Chapter Eight


LOS ANGELES

THE DOCKS

From within his black Government Issue car, Jack intently watched an innocuous red SUV as it pulled up ten feet from his position. The windows on the other vehicle were shaded and so made it impossible for the seasoned agent to identify the driver or anyone else that could be hidden inside. It made Jack feel like he was on show, he could quite plainly be seen; something that Jack did not like. The Irina pretender had agreed to meet him at the docks; it was early morning now, the clock on the dash read four am. He rubbed his eyes, had not slept for numerous hours now, he pushed the tiredness away. Once this job was done he would sleep, not a minute before. The dockworkers had not arrived and would not do so until six am. He had plenty of time. The surroundings were silent, calm; the only sound he could hear was his own breathing. The dull buildings on either side loomed over the two small cars and partially blocked the slowly rising sun. As he waited he wondered why the imposter had agreed to the meeting; perhaps it was his insistence, or they were just stupid -- that would make his work easier, it would be simple and quick to draw out the much needed information that he sought. It was possible that this person was just highly arrogant and thought they could capture him.

The headlights on the vehicle opposite his flashed twice, indicating it was clear for each of them to immerge from their cars. Jack did so and slammed the door shut behind him. He gave the effect that nothing was amiss -- that he was as clueless as he had been a few hours ago. There was nothing in his body language that told he wanted nothing more than to strange the imposter to within an inch of their pitiful lives. His hands were in his pockets, unseen and clenched tightly.

On the roof a man watched the slow proceedings carefully, aiming at the car, a camera beside him.

The door to the SUV opened. Jack moved forward a few steps, into the sun; he squinted as bright glare obscured his view momentarily.

The so far unseen man swore softly and quickly picked up the camera to snap a couple of pictures, photographic proof of what he was seeing but not quite understanding. His eyes shifted from one person to the other, "oh shit."

5 HRS EARLIER

LOS ANGELES

SYDNEY'S RESIDENCE

Vaughn and Peter moved off into the kitchen with the now empty coffee cups; presently the sound of running water was heard as they set about washing up everything in the sink, doing everything to block out the low voices in the next room. Her arms folded, Sydney looked up at her father expectantly. "What is it?" she sounded hopeful, thinking he must have found something out. She quelled that hope. The last thing she wanted was to be disappointed once again.

"Before I came here --."

He stopped abruptly as he heard a door opening. "Sorry," seeing the two sets of slightly frustrated eyes turn to him a sleepy Will paused in mid step, looking like a deer caught in headlights. His hair was rumbled, evidently he had just woken up, he yawned as he added apologetically "I'll be in…" he pointed in the general direction of the kitchen before heading that way. A few seconds later they heard him speak again, sounding puzzled, "I'm not supposed to know you, am I?" apparently he had just met the new arrival, Peter.

Sydney shook her head, smirking, she couldn't be mad at him for having bad timing. Switching her attention back to her father she waited for him to continue, "Go on."

"As I was saying; before I came here I was contacted by whoever's masquerading as your mother," instead of flittering around the subject, he did what he did best and got straight to the point. "The imposter agreed to meet, In a few hours time" too many times he had kept his daughter in the dark about certain things, in this instance however Jack had come to the conclusion that she should know. It was her Intel that gave him reason to suspect Irina in the first place. But he was adamant that he would not tell her where the meet was to take place, he knew she would be angry about that decision but Jack was not going to take the chance that she would charge on in and try to take matters into her own hands, as some kind of revenge on her part. He thought she would know better than to do that, to be so reckless and jeopardize things but, when considering who her parents were and what they were capable of, he was taking no chances.

"I'm coming" Sydney insisted, as Jack had predicted she would.

He steadfastly refused. "You will speak with Peter and find out anything else you can about Irina or the Covenant. He's holding back, I want to know what exactly."

Challenging him she glared, pain fueled her anger. "You can't do this!" she understood his reasoning, or at least she thought she did. Sometimes though it seemed her father needlessly complicated things and, in her opinion, this was one of those times. "I need to be there" Sydney used another tact, pleading to the side of Jack that was making him act so quickly and, possibly, irrationally himself. "They used me! They killed my mother; I have to be there when you take them down. You can't do this alone. Dad, please."

