which was actually a sculpture of welded steel. Jack grunted, the wind knocked out of him as the other man’s body cushioned the impact.
Chet Blackburn winced. Even from ten meters away he’d heard the sickening crunch when the fugitive’s nose flattened, his front teeth shattered against the iron breastplate.
After stumbling to his feet, Jack leaned against the medieval prop. He used plastic zip cuffs to secure the bleeding man’s arms behind his back. But before he could haul his prisoner to his feet, the studio was rocked by another explosion. Dust billowed from a far corner of the massive sound stage as a chunk of the wall blew away in a tumble of shattered plaster. Angel One, along with three other members of the DEA assault squad, emerged from the smoke.
Jack turned to face them. A trickle of blood ran down from his nose. More blood stained his battle suit. But Jack Bauer stood tall, still gripping the battered prisoner under the shadow of the medieval armor.
“Well, well,” said Chet Blackburn, teeth flashing white against his dark skin. “Here comes the cavalry, right on time.”
The sound of the phone on the nightstand shook Teri Bauer out of her sleep. She rolled over, reached across the bed. The sheets were cool, unruffled. She lifted the receiver. “Jack?”
“Teri?” The voice was male, a higher octave than Jack’s, with a British accent.
Teri sat up, eyes wide. “
The man laughed. “I can’t believe you recognize my voice after all this time.”
“It was the accent that gave you away. And it’s only been a year or so.”
“Nearly two, and I’ve been counting the hours.”
Teri ran her hand through her short, raven hair, not sure what to say next. The last thing she expected was a call from her former employer, Dennis Winthrop.
“Look, I know it’s a crazy time to call, but I just got off the red-eye from London—”
“London, wow. Long trip.”
“—and I remembered how you used to wake up at four a.m. and get a couple of hours of design work done before you had to get your daughter ready for school. You always showed up at the production office around noon with really fantastic stuff.”
Teri smiled. “Oh, come on.”
“No. no, don’t sell your work short.” The man paused. “You were awake, right? I’d hate to think I got you out of bed.”
“Oh, yeah,” Teri lied. “Been up for hours now. So what’s going on?”
“Well, I’m back in town because of the awards show tonight. You know, the Silver Screen Awards…”
“Right, right. The Silver Screen Awards,” said Teri, recalling she’d seen something about the awards show on the cover of an entertainment magazine she’d flipped through on line at the supermarket.
“Did you know that
“My god, I didn’t know. That’s great, Dennis. Really great. Congratulations.”
“Look, I know it’s short notice, but I opened my
L.A. office this morning and found sixteen tickets for tonight’s show sitting on my desk. My staff is going, the cast is going…and I wanted you to come.”
“I’m speechless. That’s really generous and thoughtful—”
“Not at all. You’re as much a part of the design as anyone else. You were involved and I want you to be there to share the glory. I’m calling Chandra and Carla, too. And Nancy is coming.”
“Nancy! Oh, I’d love to see Nancy again.”
“She’s had a baby you know. A son.”
“I didn’t know.”
“And Carla is engaged.”
“My god…”
“Everyone is getting married or engaged or having babies, it seems.” A short silence followed. “You’re still with Jack?”
“Oh, yes. You know.”
“Well that’s great. You can tell me about Jack and Kim tonight. You’re coming, right?”
“Well I…I…”
“Say yes.”
“Okay, I’m coming,” Teri said, relenting at last. “But this thing is on television, right? What do I wear?”
“I’m sure you’ll think of something. You’ll look lovely no matter what you choose.”
“Okay,” said Teri nervously. “What time?”
“I’ll send a limousine to pick you up at five o’clock.
It’s early but the show is broadcast live on the East Coast.”
“I don’t need a limo, Dennis,” Teri said.
“Don’t worry about it. The studio is paying for everything. It will be fun. And, Teri. ” His voice lowered an octave. “It will be great to see you again.”
Teri felt her cheeks flushing warm. “It will be really good to see you too, Dennis.”
2. THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 6 A.M. AND 7 A.M. PACIFIC DAYLIGHT TIME
One ambulance departed with Jack Bauer’s prisoner strapped to a stretcher, while two paramedics worked on Jack. He let them strip away his shoulder armor, Kevlar vest, knee and elbow pads. He sat in cooperative silence while they patched up his arm and stanched his bleeding nose. But trouble started when one paramedic tried to put Jack on a stretcher, too. He refused, became argumentative. Finally a female emergency worker stepped forward and tried to reason with him.
“I don’t care how hard that helmet is, or how tough you think you are, Officer Bauer. You most likely have a concussion and you ought to get it checked out.”
“Listen. ” Jack checked the woman’s ID tag. “Ms. Besario…Inez. I’m fine. Really. I’m not feeling drowsy. I’m not going into shock. My vision’s fine and I don’t even have a headache.”
Her eyes were large and round and very dark. From her set expression Jack could see Inez Besario was as stubborn as he was. “You have a lump on your head and your nose has barely stopped bleeding.”
Jack smiled, touched her shoulder. “I’ll have the docs check me out after I get back to headquarters. Thank you for your concern.”
She stared up at Jack through long lashes. Then she flashed him a sly smile. “You cops are all alike. You think you’re supermen.”
Jack noticed the wedding band on her finger. “Sounds like you speak from experience.”
“Special Agent Bauer. Over here.”
Jack turned at the call. Agent Brian McConnell didn’t wait for Bauer to follow. He turned on his heels and walked back to the white van parked near the blown-out door to studio nine.
“Excuse me,” Jack told the paramedic.
She nodded. “Better go,
Inez Besario joined the other emergency workers administering first aid to Chet Blackburn’s leg. Jack hurried across the parking lot. He spied Agent Avilla, tightening the flex-ties on one of the
“Come,” a muffled voice called from inside.
McConnell jerked the handle and slid the door open. Inside the command center, Jason Peltz sat in a chair bolted to the van’s floor. The man was surrounded by computers, flickering monitors and banks of communications
