Ryan Chappelle was ducking Mason, too. No doubt part of Langley’s efforts to isolate the Los Angeles Division of CTU and contain the damage—or maybe Chappelle was just covering his ass.
REP. PAULINE P. DRISCOLL, (D) CONN.: What happened after the lights went out?
BAUER: We were in the hallway, totally exposed, when the door to the detention center was blown open. The Serbs used Semtex to take the steel door off its hinges. The strike team was inside.
De Salvo ordered a retreat, but we didn’t get far. As Drazen’s men surrounded me, I held a gun to Victor’s throat—threatening to kill him.
Andre emerged from the darkness, DeSalvo his prisoner. He threatened to kill DeSalvo if I didn’t lay down my weapon. Andre gave me three seconds to make up my mind. (Pause) I couldn’t live with more blood on my hands…. I surrendered.
As soon as Victor was safe, Andre killed DeSalvo. Father and son had their little reunion. Then Andre began to beat on me. (Pause) He was very … professional … very well trained. Andre knew how to inflict pain without mortal injury. (Pause)
FULBRIGHT: Agent Bauer, where was the CTU action team at that point?
BAUER: (Pause) They were there. They were moving in on the detention center when Victor contacted George Mason to negotiate. Mason handled it just right—no negotiations.
By that time the CTU tactical team had found DeSalvo and the others. They were dead. When they pursued the Serbs deep into the prison corridors, the Serbs brought the roof down, cutting the CTU team off.
I thought we were going to be trapped inside the detention center, but I was wrong. Andre the schematics, as well as an exit strategy—a concrete wall in one of the halls ran parallel to a drainage tunnel. The Serbs blasted through that wall, moved into the drainage system, and emerged several miles away.
At that point Victor Drazen ordered his son to kill me. To buy time, I did what George Mason refused to do—I negotiated. I told Victor that CTU had Alexis. To prove I was telling the truth, I told Andre I knew about Elizabeth Nash and about the scheduled meeting at Andre’s hotel room.
SCHNEIDER: You did this to buy time?
BAUER: I did it to regain control of the situation. To stop the Drazens. To save my family and the life of David Palmer. I also knew I had to finish the job I’d started in Kosovo—I was going to do everything in my power to wipe the Drazen family off the face of the earth.
9:00 P.M.-10:00 P.M.
SPECIAL AGENT JACK BAUER: We had escaped the detention center. A vehicle was waiting for us on a rural road. I was bound and hooded, then tossed into the back of a van. As we raced down the freeway, Andre called CTU and demanded to speak with his brother. Tony patched him through to the hospital.
Victor and Alexis spoke briefly. Then Victor made his intentions clear to Mason. He was willing to trade me for Alexis. Mason told him no deal. I figured I was finished, but at least my family was safe—or so I thought.
Back at CTU, Tony had located Kimberly, only to lose her again when some of Drazen’s special-ops boys slammed into the police car delivering her to CTU. A Los Angeles policeman—a uniformed officer-was murdered, and a narcotics detective was seriously wounded. Now they had my daughter, and I still wasn’t even being told she was in danger. That son of a bitch Mason—
CHAIRMAN FULBRIGHT: Calm down, Agent Bauer—
BAUER: Mason wasn’t the only problem. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was Nina Myers who alerted Victor Drazen to Kimberly’s whereabouts. Nina set my daughter up to be recaptured.
REP. ROY SCHNEIDER (R) TEX.: Where did the Drazens take you, Agent Bauer?
BAUER: As I said before, I had a hood covering my head, so I couldn’t see—I had to rely on my other senses and my special operations training. I knew when the van stopped that we were still close to the freeway … I could hear the cars rushing by. Then the Serbs dragged me into a restaurant, through the kitchen. I knew that because I heard the clanging of pots and pans and could smell food cooking—cabbage and bacon. Garlic. Paprika. Serbian food.
I was dragged down two flights of steps and tossed into a chair. The hood was removed. I was in the finished basement of an ethnic restaurant. It was run-down, real shabby. I caught a glimpse of a man sitting at a computer in the next room.
An elderly man rushed in and embraced Victor Drazen. It appeared that they were old friends—Drazen called him Nikola. His daughter’s name was Mila. She was young and very pretty. Nikola told her to serve their guests.
