O O O O O
Chapter Nine: Mrs. Vanderfield
Jack halted the interrogation as soon as he heard that Isabelle had been taken into protective custody.
He stood outside the examination room with Sydney and Vaughn, waiting anxiously for the results. The doctor stepped out and addressed the worried family.
"We've been able to successfully remove both of the chips, and we've sent them down to op tech."
Jack nodded and turned to Sydney and Vaughn. "I'm going to head down there and see what they find."
Sydney and Vaughn walked into the hospital room. Isabelle sat up in the bed, drinking some water.
"Hey sweetheart, how are you feeling?" Sydney asked, putting her arm around her daughter's shoulder.
"Ok, I guess. I'm kinda sleepy." Isabelle answered.
"Then get some sleep. It's ok." Sydney said soothingly. Isabelle slowly closed her eyes and dosed off.
There was a small knock on the door and Nadia entered.
"Hey, how's my niece doing?" She asked Sydney.
"She's doing well, just a little tired." Sydney said quietly. She glanced down at Nadia's left hand. A beautiful diamond graced her ring finger. "Are you married?"
"Yeah, I was going to tell you but…" She sighed. "Yeah, Eric and I have been married for 7 years now."
"That's great." Sydney said, giving her sister a hug, truly happy for her little sister.
"Yeah, and we've got two kids, Abby Sydney Weiss, she's 3, and Chris Michael Weiss, he's turning 6 soon." Nadia said.
"I honestly can't picture Weiss as a father." Vaughn said, smiling.
"Yeah, he's still adjusting." Nadia said with a chuckle.
"Who's still adjusting?" Weiss asked as he pushed the door open. He had two little children clutching each hand.
"Mommy, who's that?" Abby asked pointing her stubby finger at Sydney.
"Abby, this is your Aunt Sydney." She turned to Vaughn. "And… your Uncle Vaughn."
"Oh, the ones in the stories you told us, Daddy?" Chris asked.
"Stories?" Vaughn asked, his eyebrows rising.
Weiss scratched his head. "Yeah, well I started running out of bed time stories so I told them about you guys…" He trailed off sheepishly.
Sydney, Vaughn, and Nadia erupted in laughter and continued to catch up and remember old times.
O O O O O
Carter stood at the doorway of his sister's hospital room. He rubbed the bandage on his hand where the tracker had been placed. He walked in silently and went unnoticed until Abby spoke up. "Uncle Vaughnie, who's that?"
Weiss began to laugh hysterically at his daughter's nickname for Vaughn.
"That's your cousin Carter." Vaughn said punching Weiss in the arm.
"Cousin?" Carter repeated, puzzled.
"This is your Aunt Nadia, Uncle Weiss, and your cousins Abby and Chris." Sydney explained.
After they exchanged pleasantries, Carter turned to Isabelle, who was now awake. "How ya doing sis?"
"Ok." She answered. "Where are Massie, Alicia, and Kristen?" She asked.
"They're getting looked at." Sydney replied. "We want to make sure that nothing's happened to them either."
The doctor soon entered the room. "Sydney, Vaughn, we need to remove the trackers from you now."
The couple walked out and into the OR next door.
O O O O O
"Why couldn't we have just skipped over this whole thing?" Peyton asked as she paced around the room.
"You need to understand that I know how my ex-husband thinks. He will be so preoccupied with what's going on with Isabelle and the first set of trackers, he won't even have time to realize what's going on with Carter before it's too late." Irina said coldly.
"We've got word from Mr. Sloane." A man said, stepping into the dimly lit room. "Mrs. Vanderfield's about 30 minutes away from the JTF."
"Good. Make sure none of Carter or Isabelle's friends leave the building." Irina said.
"Very well."
O O O O O
"So you're saying that that's all they are, bugs and trackers?" Jack asked.
"Well, yes, sir." Marshall said, fiddling with the devices. "That's all they are. But I have found something in the video feed. Now, it took me awhile, I had to go through some back doors and rewire some…" Jack cleared this throat impatiently. "Right, well I've found that the video feed was rewired to a private computer. I was able to do a trace and its Mr. Vanderfield's personal computer."
"Vanderfield? As in Carter's friend's father?" Dixon asked.
"Yes." Marshall said. "I have no idea why he wanted the feed. I think he might have rerouted it back to someone connected to Prophet Five, but it's virtually impossible to trace this."
"Impossible?" Jack asked.
"Well it could take weeks to find the source." Marshall said
"Then I suggest that you start working on that right now." Jack said before the left the room. "I'm going to pay a visit to Mr. Vanderfield.
O O O O O
"If you don't do exactly what we want you to do, your husband will die." Anna Espinosa said, pressing the gun against Lisa Vanderfield's arm. "Do you understand?"
"Yes." Lisa said, choking back tears. "And my son, he will remain unharmed?"
"Of course." Anna smiled. "Just be sure to get into holding. That's all we ask.
O O O O O
Jacob Vanderfield paced near the entrance of the JTF. He stopped to check the time before and continued to pace.
His eyes followed a small yellow cab as it pulled up to the building. A woman stepped out and brushed her dirty blond hair out of the way before running into the building, escaping form the rain.
Jacob ran up to the woman, his wife, and pulled her into a tight hug. "Lisa, oh thank God you're ok."
"Jacob, I was so scared." Lisa murmured. "What happened to your hand? And where's Liam?"
"We were kidnapped. And apparently, they implanted trackers into all of your hands. Liam's in the hospital getting his removed." Jacob said, putting his arm around his wife's waist. An odd look of fear crossed her face.
"Mr. Vanderfield, would you please come with us." Jack said, walking up to the couple with a few guards in tow.
"What's going on?" He asked, as handcuffs were placed around his wrists.
"I'd like for you to tell me." Jack said as he led the way toward the interrogation room.
O O O O O
"Why did you hack into the security system of my daughter's house?" Jack asked a bound Jacob Vanderfield in the dark interrogation room.
"I… I… can't tell you that." Vanderfield said.
"You know, that's what they all say. But in the end, they always learn that I can cause you more pain then anyone else." Jack said, resting his elbows on the table and lowering his voice. "I am going to get some answers." Jack reached across the table and grabbed a sharp knife. He slowly brought it up to the man's eye. "The only thing you control is how much you want it to hurt."
"Ok, ok, ok." Vanderfield said. "My wife, Lisa, she was kidnapped. Someone contacted me. They said that if I told anyone, they would kill her. Even my son just thought that she's been on a business trip in New York."
"Who contacted you and what did they want?" Jack asked, pressing the knife harder against Vanderfield's skin."
"I don't know who they are." Vanderfield said. "But they wanted trackers and bugs. My company specializes in them."
"How many did you give them?" Jack asked.
"4 bugs and 12 trackers." Jacob replied, sweat sliding down his forehead.
Jack pressed the knife harder into the frightened man's skin, drawing some blood. Vanderfield inhaled quickly and hissed in pain.
"Are you sure?" Jack asked menacingly.
"Positive." Vanderfield squeaked out.
"Very well. Take Mrs. Vanderfield into custody." Jack said.
"Wait, you've got to believe me!" Vanderfield said.
"I do believe you." Jack replied coldly.
O O O O O
Lisa Vanderfield was taken into medical and examined for any bugs. They found 2 more bugs and another tracker.
"Put her and her son into holding. I want the Bauers and the three girls to be put in holding as well." Jack ordered.
O O O O O