The House Special Subcommittee's Findings at CTU

by Marc Cerasini

  Alan—or rather, the man claiming to be Alan—had been so supportive and helpful during those hours. He told me that his wife had left him and Janet years ago. I really felt sorry for him, being left alone like that to raise his daughter. I knew how he must have felt. When Jack and I had separated six months before, I pretty much went to pieces. It’s true I had asked him to leave, but he had actually abandoned me first.

  For months before he moved out, Jack had been a shell of his former self—there but not there. It’s a terrible feeling living with someone like that, I can tell you, it’s an empty, cold feeling. A part of you dies, you know? I had tried so many times to fix whatever was wrong, to draw him out, get him to open up. Over and over I tried to get him to trust me, talk to me. But he refused. To me, it felt like the most profound rejection. Then one day I decided that the dread I had of being alone couldn’t possibly be any worse than the empty, devastating feeling of being rejected by a man I loved so very much. So I asked him to move out.

  Since midnight, Jack’s actions had started bringing back all those awful memories—the heart-wrenching feelings I had of being emotionally abandoned. All the stony silences, the distant-unresponsive moods. The “Jack Wall”—that’s what I called it. When he put it up between us, there was no getting around it.

  The memory was so pervasive, I began opening up to Alan, telling him about Jack and also about the problems I’d been having with Kim. She had changed so much after Jack moved out. She was so angry and rebellious. Kim is very much like her father, and these days she was acting more like him than ever, right down to her moody silences and guarded secrets.

  The evening before Kim had slipped out, I found a note in the mail. It was from the principal of her school—she was failing Algebra. It was the second notice. When I confronted her about it, she admitted she had intercepted the first letter and destroyed it.

  I was so angry, I said terrible things to her. Called her a liar, accused her of being irresponsible. I was so harsh, I realize now that I said some things I never should have. With Earn missing, every harsh word I had ever uttered came back to me with ten times the force. I began to feel as though it were all my fault—that I’d driven her out.

  Alan listened sympathetically and promised to stay with me until I found my daughter. I felt my heart melt. I was so grateful to him. At the same time, I was so angry with Jack. I remember thinking that he should have been there with me. When Jack moved back in a few weeks ago, he said he loved me and he didn’t want to live without me. He agreed to try harder to share his feelings with me and promised that we would start to deal with Kim’s problems as a team. Together. A united front, you know?

  But Jack had deserted me. I’d been dealing with this alone since midnight, and I was actually starting to question whether I could go through with having him back in my life again.

  Around that time, Janet’s heart monitor flatlined. She was in surgery, and it looked like she might not make it. I felt so helpless watching from outside the OR. A part of me was honestly worried for Janet, but another part, I have to admit, was very aware that she was our only link to Kim. For my daughter’s sake, I needed Janet York to survive.

  5:00 A.m.-6:00 a.m.

  SPECIAL AGENT JACK BAUER: After I drove the car with the body in the trunk to the CTU compound, I asked Nina Myers to get started on an ED. Then I called hospital security at St. Mark’s and asked them to provide guards for the patient Janet York. I boarded a CTU helicopter, which I had requisitioned by cell phone on the drive to CTU. We flew to St. Mark’s and landed on the helipad—

  REP. PAULINE P. DRISCOLL, (D) CONN.: (Interrupting) Excuse me, Agent Bauer, regarding that helicopter. George Mason notes here in his report that you made personal use of that helicopter without proper authorization.

  BAUER: Oh, he says that, does he? … Personal use … is that right? … Personal use.

  DRISCOLL: (After a pause) Agent Bauer? Do you have an answer to this charge?

  BAUER: Ma’am, you don’t know how deeply … how very deeply I wish that my helicopter trip had been completely personal and in no way connected to David Palmer, Operation Nightfall, or Victor Drazen. That the fate of my daughter and my wife had absolutely nothing to do with my work. Unfortunately, Congresswoman, I can’t. It had everything to do with my work.

  DRISCOLL: (After a pause) Yes, I see…. I’m sorry for the interruption. Please continue. What happened after you arrived at St. Mark’s?