It was a good try and Jack was pleased to note she said "they" in relation to Irina's death. He was not to be taken in so easily though; he knew how hard it must be for her to be blocked out of this. She would realise soon enough why he had to do it. He did not want Sydney to be there when he took care of the imposter. "I am doing this, Sydney," he told her gently, trying not to sound too authorative. She opened her mouth to protest further. "I don't want to make it an order but if I have to, I will. Stay here and I will take care of this."

Still furious she answered, seething. "Dixon would not authorize this, he would make you take back up."

Jack mused for a moment as he heard that, that it sounded as if she were threatening to go over his head should he still disallow her to accompany him. He decided to call her bluff and responded without a flicker of what he was thinking appearing outwardly. "He already has, Sydney" he lied, and hated it. It was impossible for Jack to know what might happen a few hours from now when CIA Agent and Imposter set eyes on each other, though he knew that his daughter could take perfectly good care of herself he did not want her to have to deal with the repercussions of what would happen should anything happen to him. It was better that she be kept, mostly, in the dark. "He wants this dealt with as quickly as possible. Find out what you can from Peter, I'll contact you as soon as this is over." That said he walked away.

As soon as the three men conversing in the kitchen had heard the front door close they had, one by one, come back into the living room. It was obvious from the annoyed, indignant look on Sydney's face that Jack had said something to upset her. She looked at Vaughn, accusingly. "Did you know about this?"

Honestly having no clue what on Earth she was talking about he answered in the way any man in his confused position would. "What?"

"He's meeting with whoever's been posing as my mom today. He didn't specify a time or place; he only told me that it's happening. And he told me not to get involved!" she blasted. Outside they heard Jack pulling out of the driveway, leaving to "put an end to things" in his own way. They could try to follow him but he would notice and lose them, probably lead them on a wild goose chase first.

A phone rang and Will excused himself to answer his cell, as he wandered back into the kitchen they heard the one sided conversation and saw him look at his watch.

"Jack didn't tell me anything, Sydney. I have no idea what he's planning," he told her truthfully.

Before she could respond to either rant some more or apologise Will returned, shoving his phone into the front pocket of his jeans. "That was Amy" he looked a little uncomfortable, thoughtful. "She uh…needs my help looking for her dog. He ran off when some sales guy called by earlier, she opened the door and he was gone before she could catch him."

"Need some help?" Sydney offered, "The more people looking the quicker we'll find him.

Will waved away the offer. "It's fine, you've got enough to worry about without this too." He picked up his coat from the rack by the door and put it on as he stepped outside. "See you guys later."

"Perhaps it is just because I do not know him well…but that seemed strange," Peter observed, speaking up from where he was sat in the living room.

Walking to the phone Sydney agreed. Yeah, it did."

LOS ANGELES

HOTEL ROOSEVELT

It was a Saturday and the spacious lobby of the four star hotel was rather busy; full of tourists coming and going, hot and bothered, brimming with excitement, tired and sick of waiting, children stood impatiently and jumping from one foot to the other in barely contained anticipation of what would be a warm and wonderful week or two. The harassed men and women behind the shiny counter smiled at all times, staying pleasant and helpful, courteous and calm. Clocks showing the time in main cities around the world ticked slowly 1 second, 2 seconds, and 3 seconds. Jack glanced from one to the other and then, barely perceptibly glanced down at his own watch. He was sat at the small bar by the winding stairs that led down to the shop, swimming pool and back door where the valets waited to park or bring cars to the well paying customers of the hotel. Nobody noticed him as he sipped a murky coloured beverage, making it last, the bar tender was too busy chatting in the back room to ask questions of the quiet man that had been sitting in the same spot for the last half an hour. He swiveled in his chair to take note of the people coming out of the elevators by the stairs that led up to the rooms. His eyes stopped on the mirror; he recalled that rumor had it that the face of some famous actress could be seen in there sometimes, but he forgot whom exactly. The face that did interest him was the woman whose reflection he could see now.

He looked back to the bar, knowing that she would come to him, as it had been the last two times they had met here. "You're late" he said by way of greeting as he sensed rather than saw, her come to a stop just behind his left shoulder.

Irina sat down on the chair beside him. "I'm not late, you set your watch five minutes fast. Though I was here before you anyway" she replied. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him check the time on his watch, it was just visible below his sleeve. "You don't look like a tourist" she chided playfully and pushed her sunglasses back on her head.

Taking the bait he asked, "What do I look like?"

"A man who means business" the bartender chose that moment to interrupt and Irina ordered a drink, telling the thirty something brunette to put it on "the gentleman's" tab.

