|
THREE YEARS LATER
A van makes its way through the streets of Los
Angeles. Inside, men prepare a small bomb. The
vehicle pulls up behind the National Health
Services facility. With gloved hands, the men
unravel a dead body onto the ground and attach
the bomb to the door of the building. They speed
away and detonate the explosion. A security
guard comes to the blown off door and sees the
decomposed body.
Jack enters a federal holding facility in Downey.
He is accompanied by his young Field Ops
partner, Agent Chase Edmunds. They approach
an interrogation room where prisoner Ramon
Salazar is seated. District Attorney Luis Annicon
tells Jack that Salazar plans to give up the
terrorist cells he deals with in return for a reduced
prison sentence. Jack is worried that this deal-
making will hinder the unstable Salazar from
revealing anything. Jack had spent the last year
infiltrating Salazar's drug ring in order to bring
down the terrorists associated with it. Annicon is
insistent that they not sweeten the deal. Salazar
calls out to Jack from the two-way mirror. "The
things you did to get me here, I wouldn't wish on
anyone," he says. Salazar's lawyer Shaye hands
him a pen to sign the deal. Salazar takes the pen
and stabs Shaye in the throat. As the guards pull
him off, Salazar tells Jack, "This is your fault.
What happens next is on you too." Chase lunges
at Salazar, but Jack restrains him.
A Hazmat team encases the body at the National
Health Services complex. Dr. Sunny Macer from
the facility is informed that her name was written
on duct tape attached to the chest of the body.
Dr. Macer recognizes the virus on the body. It is
a strain her group at Health Services has been
simulating. She orders that they notify Director
Tony Almeida at CTU.
At CTU, analyst Adam Kaufman complains to his
boss Tony about another co-worker. Tony tells
Adam to lighten up. Tony's wife Michelle lets him
know that Dr. Macer is on the line for him.
Michelle is antsy about a job offer that will allow
her to follow Tony. Dr. Macer warns Tony that
someone dropped off a body carrying a strain of
a pneumatic virus. It is a strong possibility that
this was a message from someone who is willing
to unleash it on the public. Tony asks her for the
body's blood work so that CTU can make an
identification. Tony then gives Michelle the task
of setting a level one protocol search.
Jack, Chase and Annicon analyze the security
footage from the interrogation room. Jack
questions why Salazar chose today to kill his
lawyer. Jack phones Tony and asks if anything
unusual is going on. Tony gives him the news
about a possible bio-threat from the body at
Health Services. Tony wonders if it might be
connected to Salazar.
Palmer's limousine arrives at the University of
Southern California to a throng of reporters and a
cheering crowd. This is the first time that the
President has been in Los Angeles since the
attempt on his life. Palmer is met by Wayne, his
brother and Chief of Staff. They enter the
auditorium to rehearse for Palmer's debate with
his campaign opponent, Senator John Keeler.
Wayne notices his brother's shortness of breath.
Palmer assures him that he is fine and he will
wait for his personal physician, Anne, to arrive.
As Jack and Chase leave the holding facility,
Annicon chases after them. Jack knows that
Salazar won't give up any more information. The
prisoner chose this day for a reason, and Jack
needs to return to CTU to find out why. In the car,
Chase asks Jack how he is doing. Jack feigns
ignorance. "You know what I'm talking about,"
Chase says pointedly. They hold a look, but are
interrupted by the ringing of a cell phone. Jack
takes a call from Kate Warner. He is
uncomfortable when she tells him that she found
his jacket. They have not spoken in some time.
Kate says that she misses him. Jack awkwardly
apologizes and hangs up. Chase inquires about
Kate, but Jack brushes this off. Jack seems
restless and says that he needs water.
Michelle listens as Tony receives a call from
Larry Hertzog at Langley. Although he does not
have a position for Michelle, Hertzog needs an
answer from Tony by the end of the day about
whether he will accept the job offered to him.
Michelle encourages Tony to accept because it is
a good career move for him. She will follow him
as his wife even though she won't be employed.
"If they don't have a job for you, I'm not
interested," Tony says. Michelle goes down to
speak with Kimberly, who is now working as a
low-level analyst at CTU. Michelle instructs Kim
to do a global capability search for terrorist cells.
Kim begins her task with competence and self-
assuredness.
At the Salazar Ranch in Las Nieves, Northern
Mexico, Ramon Salazar's brother Hector watches
a trainer break in a horse. Hector kisses his
girlfriend Claudia and his cell phone rings. A
technician named Gael stands in front of a
monitor that has surveillance from the Health
Services building. Gael informs Hector that "they
have the body." Hector orders Gael to wait ten
minutes for it to enter the system and then make
his call.
Michelle gives Adam the stats on the body and
requests an ID analysis. She then asks Kim to
assist him, much to the consternation of Adam.
Yet Adam won't give Kim the information even
though his superior told him to do so. Adam tells
Kim that he is bothered because she only got her
job based on nepotism. Kim doesn't answer him.
Instead, she calmly freezes his computer. Adam
gets flustered, and Kim mentions that it couldn't
have been her fault because she is the
incompetent who is there because of her father.
Adam demands that she unlock him, but Kim
defiantly requests the data fork for Michelle's
search. Adam gives in.
Jack and Chase enter CTU. Jack goes upstairs
to the Field Operations office. Chloe O'Brian, his
coordinator, tells Jack that she is in sync with all
the data from Health Services and the Salazar
file, but that she couldn't get the date keys
because Adam is blocking her. Flustered and
sweating, Jack orders Chloe to do what she has
to do. She leaves and closes the door to Jack's
office. With shaking hands, Jack loosens his tie
and bends over in agony. Michelle calls to notify
him of a conference call with Health Services. In
his anxious state, Jack will not go downstairs with
the other agents. He asks to be patched through
from his desk.