Victor ate with Nikola. He offered me food but I turned it down. I was ravenous, but I knew that a full stomach would make me sleepy—and I needed to remain alert. As it was, the pain from my beating was dulling my senses. I tried to focus and used my SERE training to shut out the pain. I had to be ready to exploit any opportunity to escape.
SCHNEIDER: How did David Palmer become involved in CTU’s hostage negotiations?
BAUER: (Shuffling papers) According to Palmer, Nina Myers contacted him directly. Nina’s secret objective with that call was to get Alexis Drazen released from federal custody. She told Palmer that Victor Drazen was alive and that I was their hostage and that they would only release me in exchange for Alexis. She told Palmer that Mason, Chappelle, and Langley were stalling the negotiations.
CIA command clearly had no interest in saving my life. They were obviously hoping Drazen would flee the country so that they could hide the truth from the media.
Palmer was on my side, however, and phoned Mason to cut through the red tape. Mason finally agreed to release Alexis in exchange for my life.
SCHNEIDER: And what did our new president-elect promise to do for George Mason’s career in return for his help? I’ve heard rumors of a secret arrangement between Palmer and Mason. Any truth to those rumors?
BAUER: I wasn’t there, sir. I wouldn’t know.
SCHNEIDER: (Pause) Pair enough.
FULBRIGHT: Please continue, Agent Bauer.
BAUER: I watched Mila cater to Victor. He seemed gentle with her. Fatherly. Almost human. I knew I could use that to my advantage at some point.
Victor and two of the guards had finished their meal. They had been drinking and were comfortable now. They had let their defenses down. As Mila cleared the table, she came close to me. She was holding a tray with a large carving knife on it. I quickly reached for her, twisted her arm behind her back, grabbed the knife, and held the blade to her neck. Then I bluffed: “Put down your weapons or I’ll cut her throat.”
Victor told the others to lay down their arms, but he didn’t lower his weapon—he shot Mila in the forehead. The force of the shot knocked both her and me to the floor. The girl was dead.
I called Victor a son of a bitch. He responded by saying Mila was one more death I had to atone for. But Drazen was wrong. I was through blaming myself for the crimes Victor Drazen and his sons had committed. The Drazens were accountable for a thousand murders, and I would make them pay for every single one of them.
After he killed Mila, Victor went ballistic. He had run out of patience and commanded Andre to call George Mason, giving him thirty minutes to bring Alexis to a garage at 2127 Grand Avenue.
Whatever David Palmer had said or done on my behalf, it worked. Mason agreed to the exchange and made it happen.
Then Nikola came downstairs and found his daughter. I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach watching this sad old man cradling his child in his arms. Drazen spoke to Nikola, blaming me for the girl’s death.
Nikola didn’t buy it. He began screaming about how Victor had murdered his daughter. He stumbled toward Drazen, and Victor shot him, too….
REP. PAULINE P. DRISCOLL, (D) CONN.: (Softly) Terrible … terrible …
BAUER: Like I said, ma’am, Drazen’s eyes didn’t lie. He had checked out of the human race a long time ago…. Nikola fell across the table where Victor had enjoyed his meal, then hit the floor. At that moment, two Serbs came through the door dragging my daughter.
Kim was bound and gagged with duct tape. Victor
and Andre made sure I saw her—alive. And I’m certain they also wanted her to see what Victor had done to Mila and Nikola. The Drazens well knew that terror was a weapon.
I called out to Kim, but the guards put a hood over my head again and dragged me away. I realized at that point that there was more to the Drazens’ plan than getting Alexis back. They were still after Palmer. Before I could actually speak to Kim, they beat me some more and dragged me to a van. I was taken to a remote oil field—we drove for approximately fifteen minutes, maybe less.
There I was dragged from the van and handcuffed to an oil pump. Andre shoved a scrambled phone in my pocket. He told me it was impossible to trace.
I asked, “What do you want me to do?”
He punched me and said, “Not yet.”
Then he explained that there was a sniper watching me. If the exchange was made, they would release me. If the Drazens didn’t get Alexis back, the sniper would kill me.
