A/N: Finallyyyyyyyyyy got finished this chapter! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed the last one, you guys are awesome : ). I'm just warning you now, my technical jargon is completely and totally made up so bear with me in that sense…it serves its purpose in the plot and that's about it…lol.
Chapter Seven – Out of the Frying Pan
Tony entered the kitchen with his hair still slightly damp from the shower. He rubbed the excess aftershave around his neck and collar.
"Hey…" Michelle spun around with two mugs of coffee in hand. She placed one in front of him and leaned over, breathing deeply as she placed a quick kiss on the side of his neck. He smiled slightly and rubbed her back.
"We have to leave in five…" he reminded her after a quick check of his watch. "I have that briefing with District at 8."
She nodded and stifled a yawn, already anxious for the day to be over.
"Michelle! Get in here!" Tony yelled from the Conference room. She quickly turned to Adam.
"Finish up here and report back to me."
She slipped quietly into the seat next to Tony just as Ryan's voice came over the speakerphone.
"Alright Ryan, we're all here." Tony scanned the room quickly and nodded as Jack stepped inside at the last second.
"For the past three hours we've been accumulating Intel on a militia group out of the Eastern Czech Republic. Langley and District concur that a hit will be taking place in Los Angeles."
"When?" Michelle asked, shooting a glance in Tony's direction.
"We don't know."
"What's the target?" Jack added.
"We don't know."
"Well what do we know, Ryan?" Tony spat in obvious aggravation.
"Joseph Ames landed at LAX twelve hours ago. He was sent on CTU's behalf to Europe six years ago to infiltrate this sector and is our main source of information. Division's sending over his file. Start working up any potential leads he's given us."
Tony shifted uncomfortably in his chair and glanced at Jack momentarily before looking back at the video monitor.
A few minutes later the department heads exited the Conference room with their respective assignments.
Jack approached Tony the instant the room had cleared. Michelle glanced over her shoulder and raised her eyebrows curiously, as Tony scratched the side of his face and they began to converse in soft whispers. Jack followed his gaze to Michelle and nodded slowly in her direction.
"Michelle…" she spun on her heel and was at their side in half a second.
"What's up?"
"Six years ago Ames was working for CTU, stationed in Europe." Jack explained as Michelle listened intently.
"You know him?"
They both nodded warily.
"And there's a chance he's turned…"
"That's what we need to find out." Jack continued. "A couple years into the assignment Division lost contact with him for six months…"
"And he was working at CTU the same time Nina Myers was…" Tony interjected. "It's enough to make me suspicious."
Jack agreed. "His alias is Joseph Marks. See if there's anything you can find out that'll fill in the gaps."
"This has to be kept quiet." Tony went on.
"What about Chappelle?"
Both men shook their heads.
"If we find something concrete we'll bring Ryan into this, but until then we can't risk Ames finding out we're suspicious." Jack said.
Michelle looked between them both uncertainly.
"If we don't say anything, information regarding protocols for every other agency on board will get passed onto Ames…" she stated in a hushed voice.
"And if we exchange too much faulty information and ignore any leads he'll know we're on to him." Tony reminded her.
"Okay…" she scanned the bullpen. "I'll let you know what I find."
Michelle climbed the stairs briskly, manila folder in hand. She pushed through the glass door where Tony and Jack were waiting.
Jack sighed heavily.
"How's the workup on Ames coming?"
"Done." she tossed the packet on the desk and they waited for her to continue.
"It'll be a tough sell to convince anyone he's flipped. We have footage of him meeting with Arms dealers, but ten minutes afterwards he placed a call to Division. He claims his disappearance was the result of a covert operation and any contact with the outside world would've compromised his position. The only thing that's slightly unusual is that in a follow-up report he sent one month afterwards there's a small sequence of numbers and letters that make absolutely no sense. Whoever analyzed it described it as a combination of the routing ID and the IP address, but there are way too many letters for that to be accurate."
"So what do you think it is?" Tony asked as both he and Jack scanned the sheet.
"As of right now, I'm not sure. It could be encrypted, it could be a security code, or…" she bit her lip. "It could be exactly what it was described as, the source IP address with more than one routing ID." She raised her eyebrows expectantly.
"Meaning he had it routed to someone else before we received it." Jack rose from his seat and approached her seriously.
"Were you able to figure out who he sent it to at Division?"
She shook her head slowly. "The terminal ID doesn't even exist anymore, this was four years ago. It could be anyone who worked there at the time…and now the only person who's still there is Ryan."
"What about the second routing ID?" Tony probed, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms across his chest.
