The House Special Subcommittee's Findings at CTU

by Marc Cerasini

  CHAIRMAN FULBRIGHT: So you think Gaines assumed he wouldn’t be given his final payment otherwise?

  BAUER: Yes. By 10:00 A.M., it was fairly obvious that Gaines had failed the Drazens. Senator Palmer was still alive. I was on the run, so Gaines no longer had direct control of me. He’d also lost touch with Jamey Farrell, his mole in CTU, so he was flying blind. Andre Drazen never would have been patient with screwups like that. He’d already set up a Plan B with an international team, and it appears he fired Gaines at some point close to noon.

  The pay was probably an issue. If Andre Drazen threatened to pay nothing more to Gaines, then Gaines most likely took matters into his own hands, sending Carroll to get the money he felt he was owed. If all else failed, Gaines was the sort to take the money—any way he could—before he ran. That’s my best guess, anyway.

  FULBRIGHT: Thank you, Agent Bauer. Please continue describing your interactions with Kevin Carroll.

  BAUER: I drew my weapon, tied him up, and convinced him that he should help me get to my wife and daughter. Then I put Carroll into the backseat of his own car and drove to a compound in the North Valley, east of the 5 and between Tampa and Reseda, where he said I’d find my family.

  As we neared the location, I called Nina Myers and asked for her help with satellite images of the area. Gaines had taken over an orange grove. He’d thrown up fencing with razor wire and hired guards to patrol the compound using automatic weapons. The satellite images showed about a dozen people on the ground and a number of outbuildings.

  Before we reached the guarded front gate, I put Carroll behind the wheel and held a gun on him from under a blanket in the backseat. The guards recognized him, let him in, and I had him drive into the grove. I then tied him up, drew my weapon, and began to search the area for my family.

  When I found Teri and Kim in one of the buildings, I discovered they’d shot the man who had been sent to kill them. One of the boys who’d kidnapped Kim—his name was Rick—had smuggled them the gun. This boy, Rick, then helped us escape. He told me that he had no idea Kim would end up in so much danger. His partner, Dan, was shot by Gaines, and Rick felt he was as much a prisoner as Kim and Teri. Rick did what he could to protect both Kim and Teri while they were being held by Gaines, and I’ve recommended the kidnapping charges against him be dropped in return for his full cooperation in the federal investigation of these events.

  FULBRIGHT: I’ve reviewed your wife’s and your daughter’s statements about this boy’s actions, and I do agree that he was very brave. However, he is clearly heading down the wrong path with his life. There are drug-related charges pending against him in Los Angeles, and I’m not sure that we want to be too hasty in freeing him from all responsibility for his other actions.

  BAUER: I understand, sir.

  FULBRIGHT: I’m sure your supportive statements will be taken into consideration in any judgment of his case.

  BAUER: I hope so, sir.

  FULBRIGHT: Now, I understand you contacted CTU around that time to finally admit your whereabouts?

  BAUER: That’s correct. I called Acting Director Alberta Green directly and let her know that I’d found the people behind the assassination attempt on David Palmer. I also let her know that they had kidnapped my wife and daughter, which was why I’d avoided custody. But now that I’d found them, I was ready to turn myself in. I just needed backup to be sent to my location.

  Alberta Green obliged me, sending three field units by chopper. It took some time for them to get there, and I had to get my family to safety. Gaines and his crew were packing up by that time. They assumed Teri and Kim were dead, and that gave us an advantage.

  Rick stole one of their vans and brought it to us. We piled into the van, and I drove through a fence. By then Gaines had found Carroll tied up in his car, and he and his guards saw us trying to escape. A firefight began. Gaines shot out our back tires, so we got out of the van, using it as a shield the best we could. I sent my wife and daughter into the woods with instructions to follow the creek bed to an old abandoned water tower near the service road where we would all meet up. Rick and I stayed behind as long as possible, using our weapons to hold off Gaines and his men. Then I punctured the van’s gas tank, and we ran for the woods, too, firing behind us to send the van up in flames.

  Unfortunately, Rick took a bullet in his shoulder as we fled, and I soon realized that Teri and Kim weren’t at the designated meeting place. They were lost.

  12:00 NOON–1:00 P.M.

