Thursday, December 21, 2006
When Fiction Meets Reality - Pt. 18
Their conversation went from one topic to the other while Jack drove at a steady speed. They reached the address Kiefer had given him about 45 minutes later and the first thing Jack noticed was the extra team. They were already there standing by, keeping a close eye on Sarah and her mother. He parked the car out front and knew the men would be running his license plate. Upon finding out it was one of their vehicles, they would call in and get confirmation who was driving it and whether or not they had clearance to be here.
Everybody got out of the car and Jack retrieved Molly, handing her over to Kiefer as he came around the car. They flanked him, escorting him to the door and waiting until someone came to open.
"DAD!" Sarah yelled and she flung herself at him.
Molly stayed out of the way until she calmed down, knowing she'd get her attention later and Jack and Tony kept their eyes on the street.
The back-up team flashed the headlights once and Jack acknowledged it. The area was secure, they had two teams on the street along with him and Tony. If anything happened now, they would have to be coming in full force to get to Kiefer or his daughter.
Sarah finally let go of Kiefer and let them all in.
Kiefer introduced everybody and Sarah shook Jack's hand with vigour, displaying some of her father's strength, and thanked him again.
They went into the back and Kiefer unhooked the leash, letting Molly run freely, she knew her way around.
"What's this dad?" Sarah asked, noticing the bandage on her father's head.
"I hit my head."
"Looks like it. Does it hurt?"
"Not anymore honey, don't worry."
"Where's your mom?"
"Upstairs. Want me to go get her."
"No, that's okay, I suppose she's busy."
"Yeah, I suppose." Sarah replied quietly.
"Do you wanna go for a walk?"
Kiefer looked at Jack before answering.
"Sure." he said, having gotten the ok from Jack.
"Here Molly." he called.
"Let your mom know."
"MOM …" Sarah yelled loudly, "I'm going for a walk with dad."
"I did mean for you to go upstairs and tell her." Kiefer said, rolling his eyes.
"I know." Sarah replied, grabbing her purse, "I didn't feel like it."
"So I noticed."
Sarah hooked her arm in his and almost pulled him back to the front door.
"I'm going crazy here dad, I want to stay with you for a few days."
"You can't honey." Kiefer said quietly.
"Not until this thing is over, I don't want anything to happen to you."
"I wouldn't forgive myself."
"Why would anything happen to me dad? Do you really think they'll hurt us?"
"I'm afraid I have to answer yes to that honey. These people aren't here because someone's playing a prank on me. They're here because this is serious."
"And the last thing I would want is for you to get hurt because of me. So, for now, you'll have to stay with your mom."
"Okay." Sarah sighed.
"How long are you staying?"
"All day if you want."
"Could you stay over?"
"I don't think so honey, I didn't travel alone and I doubt your mom would agree to put all of us up."
"Oh dad." Sarah moaned complainingly, "I miss you."
"I know honey, and I miss you too, but for now, it's too dangerous to be together."
"I hate that."
"So do I honey, so do I." Kiefer said, pulling her closer to him.
Jack and Tony were a few steps behind, the first team a few yards behind them, the second team stayed near the house.
They reached a park and Kiefer let Molly run freely. She had been a good girl in the car and needed to stretch her paws a little. She darted off and kept running back and forth, following them as they walked through the park. When Kiefer and Sarah took a seat on a bench, Jack and Tony split up and stayed a few yards away from them, covering them from all sides while giving them the privacy they needed. They hadn't seen each other in over two months and Jack could understand how much they needed some time together. He hadn't seen his own daughter for 2 days and she had almost brought tears to his eyes that morning when she said she missed him.
They stayed on the bench for quite some time, talking softly, joking and laughing a lot, but with more serious moments as well. Moments when Kiefer would pull his daughter to him, holding her close to him to comfort her, or offer his support, or maybe console her. Jack took care of distracting Molly and he played fetch with her for a while, keeping her away from Kiefer and Sarah.
