07:54am
Audrey let out her breath slowly and folded her hands on the table. She felt like she had forgotten how to breathe since Jack had radioed in. She knew it was vital that she hold it together and remain professional in order to do her job, but she found it harder to block things out than Jack. He had the ability to detach himself from a situation and she admired it greatly, although hadn't always understood it to begin with. She knew she was being too demanding of herself to not worry, but she couldn't get the thought of Jack being hurt out of her head. "I can't believe this is happening to us again," she thought. Although it had only been a couple of hours since she had been lying safely with Jack in bed, it felt like days had passed. She wanted him here with her, just to hold him and touch him and for him to hold her and tell her it was okay.
"Audrey? Audrey did you hear what I just said?" Audrey snapped out of her thoughts and looked up sheepishly, "Sorry, Bill, I must have switched off for a second." Bill placed his hand gently on her shoulder, "I know you're worried about Chloe and Jack, but it is vital that you stay on board." "I'm sorry, Bill, what did you say?" Bill removed his hand and furrowed his brow, "We've just received information from the Cabinet that the President's Chief of Staff Tom Lennox had not returned home yesterday evening and they have been unable to reach him. His wife just called in to raise alarm as she awoke this morning to find the house empty. She was immediately worried as it is very uncharacteristic of him and therefore reported it to the Whitehouse immediately." "Oh God, Bill, you don't think….." "That they're using CTU as a distraction method for their primary objective. Yes, I'm afraid so."
08:25am
"Bill, we've secured the area. We're heading back to CTU with 2 hostiles for questioning. Chloe managed to detain the situation long enough and they weren't able to gain access to our system." Bill, Audrey and Karen looked at each other and smiled quickly. "Jack, that's great news, but we've just received information from the Whitehouse that leads us to believe that gaining access to CTU wasn't their primary objective, merely a smoke screen. The Cabinet have just informed us that Chief of Staff Tom Lennox has been reported missing by his wife. He didn't return home yesterday. There are currently no further details, but l will brief you and Curtis fully when you arrive and bring you up to date on the situation." Bill clicked off the phone, "Audrey, inform everyone there will be a debrief in the conference room immediately."
(In the helicopter)
"How are you holding up, Chloe?" Jack placed a hand on her shoulder. "They didn't hurt me, Jack, if that's what you mean," Chloe retorted shrugging it off. Jack smiled a quick smile, "Good. Bill is waiting to debrief us when we arrive. CTU have just received information from the Whitehouse that the President's Chief of Staff Tom Lennox didn't return home last night." "How is that any reason for alarm," Chloe scowled. "According to his wife it is extremely out of character for him." "Hmmph, I still don't see how THAT could point towards anything." "Bill will bring us up to speed, Chloe. You did great today." Chloe glanced at him sideways, "It wasn't easy detaining the situation for that long, Jack, I thought I was going to be killed if you took any longer."