Chapter 9

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Jack and Sam headed back to work, walking straight into his office, avoiding the bullpen altogether. With their team fractured they decided they would rather work in close quarters than look around at all the empty desks.

They spent a bulk of the morning trying to gather as much info as they could but found that they were being blocked at every turn with international political bureaucracy.

"We need those phone records damn it!" Jack screamed into the phone. He was trying to get the consulate to give them access to Dornvald's phone records but it seemed that they thought two injured F.B.I. agents was a small price to pay for getting rid of one of the men responsible for the assassination of their president. Even with Victor's clout they were dragging their feet. "I'll be waiting for your fax!"

He slammed down the receiver and seethed. If he had his druthers he would storm over there and get them himself.

"No luck?" Sam guessed.

Jack walked towards where she sat on the sofa. "No, how's it going with the credit card history?"

"They want the warrants to be processed first," Sam replied, completely exasperated. "Jack, he could be out of the country by the time we are able to track him down."

"We have all modes of transport on alert, ports, train stations, airport. But I'm actually not sure he would go back to Makeba. Based on the latest news reports, it may be the last place he'd go as a supporter of General Gamba. My guess is he will wait a few days before making his next move. Wait for us to drop our guard."

She looked at him and asked, "What do you think his next move will be?"

Jack considered what he would do if he was Dornvald and replied, "If my hunch is right we need to get to Paige Hobson."

He grabbed his coat off of the back of his chair and headed out the door with Sam in tow.

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They entered the interview room where Paige Hobson was sitting at the table waiting for them. They took the seats on the opposite side of the table. Sam ran her eyes over Paige; she looked ten years older than the woman they had begun searching for the day before.

"I thought you had everything you needed. I gave you my written statement," Paige commented with her gaze set on Sam.

"Some recent events have changed the situation," Jack interjected before Sam could reply.

"You mean the uprising in Makeba?" Paige asked.

"That's part of it," Jack paused a moment before adding, "Paige, Adisa is dead."

The young woman's expression was one of complete shock and disbelief. She looked back and forth between them. "Dead? What do you mean 'dead'?" The inflection of her voice escalated with each word. She stood up at the table and leaned over staring accusatorially at Jack and Sam. "How? What in the hell did you bastards do to him!"

"It was Dornvald," Sam's voice responded calmly and disaffectedly.

"How? I saw Adisa in the hall, your partners were taking him to INS….why couldn't they protect him?" Paige sounded desperate and angry.

"He didn't just kill Adisa, Paige. My partners were injured too." Sam swallowed before continuing, "One of them is in a coma."

Paige examined both their faces before slumping back into her chair. She started crying and said, "What have I done? It's my fault."

Jack and Sam exchanged looks and gave Paige a moment to grieve before getting to the reason for their visit.

Jack said, "Paige, we need your help in finding Dornvald."

Paige wiped her eyes and met Jack's gaze and asked, "How?"

He pulled out the photo of the second shooter who they had still been unable to identify and slide it towards Paige. "Do you recognize this man?"

Paige picked up the photo and looked it over carefully. A look of recognition crossed her face. "Yeah, that's Amadi Jamal. He's Dornvald's right hand man." She put the photo down and looked back up. "According to Adisa, he is the one who killed his brother."