  BAUER: I was met by Claude Davenport of hospital security who told me he’d posted a guard at each end of the corridor where Janet York was in surgery. I found my wife, Teri, waiting there. She introduced me to the man who claimed to be Janet’s father, Alan York.

  I had met many of Kim’s friends over the years, but Janet’s name was new to me. I immediately threw some questions at York. I wanted to know exactly what he knew about the boys who had abducted our daughters. But I also wanted to see how he answered my questions.

  At first York seemed to purposely avoid my gaze, turning away. Then, as if he suddenly became conscious of what he was doing, he forced himself to meet my eyes to appear trustworthy.

  In my gut, I felt that he knew more than he was saying—but my wife interrupted my questions. She objected to the interrogation. Said York had been with her, helping her, for hours, and she didn’t like my suspecting him of anything. Clearly, in the few hours I had been away from my wife, this joker had duped her, won her confidence. I decided to back off and apologize to York for Teri’s sake. I figured I was more than a little paranoid, and although I still didn’t like the guy, I didn’t want to take out my acute anxiety on a possibly harmless man.

  It was around that time that I took Teri aside. I told her what I suspected. That Kim might have been kidnapped as part of a plan to assassinate David Palmer. Because I was one of the agents assigned to protect Palmer, I assumed someone was trying to get to me through her.

  For the first time, my wife understood that Kim wasn’t simply missing—she was in great danger, and she was very likely being held by an assassin. The news hit her hard. She broke down…. I did, too…. We held on to each other, and I remember telling Teri that I knew this was all happening because of my work (pause) because of me….

  CHAIRMAN FULBRIGHT: (After a pause) Agent Bauer?

  BAUER: You have to understand where my head was at, Mr. Chairman. It was very hard for me to accept that this was happening at all, let alone because of me. When I began working for the government, I knew that I would have to deal with some of the most ruthless and brutal elements in our global society. But I had convinced myself that I was smart enough, stubborn enough, and mentally strong enough to shield my wife and daughter from it. I even thought I could protect them from the very knowledge of it.

  For years, I had successfully put a wall up between my work and my family. Holding on to Teri for those brief moments, I finally admitted to myself, and I suppose to her, that the wall was crumbling down, and no matter what I did … no matter how I tried, I was afraid I couldn’t do a thing to stop it.

  KIMBERLY BAUER: The mail who took me—Gaines—he finally opened the trunk, and I sat up to see him walking over to Rick and Dan. I held my breath when he mentioned Janet’s name. His words were something like “My people say someone fitting the girl’s description was taken to a hospital near where you were. How do you explain that?”

  Then Dan said, “Well, the thing is … maybe she wasn’t quite dead….”

  Gaines was real calm. All he said back was, “Well, Dan, I’ll tell you. You’re either dead or you’re not. There’s no such thing as being sort of dead. Here. Let me show you.”

  Then he took out his gun and shot Dan dead!

  I screamed even though tape was covering my mouth. I could tell Rick was stunned, too, you know. Really stunned. Gaines turned to Rick at that point and said, “You’ve just been promoted.”

  Then Games untied me and let me get out of the trunk. He brought me over to Rick, put a shovel in his
hands, and told him to bury his friend. Then he left me there.

  Of course, the first thing I thought about was how to escape, but I looked around and saw that the whole compound was surrounded by a high chain-link and razor-wire fence, plus there were guards with automatic rifles pacing back and forth. There was zero chance of me getting out of that place without help. So I tried to get Rick on my side. I knew he liked me, and I knew he wasn’t like Dan. He’d stuck up for me, and now he had a reason to hate Gaines, too.

  I told Rick, “Hey, Gaines killed your friend Dan, and he’s probably going to kill you, too.” I made him realize that he was in just as much danger as I was. Rick got angry, but I kept at him. I even picked up a shovel and helped him dig the grave for Dan. Eventually I wore him down and convinced him that we had to stick together and find a way to get the hell out of there.

  Rick finally started to let his guard slip. He came clean with me and admitted that he thought he and Dan were only being paid to hang out with me and Janet. No one was supposed to get hurt, and he never wanted to leave Janet in the street like that.