  SPECIAL AGENT JACK BAUER: I called Alberta Green to let her know that my wife and daughter were missing and I intended to search the area for them. Green let me know that the CTU” field teams were on their way by chopper with an ETA of fifteen minutes. I told her to have them use the water tower as the pickup point.

  By this time I knew Gaines was searching the woods for me and my family. Andre Drazen would never let Gaines and his crew live if they allowed us to escape. It was kill or be killed—for all of us.

  In the woods, Teri and Kim stumbled upon an abandoned cabin and hid inside. One of Gaines’s men found them just about the time I did. I shot the man dead and grabbed his walkie-talkie. I could hear Gaines directing his men, so I took care to avoid the areas they were searching.

  We came upon a reservoir across from the water tower. There was still no sign of CTU. Gaines fired on us. Knowing that I was the primary target, I headed toward Games alone. He pinned me with a constant barrage of rifle fire, but I found a way to distract him long enough to take the advantage. Using a piece of metal refuse I picked up in the woods, I shot a reflective sun glare toward Gaines as he looked through his rifle scope. It blinded him long enough for me to break cover and fire. I grazed him and he ran.

  About that time I could hear the CTU choppers overhead. The rest of Gaines’s crew had bugged out by then. I followed a trail of Gaines’s blood. It was then that Gaines confirmed for me over the walkie-talkie what I had already guessed—he had no other option but to kill me. I asked him about the Belgrade connection and why my family had been brought into it. Gaines told me that the people involved wanted to “make it personal.”

  I spotted Gaines about then, and coming up behind him, I demanded that he drop his weapon. I knew he was a very valuable link to the people who hired him. They were the people I wanted—and only Gaines could help me get to them. I offered him immunity in return for his help. Instead he said, “Good luck.” Then he turned to me and leveled his weapon. He knew what I would do. I had no choice—I shot him dead.

  I went back to the water tower to pick up my family. They were happy to see me … happy to see that I was okay….

  CHAIRMAN FULBRIGHT: (After a pause. Mumbling) Agent Bauer, we’re aware of the loss of your wife at the end of this day. We know this examination is not easy for you…. But can you continue a little longer? We’re almost ready for the midday break. Then it’s Thanksgiving recess, and we can all get a good week’s rest before we resume testimony. Just a few more minutes, shall we?

  BAUER: Yes, sir … (Pause)

  FULBRIGHT: Finish up with that hour then. You were all unharmed at that point?

  BAUER: Yes. We—that is, Teri, Kim, and I—all boarded one of the CTU choppers and were flown back to Los Angeles. Some of Gaines’s crew, including Kevin Carroll, had escaped, but others were arrested and flown back on other choppers. Alberta Green met us on the landing pad and took me into custody. My wife and daughter were taken to a clinic for medical treatment.

  REP. PAULINE P. DRISCOLL, (D) CONN.: Excuse me, Agent Bauer, but you didn’t mention that boy, Rick Allen. Was he in the chopper with your family?

  BAUER: No. He had fled the scene by the time the choppers came, picking up a bus on the nearby highway.

  DRISCOLL: Why did he run? Who was he afraid of?

  BAUER: Not who. More like what.

  DRISCOLL: Excuse me?

  BAUER: Back when Kim and Teri had run for the woods, and I was alone with Rick at the water tower, he thanked me for h
elping him. I was glad he’d looked after Kim and Teri, but I reminded him that he was the one who had kidnapped my daughter and that he would have to live with that. I made it clear that some part of getting a second chance was taking responsibility for the mess he’d made in the first place. I know the world’s a hard place, but I still can’t understand how a kid could defy an armed camp of hired killers yet run like hell when I asked him to answer for his own actions.

  REP. ROY SCHNEIDER, (R) TEX.: Oh, there’s a one-word answer to that one, Agent Bauer. Teenager,

  BAUER: Yes … I see that streak in my own daughter. (Pause) The thing is, Congressman, Rick was a brave kid. He had his own sense of honor. That’s why I’m sorry he made the choice to run.

  SCHNEIDER: That’s where Gaines had something in common with Rick. Neither wanted to face the music.

  BAUER: Yes, Congressman, but Gaines’s choice was much more permanent.

