Sam sat motionless in the hard metal folding chair as instructed, despite the pain the position was inflicting. Of course, the gun pushed into her temple was a strong motivator; she was told to be quiet or she would have a bullet in her skull. She bit her lip as she listened to Salazar call Jack, desperately wanting to shout out not to give himself up for her. Unfortunately, knowing Jack, he would do it.
She had no idea where she was, Salazar had forced her into the trunk of the car as they escorted her at gunpoint out the back of Jill's house. The pain from her chest had been overwhelming, but she gritted her teeth and endured it, knowing she had to stay conscious if she had any chance to survive this.
When she had opened the door to find her best friend terrified for her life, it didn't take her long to figure out what had happened. She didn't have a choice but to go with her, she would do anything to protect Jill and Austin. After all, it was her fault for involving Jill. Her only hope was the knife she had taken from Jack's bedside table that was uncomfortably hidden among the many bandages criss-crossing her chest. She wished she could have taken the gun too, but it was too bulky to find a suitable hiding place. Sam silently thanked her mom for passing down her nosiness gene, it had paid off when she found that knife in Jack's drawer.
Sam knew that she was in the kitchen of a small, modest house, but it could be anywhere in LA. Mindful of the gun on her head, she moved only her eyes and glanced down at her watch. It was just after 10 a.m.; Jack should have escorted Gibson to CTU by now. Hopefully he learned something from Gibson that will help him find her, otherwise she didn't see any way out of this. Once Jack did as he was told, they would kill him, then her.
Jack hung up the phone. He looked at Kim and said softly, "I'm sorry honey, I have to go." He hugged her tightly, "I love you sweetheart, more than anything. But I have to do this."
Kim looked confused, "Dad. What are you talking about? What are you going to do?"
Jack was conflicted, but he knew he had to go. He steeled his resolve, even knowing he may never see her again. "Kim, if anything happens to me, I know that Chase will take good care of you."
Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks, "Dad, I love you. You can't go, there has to be another way."
Jack wiped away a tear from her face. "I wish there were sweetie. I really need to go, and I want you to get back to CTU and help Chase and Chloe coordinate this."
Kim swiped at her eyes with her sleeve and gave him another hug, then walked to her car. She took one last long look at her father before getting in and taking off.
Jack walked out with Temple in his wake, "What's the plan, Jack?"
Jack took out his phone and held up his finger to Temple. "Chase, please tell me you have that location."
"Working on it Jack, the signal is intermittent, so it's taking longer than we anticipated. Chloe thinks it will be another twenty minutes."
"Dammit! Sam might not have that long."
"We're doing the best we can."
"Yeah, ok. Just get it and send the teams as soon as you have a positive location. I want Baker to lead the assault. I have to meet Salazar. Get a satellite feed on the University Savings on University and Vine. I've been ordered to get into a silver BMW there. Follow that car wherever it goes, and send out teams on a corresponding course, we can't let them know they're following."
"Jack, what are you going to do once you get there?"
"I don't know. Just get that location." He hung up and leaned back against the truck, his hands over his face.
Temple took the spot next to him, "You ok, Jack?"
Jack gave him a slight smile, "Yeah. You ready?" When Temple nodded, he continued, "You think you can follow me without being seen?"
Temple gave him a boyish grin, "What do you think I am, a rookie?" When Jack shot him a skeptical look, he pointed a finger at Jack and added, "On second thought, don't answer that. However, I do think that in Jack years, I already have five years of experience behind me." Jack's worried look did not disappear, so Temple put his hand on Jack's shoulder, "Trust me. Have I let you down yet?"
"No, and you better not start now. Leave one agent here to guard Jill, and take the other two with you, but stay out of sight. I'm dead if you're spotted. Chase will be following me on satellite, so keep in constant contact with him."
Temple gave Jack a mock salute, "Yes sir." He walked back towards the house, but stopped and turned around when he got to the sidewalk leading up to the house. "Jack, be careful and for god sakes find Murphy. I'm getting pretty tired of saving your asses."
Jack couldn't help but chuckle. Temple's remark earned a smile before he got in his truck and started it. He called Chase, "I'm on my way now."
"Copy that, we've got a silver BMW in the parking lot. No other activity outside. Don't worry Jack, we won't let you out of our sight."
"Thanks Chase. I'll get back to you." Jack pulled out into the intersection and headed for the bank. When he pulled into the parking lot, he immediately spotted the car located next to a large palm tree. He parked next to it and got out. The driver also got out of his car and walked over to Jack.
"Bauer?"
"Yeah."
"If you want to see Sam again, leave your cell phone and weapon in the car." He pushed his jacket aside slightly to reveal two semi-automatic weapons holstered at each side, a not-so-subtle hint to Jack to not attempt anything stupid. Jack ditched his phone and gun into the passenger seat and closed the door. The man passed a wand over Jack and patted him down. Satisfied, he reached in his back pocket and pulled out a set of handcuffs, tossing them to Jack. "Put these on and get in."
"Ok, Temple, I've got him. Two figures standing between the cars. Looks like he's being searched."
"Copy that." A smile spread across Temple's face, "Hey Chase, can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"Are you a masochist or something?"
"Say again Temple."
"I heard you're dating Jack Bauer's daughter. You have a death wish?"
Chase laughed into the microphone, "You don't know the half of it." The images moved on the satellite and he instantly turned serious, "Ok, we're on, he's getting into the car now, a silver BMW. No angle on the license plate."
"Copy that Chase, we're two blocks back and one over. We'll stay parallel to him, just keep us updated when they turn."
"Ok, they are turning north onto University."
"Son of a bitch!"
"What?"
"Um, we've got a problem. Two more silver BMW's just joined them. They're playing a goddamn shell game with us. I lost which one Jack is in."