I was helpless. The next few minutes were the longest of my life.
FULBRIGHT: What was happening back at CTU?
BAUER: Mason arranged the exchange. It went off without a hitch. They placed a tracer in the band on Alexis’s arm, but the Drazens located and destroyed it. I knew the trade had been made when a single shot from a sniper rifle broke my cuffs and I was free.
The cell phone in my pocket rang. It was Andre. He told me that there was a car waiting nearby. He explained that if I wanted to see Kimberly again, I should drive toward Century City. He told me to talk to no one.
I followed Andre’s instructions to the letter.
POLITICAL CORRECTION
Pundits and insiders have a few things to say …
Now don’t go calling Carl Webb just yet. Or the Maryland District Attorney. As far as we know, no one has seen her fall off a balcony. The word is Dave fired her. And on his big winning Super Tuesday night, to boot.
“A pleasure to work with,” “She makes it look easy,” “Polite and considerate,” “Tirelessly devoted to Palmer’s objectives” are just a few of the hosannas I’ve heard about this young woman inside the Washington circle.
So why would she get sacked, you ask? Well, the official word is she “resigned.” But what I heard from sources close to the Palmer camp was a curious rumor about shoulder massages and hotel room keys.
Let’s face it, infidelity in a politician is not exactly a “dog bites man” sort of story these days, but Palmer isn’t your typical politician. Even his opponents consider him a man of honor.
No, I don’t think he threw himself at Patty.
Sadly, rumor has it, Patty did the throwing. And Dave was not about to compromise his campaign, his integrity, or his honor.
So, where’s Patty? Gone, baby, gone for good.
And sadly, maybe that’s for the good of everyone involved.
AROUND WASHINGTON
SPINNING SHERRY BY SUZIE QUINTZ
Bnow you know.
No first lady for David Palmer. He’s going to the White House sans Sherry. The first single president since—I don’t honestly know.
Now I could have my research assistant look it up, but the fact is, you don’t care anyway. You just know there hasn’t been a bachelor president in your lifetime, or your grandparents’.
The closest thing you’ve even seen is actor Michael Douglas playing one in The American President.
“So will that be what it’s like?” you ask. Will some Annette Bening cutie of a reporter be asked to step out of the press room and stay after school for an exclusive?
Can you imagine a President Palmer personal ad? Tall, sexy exbasketball player and leader of the free world looking for intelligent, sultry policy analyst. I’m just a regular guy who likes state dinners, congressional breakfasts, and sleeps next to the red button that sets off my big thermonuclear device.
Or how about featuring David on a new dating game show—“White House Mates” or “Meet the Cabinet.” Maybe we should have a hundred bachelorettes show up at a TV network, and with one marathon 800-number call-in vote the American public can elect him a new first lady in one evening—reality-show-style!
Okay, maybe not.
How about we forget about David Palmer for a moment and consider Sherry. What’s a girl to do after twenty-five years of marriage? Twenty-five years of dirty socks on the floor and beard hair in the sink, of fund-raising dinners and charity photo ops? What’s a girl to do so close to being the first and ending up dead last?
We know what Princess Diana did when her marriage to Prince Charles began to crack. She spun, folks, she spun. Leaks to the press and gossip from friends close to her made sure the world heard her side.
Well, Sherry Palmer isn’t talking—yet.
No first lady for David Palmer. He’s going to the White House sans Sherry. The first single president since—I don’t honestly know.
POLITICAL CORRECTION
Pundits and insiders have a few things to say …
Perhaps taking a page from the late princess, however, her friends around Washington are. Get a few strong drinks into these ladies who lunch, and the rumors chum faster than the restaurant’s gin mill.
Rumor #1: David banished Sherry from his camp on the night of the Super Tuesday primaries. Sherry’s friends claim David’s young and pretty campaign manager came onto him big time. Sherry caught them together, and Dave didn’t like the ultimatum she gave him. Afraid that Sherry would spill the beans to the press, he dumped the campaign manager and his wife in one night.
