On the plane, Steve Owen spent the whole way thinking about who could have gotten the video out of Los Angeles CTU and leaked it. He had one guess: the Syndicate. The reason was simple. The Syndicate had once flipped Nina, and at the time Nina was CTU Los Angeles's number two—second only to Jack Bauer in clearance. She had both the motive and the ability to pull this off. But it was all just speculation; they'd have to wait for Chloe to dig up a lead.
By the time he got back to Washington it was the next morning. When he walked into Omega, Ghost had already returned ahead of him; the others were still on their way back. As soon as he stepped in, he saw a lot of people in the bullpen—Omega's A Team and B Team were both there, clustered around Ghost. When they saw Steve come in, they all looked his way.
Steve frowned and checked the time. At this hour they should have been on the training range.
"What are you all doing here? The messy stuff is my job to handle. Your job is to keep training. Everything else has nothing to do with you…"
Steve was the head of Omega, and his authority still carried weight. At his words, the two standby teams didn't dare argue; they obediently collected their gear and left.
Steve walked over to Ghost. "How bad is it?"
"Very bad."
The big screen was on. Ghost had connected it to a TV feed, and the news was talking about Jack. After watching for a bit, Steve's brow furrowed tight. The story had spent an entire afternoon and night fermenting and was now a hot topic; trying to plug it now was far too late.
He flipped through several channels. Almost every channel was covering it, and plenty of reporters were stoking the flames by randomly interviewing people on the street. After a night, things had escalated. The media clearly had more material in hand. The BBC, which first released the video, used their footage to cut a short segment together. It no longer showed only the original interrogation room beating; it also included video of Jack firing into a suspect's leg during an operation to force a confession when the suspect had already been captured. There were also clips of ordinary citizens denouncing CTU's violent enforcement and corruption.
The edit was skillful—tight and full—very punchy and effective. After watching the piece, more people joined the chorus against CTU, and some citizens even began to march.
"Bastards…"
Watching those reporters stir the pot on camera made Steve's head pound. Team members trickled back one after another, gathering to discuss countermeasures.
"Captain Owen, there's a woman named Ela outside. She says she's here to start work today…"
As they were racking their brains, Security knocked and interrupted.
Steve blinked. Why would Ela show up now? He'd mentioned joining Omega to her before, but didn't she know CTU's situation at the moment?
Still, Steve went to the door to meet Ela. After quickly choosing his words, he said, "You know we've stirred up trouble lately. You really don't have to join—I won't hold it against you…"
Steve assumed Ela was only here because she'd promised before and didn't want to back out, so he got ahead of it. But Ela said, "Of course I know. I don't care. I believe in you."
To Ela, Steve's actions back then had basically saved her life; otherwise Sam's crew might really have taken her out. The Mexico operation had also made her respect Steve as a person. After things blew up, her former boss at the DEA had thrown her under the bus without hesitation. By comparison, Steve valued loyalty, which made her feel strongly aligned with Omega.
Since Ela had put it that way, what more could Steve say? He brought her into the bullpen; everyone knew each other, they exchanged greetings, and Ghost handled the specifics.
"In light of the widespread allegations regarding current CTU Director Jack Bauer's excessive use of force, the White House has decided to form a special investigative committee. During the investigation, Jack Bauer is suspended from all director authorities…"
Close to eleven, the White House finally responded. They held a press conference announcing the decision to investigate Jack Bauer. Steve couldn't help cursing inwardly—those bureaucrats were always quick to distance themselves.
Jack's situation did not look good. Steve called Jack again.
"Jack, what can I do for you?"
There was silence on the other end. After a long moment, Jack's voice came through: "Find me a good lawyer."
Steve could hear that Jack had prepared for the worst. He wasn't expecting this to be resolved outside the legal process.
A lawyer?
Steve hung up. He really didn't know any lawyers personally, and he didn't even know which ones were considered heavy hitters. The people around him looked just as blank. Doctors and lawyers are the two professions no American avoids over a lifetime, but good lawyers are insanely expensive—way out of their reach. Of course, that was back when they had no money.
The first person Steve thought of was Beth, but Beth was based in New York, and every U.S. state has different laws. Beth probably wasn't familiar with firms here—but she had a lot of connections and might be able to recommend one or two.
Just as Steve was about to call Beth, Ela suddenly said, "I know a really good firm—Lockhart & Gardner."
Everyone looked at Ela. Ela raised her hands, innocent. "I swear I've got no connection to that firm. You know Raymond Bishop, right? Biggest drug lord in Chicago? The DEA set him up and chose to arrest him in Washington on purpose. They hired Lockhart & Gardner, and the one who defended Bishop was a junior associate named Alicia Florrick. She was amazing. In the end the DEA lost for insufficient evidence."
The group weren't exactly legal buffs, so someone asked, "Why would they defend a drug lord? And why a junior associate instead of a name partner?"
Everyone had the same question. Ela explained, "You should look at it from another angle. Drug lords aren't short on cash. They only hire the best, which means the firm's strength isn't in doubt. As for why a junior associate—reputation. The client was a major drug lord, and the firm needed cover. But Alicia Florrick is the real deal. She was a junior then; now she's a partner at that firm."
That explanation made sense to the group, but Steve still thought he should check with Beth. He called her, and Beth recommended the same firm—Lockhart & Gardner—and said one of the name partners, Will Gardner, specialized in exactly this kind of case.
That settled it. Steve decided to have that firm represent Jack's case, and he wanted to specify the attorneys: Will Gardner and Alicia Florrick.
…
Has anyone seen this? My favorite American TV show—Alicia Florrick, Will Gardner, Diane Lockhart, Raymond Bishop are all characters from it.
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