Kim goes into the ITS room to look for a piece of
hardware. Chase comes up from behind and
nuzzles her neck playfully. Kim giggles. She
inquires about her dad and the Salazar case.
Chase answers that Jack is doing fine. Kim
thinks it's time to admit to her father that they
have been dating, but Chase disagrees. He
relents, but wants to do it himself. They share a
kiss, but cover when another worker enters.
Dr. Macer briefs Tony and Michelle on test
results from the decomposed body. Jack listens
in on the teleconference from his office. The virus
has been engineered to kill more rapidly. She
predicts that, with one initial location of this
weaponized strain, thousands of people could be
infected within two days. Over a million people
will die in the first week. Health Services has no
idea who has the virus or what form it's in.
A teenager named Kyle in Canoga Park hides a
bag of drugs in his bedroom.
Palmer is quizzed during a debate run-through.
He addresses his health, explaining that he
exercises every morning for a sixteen-hour work
day. Wayne urges him to avoid those defensive
responses by stating that his Administration
arrested and exposed those behind the
assassination attempt. The President takes a
break when his private physician, Dr. Anne
Packard, arrives. Anne puts the blood pressure
cuff onto Palmer's arm over the skin that was
affected by the deadly attack three years ago.
After learning that Palmer's blood pressure is
normal, Anne prescribes that he be given a full
workup when he returns to Washington. Wayne
dismisses Anne to inform the President that a
contagious virus was found on a body in Los
Angeles. CTU is investigating whether this is a
criminal action.
Jack impatiently questions Chloe about Salazar
transcripts. He yells at her, even though she
followed proper procedure. Chase notices Jack's
erratic behavior and confronts him about it.
Chase notes that Jack looks unwell, and Jack
takes offense. Jack calls Chloe and apologizes.
Chase is ready to come clean about his
relationship with Kim when the intercom buzzes.
Tony has new information on Salazar. Chase
says they can talk later.
Chase tells Kim that he was not able to admit the
truth to Jack just yet. He goes into the
conference room with Tony and Jack. Tony plays
back an anonymous tip phoned to the FBI. The
caller identifies his group as being in possession
of a type three pulmonary immuno virus. They
demand the liberation of Ramon Salazar in the
next six hours. If the government refuses to
comply, the group will release the virus to the
public. Since Jack has tracked Salazar for the
last year, he suspects that Salazar's brother
Hector is behind this. The Salazars own property
in Mexico and South America under fake
corporations, and the Mexican government can
not find them. Jack knows that questioning
Salazar won't work either. Michelle interrupts with
an ID on the body. The man was David Goss, a
street drug dealer in East L.A. who also once
worked as an informant. Jack directs them to find
out who Goss was in contact with, including his
drug supplier. He and Chase go looking for
something on Hector.
At the Salazar ranch, Hector drives up to an area
where workers have dug a large pit. A foreman
warily instructs a truck to dump a mound of
decomposed dead bodies into the hole. Hector is
unmoved, but his girlfriend Claudia is shaken.
Her father is the foremen. The men set fire to the
bodies and cover the hole.
Annicon goes to Salazar's cell to find out why he
killed Shaye. Salazar says he didn't want his
attorney talking to Annicon. Salazar tries to goad
Annicon into beating him up to get the truth.
Annicon doesn't take the bait and walks away.
When they arrive back at the house, Claudia is
angry. Hector had promised that her father would
not be involved in his illegal business. She is hurt
that he broke his word. Hector feels bad and tries
to make it up to her, but she won't have any of it.
Hector phones Gael and asks if he made the call
to the FBI. Gael confirms this and says he is
keeping an eye on "their boy."
What Gael sees on his monitor is Kyle at the pool
outside his apartment. Kyle reluctantly confesses
to his friend Tim that he was paid to go down to
Tijuana in order to transport cocaine across the
border. Kyle is not selling the drugs, but is only
trying to make money because his mother is on
dialysis and his father is unemployed. He offers
Tim payment to accompany him to the drop off.
Palmer enters the makeshift war room set up at
the USC campus. Wayne informs him of the
Salazar release demands. There is no sign that
they should cancel the debate, but there is
discussion among the agencies and bureaus as
to whether the President should remain in Los
Angeles. Secret Service Agent Pierce tells
Palmer that Anne wants to see him. Palmer
meets her in an adjoining area, and Anne gives
him some pills to increase his energy. She
notices that he seems upset. "It's just going to be
another one of those days," Palmer sighs without
revealing anything. He kisses her tenderly on the
lips and returns to the war room.
Jack impatiently tries to pull up a map on the
computer in the Field Ops office, and Chase
points out Jack's errors. Frustrated, Jack goes
back into his office. Chase follows him. Although
Chase looks up to Jack and would take a bullet
on his behalf, he knows about what happened to
Jack while he was undercover on Salazar. Jack
tells Chase to mind his own business. Chase
asks that Jack not try to prove that everything is
okay because it's going to be a rough day. "Get
your head straight, so we can do our work,"
Chase says as he walks out the door. Shaken,
Jack clicks a remote control. The windows of the
office electronically tint to give him privacy. Jack
opens his office locker and pulls out a medical
kit. He rolls up his sleeve and ties a tourniquet
around his arm. Jack prepares a syringe full of
heroin. As he's about to inject his own arm, Kim
buzzes on the intercom. She asks if she can
come up to speak with him. Jack says that he is
busy. Kim wants him to call her when he has a
few extra minutes. After hearing his daughter's
voice, Jack stops before the needle penetrates
his skin. He throws the syringe across the room
in anger.
|
|