A few people came by, a few joggers, mothers pushing a stroller, people walking their dogs. Molly played with all of them, but responded to Jack whenever he called her back, making it seem like she was his dog instead of Kiefer's. If anything at all, it would keep other dog owners from talking to Kiefer.
When they got up almost an hour later, Kiefer signalled to Jack and he went over.
"I'm starving." Kiefer started, "Is it okay if we go for an early lunch?"
"Sure it is. Where to?"
"There's a nice Italian about half a block away. Di Palmero."
"Which way?"
"South."
Jack pulled out his cell and called the agent who was pretending to be making out with his girlfriend about a hundred feet away. The man answered on the second ring.
"We're going to an Italian restaurant, half a block south from here, Di Palmero. Check it out and get a table."
"Tell them to get one in the garden." Kiefer said quickly.
"Did you get that?"
"Copy that sir." the agent replied.
"Let's take another stroll around, give them a chance to get there and check out the place." Jack said to Kiefer, pocketing his phone again.
Kiefer put his arm around Sarah's shoulders and walked off with Molly jumping up and down around him.
"Molly stop it, you played already." Kiefer scolded but Molly barked in response.
She had played, yes, but not with him. He knew he wasn't going to get away with it and told her to go find a stick. She came back with one and Kiefer threw it a few times, then called it quits and told her to go play with Jack again. She came straight at him and dropped the stick at his feet, then proceeded to dance around his feet barking until he picked it up and threw it.
"Whose dog was it again?" Jack called to Kiefer.
"Not mine." Kiefer replied with a smile. "She's all yours today. She seems to obey you more than she does me anyway."
"Dogs know it when you love them." Jack teased.
"Blow me." Kiefer replied barely loud enough for Jack to hear.
"No thanks, I don't do that." Jack replied, throwing the stick for Molly again.
They played some more, but then Jack called it quits and told her to heel, which she did. She stayed by his side all the way to the restaurant, but Kiefer hooked her up before going in. They didn't need to ask for a table in the garden, Luigi, the owner offered it to them and Kiefer accepted.
"You won't be alone." Luigi said.
"I know." Kiefer replied, motioning towards Jack and Tony.
Luigi understood at once and took them out to the garden.
They ordered their lunch and Jack saw Kiefer slip a painkiller into his mouth, washing it down with some water. Sarah hadn't noticed anything as she was busy trying to get Molly to stay with her for a change. Molly finally dropped next to Sarah's chair and stayed. Luigi came out with a bowl of water and placed it to the side so nobody could tip it over.
The food came shortly after and they enjoyed their meal, talking about all kinds of things.
Sarah was determined to spend as much time with her father and would have none of his excuses. She finally got him to promise he'd stay all day, they'd have dinner together and he'd leave afterwards. She tried to convince him to let her come home with him, but he wouldn't be budged on that, it was far too dangerous.
Halfway through lunch, Jack's cellphone buzzed and he excused himself to take the call.
"Bauer."
"This is Lyland."
The man sounded excited.
"What have you got?"
"The man who was supposed to cover for the one on his break yesterday."
Lyland paused, he wanted to make sure he had Jack's complete attention.
"What about him?"
"He called in sick today."
Jack's breath caught in his throat.
"I tried calling him, I can't reach him on his cell. So I pulled up his address and went over but he's unknown at that address."
"How can that be?" Jack asked, "He's a security officer and nobody bothered to check out the veracity of the information on his application?"
"We don't have a habit of checking up on the living conditions of our personnel, as long as they have a valid address we can send their mail to."
"His mail, that's it. Did you check if he was getting it forwarded?"
"How would I find that out on a Saturday morning?"
"You said he was unknown at the address, does that mean he doesn't live there, or does it mean the person who does live there, doesn't know him."
"She said she'd never seen him."
"Did you get her name?"
"Yes. Lisa-Marie Huntington."
"Okay, thank you for your help."
"Did I?"
"Yes, you did. One more thing. The guard's name."
"Marc Heyes."
"Thank you Mr. Lyland, you have been a great help."
Jack ended the conversation and punched in Nina's number. Jamey picked up.
