Jack wasn't able to sleep through the night, his anger at Mark, worry for Kim and the hurt he felt at the thought of Carol made it impossible. Each time Marks words echoed through his mind he felt himself tense as his anger grew stronger. He had tried to block out the words he had uttered about Carol, that she didn't want him there, but hadn't told him in fear of hurting his feelings. Did this mean she think he was weak, or dependant on her? He called her just as often as she him, he offered, in a weak attempt to make himself feel better, but it didn't work.
Carol had moved her family back to L.A because of him. Was he that desperate, lonely or needy that his own sister had turned her life upside down for him? Maybe she would be better off without him, he wondered as he sat up in bed, gently running his fingers over the knuckles which were swollen from his fight with Mark.
He tried to focus on the meet with the Wilkes brothers but just couldn't concentrate. He needed to be on form if he was going to meet them, he may be given all the information he needed to pull the plug on their homemade attempt at terrorism. But it would be useless if he wasn't able to pay attention.
He had to forget about the previous evening, but he couldn't. He was worried about Casey, how he had shrugged her off on the phone. She had called him in the middle of the night, she wanted to talk to him about something important. Maybe she needed to speak to him, what if she had information on Mark and Carol? What if this wasn't the first time Mark got dangerous, he wondered, as panic and paranoia slowly worked its way into his mind.
As six o'clock rolled on he gave up on sleep and got up. After a shower and breakfast he checked out the bruising and swelling which he was surprised to see was spread over both hands. He didn't care. He crept through the apartment trying not to wake Kim, his cell held tightly in his fist as he tried to make some sort of decision concerning Mark. He couldn't leave things the way they were even if Carol wanted him to stay away.
He called CTU and was surprised but pleased to hear Chase answer the call. He sounded tired and after a little probing Jack realised that he had gone into work extra early so that they would be ready to act upon whatever information Jack was able to gather. Jack felt a twinge of guilt as he acknowledged the work Chase was eager to complete for him, when he himself who was in the centre of the operation couldn't even focus on it properly.
"I know you're busy Chase, but I need a favour," Jack asked, almost sheepishly. He didn't want to start calling favours with Chase but he trusted him to do what was asked without taking an unnecessary interest.
"Yeah?" Jack felt another stab of guilt as he herd Chase respond without hesitation.
"Its personal…" Jack said, his voice trailing off slightly, giving Chase the chance to back out.
"So tell me?"
"I need you to get LAPD onto somebody for me. Names Mark Richardson." He repeated the address twice to Chase as he scribbled it down on the other end of the line, before explaining his order. "I want him arrested for assault and I want the officers to search the house for a firearm. I don't know which kind, but I want them to trace it and I'm expecting it to be unregistered."
Chase said noting as he took the information, only when Jack was finished did he respond. "I've got the perfect person for this," he said enthusiastically, Jack was confused as to why anybody in the police squad would pull favours for him. "Guys name is Weston, he botched up the operation at the bar Jack, and he hated himself for it. He'll be like a dog with a bone."
Jack breathed a sigh of relief before thanking Chase and then ending the call. He tossed the cell onto the sofa and ran a hand over his face as he tried to order his thoughts. Weston would hopefully take care of Mark, so he didn't have to worry about him. Making another tough decision he grabbed his cell again before picking up his keys and heading out to his car. He needed to clear things up with Casey before he could focus on CTU.