Chapter 228: Mission Accomplished

Bang bang!

Owen sprinted through the darkness with Jack's daughter slung over his shoulder. With no way to handle a rifle while carrying her, he used his pistol to deal with the occasional enemy that slipped through Swagger's long-range sniping net.

Swagger's silenced sniper fire gave them a massive edge. The enemy had realized they were being hunted by a sniper, but they couldn't determine Swagger's location. Their formation was thoroughly suppressed.

Kim clung to Owen's back, every jolt sending pain through her ribs. She grit her teeth to avoid crying out. Of the three, she was the weakest link. Moments ago, she'd even seen her mother take down a man with a gun, while she herself had only been a burden—making noise, slowing them down.

She couldn't help but think: If I were this CTU agent, I'd have ditched me already...

"Owen, I found something. The FBI is definitely compromised."

"What do you mean?"

Owen was still running when Becky's voice came through the comms again. Since the satellite was no longer helpful, she'd turned her attention to other sources.

"The FBI agent who issued your warrant is named Stephen Williams. He's the one who found Nina's body, and he filed the warrant against you.

He also handled the M2HB machine gun incident. Despite blood all over the scene, he reported no weapons or bodies. And that convenience store incident? Someone called in saying they saw you—he showed up, then left without doing anything. Right after that, those Red Rattlesnake guys appeared.

I dug a little deeper—he's ex-Red Rattlesnake himself. No doubt he's working with the colonel."

Well, that explains a lot, Owen thought. No wonder the FBI had reacted so quickly after the Ethiopian archbishop was shot. He'd been suspicious of their absurd efficiency—turns out he was right.

Pop pop pop! A few rounds zipped past, snapping Owen back to the present.

Firing as he ran, Owen relied on the lack of enemy night vision to stay alive. They knew he was in the C zone, but couldn't pinpoint his exact location.

This meant the attackers arrived in ones and twos, easy prey for Swagger's sniper fire. The few who reached Owen couldn't dodge his bullet time.

Still, each gunshot gave away his location. The pursuers were adjusting their direction rapidly, and things were getting tense.

Bang bang bang—thud!

As Owen reached the edge of the factory grounds, several enemies emerged from the shadows. Swagger hadn't seen them. Owen handled it himself—he shot a few down, then, when his P226 ran dry, flung his claw knife straight into the eye socket of the last enemy.

"Grab my knife for me..." he grunted.

Without breaking stride, he kept running with Kim on his shoulder. Jack's wife quickly recovered the blade, though she had to shut her eyes to yank it out—it was gruesome work.

By now, they'd reached the base of the hill. A few vehicles sat under bright floodlights in the open yard. Gunfire had lessened thanks to the cover provided by the surroundings.

"I'll cover your escape. Meet me at the first fork in the road," Swagger said in Owen's earpiece, dropping another target as he spoke.

Thanks to Swagger's interference, the enemy advance slowed significantly, giving Owen a clear path to the vehicles.

Breathless and soaked in sweat, Owen flung Kim into the backseat and yanked open the front door. Before climbing in, he took the pistol from Jack's wife and shot out the tires of the remaining vehicles.

Sparks flew as bullets tore through rubber. Then Owen climbed in, slammed the door, and whipped the SUV around. The wheels screeched, kicking up a cloud of dust as they blasted out through the front gate, leaving behind shouting men and a hail of gunfire.

As they passed his own parked car, Owen made sure to shoot out its tires too—no way he was letting them chase him. Replacing tires would delay them at least five minutes. By then, they'd be long gone.

On the road, Owen slammed on the brakes at the first junction, the tires screaming as the SUV skidded to a halt. A dark figure leapt down from the slope and ran toward the car.

The door flew open. Swagger tossed his sniper rifle into the back and climbed into the passenger seat.

The cabin light came on. Kim's eyes widened in recognition.

"It's you! You're the sniper the FBI's hunting!"

Owen rolled his eyes. This girl's got a gift for saying the wrong thing. How about a thank you? And for the record, I'm a wanted man too now...

The vehicle didn't stop. They sped off into the night.

Back at the NSA office, Becky saw a single moving headlight on the dark road and finally breathed a sigh of relief. She powered off her screen and picked up the phone.

"Director Harrison, the hacker issue has been resolved…"

...

Inside the SUV, Owen tried calling Jack Bauer. No luck. Of course, the enemy wouldn't let Jack have outside contact.

"Do you know why they kidnapped you?" he asked.

"They wanted to use us to force Jack to do something," Jack's wife replied. "They let us speak to him briefly, but never said exactly what they wanted."

Owen sighed. They didn't know any more than he did. The immediate goal had been achieved—rescuing the hostages—but the real mystery remained.

It wasn't complicated. Once they located Jack, they could stop whatever the enemy was planning. For now, priority one was finding a safe place for the two women.

Police station? Out of the question. Given how ruthless the Red Rattlesnakes were, they'd probably storm the whole building.

FBI? No way. The bureau was compromised. Sending them there would be like feeding lambs to wolves.

That left one option: CTU.

CTU was staffed by their own people, had armed personnel and even an armory. Even if something happened, they'd hold out longer than anyone else.

Sure, there might still be moles—besides Nina. But they'd have to work in the shadows. As long as Jack's wife and daughter were publicly visible at CTU, no one would dare try anything.

It was only a bit after 7 PM. Knowing the CTU field team, most of them were probably still around.

...

Meanwhile, Colonel Isaac Johnson—aka CIA East Africa Division Chief Daniel Glover—was smashing furniture in rage somewhere in Los Angeles.

He had failed again to eliminate Swagger. And now, the hostages were gone too.

He was furious. Was the enemy too strong—or were his own people just this stupid?

...

Back at CTU, Heartbeat sat at his desk. The atmosphere in the building was strange today. Most of the data support team was under investigation. Supervisor Nina had been murdered. And the killer was his own partner—Owen.

It was hard to believe.

Even more bizarre, their director, Jack Bauer, had been completely absent all day. Tony had tried to reach him several times with no luck.

The entire CTU felt like it was coming apart. Support staff were distracted, field agents had no direction.

And just then, his phone rang.

It was his partner—the murder suspect, the man wanted by the FBI—Owen.

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