  I knew he was telling the truth. I also knew I could trust him to help me escape. It made me feel better, stronger, so when Gaines came to take me to the house, I wasn’t afraid anymore—I was back to being pissed.

  JACK BAUER: I heard the doctor say Janet was on her way to a full recovery. That meant I could question her about Kim. The doctor was worried about me upsetting her, but he agreed provided Janet’s “father” was okay with it. I could see I had put the man on the spot. With some reluctance, he said he’d allow me to ask Janet a few questions. His only condition was that he check her first, in private, to see if she was up to it.

  As you might have guessed, I never got to see Janet York. My cell phone rang. It was Ira Gaines, although I didn’t know that at the time. It was just a man’s voice, coolly threatening to kill Kimberly if I didn’t do what he said.

  He told me to back away from my wife without alarming her. I did my best to smile and pretend I was having trouble with the cell reception. Then I left the hallway. Apparently Gaines was watching my every move from the hospital security cameras—federal agencies are still investigating to determine who Gaines paid off for access.

  He directed me to the hospital parking lot and then into a waiting car. He gave me some more instructions, but I refused to follow any of them until I knew my daughter was safe. That’s when I heard Kim’s voice. She said she was okay and assured me—that they hadn’t hurt her.

  I knew I had no choice now. Until I could figure out their strategy, I had to do what Gaines told me to. Inside the glove compartment was an electronic earpiece. I put it inside my ear. Then Gaines ordered me to throw my cell phone out the window and drive toward the CTU office. I did.

  TERI BAITER: I watched Jack walk away from me and something seemed very wrong, you know? I remember this blackness settling over me … it was so disturbing … but I was tired and upset, and I told myself to ignore it. Jack had smiled at me as he backed away, and I told myself everything was okay, that he’d be right back…. But he didn’t come right back.

  Alan came out from seeing Janet and said he’d asked her about Kim for us. She told him that they were partying with some boys who got too aggressive. York showed me an address in Bel Air he’d written down. He said Janet told him that’s where Kim was.

  I was emotionally and physically exhausted, you know? And I wanted to believe it was that easy to find my daughter. So I began calling into the hospital corridors for Jack. But he was gone.

  My daughter’s safety was at stake, and I wasn’t about to waste time. York said Janet was sleeping soundly, and he offered to drive me to that address himself. I agreed.

  As we started driving, I remember seeing a bloody scratch on his wrist. I asked him about it, and he said he’d gotten the injury hours before—but it looked fresh to me, and I remember thinking again that something wasn’t right.

  Jack had told me that calling the police might endanger Kim. This whole Palmer assassination thing was beyond me, so I decided to let Jack handle the police part of things. Prom the car, I tried calling Jack again and again, but for some reason he wasn’t picking up, so I left a message.

  Then my cell rang, and it was Nina Myers at CTU. She said she couldn’t raise Jack and asked me to give him a message if he called me. She said there was a murder victim that Jack had asked her to identify. I’ll never forget what she said next—“Tell him the victim’s name is Alan York.”

  I was speechless. I prayed I’d misheard her—but I hadn’t. “Alan York,” she repeated. “An accountant from the Valley. I’ll give Jack details when I speak to him.”

  As I hung up I felt a tremor run through my entire body. The man driving the car—the man I’d spent the last six hours with—was not Alan York. We were headed into the canyons. By now the sun was coming up. My heart was racing. I knew I was in danger. I just had to get out of that car….

  6:00 A.M.-7:00 A.M.

  REP. PAULINE P. DRISCOLL, (D) CONN.: So Alan York was dead, and your wife had been driving around all night with … what was his name again? (Papers shuffling) I know we have some CTU profiles on the people working with Gaines—

  SPECIAL AGENT JACK BAUER: Kevin Carroll. Ex-DEA.

