24

- Identify. - Victor Rovner.

- Requesting permission to transmit. - Log in.

Permission granted.

Excuse me.

This is Walsh.

We just heard from Rovner. He confirmed that there will be an attempt today.

- Did he find out who the target is? - Senator David Palmer.

I hate this. "On this historic occasion"?

Well, it is an historic occasion, sir.

But it's self-serving to say it. I wanna stay low-key.

Wrong. Play it up, inspire people.

- Honey, what do you think? - I agree with Patty.

OK, but not "occasion". Sounds like we're having brunch.

"On this historic day"?

Deal.

- You going to bed? - How can I sleep?

No, I'm gonna write a few thank yous, and you call me if you need me.

Thank you, angel.

- You're in trouble, Dad. - Really?

Yeah.

So...

- is she still giving you the cold shoulder? - If by "she" you are referring to your mother,

I'd appreciate it if you'd call her by her name - Mom.

- And, no, she's just busy. - She's busy a lot.

And it's a school night for you, so time for bed.

- Good night. - I love you.

I'm glad you moved back in, Daddy.

Me too, sweet. Have a good sleep.

- Night, sweet pea. - Yeah.

She still giving you a hard time?

I don't know when I became the enemy. I think she blames me for you moving out.

I never gave her any reason to.

Maybe not.

I think you let her manipulate you, Jack.

No, I don't.

Let me guess. Just now she was sweetness and light?

- Then she said something nasty about me. - And I just busted her on it.

I don't know why you take this so personally. It's just that mother-teenage daughter thing.

Hey...

Maybe you're right. Maybe we should talk to her right now.

Tell her she can't play us off each other, that if she's insulting you, she's insulting me too.

- OK. - Good.

I really appreciate that.

So you just said that you appreciate that.

- You kind of appreciate it? - I really appreciate it.

Do you really, really appreciate it? You really appreciate it?

- How much do you appreciate it? - Jack.

OK.

Kim.

Kim?

Honey?

(car drives off

Kim!

She snuck out.

That's it. She's grounded for two months. No exceptions.

She can forget about getting her driver's licence.

- Hello? - Teri, is Jack there?

Yeah, he's right here. It's Nina.

What? Hey, Nina.

Now? No. No, I can't.

Yeah.

OK, fine. Get a hold of the others and bring 'em in.

Yeah. OK. Bye. It's Walsh. He's coming into the office.

He wants everybody in as soon as possible.

It's only a briefing. I should be back within an hour.

If she's not here when I get back, we'll call all her friends,

everyone we know, until we find out where she's gone, OK?

OK.

I'm sorry.

I'll call you from the road.

- Hello. - Vincent.

Jack Bauer. Are you planning on seeing Kimberly tonight?

- No, man, we broke up. You know that. - I just want to make sure you know that.

- Snuck out on ya, huh? - Don't screw with me, Vincent.

Chill, man. Look, I don't know where she's at. You got my word.

That's a real comfort, Vincent. Knowing that I've got your word.

Why are we meeting at a furniture store?

- Dan works there. - When are we supposed to be there?

- Midnight. We're late. - Yeah, they'll wait.

You sure about that?

Well, you told them I'm hot, right? And you're hot, so they'll wait.

Dan's a sophomore at San Diego State.

Yeah, you told me that.

And so is Rick. I mean, they're not just, you know, a bunch of high-school idiots.

- And your point is? - They're men, not boys.

- Good. I'm glad to hear it. - Really?

Yeah.

- CTU, this is Myers. - It's Jack. What exactly did Walsh say?

- Just bring everyone in. No details. - Why does this have to be tonight?

- Problems at home? - I'm almost there. I'll see you in a few.

- How long is this gonna take? - Why? Are we interrupting your social life?

- At least I have one. - Funny.

- Have you called Langley? - Sure did. Called the bureau too.

- Nobody knows anything. Jack on his way? - Yeah, unfortunately for us, the mood he's in.

- Hello. - Hey. Did you hear from Kim yet?

No.

I was thinking we should try to remember what it was like when we were kids.

- It's a different world now, Jack. - Yeah, I know.

- Evening, Jack. - Hey, Paul.

I was talking to Denise the other day and she and Steve took Nicki to a therapist.

They said it helped. We should think about that.

Yeah, well, maybe. Can we talk about it when I get home?