"Jamey, it's Jack. Where's Nina?"
"Interrogating Lettis."
"Still?"
"Yeah, she's gone back a few times, she said something about letting him stew."
"Perfect. I need you to look up two names for me Jamey. See if you can link them together or to either Bonney or Princeton."
"Okay Jack."
"Do we have anything else on Princeton?"
"No, he's not talking."
"Dammit. Thanks Jamey, keep me posted and ask Nina to call me if she's got something."
"Will do boss."
When Jack returned to the table, everybody was looking at him expectantly, but he knew he had to be careful what to say in front of Sarah, she didn't know how bad this thing was and he didn't want to be the one to let her know.
"That was Lyland, the guy called in sick today, I put Jamey on it."
Both Tony and Kiefer reacted to that little bit of info.
Both knew the pieces were starting to fall together.
Both knew they would have to be extremely careful from now on.
Both knew better than to say anything at the time.
They waited for Sarah to go to the ladies' room to ask questions.
"Talk to me Jack." Kiefer said when she was out of hearing range.
"The guard called in sick today, so Lyland tried to call him, but couldn't get through. He drove over to the address the guard had given and the woman there said she had never seen the man. I got both names and I gave them to Jamey to see if she could match them together or link either of them to Bonney or Princeton."
"So it's all linked." Kiefer said softly.
"I want more protection for Sarah."
"I already took care of that." Jack replied.
"When will they be here?"
"They're already at the house, I requested an extra team after the incident this morning."
"Why?" Kiefer asked, his clear blue gaze locking on Jack's, almost piercing through him.
"They're threatening to kill her if you don't get Princeton released."
"Oh my god." Kiefer exclaimed softly.
His eyes went blank for a moment. But when the feelings returned to them, it was the purest of rage Jack saw displayed in them.
"If those sick sons of bitches go anywhere near her, I'll tear this goddamned planet apart to find them." he snarled.
"I don't give a fuck how long it takes, but I will find every single one of those bastards and I'll bury them so deep you'd have to blow the fucking planet up to find them again."
"We could always take her to a safe-house." Jack suggested, "But it would mean she won't go to school, she won't see any of her friends, she won't have any of her things and she might not be very eager to understand the necessity of all that."
"Protective custody you mean?" Kiefer asked.
He was considering it and the possibility of taking Sarah away from all this and put her somewhere safe, calmed him down.
"That's what they call it."
"Could you make that happen?"
"Yes."
"I'll talk to her."
"I won't let those bastards touch my baby."
"Neither will I." Jack said quietly.
Kiefer met his eyes and saw the strength of his conviction reflected in them. He knew beyond a doubt Jack would do anything he had to in order to keep them safe and once again he felt the soothing effect the knowledge Jack was watching out for him had on him. His anger died down and by the time Sarah came back from the ladies' room there was hardly any of it left. All that was left was his sickening worry about his daughter. The one person in his life that meant the most to him. He would do absolutely anything to keep her safe, protect her, shield her. She needed him to be there for her, he had already missed too much of her life to not be there for her now that they had found each other again. He knew deep in his heart he would kill if that was what it took to protect her.
They managed to get through the rest of lunch without letting Sarah know something was wrong and when they left, Kiefer picked up the tabs for both tables. Jack knew better than to argue.
They went back to the park and Kiefer found a bench where they could sit down and talk in peace. The four agents stayed close, but not too close, giving Kiefer the space and privacy he needed, but providing him with enough cover to make him feel safe.
"You want me to do what dad?" Sarah exclaimed after Kiefer explained about the safe-house.
"It would only be a few days honey."
"Will you be there too?"
"No honey, I won't."
"But why not? You're the one who's getting all these threats. You should be the one who's getting protection, not me."
"Honey, they're saying they'll hurt you." Kiefer said quietly, taking her hands in his.
"I don't want anything to happen to you."
"Would he be there?" Sarah asked, pointing to Jack.
"I don't think so honey, he's trying to find these people and I trust him to stop them."
"But he can't be protecting you and finding them at the same time."