  FROM THE DESK OF

  MARC CERASINI

  SUBJECT: JAMES SOFER

  James Sofer, a retired Drug Enforcement Agency official, comment on Kevin Carrol for this publication. Sofer was the Miami/Dade County Division for two years, from 1993 to Kevin Carrol’s immediate supervisor. He remembers his former if not fondly. ‘There was something wrong with Carrol from was one of those guys who watched too many episodes growing up. He thought narcotics agents all drove Jaguars, clothes, and took of on undercover assignments to Colombia Marseiles. A lone cowboy, and a dumb one, too.”

  Richard Reed, a retired field agent in the Miami/Dade also had some choice memories of working with Carrol. pushing to go to the guns on a raid,” recals Reed. “I discharged firearms reports working with him than anyone always did things the hard way. The trouble with Kevin never as smart as he thought he was, so he screwed near—even his mariage to Cindy. He messed that up by Cuban stripper who worked the Dade County joints under Fuego. I don’t know what happened to him after he transferred.”

  Repeated requests made by this reporter to the Los Division of the Drug Enforcement Agency for more information Carrol have met with dead ends. As of this writing, all Kevin Carrol’s career with the DEA have been sealed.

  Public records such as court documents filed in Los County reveal that while working at the Los Angeles Division Carrol was also recruiting low-level criminals to work for Ira associate in the atempted assassination of David Palmer and kidnapping of Jack Bauer’s wife and dauahter

  DRISCOLL: Oh, yes. Your wife, I understand, pretended to be ill, had him pull the car to the side of the road, then tried to get away from him.

  BAUER: That’s correct. She dialed my cell for help, but Gaines had ordered me to ditch it. She was afraid to call the police because I’d told her it might jeopardize Kim’s life. So Teri called CTU. Unfortunately, Jamey Farrell took the call. And Jamey, as we now know, was a mole for Ira Gaines.

  My wife gave Jamey her location—Mulholland Drive. Jamey, of course, pretended she would be sending agents to help. Instead she contacted Gaines, who sent two thugs to abduct her, and along with Kevin Carroll, they drove her to the Gaines compound in the North Valley where they were already holding Kim.

  REP. ROY SCHNEIDER, (R) TEX.: And where were you at this point, Agent Bauer?

  BAUER: Gaines had forced me to drive back to CTU. His concern at that moment was the incriminating key card. He wanted me to switch it with a counterfeit card.

  SCHNEIDER: And you successfully switched these cards, is that correct?

  BAUER: Yes. Jamey Farrell had been stalling the decryption process on the card for hours. When I was with my wife at St. Mark’s Hospital, Nina pulled Jamey off
the job and called in Milo Pressman, an approved contractor.

  DRISCOLL: Excuse me, a contractor, did you say? What sort?

  BAUER: Milo worked for CompuShield, which recruits out of Stanford. It’s a bonded company under contract with CTU for consultation and support personnel when needed. It’s the same companyScott Baylor worked for before Walsh offered him a full-time analyst’s position at CTU. Milo is an expert in encryption.

  DRISCOLL: Okay, so let me get this straight. Nina Myers not only informed your wife that Alan York was dead, but she also worked to speed up the decoding of a key card that would incriminate Jamey Farrell and Ira Gaines and possibly reveal details of the Palmer assassination plan. Is that correct?

  BAUER: Yes, it is.

  DRISCOLL: Well, I just don’t understand that! It makes no sense! I mean, if Nina Myers was working to help the Drazens, then what in the world was her motivation for these actions?

  BAUER: It does make sense if you know the typical tactics that covert operatives use to achieve their goals.

  CHAIRMAN FULBRIGHT: Enlighten us then, please, Agent Bauer.

  BAUER: Think of the Drazen gang as a terrorist cell. Cells have many members, and each member plays a part in pulling off a terrorist attack. But only a few members in a cell know the basic plan. And only one, the leader, knows all the details of that plan. That way, even if one or two members of a cell are captured and reveal all they know, what each one is actually capable of disclosing is really very limited.

  SCHNEIDER: You’re talking about an operation where each member works on a “need to know” basis, is that right?

  BAUER: That’s right. Often the identities of other members are withheld—revealed only on a need-to-know basis. Only the leader may know the identities of all the members. Again, this is done for security purposes.