  FULBRIGHT: And I’d like to add for the record that Agent Bauer had no problem answering for his own actions. Your testimony confirms Regional Director Ryan Chappelle’s written statements about that day. You chose to turn yourself over to Acting Director Alberta Green, who placed you under arrest. Correct?

  BAUER: Essentially that’s correct, sir. Alberta Green wanted the opportunity to question me before turning me over to the FBI.

  FULBRIGHT: And you haven’t taken the Fifth with this subcommittee, either, which will also be taken into consideration as we assess your part in this day’s events.

  All right, everyone, let’s take a recess for lunch, after which we will hear once again from Intelligence Agent Tony Almeida.

  FULBRIGHT: Agent Almeida, you understand that you are still under oath?

  AGENT TONY ALMEIDA: I do, sir.

  FULBRIGHT: During this hour, you spoke with the mother of the confessed traitor, Jamey Farrell. Tell us more about that.

  ALMEIDA: Yes, sir. If you recall from my earlier testimony, we had brought Jamey’s young son, Kyle Farrell, into CTU. When Jamey was taken to the hospital, where she later died, we contacted Jamey’s mother to pick up the boy.

  FULBRIGHT: And the woman’s name, for the record—

  ALMEIDA: Erica Vasquez, a naturalized immigrant from Mexico.

  DRISCOLL: Excuse me, Agent Almeida, but what is the relevance of her immigration status?

  ALMEIDA: It’s the reason she finally talked to me, Congresswoman. On the day we brought her in, she refused to say much to Nina Myers and me. She denied any knowledge of Jamey’s actions and the source of the money—even though it was obvious, to me anyway, that she knew more. We were forced to arrest her, and Kyle was temporarily placed in a foster home because his father, who lives in Seattle, said he didn’t want to “get involved.”

  Within a week, I approached Erica Vasquez again, this time as a fellow Hispanic. Speaking Spanish I was able to learn much more about how Jamey was turned.

  DRISCOLL: You also secured immunity for Mrs. Vasquez after the interview, is that right?

  ALMEIDA: It is. She is free now, cleared of all charges, and Jamey’s son is back in her care.

  FULBRIGHT: As I said, we have the transcript of that interview on record. [A transcript of that interview can be found at the end of this hour’s testimony.] Now … can you tell us more about the money trail you followed during this hour?

  ALMEIDA: Certainly. Before Mrs. Vasquez agreed to talk to me, I pressured her with CTU’s revelations. The IRS confirmed she made less than forty-five thousand dollars a year working as a clerk for the MTA [Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority], yet a bank account in her name showed deposits that added up to more than three hundred thousand.

  FULBRIGHT: And what did she say about that?

  ALMEIDA: She admitted the money came from Jamey. But that’s all she would admit that day at CTU. She claimed she “never asked” where the money came from, and that Jamey simply wanted there to be—quote, “enough money for Kyle if anything happened to her.”

  FULBRIGHT: I see.

  ALMEIDA: At the time, I thought Jamey’s words to her mother referred to someone killing her. But during my second interview with Mrs. Vasquez, I understood that Jamey was worried about more than that.

  FULBRIGHT: You mean her father’s illness?

  ALMEIDA: YES.

  FULBRIGHT: It’s still no excuse for turning traitor and causing the deaths of innocent people.

  ALMEIDA: No, of course it isn’t. I agree. I just meant that I get what Jamey was trying to say when she told me I didn’t understand the “pressure” she was under. I don’t doubt that Gaines leaned on her, and when the heat was turned up maybe the man even threatened her and her family—but there was clearly the added pressure of her father’s condition.

  FULBRIGHT: Go on, please. Describe what else you discovered.

  ALMEIDA: I traced the background of the deposits to Mrs. Vasquez’s account. They were made through a bank account in the Cayman Islands controlled by Ted Cofell. We already knew that Cofell was a front for someone else, so that was worthless. We continued to trace those funds. They led us to a holding company called Luca Univox based in Belgrade.

  I contacted [NAME OMITTED FOR LEGAL REASONS]. He’s a legitimate officer of the [NAME OMITTED] Bank, and also an informant for the CIA. He helped us run a check of account activity on Luca Univox.

  As it turns out there was a major transfer of funds that morning to the account of a man in Belgrade who’d been twice charged but never convicted of murder. CTU classified him as a professional assassin—a “usual suspect,” so to speak.

