Showered and dressed, Jack carried the breakfast tray out to the kitchen where he found 'the team' working at the table, all focused on their laptops. "It looks like CTU in here," he joked.
Tony barely looked up from his screen, "We have more on Liz and it doesn't look good."
Jack unloaded the tray and pulled up a chair next to Tony who rapidly ran through the facts. "Liz, or Maggie as she's been calling herself, sold the house in Arizona and moved to Tahoe. I guess she needed to move as Maggie's friends would have realised she was an imposter."
He scanned through some files rapidly, then slowed again, "Judging by her credit card bills she's been doing lots of reading over the last few year. She's bought books on meditation, the human mind, mind games and lateral thinking problems, brainwashing, Tahoe history, the Donner Party, hiking guides, sex manuals."
Chloe took over, "Six months ago she had three weeks in China, most of her time was spent in Beijing."
"And," added Edgar, "She has about $200 in international calls to China a month, but last month it spiked to $500."
"So she's working with the Chinese to get me," Jack stood and began pacing in front of the window.
"Maybe not," pointed out Michelle, "The Chinese angle could be something else entirely. One of the books she bought is 'To Cleanse the Mind', by Richard Turner. He's an American psychologist who claims you can brainwash a subject in only two weeks by using chemicals with an overlay of audio/visual. He was a Major in the army but had a dishonourable discharge, the records are sealed." Turning to Chloe, she said, "Perhaps you can find out more there?"
Michelle continued, "Turner now works for the Chinese military and he's based in Beijing. Possibly Liz met him there."
Jack nodded, "Her father was a Major in the army, I wonder if the two Majors knew each other? Something else for you to check up on please Chloe."
"Okay, I'm working on it," she scowled, trying not to show how pleased she was that she was needed.
"So where's all her money coming from?" asked Jack.
"We don't know exactly. She gets royalties from Maggie's cook book sales, and she did okay from the sale of the house, but she must have other income too."
Edgar looked up, "She has an account with a video company in San Francisco. They do mainly gay and lesbian S&M but last year they were investigated for allegations of child pornography and snuff films. But nothing could be proven. She's got a credit of over $10,000 with them, but I can't tell yet how she's making the money."
"It seems she hasn't mellowed any over time," mused Tony.
'No," said Jack with a sigh. "Look, I'm going out for a bit, I won't be long."
Jack parked the car across the street from the house and sat, undecided. He had called to check if it was okay to visit, but he could still back out. He replayed Michelle's words, Fate, it's not something you play with. But isn't that what he'd been doing all those years at CTU... changing people's fates? No, fate is what happens when you sit back and do nothing and he was damned if he was going to sit back and let the FBI screw up Chase's rescue.
As he went to knock on the door he couldn't suppress a shiver of fear. Liz had held Chase for 27 days now, what hell was she doing to him this time?
The door was opened by a jovial looking man in his late 40's. Barefoot and waving a dripping paintbrush, he looked Jack over. "I don't suppose you're the painter who failed to arrive two days ago?"
Shaking his head, he said, "No sorry, I'm Jack, we spoke on the phone."
"Come on in, I'm Adam, Mama's expecting you." Shaking his hand, he said, "She can't see well, but she's still sharp so don't let her looks fool you. Now, it's best of you don't touch her, that interferes with the connection. Did you bring something from your missing son?"
Jack pulled out a print of Chase, Kim and Angie taken off the the birthday party DVD. "He hasn't touched the photo, I hope it will do."
Careful not to touch it, Adam looked at the photo, "That should be fine. It's a nice looking family, I hope you find him soon."
"Thank you."
Jack was directed to walk through to the rear of the house into the sunroom. Filled with plants and bright sunlight, it took a moment for him to see the tiny woman down on her hands and knees as she pulled a few weeds from a large tub of ferns. "You must be Jack," she said, rising slowly and carefully to her feet. "I'm Rosie. Come and sit down young man and tell me your pain."
Jack waited until she was seated before pulling up a chair at the table beside her. Placing the photo next to her, he said, "My son-in-law Chase is missing. We're anxious to get him home."
Rosie looked at Jack for a long moment and he wondered how much she could see with her clouded eyes. Picking up the photo she didn't even glance at it, but held it sandwiched between her hands. "There's a lot of love here in this photogragh, but also pain. Pain from before it was taken." She paused and looked across at Jack again, causing him to flush guiltily. She reminded him of an aunt of his who always seemed to know his boyhood secrets.
Closing her eyes, Rosie said, "And there's much more pain since." Placing the photo down, she shook her head, "I can't get a feel of him. There was a strong pull when I got Adam to email you three days ago, but now he's gone."
Jack was scared to ask but Rosie wasn't offering anything further, "What do you mean by gone?... is he dead?"
"No, he's still alive but I could read him before, I saw him clearly even though he was down in the dark. I felt the strength as he fought... but now he's gone quiet."
"His daughter, my granddaughter, that's her in the photo, is it possible she's in touch with him?"
"Possibly, but I'm getting mixed signals. How long ago did she pass away?"
A chill went through Jack at the thought, but his voice was steady as he replied, "She's not dead, I saw her yesterday."
"He thinks they're dead. Everyone. He's surrounded by death. His wife and child here in the photo, a dead unborn son, you... that's why he's gone quiet. He isn't fighting anymore... everyone he loves is dead... and so now he's given up the struggle to live."