He passed by Thomas and later Lais who were putting something up in one of the many rooms of the house. Both greeted him nicely, almost happy to see him up and running again, well, almost. They were what made him feel embarrassed - he was supposed to be their leader yet they were now seeing him this way. It wasn't a positive point, and he hoped the men under his command wouldn't feel any less about him. After all, if they lost confidence in their leader they lost confidence in themselves, which often lead to their deaths.
He shook his head as he reminded himself these men were not really his men, he was not really their leader. It often surprised him how much he could loose himself here, more than any other undercover assignment. He tried to shrug that thought off but somehow knew that when this was all over it would come back to haunt him.
Finally getting to the other side of the house he came across Sergio who was only to happy to help him find Hector and Ramon. Minutes later the two men slobbed into the room after Sergio who rushed ahead, enthusiastic to be of any help. Jack thanked the child and ruffled his hair before sending him off somewhere. Ramon and Hector then both took a place on the couch before him with serious expressions painted on their faces.
"We may as well do this here, you'll not be able to get down to the office in the basement." Ramon said, getting up to shut the living room door and dim the lights. Jack tried not to laugh at the setting Ramon was creating, he had watched too many movies as a child.
He retook his place and it was his brother who spoke next.
"How are you feeling?"
Jack nodded his head in response, indicating he was all right, but could obviously be a lot better.
"Listen Jack, we need to get right down to business I'm afraid." Ramon said glaring at his brother - he knew how little time they had left to agree to the deal yet here he was wasting time dilly dallying.
"What's going on?" Jack asked sensing the tension.
"We've been offered a deal - we could make billions from it." Hector said, excited as a child at Christmas time.
"But?" Jack asked. There was always a but in these situations. If there wasn't then they wouldn't have come to him in the first place. Ramon now took over the conversation.
"This is why we came to you, were not sure if it will be worth the benefit."
"Start at the beginning Ramon, your losing me here." Jack said.
"A few weeks back, before you ended up like this, we were contacted by a man. He has offered us the recipe for a virus, a virus which could potentially kill millions."
"Okay." Jack said, trying to remain calm and listen for anything which could help.
"It would probably cost us a few hundred million, but we could make over ten times as much back."
"But your worried about switching markets?" Jack asked. Ramon's eyes lit up when Jack said this, he knew their was a reason they had taken so much care with him, he really was the best at what he did.
"Exactly. If we bought this weapon we would not release it ourselves, we are not terrorists and we have no cause. We would duplicate it and sell it on. But the chances of it eventually getting back to us would be high, and we could be thought of as terrorists if anyone were to learn of our involvement. This could scare off customers or potential ones, and we do not want the police sniffing around us either, which I think it would eventually lead to."
"I see." Jack said, trying to think which way would be best to play it. "Who made the offer?"
"Some man named Amador."
"You need to get your contacts to find every last detail about this man, background, history, aliases, everything. This could work in your advantage Ramon. If you do lose customers, so what? You have made enough profit to keep your entire cartel comfortable for the rest of its life. And you have an army to defend you. I'd say this was too good an opportunity to miss."
Jack had a hard time keeping his feelings of fear and dread from his face as he saw Hectors eyes match Ramon's as they too lit up, happy that Jack had agreed to do it.
"Should I call the man now, his deadline is coming up fast?"
"No no no..." Jack said forcefully as he thought. "Let him ring you, get more time from his, show him your interested, but don't sound keen - let him know who's in charge. Meanwhile gather as much information as you can. In fact, let me deal with this man. If it does get out, the government will be after Jack Bauer. They will not have any reason to investigate into to this cartel, will they? That way your safe no matter what." Jack said.
Ramon looked at Jack with respect, the things he was willing to do to protect him and his brother. He put a hand on his arm gently.
"Thank you Jack. That is a brilliant idea. I will leave his phone with you - from now on you handle all dealings with him, and report back to me. I'll concentrate on getting the information. Is there anything else you want?"
Jack tried to keep the smirk from his face. "Yes, there is. I want another phone too, so I can call Gregory or you from my place if I need to."
"Why, you can stay here until your better? Here we can have people watching you." Hector asked, almost disappointed Jack wanted to get back to his own place.
"I don't want people watching me Hector, I'm a man of pride and this wheelchair is not exactly a moral booster. And this place it too big for me to move around. The further distance I go the more painful it gets." He added, hoping to play on the sympathy card. It worked.
"All right Jack, don't worry, I understand. I'll have one of the men sort you out with a phone, and anything else you need."
"That would be great."
"Okay - I'll also let Claudia and Gregory know about the change of plan."
"Thanks."
"No Jack, thank you. We probably wouldn't have had the balls to go through with this deal if it hadn't have been for you. You are a true friend to us Jack, a brother. We will make sure you are well compensated for your help when the profits rain in from this."
"Thanks." Jack whispered, feeling slightly guilty. He knew these men were monsters and planning on selling a dangerous virus for their own benefit without thinking about the consequences, but he couldn't help the guilt. They trusted him, and he was betraying them, after everything they were doing for him. The slight throbbing pain in his hip tried to remind him of just everything they had done for him. He shrugged the conflicting thoughts from his mind as he planned his actions and how he himself would obtain the virus and contact C.T.U.