Michelle reached into the folder and pulled out another sheet of paper.
"Michael McCarthy." She tossed the picture on the desk. "He's had the same laptop for almost seven years. I'm surprised it still running…"
"How do we know that?"
"It's got a government chip embedded in the hard drive for recognition."
"He worked for the government?" Tony asked, with a furrowed brow.
"No. He's a large-scale private contractor. Companies have been hiring him since he was fresh out of college to do work abroad…family business. He's designed security facilities for a bunch of different European governments… All business dealings were done under the table."
They all processed this information carefully for a moment.
"McCarthy's our only lead. We need to pick him up and get something out of him before we can bring this to Chappelle." Tony concluded and Jack reached into the file.
"You have an address?"
Michelle nodded and handed it to him.
"Beverly Hills."
"Do you want me to assemble a tac team?"
Jack shook his head. "We can't bring anyone else into this until Division knows."
"I can put together surveillance package so you can remain in contact with Tony…"
"Will it take long?"
She shook her head. "Two minutes."
Jack started to head towards the door. "I'll meet you downstairs in five then," he squeezed Michelle's arm as he moved past her.
"Great work, Michelle."
"This is Bauer." Jack snapped open the cell phone as he steered the SUV back onto the main road.
"Jack it's me, where are you?"
Jack shot an aggravated glance into the review mirror at the pair now huddled together in the backseat of car. The woman was ghostly pale and clung to the man, who looked just as afraid.
"There was a problem."
Tony hung his head. "What?"
"His girlfriend was home."
"Fiancé…" the woman hissed from behind, finding her nerve. The dark hair hanging loosely around her face didn't mask the angry color rising in her cheeks.
"She's with you?"
"Yeah. I'm bringing them both in for questioning now. I'm about twenty minutes out."
"This is so illegal!" she shouted angrily and this time Tony heard.
"You think she knows anything?" he probed, lowering his voice slightly
Jack glanced at her again and studied her face for a few seconds. Despite her clenched jaw and pinched lips she looked scared. Not guilty just…anxious, uncertain.
"No."
"Alright, I'll have everything ready when you get here."
"Thanks."
It was Michelle who met Jack at the entrance to CTU and ushered both him and the couple into the corridor.
"Hammond's been calling." She warned him, a hint of bitterness in her voice. "He wants to know why we haven't yielded any leads on Ames…as if we're the only ones."
Jack sighed. "He knows I never trusted Ames. We have to get something significant out of these guys now."
"We cleared Holding 1 for you…" she explained as she pushed open the door. "And whenever you're ready, Interrogation is free."
"Are you observing?"
She nodded. "Tony can't leave without anyone getting too suspicious…"
Jack said nothing, but started to pace back and forth a few times.
"How far do you want to push him?" she asked quietly.
He bit his lip. "Right now he's just scared…so I'm hoping that means he'll cooperate…" he raised his eyes to the glass as a pair of guards escorted him into the Interrogation room. "But have Richard's on standby just in case."
She picked up the phone and started dialing.
When Tony pushed through the door less than half an hour later, followed closely by Adam, Michelle rose in surprise.
"Chappelle just called me. District has evidence supporting the claim that Ames flipped. They're on board." He came to stand beside her and nodded for Adam to take a seat.
"How's he doing?"
She sighed. "He hasn't said anything yet; barely even opened his mouth. Jack's got Richards on standby."
Tony reached for a headset.
"Jack, I need you out here."
Jack rose from his position hunched over the table and nodded, before exiting the room.
He listened carefully as Tony explained the situation.
"They have a location on Ames." He stated finally.
"I want to lead the field unit." Jack told him firmly. "No one at Division or District knows Ames well enough…"
"I know. Chapelle's gonna let CTU head it up. Division and LAPD will back you up. Field team's assembling now."
"What about McCarthy?" Michelle reminded them. "Whether we get Ames or not there's still a chance he's hiding something…"
"Yeah, I know. You're gonna interrogate him; Gael will be down in a minute to back you up. I'll be on the floor running tactical if you find anything."
They were halfway out the door when Jack turned around at the last minute and faced Michelle.
"Push him as hard as you have to." He told her firmly.
She fought the urge to gulp and agreed. Then they were gone.
"Adam, get Gael down here now." Michelle stated firmly as she stepped into the hall, hoping her nerves didn't get the best of her. She wasn't too keen to be the one authorizing the use of drugs on any one individual. Watching it was one thing, but actually being there was different.
She noticed Gael approaching and motioned him inside, before taking a deep breath and following.
"I need to finish interrogating McCarthy." She explained. "Give me a few minutes with him and then send down Richards."