"Then I won't do it."
"Sarah please."
"No dad, I don't want to go hide in some stupid place with a bunch of people I don't even know."
"Sarah please. I'll never forgive myself if anything happens to you because of me."
"Then make sure they find them before anything does."
Everybody got out of the car and Jack retrieved Molly, handing her over to Kiefer as he came around the car. They flanked him, escorting him to the door and waiting until someone came to open.
"DAD!" Sarah yelled and she flung herself at him.
Molly stayed out of the way until she calmed down, knowing she'd get her attention later and Jack and Tony kept their eyes on the street.
The back-up team flashed the headlights once and Jack acknowledged it. The area was secure, they had two teams on the street along with him and Tony. If anything happened now, they would have to be coming in full force to get to Kiefer or his daughter.
Sarah finally let go of Kiefer and let them all in.
Kiefer introduced everybody and Sarah shook Jack's hand with vigour, displaying some of her father's strength, and thanked him again.
They went into the back and Kiefer unhooked the leash, letting Molly run freely, she knew her way around.
"What's this dad?" Sarah asked, noticing the bandage on her father's head.
"I hit my head."
"Looks like it. Does it hurt?"
"Not anymore honey, don't worry."
"Where's your mom?"
"Upstairs. Want me to go get her."
"No, that's okay, I suppose she's busy."
"Yeah, I suppose." Sarah replied quietly.
"Do you wanna go for a walk?"
Kiefer looked at Jack before answering.
"Sure." he said, having gotten the ok from Jack.
"Here Molly." he called.
"Let your mom know."
"MOM …" Sarah yelled loudly, "I'm going for a walk with dad."
"I did mean for you to go upstairs and tell her." Kiefer said, rolling his eyes.
"I know." Sarah replied, grabbing her purse, "I didn't feel like it."
"So I noticed."
Sarah hooked her arm in his and almost pulled him back to the front door.
"I'm going crazy here dad, I want to stay with you for a few days."
"You can't honey." Kiefer said quietly.
"Not until this thing is over, I don't want anything to happen to you."
"I wouldn't forgive myself."
"Why would anything happen to me dad? Do you really think they'll hurt us?"
"I'm afraid I have to answer yes to that honey. These people aren't here because someone's playing a prank on me. They're here because this is serious."
"And the last thing I would want is for you to get hurt because of me. So, for now, you'll have to stay with your mom."
"Okay." Sarah sighed.
"How long are you staying?"
"All day if you want."
"Could you stay over?"
"I don't think so honey, I didn't travel alone and I doubt your mom would agree to put all of us up."
"Oh dad." Sarah moaned complainingly, "I miss you."
"I know honey, and I miss you too, but for now, it's too dangerous to be together."
"I hate that."
"So do I honey, so do I." Kiefer said, pulling her closer to him.
Jack and Tony were a few steps behind, the first team a few yards behind them, the second team stayed near the house.
They reached a park and Kiefer let Molly run freely. She had been a good girl in the car and needed to stretch her paws a little. She darted off and kept running back and forth, following them as they walked through the park. When Kiefer and Sarah took a seat on a bench, Jack and Tony split up and stayed a few yards away from them, covering them from all sides while giving them the privacy they needed. They hadn't seen each other in over two months and Jack could understand how much they needed some time together. He hadn't seen his own daughter for 2 days and she had almost brought tears to his eyes that morning when she said she missed him.
They stayed on the bench for quite some time, talking softly, joking and laughing a lot, but with more serious moments as well. Moments when Kiefer would pull his daughter to him, holding her close to him to comfort her, or offer his support, or maybe console her. Jack took care of distracting Molly and he played fetch with her for a while, keeping her away from Kiefer and Sarah.
A few people came by, a few joggers, mothers pushing a stroller, people walking their dogs. Molly played with all of them, but responded to Jack whenever he called her back, making it seem like she was his dog instead of Kiefer's. If anything at all, it would keep other dog owners from talking to Kiefer.
When they got up almost an hour later, Kiefer signalled to Jack and he went over.