  FULBRIGHT: Alexis Drazen?

  ALMEIDA: Alexis Drazen, we later discovered, was one of the international assassins who had flown into Los Angeles from Yugoslavia—with a detour to Washington, D.C.—but there were two others involved with Drazen’s “Plan B,” as they called it in their records. Their names were uncovered later in the day.

  ALMEIDA: So, please, Mrs. Vasquez … will you talk to me?

  VASQUEZ: (Crying) Yes … yes … what do you want to know?

  ALMEIDA: I want to know whatever you know. What can you tell me about the man Jamey was working for, Ira Gaines?

  VASQUEZ: Nothing. Just that he was a tall Anglo. I’m not sure why Jamey liked Anglo men so much, but she did. You think she would have learned better after how her husband treated her—

  ALMEIDA: Kyle’s father? Derek Patrick Farrell?

  VASQUEZ: YES.

  ALMEIDA: I know Jamey’s marriage went badly, but I was unaware of the details.

  VASQUEZ: She met him right out of college, when she just started working with computers, at Microsoft, up in Seattle. I remember how she loved the mountains. She said it was very beautiful, but she felt very alone up there. She had no family nearby, and she began right away to sleep with Derek, who was her boss.

  I told her not to do that, not to rush things, but she did. She got pregnant. Got married. So fast. She was worried for her new baby, Kyle. Didn’t like to leave him in day care. She asked her husband if they could move down to Los Angeles, so me and my husband could help look after Kyle. Derek said no. And the next thing, he leaves her, that pig, for some redhead, some executive who was out of the country for two years but came back to Seattle to work again. Suddenly he tells Jamey that he does not love her anymore and that he is too young to be a father. Now he loves the redhead. Not even a look back. Just cleans out the bank account and leaves her.

  ALMEIDA: Did Jamey try to sue Derek for child support and the money he took?

  VASQUEZ: Have you ever tried to hire a lawyer when you are flat broke?

  ALMEIDA: No, I can’t say that I have.

  VASQUEZ: I do not suggest you try. No, she went to her company higher-ups and complained about Derek to see if they would help convince him to pay the child support for Kyle. They did do this. But Derek was angry about it.

  He got back at Jamey by getting her in trouble at work for something she created while she was at the company. Something that the company was an
gry she created. I do not understand enough about the computers. But you can ask her company.

  ALMEIDA: She was fired by Microsoft, wasn’t she? I remember seeing that in her dossier.

  VASQUEZ: Yes, she was fired.

  ALMEIDA: What did Jamey do next?

  VASQUEZ: She wanted to move back to Los Angeles, but she needed a job here. So she called up her old friend Richard Walsh. He had helped her get into college, and he remembered her. He was the one who found a position for her at your CTU.

  ALMEIDA: So Jamey moved back to L.A. with Kyle.

  VASQUEZ: Yes. She moved in with me and my husband. She was still very angry. And she was put through a bad time by Derek. I wanted her to have a happy life, you know? Forget Derek. So when her old girlfriends called and said come out to clubs with us, I told her to go. And that was fine. I liked watching Kyle for her.

  One day I noticed a big Cadillac bring her home from a nightclub. That was her new boyfriend, Ira Gaines. He told her that he had been a solider, a Navy … I can’t remember … sea lion?

  ALMEIDA: (Chuckling) SEAL?

  VASQUEZ: Yes! Navy SEAL. He spent a lot of money on Jamey. He bought her jewelry and took her to fancy restaurants. He bought toys for Kyle … and … he even bought me and my husband some things. Just things for the house …

  ALMEIDA: I SEE.

  VASQUEZ: I know she liked him very much … and I think they were together a few times.

  ALMEIDA: Sleeping together?

  VASQUEZ: Yes … yes … she spent a few nights with him….

  ALMEIDA: And do you know when Ira Gaines began to ask Jamey for … favors?

  VASQUEZ: No, I don’t know anything about that. I’m sorry. What she did to help him … I don’t know. I’d tell you if I knew, but I don’t.

  ALMEIDA: You told me at CTU that you never asked Jamey where the money came from. But I don’t believe you. You did ask her, didn’t you?