"No problem." Gael sat down beside Adam and adjusted his headset. "Whenever you're ready…"
Michelle swallowed hard before stepping into the Interrogation room, her expression hardening the moment she cleared the doorway.
"Who are you?" McCarthy asked. He seemed a little more relaxed now and she wasn't sure whether or not that was a good thing. At this point all it meant was that she wasn't quite as intimidating as Jack.
She ignored his question.
"You've got one chance to tell me why you were in contact with Joseph Ames and what he was doing forwarding you secure government files."
"I already told the other guy, he didn't forward me anything." He declared firmly, through gritted teeth.
"We have documents with your IP address on them and you were in possession of a laptop issued for use by the Federal government, how do you explain that?"
No answer.
She sighed heavily and tossed the papers in front of him.
"So you've never seen this before?"
"No."
Glancing towards the one-way glass she nodded at Gael.
A few minutes later Richards entered the room with a smooth metal case.
McCarthy shifted nervously in his seat, beads of sweat starting to form across his brow.
"Who's he?" he asked in a shaky voice.
She turned to Richards, ignoring McCarthy again.
"Go ahead."
Darren began to remove needles from the case and held them in plain view of McCarthy as he filled them with a greenish serum from a small vial.
"What's that?" He asked again, starting to panic.
Michelle glanced at Darren who put the vial down and started to move across the room.
"What the hell are you doing!" McCarthy shouted. "What the hell is that stuff!" he fought hard against the restraints to no avail.
"You can't do this to me!" he screamed so loudly, and Michelle felt her blood run cold. She forced the shakes from her own voice and spoke clearly.
"Last chance." She told him firmly.
"You can't do this! It's illegal! I haven't done anything wrong! You have no proof I – "
She gave the signal for Darren to proceed and his sentence was cut off with an agonizing scream. Michelle took advantage of the fact that his eyes were closed now and wiped her own sweaty palms against her skirt. A few seconds after the needle was removed McCarthy stopped screaming.
"I really don't want to do that again." She told him quietly as he struggled to remain conscious. "But if you don't tell me why Ames sent you those files we'll try this with a higher dose."
He didn't say anything, but slumped over in the seat, his breathing heavy and ragged.
"Do you know what that stuff does to you?" she asked in the same voice. "Every nerve ending in your body feels like it's on fire…and the higher the dose the longer it takes for the pain to stop. We can keep doing this all day if you want."
He spat at her from across the table and glared.
She rose, her voice cold and harsh again.
"Fine."
"Excuse me!" McCarthy's fiancé, Veronica, banged on the door of the holding room in frustration.
"Hello!" she tried again until finally a security guard opened the door.
"What?"
"I need to use the washroom." She explained haughtily. "And I want to know where Mike is…no one's telling me anything! How can you keep us here when we haven't even been charged?"
The guard glanced at his partner who shrugged.
"Almeida said to go easy on her for now."
The first guard turned back to Veronica.
"Let's go."
Veronica leaned over the sink, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Her grey eyes were red and puffy from crying and her cheeks were flushed. She splashed some cold water over her face, glancing at the door which was slightly ajar from where the security guard was watching her.
Why weren't they telling her anything? What they hell could they possibly think Michael did?
"Hurry up in there." The guard hollered and she scowled before heading outside the bathroom.
They passed another door on the way back to Holding with another guard stationed in front of it. As the two men stopped to converse she chanced a glance in the small window and her heart stopped.
Tony heard the screams all the way from the bullpen and took off down the hallway instantly.
"What the hell happened?" he asked angrily seeing both guards trying to restrain the woman as she shrieked at the top of her lungs and pointed at the door.
"She's killing him!" she screamed through her tears. "You son of a bitch! She's killing him!" she kicked and fought off both guards who were having trouble controlling her.
"How the hell did she see that!?" he roared angrily before ordering both guards to release her. He enveloped her quickly in both arms and practically carried her to the holding room while she continued to claw and kick him violently. He tossed her inside just as she bit down hard on his arm, wincing in pain.
He exited the room long enough to tell both guards to phone in their replacements and then get out of his sight.
When he returned, Veronica was sobbing hysterically and had slumped into a corner and curled up in a ball. He watched her cry for a few seconds before pulling out the chair on one side of the table and sitting down.
She had calmed down a few minutes later.
"Is he dead?" she asked bitterly.
"No." Tony said simply. "We're just questioning him."
Veronica met his eyes angrily. "I want to know what the fuck is going on. One minute we're having lunch and the next…"
He motioned to the chair in front of him.
"Take a seat."