"I'm starving." Kiefer started, "Is it okay if we go for an early lunch?"
"Sure it is. Where to?"
"There's a nice Italian about half a block away. Di Palmero."
"Which way?"
"South."
Jack pulled out his cell and called the agent who was pretending to be making out with his girlfriend about a hundred feet away. The man answered on the second ring.
"We're going to an Italian restaurant, half a block south from here, Di Palmero. Check it out and get a table."
"Tell them to get one in the garden." Kiefer said quickly.
"Did you get that?"
"Copy that sir." the agent replied.
"Let's take another stroll around, give them a chance to get there and check out the place." Jack said to Kiefer, pocketing his phone again.
Kiefer put his arm around Sarah's shoulders and walked off with Molly jumping up and down around him.
"Molly stop it, you played already." Kiefer scolded but Molly barked in response.
She had played, yes, but not with him. He knew he wasn't going to get away with it and told her to go find a stick. She came back with one and Kiefer threw it a few times, then called it quits and told her to go play with Jack again. She came straight at him and dropped the stick at his feet, then proceeded to dance around his feet barking until he picked it up and threw it.
"Whose dog was it again?" Jack called to Kiefer.
"Not mine." Kiefer replied with a smile. "She's all yours today. She seems to obey you more than she does me anyway."
"Dogs know it when you love them." Jack teased.
"Blow me." Kiefer replied barely loud enough for Jack to hear.
"No thanks, I don't do that." Jack replied, throwing the stick for Molly again.
They played some more, but then Jack called it quits and told her to heel, which she did. She stayed by his side all the way to the restaurant, but Kiefer hooked her up before going in. They didn't need to ask for a table in the garden, Luigi, the owner offered it to them and Kiefer accepted.
"You won't be alone." Luigi said.
"I know." Kiefer replied, motioning towards Jack and Tony.
Luigi understood at once and took them out to the garden.
They ordered their lunch and Jack saw Kiefer slip a painkiller into his mouth, washing it down with some water. Sarah hadn't noticed anything as she was busy trying to get Molly to stay with her for a change. Molly finally dropped next to Sarah's chair and stayed. Luigi came out with a bowl of water and placed it to the side so nobody could tip it over.
The food came shortly after and they enjoyed their meal, talking about all kinds of things.
Sarah was determined to spend as much time with her father and would have none of his excuses. She finally got him to promise he'd stay all day, they'd have dinner together and he'd leave afterwards. She tried to convince him to let her come home with him, but he wouldn't be budged on that, it was far too dangerous.
Halfway through lunch, Jack's cellphone buzzed and he excused himself to take the call.
"Bauer."
"This is Lyland."
The man sounded excited.
"What have you got?"
"The man who was supposed to cover for the one on his break yesterday."
Lyland paused, he wanted to make sure he had Jack's complete attention.
"What about him?"
"He called in sick today."
Jack's breath caught in his throat.
"I tried calling him, I can't reach him on his cell. So I pulled up his address and went over but he's unknown at that address."
"How can that be?" Jack asked, "He's a security officer and nobody bothered to check out the veracity of the information on his application?"
"We don't have a habit of checking up on the living conditions of our personnel, as long as they have a valid address we can send their mail to."
"His mail, that's it. Did you check if he was getting it forwarded?"
"How would I find that out on a Saturday morning?"
"You said he was unknown at the address, does that mean he doesn't live there, or does it mean the person who does live there, doesn't know him."
"She said she'd never seen him."
"Did you get her name?"
"Yes. Lisa-Marie Huntington."
"Okay, thank you for your help."
"Did I?"
"Yes, you did. One more thing. The guard's name."
"Marc Heyes."
"Thank you Mr. Lyland, you have been a great help."
Jack ended the conversation and punched in Nina's number. Jamey picked up.
"Jamey, it's Jack. Where's Nina?"
"Interrogating Lettis."
"Still?"
"Yeah, she's gone back a few times, she said something about letting him stew."
"Perfect. I need you to look up two names for me Jamey. See if you can link them together or to either Bonney or Princeton."
