He climbed into his car, instantly pushing the key into the engine and giving it a quick turn. Once that was done he clicked on the guidance system which was automatically placed in the car, and punched in the co-ordinates to the location of this doss house. He waited a second as its searcher found the address before taking note of which roads he needed to take to get there. That done, he shut it off and began to drive.
The roads were busy as it was lunch time, the traffic distracting enough for him to take his mind from the problems Michelle was causing in the office and the threat, with its deadline looming only hours away. As he pulled to a stop at the next red light he was immediately reminded of the night he had driven straight through this very light. He was in a hurry to get back to C.T.U after discovering Nina's true identity. He couldn't remember if he was in a rush to get her before she evaded them. Or to make sure his family were safe, seen as a compromised agent working for people with a vendetta against him was looking after them.
He guessed it was a mixture of both, he knew he had to get Nina, and doing so would also protect his family. He wondered which of the two were the most important to him at the time, probably capturing Nina. He needed to have someone responsible for the torment he had gone through that day, he needed to be able to arrest Nina, then it would be over with. The threat would be gone. After that, his family would be a good comfort. Then things would be perfect. But only if he could get Nina.
He felt a wave of guilt pass over him as he relived his revelation. His family had been secondary to him that day, and had paid the consequences because of that. Terri had died because he had prioritised his work over his life, and Kim had suffered immeasurable amounts because of that. It was that simple. He knew if he had the chance to relive the day again, he would be running a red light to find his wife. But life didn't give you second chances.
But what he would give for one. The light turned amber in colour and Jack sped down the road, following the directions memorised in his head. Pretty soon he realised he was entering a broken down community. It looked like the 'ghetto land' often portrayed in movies, and after a few minutes in the area he was sure the entire occupants of it were going to be of a black ethnicity. He slowed the car to a stop between two alleys near a boarded up shop as he pulled out his phone and dialled up the number of Chloés terminal. He asked he of the ethnic background of this group, he was right, they were black. Instead of snapping at her he hung the phone up and transferred this information through his mind.
It was unlikely that a black group were behind an attack on people protesting against racism. The only plausible thing his mind could concoct was that they would not be suspected and may get away with it - but it was a long shot. Why would they want to kill the people who were fighting for them? And judging from the infrastructure of the area alone, it seemed that no gang from this area would be able to fund something as big as this. Still, he couldn't make himself drive away, he would exhaust every lead until he figured out, and prevented this attack.
As he tried to figure out if it was even slightly possible that anyone from here could be behind the attack he noticed a group of young men walking down the road. Dressed in big baggy clothes with baseball caps pulled down over their heads he was certain they belonged to the area, possibly the gang. He got out of the car and approached the group, noticing the smirks on their face as they eyed him. One of the older looking men from the group, probably in his early twenties stepped forward, asking Jack what he was doing in his neighbourhood. He was clearly the leader of this little assembly. Jack decided to do this the forward way, it would either work or he would have a little trouble on his hands, but he wasn't concerned, he knew they could clearly see the holstered gun at his side.
Jack beckoned the young man over, shoulders rocking from side to side as he did so. Jack flashed his badge and gave them his name, telling them he was from the Counter Terrorist Unit. That got rid of the boys smirk, Jack noticed, before he asked if there was somewhere private they could talk. Now looking much more nervous the leader directed them towards an alley on the other side of the road, before telling the rest of his click, "Everything's cool, leave it."
Quickly and briefly Jack told the boy, Jay, that he was not interested in anything they had been involved in, but he needed to know about The Cords. The kid nodded an told him that was them, and that they didn't do it, whatever the problem was. Jack calmly told Jay he was investigating a terrorist attack against protesters fighting for equal rights against racism, mainly coloured people. The colour instantly drained from Jays face as he misread the implications of Jack statement. His hands were out before him in a defensive gesture as he told Jack, "We aint doing no shit to our own man." Jack nodded, he had expected this, before telling him he wanted to know who might be involved, any ideas at all.
After a few minutes thinking hard and muttering, "Oh sh!t," under his breath, Jay told Jack he didn't know, but he could ask around, see what the word on the street was. Jack nodded, and gave him a card with his number on it. He asked him to ring him if he found out anything at all, no matter how small or insignificant it seemed. As he made to leave Jay called after him, looking unsettled and nervous. He fiddled with the brim of his red cap as he spoke.
"This thing, that your figuring out. It happened yet?" He asked shyly as though afraid of the answer.
"No. We have reason to believe the attack will take place tonight." Jack wasn't sure why he was telling the kid this information. It was unlikely he was going to be able to help him, but at least they had one gang they could cross off from the list of possible culprits.
"You got any ideas on who doing it?"
"No that's why I came here. Were checking all of the local groups out." Jack stated, impatiently, he clearly wanted to get on his way, time was an issue here.
"Well let me come with, I can help you man."
Jack smiled, if he hadn't been having such a bad morning, or bad life maybe, he would have been touched by the kids innocence. "Sorry, this is a government matter."
"Come on man! I aint wanna see my own get ragged." He whined, making Jack feel incredibly guilty. He had no idea what it would take to stop this from happening.
Jack stared at him long and hard, trying to decided whether the kid could be an asset to his investigation, probably not.
"Listen, you have my cell. Look into it, like you said earlier. You find as much as you can, ask around, call me. That's enough, okay?"
"Sh!t man you know that aint gonna make no difference." He said, calling to Jack who was now walking over to the car, whilst Jays group of friends, The Cords, stood on the curb watching curiously.
"Ask around. That's more than enough." His voice indicated that the conversation was over.
"Aight man. But don't you be surprised when that cell of yours keeps ringing."
Jack nodded, before starting up the car. As he drove back to C.T.U he tried to think of what he should do now, but Jays pleading kept nagging at him. Something had struck him about the kid, he seemed so innocent, lost even. He was certain the gang was not responsible the second he had spoken with him. He decided that he would wipe all information of The Cords from C.T.U's database. They were harmless young adults who never got that chance to grow up. Not malicious enough to be there.
Eventually pulling up in the C.T.U lot his feelings were replaced with the usual dread that settled at the bottom of his stomach while he was here. Making his thoughts spiral in yet another direction was his ringing cell.
Jay was on the line, with information. Information that, according to Jay, "was going to stop this sh!t before it can even start."