Rumor #2: Dave banished Sherry from his camp because she severely criticized his Super Tuesday Address. “You just lost the election,” Sherry supposedly told him. Dubbing the speech one rung above a bad TV evangelist confessing his sins, she allegedly told him, “The voters don’t want a president who sounds like a guest on a sleazy afternoon talk show.” Dave was so angry that he threw her out then and there—the last straw in what had become an unbearably stressful campaign for them both.
Are Sherry’s friends spinning facts in her favor?
Rumor #3: Dave banished Sherry from his camp because, say her friends, Dave resented Sherry running everything with his chief of staff Mike Novick—and Dave wrongly accused the two of colluding about more than just platform positions.
Rumor #4: Dave banished Sherry from his camp because she leaked to the press that he had survived the second attempt on his life—that terrible bomb that went off in his hotel suite. Remember how we all held our breath waiting for word that Palmer was alive? According to Sherry’s friends, Dave wanted the press to believe he was dead so he could milk the national publicity. Also according to Sherry’s friends, this was the last straw in Sherry “defying him,” as he put it, and he ended it.
So there it is, the current D.C. cocktail circuit scuttlebutt—all the dirt that’s fit to print.
“Are the rumors true?” you ask. Or are they spin?
In my experience, folks, all rumors have some truth to them, but most rumors have some lies in them. too. Time may sort out the true story for us all, or it may not. One day Sherry Palmer and David Palmer will, no doubt, write their own memoirs—and you’ll probably find two different stories there, too.
You know, maybe it doesn’t much matter how it happened or who said what to whom and when. Because, folks, when a marriage ends, it ends. The reasons can be debated till doomsday, but it won’t change the outcome. Doom is doom when a marriage is done.
Late Night Laughs with Ray Bettelman
BETTELMAN: You know, Pat, our president’s marriage is breaking up? It’s really sad … don’t you think?
[CROWD: Awwws.] PAT SINGER: Yes, it is.
BETTELMAN: I think he might be lonely. I think he needs a love life.
PAT SINGER: Really? You know, some presidents have no trouble getting a love life … even when they’ve got a wife.
[CROWD: Laughter. Catcalls and whistles, some boos.] PAT SINGER: Hey, c’mon! I wasn’t thinking of anyone in particular! I CROWD: Laughter.]
/> BETTELMAN: To avoid just the kind of trouble you’re talking about, Pat, we’ve come up with BETTELMAN’S BEST PICKS for the post as David Palmer’s first lady! [CROWD: Applause.]
Best Pick Number Five. Britney Spears, because she’s sure to liven up those dull fund-raisers with her leather outfits and that c-r-a-z-y snake dance. [CROWD: Laughter.]
Best Pick Number Four. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, because we hear she already has a lot of the White House furniture. [CROWD: Laughter/applause.]
Best Pick Number Three. Oprah Winfrey, because the next time David Palmer wants to give a confessional speech about his family scandals, he can do it on her show! [CROWD: Laughter / applause.]
Best Pick Number Two. Martha Stewart, because after she redecorates the White House, she can give Palmer pointers on defying Congress! [CROWD: OOOHs and scattered laughter/applause.]
And Best Pick Number One, the favored candidate to be David Palmer’s first lady is … [Drum roll] The very sexy Kim Cattrall from Sex and the City, because, well, if Palmer doesn’t have to heat the executive bedroom anymore, we may get a tax break! [CROWD: Screaming laughter/applause]
Stick around, because we have one of our very favorite actors, Golden Globe winner Kiefer Sutherland! [CROWD: Loud applause, shouts of excitement.] … and we have the rock group Turgid and our Animal Channel man, Craig Weedie….
10:00 P.M.—11:00 P.M.
CHAIRMAN FULBRIGHT: At 10:00 P.M., you were on-station at CTU. What was the situation at the time?
AGENT TONY ALMEIDA: Jack Bauer called. But he couldn’t come in yet. We all knew Jack wanted his daughter back and that he wasn’t returning until he found her. When Jack ended the call, Mason got suspicious. He figured Drazen was controlling Jack by threatening Kimberly. We all agreed that the thing Drazen wanted most was Palmer dead. Mason put two and two together and deduced that Jack was on his way to see Senator Palmer. Mason alerted the Secret Service. He told them Jack was coming and that he might pose a danger to the senator.
The House Special Subcommittee's Findings at CTU Page 17