've had a couple of computer security companies contact me. There is one in Seattle that develops security software that I'm really interested in. I got permission to leave LA for a couple of days to interview with them."
Seattle, Jack thought, probably no connection. "That's great, Tony. Let me know how it works out. By the way, has Michelle talked to Kate recently?"
"Actually, she hasn't. We tried to call her a couple of weeks ago. You know, Bob Warner footed most of the bill for my attorney, Michelle called Kate to thank her, but Kate didn't answer. Michelle left a message, but Kate didn't respond. I called Bob a couple of days later and he didn't mention Kate. I don't know what's up with her. Were you trying to get in touch with her?"
"No" Jack lied. "I just wondered how she was doing."
"Michelle and I were hoping the three of us could get together for dinner after we get back from Seattle. We were thinking next Wednesday. How does that sound?"
"Sounds great. It'll be good to see you. Call me when you get back."
Jack walked back to the kitchen table. The allure of the heroin was gone. His daughter had called, his friends had called. They loved him and cared about him. It was time to move on, go back to work, live his life. He would have to live it without Kate, but he could accept that. He picked up the syringe full of heroin and squirted it down the sink. Like he told Kim, he was tired and he was going to take a nap. Then he was going to spend the evening with his daughter.
Jack went back to work the next Monday and, as always, became deeply immersed in it. Two hours after arriving at CTU, he was briefed on a large terrorist cell that had been identified in LA. Hammond had a group working on the initial stages of a plan to bring it down. Jack spent countless hours with the team developing the early concepts into a workable plan. There were 27 men in the cell housed at four different locations around the city. Six weeks later, Jack stood in his bedroom looking out into the cold darkness knowing that this was the day he would bring down a significant piece of a worldwide terrorist organization.
4:30am
It was still dark when Jack stood in the conference room for the final briefing of the team leaders. The locations were already being watched by the forward team and snipers were now in place on neighboring rooftops. The four teams would assemble at 5:00. They had to take down the four locations simultaneously or the members would have a chance to tip each other off. If that happened Jack's teams could be ambushed. It had to be coordinated perfectly.
Jack was riding with and leading the Alpha team. They were taking down the largest location. The forward team confirmed that ten men were in the three apartments that made up the second floor of a run down building not far from the port. As they usually did, the suspects met late at night and returned to their lair around 2am. This morning was no exception, so they could be expected to sleep through 9:30 or 10 as they usually did. Again, Jack shivered against the cold. Even with a flack jacket under his lined CTU jacket he was cold.
I need Tony running tactical, Jack thought. Nobody could run tactical like Tony, especially when Michelle backed him up. Adam would run tactical today with Kim and Chloe backing him up. Everything they knew they learned from Tony, but Jack knew Tony could do it better.
Jack sighed, Tony was in Seattle now. No longer a government agent, he now worked in private industry and from what Jack could tell, he was enjoying it. Jack missed Tony for a lot of reasons. Tony was one of his only real friends. Tony understood him. He respected Jack's silence, never tried to break down Jack's wall. He had talked to Tony earlier in the week. He and Michelle were doing well and were happy in Seattle. Jack had never mentioned to them that Kate was in Seattle. He wasn't sure if they knew or not but he obviously wasn't supposed to know so he chose to stay quiet on the subject. Still Jack thought Tony had been a little quieter than usual in their recent conversation. Tony normally wore his heart on his sleeve but in this conversation he seemed to be holding back, hiding something. Of course, Jack was the king of hiding emotions and keeping secrets, so if Tony wanted to keep something to himself, Jack needed to respect that. He did have to wonder if it had anything to do with Kate.
"Baker, what's your ETA?" Jack called over the radio.
"Seven minutes" was the reply from Agent Baker who was leading the Beta team which was taking the second largest cell. Baker had been with Jack on several important missions and had been his right hand man in planning this one. He knew that if today went as planned he would not only receive a commendation, but he would likely be promoted to Director of Field Operations, the position Jack held just over two months ago.
"I copy. Hammerman, Campbell, what are your ETAs?"
Hammerman was leading the Charlie team while Campbell led the Delta team. Both confirmed that they were seven minutes from their destination.
5:45am
Jack confirmed that the teams were in place and ready. Across Los Angeles four assault teams wearing helmets and body armor, carrying shields and automatic weapons fired tear gas canisters in the windows, blew open entrances to four buildings and stormed them. The noise at the sites was deafening: explosions and shouts and gun fire, breaking glass and stomping boots; sirens and helicopters added to the fray. Agents moved in every direction and the terrorist operatives scattered like cockroaches.
The assault seemed like hours to those involved, but took under twenty minutes for the entire operation. Jack started getting situation reports from Adam. The Delta team had taken the smallest location. They reported that all three of their suspects were alive and in custody. One had minor injuries and all of the agents were fine. Baker's team reported in next. They had seven hostiles in custody and two dead. Those two tried to get out via a fire escape. They fired several rounds at agents and were both killed by snipers. One agent was down, a gunshot wound to the leg. He was being transported to the nearest hospital and should be fine. Hammerman reported that all five of his suspects were accounted for. Two had non-life threatening injuries, two were cuffed and already in the process of being transported to CTU and the last was dead. One of his agents injured his knee tackling a suspect. Jack's Alpha team had been successful as well. They killed three of the ten operatives and had the other seven in custody, one of which had serious injuries. One of his agents had a graze wound on his arm, but otherwise the operation went off without a hitch.
Jack drove back to CTU satisfied with the outcome. His group traveled the longest distance and was last to arrive at CTU. The Beta team had already moved all of their prisoners into holding areas. The Charlie and Delta teams were just starting the process. Agent Baker walked out of CTU toward Jack's car. The two stood in the cool dawn discussion the operation. As they talked, Jack absently removed his flack jacket. After all of the action and the adrenaline rush, he finally felt warm and was sweating under the weight of the vest.
7:28am
Jack and Baker watched as the parade of prisoners was moved into CTU. "That was the easy part," Jack said as he smiled, "now we have to spend the next 15-20 hours interrogating the bastards." Baker laughed and they walked toward CTU.
They had only taken a few steps when they heard Hammerman shout "GUN!" Jack and Baker both drew their weapons as they turned. They heard the gunfire and dropped to a crouch. One of the injured prisoners who had been shackled to a stretcher by his ankles only had lunged forward and grabbed Campbell around the knees as the agent walked past. Campbell went down and the injured man reached for his holster. He was able to unsnap it and get the gun before anyone could stop him.
Jack didn't have a clear shot. Baker did and was able to get off two shots, but not before the gunman had fired several rounds. After Baker's second shot the prisoner fell in a heap, half on the stretcher and half on the pavement. Campbell kicked the gun from his reach and Hammerman jumped on him to make sure he didn't move as they checked for a pulse.
"He's dead." Hammerman shouted. Campbell reached over to take a pulse and confirmed it.
Baker heaved a sigh of relief and was about to stand when a sound caught his attention. It was kind of a weak cough just to his left. He turned, "Oh my God" he gasped. "We have an officer down!" Baker shouted emphatically into his radio. "We have an officer down in the west parking lot. We need medics now." He shouted putting an emphasis on 'now'.
"Jack. Jack, can you hear me? Jack can you hear me?"