Jack had strolled up and down the beach for almost an hour, the events of the day still replaying in his mind. He was thinking about Audrey in particular, wondering whether he had made the right decision to leave her. All he could hear was Heller's voice telling him he was cursed, and while he unfortunately couldn't help but agree, he acknowledged his self-loathing shouldn't stop him from being there for Audrey. He'd gone in circles like this for hours. Was he pushing Audrey away because she deserved better than him? Or because he'd let Heller convince him that was what was best? Now, the sun had risen, and a few joggers were making their way down to the shore. He wasn't quite in solitude anymore, which was probably a sign to stop ruminating. Jack realised that finding a place to live and working through the necessary paperwork so he wasn't legally dead anymore was his biggest priority right now.
He froze as a voice called his name. It was solemn but firm even above the whipping coastal winds. It snapped Jack out of his thinking completely, in an almost jarring way, which made Jack realise it was more than a little familiar.
Turning, he found himself staring at Tony. His presence was the last thing he expected, but he sidelined his shock as he noticed that this wasn't just a cordial visit. He appeared to have lost some weight and was quite fatigued. He'd gotten some of the stubble back and didn't look like he'd been taking very good care of himself. But the seriousness in Tony's eyes begged Jack to listen, like every last bit of determination and strength was being concentrated into his gaze.
"You're alive." Jack breathed.
"I need your help."
There was something so grave in Tony's expression, and somehow, Jack knew whatever it was was serious enough to take precedence over the hows and whys of him not being dead. He recognised it as anger and determination, not lament. And Jack had known Tony for long enough that only one person in this world could take complete hold of his composure like this. It meant, perhaps, that she wasn't dead, either. She was…
"Who has her?"
"Associates of Charles Logan." Tony spat, voice laced with disgust. "They took her from our house and forced her into a coma. Then they took me after Henderson tried to kill me. He 'missed the artery on purpose', apparently. It was all a scheme so they could get information from us. I escaped. I tried to investigate, but when Logan was arrested, all the information I needed was inaccessible when it became evidence."
He furrowed his brow. "Why didn't you go to CTU?"
Tony shook his head. "I couldn't risk it. I couldn't figure out who to trust. I didn't want to tip them off in case they-"
"Did you learn nothing from what happened with Saunders? Chloe was there, even if I wasn't-"
"No, Jack." Tony cut him off gruffly. "That was the first thing I tried to do. We had escaped together. She was barely conscious, and I carried her out of there. But as soon as I called Chloe, they pinged the signal and found us. They knocked us both out and separated us." His voice broke, and there was a twitch in his jaw. "Which was when I knew I couldn't trust anything connected to the government."
Jack was speechless. Yes, he'd come to the same conclusion when he was forced out of hiding, but the fact that this all happened after made him realise that even behind bars, this conspiracy was even more pervasive than he'd believed. Jack tried to apologise, but Tony went on.
"It doesn't matter, Jack. Nobody could have done anything." He said shortly. "The only records left of where she was kept and where I was kept were in Logan's personal belongings. His own wife couldn't access them until recently. I only got the information I needed today from Aaron Pierce on her behalf."
Jack shook his head slowly. He thought back to what he'd learned today about his father and brother, his own flesh and blood, and their role in the conspiracy. It made his blood boil to think they'd probably been complicit in this, too.
"What's Logan's angle here? He can't use the information if he's in custody." He pointed out. "His estate is frozen."
"Come on, Jack. Do you really think that's going to last much longer? Once he's out of house arrest, I'm sure he'll pick up where he left off. I don't know what his endgame was and whether it was beyond money. But what I do know is that he wanted to make us talk. It was never just about pinning Palmer's assassination on you. It was about taking advantage of us and our information." He huffed. "I don't care about that right now. The point is, they're still holding Michelle, and I need your help to find her."
Jack sighed. "What's the plan?"
"I-I have an address. I don't know the full details. I don't know what they've done to her or if she's still even…" He hissed. "I was told seven hostiles were keeping her, but that was an estimate. So, I couldn't risk doing it on my own. When I learned that you were coming back from China today, I knew you were my only chance for back-up who wasn't linked to CTU."
As he walked towards Tony, he could see that he was shaking. He placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go."