She remained on the floor for a second before moving cautiously to the chair.
"We have information connecting Mike to a group of terrorist sympathizers in Eastern Europe. He's been in contact with someone we've just recently identified as a threat to national security and has had access to confidential government information."
"But Mike…" she looked bewildered. "He's been working for his dad since he was a teenager…he barely knows anything about computers…it takes him an hour to write an e-mail…"
"Our Intelligence suggests otherwise." He told her calmly. "The point is he's not cooperating, and until he does we need to do whatever we have to…"
"What does that mean?"
"The sooner we can figure out exactly how he's connected to all of this, the sooner this'll be sorted out. Anything you can tell us would help…"
At that precise moment Michelle stepped into the room cautiously, Veronica snapped her head around and glared.
"Tony…he broke." She told him softly.
Tony glanced at Veronica, whose eyes were still locked on Michelle, before following her into the hall.
"What'd he say?" he asked after he'd closed the door behind them.
"Gave us the location of a man in the East End who he was forwarding the files directly to…it looks like Ames was just using him to cover his tracks."
Tony scratched the side of his face and glanced in at Veronica who was staring at her hands folded on the table.
"Does he have an address?"
"Yeah…An apartment. He's been in contact with the guy, Sam Capretta, since the beginning. Chloe's running a background check right now."
"And you think that's all he knows?" he met her eyes with a questioning glance.
She nodded. "We pushed him hard…and I can keep trying if you want…but I think more than anything he was just too scared to admit to it. At the time he didn't realize what he was getting into…"
"Alright, any idea where Jack is?"
"Still at the warehouse LAPD found earlier…he's not sure when he'll be back."
Though she did her best to conceal it, Tony caught the slightly anxious look that washed over her face.
"How's McCarthy doing?"
"Fine…" she assured him. "A little groggy, but the doctor says it'll wear off shortly. We weren't at it for long…"
Tony sighed. "Someone needs to take him to the address and see if he can make contact with Capretta…"
"I know."
"Call tactical, have them gather a unit for backup…I'll take him myself."
She swallowed hard. "No problem."
Michelle started to walk back to Interrogation and frowned when Tony didn't follow her.
"Are you coming?"
"No um…" he bit his lip. "Can you talk to McCarthy for me?"
"Sure…but - "
He inclined his head towards the door of the Holding room.
"I'm gonna talk to her."
"'Kay…" she turned on her heel and headed for Interrogation.
"How are you feeling?" Michelle asked as she stepped back inside the room.
"Better…" he grumbled. "Do we get to go home now?"
She winced internally.
"Not yet. We need you to go with one of our tactical teams to the address you gave us and talk to the person you were sending the files to."
"Why would I do that?" he growled.
She crossed the room slowly and sat down in front of them.
"So you'll be free from prosecution…" she stated simply. "Do this…and it'll be like the whole thing never happened."
"What about Veronica?"
"She can stay here until you get back."
He considered this carefully before nodding slowly.
"When do we leave?"
"Veronica, we need to take your fiancé to an address he gave us in East LA." Tony explained easily as he sat back down across from her.
"Why does he have to go?" she asked anxiously.
"We need to make contact with a lead he gave us."
She fidgeted nervously with her sweater.
"Is it dangerous? I mean come on…These people work with terrorists…" she trailed off nervously.
"We're taking all the necessary precautions…" he assured her softly.
"Who's going?"
He leaned back in his chair. "I am; with one of our tactical teams."
Veronica nodded slowly, tears brimming in her eyes.
"Will you…take care of him for me?" she started to cry again and then added quietly: "Please… I just…I really love him and I don't know what I'd do if anything…" her head fell into her hands as she broke down in sobs.
"It'll be fine." He reached over hesitantly and patted her shoulder.
She nodded and wiped her eyes.
"If you need anything ask the security guard to speak with Michelle Dessler."
"Is that the woman who was in there with Mike when they were…?"
Tony didn't answer.
"I don't want her anywhere near me." Veronica spat.
He turned back around to face her with a slightly raised eyebrow.
"If you need anything tell security."
"Alright."
Tony was emerging from Holding when he caught Michelle approaching him.
"Tactical is assembled. McCarthy is ready for transport. Chloe set him up with a camera and a microphone that should be undetectable…"
"Thanks."
"We'll have constant communication the entire time you're out there and if there's any sort of issue the field teams will be less than 20 seconds out."
"Alright." He approached the glass doors and turned to face her finally.
"I'll uh…see you when I get back, then."
She gulped; the nerves having long since appeared in her stomach and her throat feeling dry and scratchy.
"Yeah…Good luck..."