Chapter Two

"Do we know who the target is?" Michelle walked into the conference room and sat down at the head of the table.

Adam pressed a button, highlighting an image on the screen. "Amy Gardner."

"Why her?"

"She's the electoral candidate for The Women's Alliance. They've been providing financial and political support for Lester's clinic throughout California."

"What does this have to do with the trouble at Lester's clinic?"

Michelle leaned forward. "About six months ago, we received intelligence that Rights of the Child had connections with extremist, pseudo-religious groups within the United States. Since then, Ashley has been undercover inside the Rights of the Child."

Tom nodded, his eyes unblinking, still studying the woman's face. "And Rights of the Child have been organising the protests outside Lester's clinic." He hesitated for a second, biting at his lip. "Why not the clinic itself?"

Tony shook his head. "Maybe as a secondary target, but all of our intel suggests that the primary threat will be against Gardner."

"This is a step up from the usual right wing bullshit. How sophisticated are this group?"

"Sophisticated enough to pull this off." Michelle glanced around the table. "Make no mistake, this is no petrol bomb through the letterbox bullshit. This is a genuine threat."

"Okay." Tom sat back. "So what protocols are we going to run?"

"I want you and Nathan to co-ordinate with Gardner's security people. I don't want anything to happen to her on our watch." Michelle turned in her seat. "Tony…"

"Wait a second. Nathan's on leave today. He hasn't had a rest day in three months."

"I don't care." Michelle made her voice as hard as she could. "I want you both on this."

Tom nodded, making a note on his pad. "I'll get in touch with him."

"Good. Thank you." Michelle looked back at Tony. "See if there's anyway you can make contact with Ashley, if there's anyway she can get more intel to us. I'll talk to Gardner's security detail, let them know we're coming." She looked around the table again. "Let's get to work people, you know what you have to do."

xxxXXXxxx

They saw the car arrive at the side of the kerb. Saw the young, frightened girl get out, supported by her parents. The girl took a look around her and walked towards the clinic. The line on either side of her, tensed, readying themselves.

The protestors surged forward, halted by the link arms of the guards. Reaching between their shoulders to wave their banners in the face of the terrified girl, almost dragged forward by her parents as the cacophony of noise burst across her like a dam.

She felt herself swallowed up, drowned inside the same wave of anger and hatred that spilled across the protestors. The same insults….

"…murdering bitch…."

"…whore…"

…torn from her throat, leaving it raw and bleeding, the words flecked with hatred and blood, spilling across the girl, huddled within the protective embrace of her parents, trying desperately, hopelessly to protect her from the mob's anger. Her father, leaning, close, his arm around her, trying to shield her from their missiles, his own clothes smeared and stained.

Desperately, she tried to cling to herself. Tried to remember who she was, tried to remember what she was. Keep something of herself back, safe from this sea of hatred, of anger.

Trying to keep enough of herself back to do her job.

She took a step back, away from the press of people, looking around the protestors, trying to find the people who's names she had been given, people she had spent almost six months getting close to, people she had come to admire for their compassion and understanding.

People she knew were a threat to national security.

She found them easily enough, even in the crowd. People with enough money, influences, and connections to make this group a genuine threat. Talking together, glancing at the clinic, analyzing its security, its weak points, its vulnerabilities.

She looked away quickly, filing the information away until she could get to a phone.

The clinic was defiantly a target.

xxxXXXxxx

Nathan groaned when he heard his cell phone ringing. He rolled over, opening an eye to squint at the clock. He groaned again, reaching out to answer it, careful not to wake Rebecca. "Gault."

"Nathan, its Chloe. Michelle wants you to come in. Tom's on his way to pick you up."

"It's my day off Chloe. I'm not coming in today." He could hear Rebecca stirring in her sleep next to him. "I'm going to hang up now, and then I'm going to turn my phone off."

"Fine. I'll just tell Michelle you're refusing to come in. I hope she's not too pissed off at you when she gets her hands on you."

"Okay. How far out is Tom?"

"About five minutes."

"I'll be there." He broke the connection and rolled onto his back. Taking another minute to collect his thoughts. How the fuck was he going to explain this to Rebecca?

xxxXXXxxx

Michelle chewed nervously on her lip as she clung to her phone, listening. Feeling each word stab into her, twisting like a knife. "Are you sure?"

She knew she should feel different. She wished she did. Wished she felt something other than this cold dead feeling inside of her.

"Yes, quite sure. I did it myself, Michelle. Relax."

'Relax'. She wished she could. She tried to imagine his face, tried to imagine his reaction. "Yes…"

"Are you okay, Michelle?" The enthusiasm, the excitement gone, changed, tempered now with concern. "Michelle?"

"What? Yes, yes, I'm fine." Michelle rubbed at her forehead. "You've just caught me a little by surprise. Tony and I…"

"If you need somebody to talk to, I know several people who come very highly recommended. If you're having any doubts, or feeling even the slightest bit unsure, I think you should talk to someone."

"I will, thank you." Michelle hung up and let her head sink into her hands. How the hell was she going to tell him about this?

xxxXXXxxx

"I'm sorry about this Nathan, but this intel only came in this morning. How did Rebecca take it?"

Nathan grinned bitterly. "Not well. She'd been planning this for the past month. She threw a fucking shoe at me."

Tom laughed briefly. "Fiery."

"You said it." Nathan shook his head. "Anyway, what's this intel?"

"Ashley's made contact. There's a threat from a terrorist group connected with Rights of the Child. Michelle thinks that Amy Gardner will be the principle target."

"You notice anything strange about Michelle recently?"

"Strange?" Tom frowned, thinking back over meetings, working late nights, pushing themselves too hard. She had looked tired, but no more than they all had. "What do you mean strange?"

"Weird." Nathan shrugged. "I don't know. Distant, unfocused. Are things okay between her and Tony?"

"As far as I know. She's more than competent to do her job."

"That wasn't what I meant Tom."

"I need you focused on this, Nathan."

Nathan fell silent, peering through the windscreen. "Do we have her schedule yet?" Tom nodded, steering the car through the early morning traffic. Nathan lifted the data pad, paging through Amy Gardner's appointments in LA. "Some of these practically put a target on her back. We're going to have to change them."

"I know."

They drove on in silence.

xxxXXXxxx

"This is CSRFM, its 855am."

"We got traffic build-ups at the usual hotspots. The Freemantle Highway is jammed up on the westbound approach after a three car pile up. Queues are already forming in Pasadena, outside the Rose Bowl where tickets for the game between the Huskers and the Schooners go on sale today."

"Its 857, I'll be back with more before 10."

xxxXXXxxx

"Amy, I got journalists from the Los Angeles Herald and the San Diego Chronicle on the phone. They want to know if you have any further comment about the trouble at Lester's clinic."

Amy Gardner thought for a second. "Just that I have every confidence in the ability of the Los Angeles Police Department to protect the patients attending the clinic and to spare them from any further trauma." She walked quickly across the room, her assistant scribbling frantically in a notebook. "Anything else?"

"I don't think so." Her assistant flicked through her notepad. "Oh, Josh phoned. He said to pray for rain, and then he laughed a lot." She glanced up, looking confused. "That doesn't make any sense."

Amy laughed. "Doesn't matter, it's an old joke." She stopped, staring at the two men, standing at the door of her suite. "Who are they?"

Her assistant looked over. "CTU agents. They want to talk to you."

She nodded and walked over to them. "I'm Amy Gardner. Can I help you?"

"Ms Gardner, I'm Special Agent Tom Baker, and this is Special Agent Nathan Gault. We have intelligence that indicates that there is a terrorist threat against you."