Honey, I'm already here. Let me give you a call back in a little while.

- Who's here? - Everyone.

We're waiting for Walsh. I activated a satellite uplink in case.

OK, good. Tony? I need detailed background on everyone on David Palmer's staff now.

Why?

Cos I think this is about him and I want us to be prepared.

Bad time to play a hunch. If it leaks out that we're screening Palmer,

- people might think it's cos he's black. - It is because he's black.

- It makes him the most likely target. - It might not be interpreted that way.

I don't care. I just gave you an order and I'd like you to follow it, please.

Good. Thank you. Let me know as soon as Walsh gets here. I gotta make a phone call.

- Hey. - Hey, how are you?

Come on. Let's go in.

Hi.

- You must be Rick. - I must be.

- Janet said you guys like to party. - As a matter of fact, yeah.

As a matter of fact, me too.

Glad to hear it.

Let's get this party started.

Yeah.

Follow me.

- Come on! - No. I'm not going up there.

- Smoke? - Yeah.

Polls open in less than seven hours here in California...

Detective Cox-Lovell, please.

Yeah.

Senator Palmer arrived this morning...

Frank. Yeah, it's Jack Bauer over at CTU. This is kind of embarrassing,

but my daughter Kimberly snuck out and she's not come back yet.

I wondered if we sent her vitals over, if you could keep an eye out.

- Is she OK? - Yeah, I'm sure she's OK.

No, that'd be great. Frank, thanks a lot. I owe you. Bye.

Richard. Everybody's inside. Come on.

- Mr. Walsh. - Hello, Nina.

- Shall we get started? - Please.

We believe that by the end of the day an attempt will be made on David Palmer's life.

- How good's his security? - Very good.

Maybe not be good enough to handle what's coming today.

- A shooter, well-funded, from overseas. - What foreign power wants Palmer dead?

Probably none. Most likely a domestic hate group hired someone from out of the country.

It's harder to trace. Check the background of everyone around Palmer.

- Cross it with terrorist databases. Start now. - OK, we're on it. Let's go.

Jack.

I'll be right with you.

How you doing?

- I can't complain. - Can't or won't?

Things better at home?

Yeah. Yeah, we're trying.

What I'm about to tell you doesn't leave this room.

Fine.

There may be an element inside the agency involved with the hit on Palmer.

- What? - The next 24 hours, I want you all over this.

You'll interface with every division.

I am the last person that you want to bring something like this to.

- I don't agree. - Richard...

I built a case against three of our own agents and busted them for taking bribes.

If there's a conspiracy in the agency, I'll never get anywhere near it.

Well, you'll have to, Jack.

Because you're the only guy that I can trust.

If Palmer gets hit, the first African-American with a real shot at the White House,

it'll tear this country apart.

- I'll look into it. I'll do the best I can. - Good. Good.

George Mason is coming to give you a more detailed briefing on Palmer.

You think I should trust George Mason?

Until we get a better handle on things, don't trust anybody.

Not even your own people.

We gotta find the shooter, Jack. Whatever it takes.

Excuse me? How much longer till we land in Los Angeles?

Well, let's see. It's 12.20. Just over an hour.

Thank you.

Brooks here.

Hey, Martin, how you doing? It's the photographer.

I'm very well, Patty. I'm landing in one hour. Are we still on for breakfast?

Meet Secret Service in the lobby at seven. They'll take care of you.

- Will Senator Palmer be at the breakfast? - You bet.

Good. I'll see you then.

Drive safe.

Um, excuse me. So, you know David Palmer?

Not yet. I am, uh, meeting him tomorrow.

We have been sitting here this whole time making small talk

and you never even mentioned it.

I am going to be taking a few pictures of him.

Are you...? You're a photographer.

Have I...

Have I ever seen one of your photographs?

What's next?

George Mason's gonna be here in a couple of minutes and then he's gonna brief me.

You, not us?

- You can't shut me out, Jack. Not here. - It's Walsh.

- He wants me to meet Mason alone. - Why?

He didn't say.

You're lying.

Yes, I am. But you're still gonna have to trust me.

One of these days you're gonna ask for too much.

I'm terribly afraid that today's gonna be that day. Yep.

- Hi, it's me. - Did you hear anything?

- No. - What's wrong?

- I found three joints in her desk. - Terrific.