Beside her Jack sighed but inside Irina knew he was smiling. "You don't have your own money?" he questioned, feigning annoyance.

"Plenty. But it's more polite for the man to buy the lady the first drink" and then adding, as she picked up the glass the bar tender set down on the coaster in front of her, "I could be making you buy me dinner."

"Whose to say I haven't already arranged it?" Jack responded; his tone was lighter. His words had the desired effect as she looked, and didn't bother to hide, faint surprise. He stood up and put on the freshly cleaned bar the money, plus a tip. Irina followed him as he led the way into the restaurant, it was slowly emptying as the patrons were, mostly, finished with their lunch. He took a table near the back, out of the way of the other people. His mask was back in place, as he watched Irina take the seat opposite him he saw she was the same. It was an act, of course, just in case somebody had followed, or tried to follow them. It was friendly, if a little teasing, banter that made them appear to be two people merely having a fun time. There was nothing behind what they said. No hidden meaning or ignored feelings. They were there for one thing.

Irina brought it up first. "What else have you found out?" she had brought the drink with her and, leaning forward with elbows on the table, the wafer thin glass was cradled between her hand, one finger absently tracing the rim.

"Nothing…" Jack answered regretfully. "I have reason to believe I may be getting closer. It's just a matter of time," he sounded dejected, at least in that respect he and Irina were feeling the same.

"I have people searching but…wherever she is…whoever has her…they are being extremely careful" she stated the obvious, it was worse not knowing who exactly they were up against, only then could they begin to try and understand why Sydney had been taken.

Jack cleared his throat, it sounded like he was at some kind of get together and was about to make a speech. That thought brought a smile to her face, as she remembered their wedding so long ago. His expression this time was most definitely not the same. Irina studied his face, noting the changes. He looked chagrined at the sudden scrutiny. "What?"

"I was just remembering our wedding" the quietly spoken truth threw him for a moment, even more so because it was completely out of the blue.

"Now isn't the time for reminiscing on old memories that were only created to help solidify an elaborate lie" Jack retorted sharply, gruffly and quite annoyed.

Completely unruffled Irina just shrugged. "It wasn't a lie for me."

They had gotten completely off topic, how had she done that? He tried to determine why she had suddenly gotten into this territory, what motive was behind it. He could find none.

LOS ANGELES

THE DOCKS

The memory had slipped unbidden into Jack's mind and he forced it away, back into the recesses that it had come from. He stepped out of the sunlight and into the shadow of one of the buildings; the darkness helped him to see the incoming figure a lot better. He was now a short six feet from the driver of the red SUV, he stared, uncomprehending for a few seconds. The Imposters lips moved but he could not hear the words; he realised they were whispering ever so quietly. He read the Imposters lips.

"I'm sorry."

LOS ANGELES

JTF BUILDING

"I'm sorry! Okay? I was as surprised as you are when I realised it was Jack that was calling me" Will stressed, trying to get that across. "What was I supposed to do? He's Jack Bristow, have you tried saying no to him?" remembering it B was /B Sydney he was talking to he shook his hand as if waving away the last few words "never mind. Syd, I didn't want to lie I swear but he made me promise not to say anything to you" he ran his hands through his hair; he looked freaked out. "He said he couldn't ask Vaughn because he was supposed to be watching Peter and he didn't want you involved. He just told me to watch things from a safe distance and photograph everything. That way if something went wrong there would be pictures of the Covenant Agent involved."

Sydney decided to ease his distressed mind. It truly wasn't his fault. "It's okay…I…are you sure?"

Will nodded. "Pretty sure, I mean, I've seen the a couple of pictures the CIA has and they look the same. Marshall's got the photo now…"

They both headed into Marshall's little office, the genius himself was sat at his desk staring intently at the computer. When he realised he had visitors he made to jump up to accommodate them, blow up an inflatable chair or offer sweets. He looked nervous, fidgety. "Uh I think you might want, well no I guess because you're here you do want to know what I have, what I came up with, and while you're here I just want to say, uh, I'm sorry about everything that's happened you know, first your mom dying only…and then your dad…well anyway, I uh, here…" he pointed to the computer screen.

One of the photographs Will had taken from the rooftop had been blown up. The image was pretty clear. Sydney moved back from the desk and abruptly left the room.

"Thanks man" Will spoke up before leaving after his best friend.

Marshall looked back at the screen. "Oh boy…this is bad" that just about said it all.