Jack couldn't get the image of Kim out of his head; her hair lank and lifeless, the dress on her too skinny frame looking several sizes too large. But it was her demenour which shocked him the most. She moved as if old, her balance unsteady. Helen hadn't taken her arm for sisterly comfort but to offer a support. Christ, what's happened?

Once a month a package would arrive with updates and photos of Kim and her family. The last package held an extra bonus with a disk of Angie's fifth birthday party and he had watched the DVD over and over. The sound of their happy laughter brought tears to his eyes, he missed them so much. But last week no package arrived and his emergency signals remained unanswered. So here he was, and he wanted answers.

The security lights came on as the garage doors began to open and he watched and waited for his chance as the black BMW reversed down the driveway and quietly purred away into the night. With a whir of automatic gears the garage doors began to descend and Jack ran silently across the paved courtyard and rolled under the doors into the garage. A black SUV looked huge under the bright lights and he remained crouched beside it until the lights had clicked off and his eyes adjusted to the near pitch dark.

A line of light illustrated the house door and he made his way over to it and listened for any sounds, but the house remained silent. Twisting the door handle he was pleased to find it unlocked. Slipping through the door he could hear the dishwasher as it hummed through it's drying cycle but that was the only sound.

Following the lights, he found a Cubs game playing on the large screen TV in the den with the sound muted. Tony was absorbed in some papers at his desk while the fax machine still churned out more. Tony glanced up and did a double take when he saw Jack, "Jesus Jack, you shouldn't be here."

"I wouldn't need to be if you'd kept your word. You said you'd look after them for me Tony... I've just been to the house and they look like refugees damnit."

"It hasn't been easy for anyone Jack, they-"

"What's happened to Chase?"

Tony sighed, he had been dreading having to provide Jack with an explanation. "Come and sit down. There's lots to explain and I can't do it with you pacing around." He rose from the desk and took a bottle and two glasses from the cabinet. Pouring generous measures of the malt whiskey he said, "I know how you must be feeling Jack."

"Don't dare to patronise me Tony! I've been getting monthly reports for the last six months and then nothing, silence. I try to contact you and again nothing. I go to my daughter's home and they appear ill. Facts Tony, I want facts. So where's Chase?"

"He's missing... vanished ... he left for work one morning and never arrived. His car was found two days later but there's been no sign of him. The cops put it down to a husband having itchy feet in a cold marriage and say he'll turn up when he's ready." Tony glanced across, unsure how this news would be received.

"Itchy feet, cold marriage? Start at the beginning," Jack pleaded.

"Look Jack, we all knew Kim would take news of your death hard, but she closed down completely. Chase was great with her but she ... Jack she was pregnant," he glanced over at Jack, uncertain whether to continue when Jack bent over, his eyes closed.

Hoping to get it over with, Tony began speaking quickly,"She was two months pregnant but they hadn't told anyone, they were planning to tell you that weekend when you came to LA with Heller. Instead they were informed of your death and then handed an urn with your ashes. Kim went to pieces. Everyone; Chase, Michelle, Chloe, Chase's sister, they all tried to help her but in the end she needed to be hospitalised and she had a miscarriage."

Jack looked coldly at Tony, doing his best to remain dispassionate as he gathered the needed intel, "And the rest?"

"She came out of hospital and seemed to be getting better. She was seeing a therapist and putting some weight back on when Chase vanished and well... Jack she lost her father, her baby and her husband in a short space of time. It's a lot of pain."

"You think I don't realise that?... How long since Chase went missing?"

Tony stared down at his drink, unwilling to watch Jack as he absorbed the facts, "Three weeks, almost four."

Jack jumped to his feet and Tony looked up silently as Jack strode towards him. He thought he was about to be hit and really he couldn't blame him, but instead Jack leaned over him, his voice breaking "Why the hell didn't you tell me? You promised Tony... you promised to help my family." Jack's arms rose over his head in despair and he wrapped them around his head before bending suddenly, about to be sick.

The dry heaves eventually stopping, Tony tried to finish up, "Hundreds of husbands disappear every week in California, it's hard to get the police interested unless there are signs of a crime. I tried to get CTU involved but as Chase doesn't work there anymore it was halted by Division. Chloe and Edgar have both been helping on their own time."

Tony stood up and moved back from his desk, feeling uncomfortable at having Jack stand over him. "Chase's work offered a $10,000 reward for his safe return and Kim upped it to $100,000 -" Seeing Jack's look of surprise, Tony added softly, "Kim got a bit over $1 million from your life insurance -" Tony faltered at the realisation that with Jack back alive, questions would now be asked about insurance fraud. He shook his head, trying to dispell the growing ache pounding behind his eyes.

Continuing on, he said," But all the reward has done is get all the UFO and conspiracy theorists jumping up and down. We've engaged a private eye but still nothing there yet ... Trust me Jack, we've done everything possible. I didn't want to tell you because I knew this is what you'd do. You're not helping yourself or your family by being here. Sighing heavily, Tony said, "Anyhow, I hoped maybe the cops were right and Chase would simply walk in the door one day."

Jack was furious and let it show, "Christ Tony, Chase is the most loyal person I know and he loves Kim and Angie, he'd never just abandon them. Did he give any indication he'd leave?... any hint?"

"Not to me, no. But he was really upset about your death, not just because he's your son-in-law, but at the manner in which everything was handled. He keep badgering CTU with lots of questions until finally I told him to stop. We had a big argument and we didn't speak after that." Not that we ever did talk much, he's always been quiet around me, he felt like adding. But Jack had always cut Chase a lot of slack, more than he did for anyone else apart from Kim, so he wisely kept silent.

"And so that's it?" asked Jack. "We do nothing?" He began pacing again, unable to stand still.

Tony sighed and returned to his desk, "I asked David over at CSI to run Chase's car through their system. It took some time as they had the scheduled work to complete first. The report was coming in just as you arrived." He picked up the papers from the fax machine and scanned through quickly. "Oh, here's something," he looked at the page, frowning.

"Jack!"

Alerted by his tone Jack reached for the paper and read down the page carefully until he saw the final item and as he read, the hairs on the back of his neck rose in trepidation.

Located upper right dashboard: one tuft of surgical thread, braided silk, triple AAA quality. Tied in a complex knot known as the 'Surgeon's Loop'

"Liz." Jack whispered.

But Tony was still focused on the final page, "Jack, they've identified the knot, it's used in fly fishing. The official name is 'Surgeon's Loop', but it's more commonly known as 'Jack's Lure'."