He slowly slid out of the car down onto the pavement where he sat after closing the door awkwardly. If anyone was watching It would have looked strange but luckily nobody was in sight this side of the road, and over the other end the only people there were staggering from one place to the next, too drunk to notice anything. The fact that it was dark also made he feel more confident. He didn't care about his appearance he just didn't want to draw attention to himself. At least the pain was minimal from the movement, and now he could make the call.
He had taken the precaution of driving to town so he could not be disturbed, and he could get a better signal with a clear line too. He would have used a pay phone but knew it would be impossible to get to one in his condition, it was too painful to walk right now. So here on the pavement would have to do - again another precaution, just incase the interior of the car was bugged. Not that he suspected it was, he doubted the Salazar's would try anything with him after the 'incident' which made him this way. And they probably weren't smart enough to think to do so either. Still, better safe than sorry.
He dialled the number adding the other necessary codes to get through to L.A from his spot in Mexico on the cell phone. It took a while to connect through, Jack continually glanced around himself looking for anyone who might be paying him more attention than necessary whilst he waited. A nervous habit of his. Other than a man throwing up into a trash can there was nobody in sight. He felt relief as he finally herd the dial tone, and the familiar sound of Chloés voice on the end of the line.
"C.T.U. O'Brian."
Jack decided it best if he didn't let her know it was him. He didn't feel like conversing with Chloé today. "Tony Almeidas office please." He said in a high pitch voice straining his throat in an attempt to disguise it. It took a lot of effort to keep himself from laughing at how he sounded, and how Chloé had instantly patched him through without noticing.
Tony looked at the caller I.D. before picking up and noticed it was a long distance call - he instantly thought of Jack. He hoped it would be him - he had even more bad news to deliver, thanks to Divison.
"This is Tony Almeida?" Jack herd Tony say. He couldn't deny to himself just how good it felt to hear a familiar voice reminding him who he really was, and of the world he had to go back to soon. Tony was an allie, someone like himself, the Salazars were a whole different bunch of people. He hated how it had become routine to remind himself this as he often found he was slipping further and further away.
"Its me." Jack muttered into the phone, still taking precautions, he didn't want to reveal himself in case somebody was in the room with Tony. His contact had to be kept silent, or it could cause him troubles later.
"How have you made contact?"
"My phone. Don't worry, its a secure line." He reassured.
"How are things going?" Tony asked.
"Okay, I think. Things are moving along at least."
"Listen, this 'thing' you spoke about, are things progressing on that front?"
"Yes. I'd say give or take a couple of months and it will go through."
Tony hesitated. How could he pressure Jack even more, he was already well aware of the stresses Jack was under daily to keep his cover intact.
"Listen, Division is all over this.... despite what the intel is telling us they have demanded the date be brought forward .....there just messing us around they know-"
"How long do I have Tony?" Jack interrupted, wanting to cut to the chase.
"Three weeks from today, and they are sending in a team of S.W.A.T. men in to arrest the Salazar's and any high ranking workers. Whether you have attained the virus or not makes no difference to their plans." His voice was low, and Jack could detect anger. Tony clearly didn't agree with the way this would be going down.
"Tony, two months was pushing this thing at best, I need more time-"
"I know Jack, all right. I did the best I could, three weeks was better than what they had planned originally. Just... do your best, okay?"
"Sure." Jack said defeated. He knew three weeks wasn't going to cut it, he didn't know if it would be possible to speed things along even quicker than he had already managed to. If he tried to it would raise suspicion in the very least, which was exactly what he didn't want.
"Listen, exactly 21 days from now, you are to contact me, some time in the morning. I'll confirm the S.W.A.T teams plans. They will probably bring you in with the others, so they don't blow your cover. It wont make things any easier if they know who you really are."
Jack nodded approval silently down the phone, it was the best way to play it, if it had to happen. It was always better to walk away with your cover intact for future reference. The day of the nuclear bomb proved that alone, most of the information came from a lead through one of his previous covers.
"Okay, 21 days, I'll be in touch." Jack said evenly. There was no point in taking his frustration out on Tony, especially when he was doing his best to help.
"Good luck." He hung up the phone.
Jack stared up to the sky into the stars as though looking for some answer for how to make this work out right. He didn't find an answer, but wasn't surprised. He knew it was because their was no logical way to get around this. It was impossible to do in the time frame.