"Okay Jack."
"Do we have anything else on Princeton?"
"No, he's not talking."
"Dammit. Thanks Jamey, keep me posted and ask Nina to call me if she's got something."
"Will do boss."
When Jack returned to the table, everybody was looking at him expectantly, but he knew he had to be careful what to say in front of Sarah, she didn't know how bad this thing was and he didn't want to be the one to let her know.
"That was Lyland, the guy called in sick today, I put Jamey on it."
Both Tony and Kiefer reacted to that little bit of info.
Both knew the pieces were starting to fall together.
Both knew they would have to be extremely careful from now on.
Both knew better than to say anything at the time.
They waited for Sarah to go to the ladies' room to ask questions.
"Talk to me Jack." Kiefer said when she was out of hearing range.
"The guard called in sick today, so Lyland tried to call him, but couldn't get through. He drove over to the address the guard had given and the woman there said she had never seen the man. I got both names and I gave them to Jamey to see if she could match them together or link either of them to Bonney or Princeton."
"So it's all linked." Kiefer said softly.
"I want more protection for Sarah."
"I already took care of that." Jack replied.
"When will they be here?"
"They're already at the house, I requested an extra team after the incident this morning."
"Why?" Kiefer asked, his clear blue gaze locking on Jack's, almost piercing through him.
"They're threatening to kill her if you don't get Princeton released."
"Oh my god." Kiefer exclaimed softly.
His eyes went blank for a moment. But when the feelings returned to them, it was the purest of rage Jack saw displayed in them.
"If those sick sons of bitches go anywhere near her, I'll tear this goddamned planet apart to find them." he snarled.
"I don't give a fuck how long it takes, but I will find every single one of those bastards and I'll bury them so deep you'd have to blow the fucking planet up to find them again."
"We could always take her to a safe-house." Jack suggested, "But it would mean she won't go to school, she won't see any of her friends, she won't have any of her things and she might not be very eager to understand the necessity of all that."
"Protective custody you mean?" Kiefer asked.
He was considering it and the possibility of taking Sarah away from all this and put her somewhere safe, calmed him down.
"That's what they call it."
"Could you make that happen?"
"Yes."
"I'll talk to her."
"I won't let those bastards touch my baby."
"Neither will I." Jack said quietly.
Kiefer met his eyes and saw the strength of his conviction reflected in them. He knew beyond a doubt Jack would do anything he had to in order to keep them safe and once again he felt the soothing effect the knowledge Jack was watching out for him had on him. His anger died down and by the time Sarah came back from the ladies' room there was hardly any of it left. All that was left was his sickening worry about his daughter. The one person in his life that meant the most to him. He would do absolutely anything to keep her safe, protect her, shield her. She needed him to be there for her, he had already missed too much of her life to not be there for her now that they had found each other again. He knew deep in his heart he would kill if that was what it took to protect her.
They managed to get through the rest of lunch without letting Sarah know something was wrong and when they left, Kiefer picked up the tabs for both tables. Jack knew better than to argue.
They went back to the park and Kiefer found a bench where they could sit down and talk in peace. The four agents stayed close, but not too close, giving Kiefer the space and privacy he needed, but providing him with enough cover to make him feel safe.
"You want me to do what dad?" Sarah exclaimed after Kiefer explained about the safe-house.
"It would only be a few days honey."
"Will you be there too?"
"No honey, I won't."
"But why not? You're the one who's getting all these threats. You should be the one who's getting protection, not me."
"Honey, they're saying they'll hurt you." Kiefer said quietly, taking her hands in his.
"I don't want anything to happen to you."
"Would he be there?" Sarah asked, pointing to Jack.
"I don't think so honey, he's trying to find these people and I trust him to stop them."
"But he can't be protecting you and finding them at the same time."
"Then I won't do it."
"Sarah please."
"No dad, I don't want to go hide in some stupid place with a bunch of people I don't even know."
"Sarah please. I'll never forgive myself if anything happens to you because of me."
"Then make sure they find them before anything does."
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